Ruin and Rising is the third and last book in the Shadow and Bone Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo, preceded by Siege and Storm. It was released on June 3, 2014.
Blurb[]
The capital has fallen. The Darkling rules Ravka from his shadow throne.
Now the nation's fate rests with a broken Sun Summoner, a disgraced tracker, and the shattered remnants of a once-great magical army.
Deep in an ancient network of tunnels and caverns, a weakened Alina must submit to the dubious protection of the Apparat and the zealots who worship her as a Saint. Yet her plans lie elsewhere, with the hunt for the elusive firebird and the hope that an outlaw prince still survives.
Alina Starkov will have to forge new alliances and put aside old rivalries as she and Mal race to find the last of Morozova's amplifiers. But as she begins to unravel the Darkling's secrets, she reveals a past that will forever alter her understanding of the bond they share and the power she wields. The firebird is the one thing that stands between Ravka and destruction—and claiming it could cost Alina the very future she’s fighting for.
Summary[]
After the Darkling’s attack on Os Alta, Alina Starkov and the Grisha that escaped through the chapel are residing in the White Cathedral, an underground church operated by the Apparat. Alina hasn’t recovered from her fight with the Darkling, being unable to use her powers after the encounter.
The Apparat is restrictive of Alina’s freedoms, refusing contact with friends and travel to the surface, arguing that the growing number of pilgrims and Soldat Sol are there to witness and support in her Sainthood.
After a stunt using mirrors to feign her powers, she demands to speak with Genya Safin in the kitchens, and the Apparat initially refuses, referring to Genya as “Razrusha’ya”; ruined. The Apparat eventually caves, allowing the two to speak, though in the middle of the conversation the Apparat storms into the kitchens with a number of Alina’s friends in tow. He insists that the group is planning to break out of the White Cathedral.
Though, this was according to their actual attempt to escape, as the kitchens have the only direct path to the surface. David Kostyk assembled a makeshift explosive, and Malyen Oretsev shot the bomb after it was thrown up one of the chimneys, allowing enough sunlight to pass through for Alina to regain her powers.
Alina asks the Soldat Sol for loyalty to her instead of the Apparat, and brands one of them, Vladim Ozwal, with her handprint. She then assembles a group of Grisha from the White Cathedral and heads for the surface.
When they arrive at the surface, they are found by hunters, though one of the hunters turns on the others, revealing himself to be Nikolai Lantsov. He brings the group to the Spinning Wheel, an abandoned observatory Nikolai set up as a base of operations after the fall of the capital. There, the group forms a plan to find the firebird, the third of Morozova’s amplifiers, in Dva Stolba.
While at the Spinning Wheel, Alina trains with Baghra, who was begrudgingly brought there with Misha by Nikolai. Baghra teaches her to use the Cut, eventually reaffirming Alina of her power when she cuts off the top of a mountain range from miles away.
Baghra also tells her the story of Morozova, revealing that she is his daughter. Baghra had used the Cut to kill her sister out of jealousy, forcing Morozova to bring his daughter back from the dead. This act upset the villagers, who drowned both Morozova and his recently reanimated daughter.
At the Spinning Wheel, Genya speaks out about the sexual abuse she received while serving under the king of Ravka, causing Nikolai to force him to either receive punishment for his crimes or be exiled from the country.
Sergei, one of the Grisha kept in the White Cathedral, sells the group out to the Darkling, who attacks the Spinning Wheel. During the attack, the Darkling transforms Nikolai into a shadow soldier, Adrik's arm is bitten off, and Baghra sacrifices herself to draw the Darkling's attention.
Alina, Mal, Tamar Kir-Bataar, Tolya Yul-Bataar, Zoya Nazyalensky, Harshaw, Nadia Zhabin, Adrik Zhabin, David, and Genya, manage to escape on the Bittern, and head towards Dva Stolba and the firebird.
Upon arriving at the place where they thought the firebird was, Tamar, Nadia, Adrik, Misha, Genya, and David stay behind, in charge of looking for accommodation in the nearest village, while Zoya, Harshaw (with his cat, Oncat), Tolya and Alina set off in search of the amplifier, being led by Mal who tracks it down finding it after a week of searching. They discover that the firebird was never the third amplifier, it was Mal.
Baghra's sister, the one Baghra accidentally killed as a child, survived along with Morozova. Mal is a descendant of Baghra's sister, and as this sister had in her bones the power that revived her after being killed, this power was passed on to her children, from generation to generation, until reaching Mal. That's why Mal could track everything so well. He had a connection to the world around him that others did not.
The group reunited with Genya and the others at the lodge. There, Alina finds out that the Darkling has attacked West Ravka and Keramzin, and visits the Darkling using the connection they share. He shows her that he killed Ana Kuya, Botkin, and three Grisha instructors. He says that he is with the students who were still in the orphanage and that in five days, he would enter the Shadow Fold (because he now had a part of Alina's power and she had a part of his power) and would dominate everything.
They come up with a plan and execute it. They are surprised by the Darkling's skiffs in the middle of the Fold. He catches them, but Alina manages to distract him and escapes, her arm injured by a gunshot. As she is in the middle of the Fold, in the dark, listening to the sound of battle around her, Mal finds her and together they drive a Grisha steel blade into his chest, killing him.
As soon as he dies, Alina loses her powers and is confused, not understanding as Mal was the third amplifier. But then, all the orphans and powerless around them, who were fighting, burst with light. She realizes the third amplifier amplifies the Sun Summoner's power by a thousand, but not just one person, but thousands. And then, with the light bursting through nearly everyone who was fighting in the Fold, it crumbles, disappearing to the light. The Darkling is devastated when he realizes Alina no longer has her powers or her amplifiers.
He screams and calls the darkness enraged. Alina approaches and stabs him in the heart, the blade covered in shadows (which she summoned with the small amount of power she had taken from him) and he dies, terrified of being alone. In the end, Nikolai is turned back into a human after the Darkling's death, the Fold is gone and everyone cheers.
Tolya and Tamar manage to heal Mal, bringing him back. Nikolai takes over the throne and becomes the new King of Ravka. They make up the story that Alina died during the battle. Alina and Mal get married and together run the orphanage where they grew up, their identities hidden forever and the two of them powerless.
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