Summary:

Content Warning: Mild violence/Death/Description of war

The Last Heir of Sinandúir explored the theme of revenge. Is revenge the answer to pain, or just a futile struggle against one’s tragic destiny? Will revenge bring a troubled soul inner peace? Set in the fantastical land of Solarin that I constructed with weird names, jargon, and a hand-drawn map (included in the novel), the story built itself on the backdrop of an epic landscape. If you enjoy J.R.R. Tolkien’s work such as The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, you will probably find my work interesting as it was mostly a nod to his work. 

(SPOILER ALERT! The summary below contains spoilers for the book)

Sinandria, the future queen of the kingdom of Sprulisa, found her father Silsänaron assassinated just days before her coronation. The long-serving royal guard Achamidus, working for forces of evil, sneaked into Silsänaron’s room and stabbed him with a poisonous blade. With the death of the king, the whole realm descended into chaos as people rioted under the control of Achamidus. The citadel burnt in flames as Achamidus destroyed the once peaceful country into burning relics.

After the war, Achamidus captured Princess Sinandria and locked her up on a high-floating platform. Each day bleak winds accompanied her as she wept for her unfortune. One day, a huge flying beast called Aquiläustel, which Sinandria had rescued during her childhood, flew past the platform by sheer chance and rescued her from her eternal suffering.

The Aquiläustel brought her to the sacred land of Rúfuharnallë for her to evade the guards of Achamidus. During that time she became friends with Sivicia, a local resident. But Sinandria couldn’t suppress the burning hatred for him, so she left the city for her own pilgrimage of revenge.

As she was treading through the vast grasslands of Solarin at night, Sinandria was attacked by wolves only to be saved by Acacian riders, who brought her to the land of Acacia, a kingdom of grasslands and horses. Sinandria, who went under the name of Tristica as protection of her true identity, told the king her mission of reaching the Altunam, the highlands of Solarin. The Acacian King assigned several other prisoners of the country to go with her on her suicide mission, the most important two being Ossirad and Silaca. The group later went into the forest and was ambushed by a group of evil residents from the same poisonous realm as Achamidus. Many from the group died and they suffered immense loss.

But the group carried on and soon arrived at the highlands. Despite the harsh weather, they began their climb of Peak Eliendä, the stairway to heaven (you can call it a Led Zeppelin reference if you want) of the land. Upon arrival, Sinandria (or Tristica) finally revealed her true intention of taking the group here despite the tremendous effort, which was to open the gates to Nethervast, a shadowland under the surface of Solarin, to gather forces and wage war against Achamidus. The group was terrified of the idea, and many left her, but Ossirad and Silaca stayed with her to go down to the shadow realm.

After opening the gates and a long descent, they arrived at the dark kingdom. Sinandria spoke to the ruler of the realm of her request, but the king asked for something in return—the jewels on the head of a terrifying beast lurking in the darkness of Nethervast. The three decided to kill it and returned with what the king wished for. They finally had the forces as the King reluctantly lent them his army for his promise. Sinandria started to foster her great army. During which she was completely engulfed by darkness and the cruelty was creeping into her mind.

After years of preparation, it was finally ready. On the same day Achamidus overthrew the Sinandúir government, they attacked. With Ossirad sneaking into the kingdom and bringing some rebellious forces inside Sprulisa, they destroyed Achamidus’s Kingdom in an epic battle. Sinandria then captured Achamidus and brought him up to the platform that imprisoned her and challenged him to a duel. Achamidus lost and told Sinandria that she was occupied by darkness and cruelty just like him, and she also destroyed Sprulisa as the kingdom would never return to its former glory. He then jumped off of the platform, killing himself.

After the war and the fulfillment of the revenge, Sinandria was exhausted of her hatred and gave up her crown to a general of former Sprulisa who fought in the war against Achamidus, formally breaking the line of Sinandúir. She roamed the coastline of Solarin and looked at the immense ocean before dying of old age, disappearing in the land of Solarin as the legendary but tragic heroine of Sprulisa.