Last Flight Read-along: Chapter 2

[tersa]

THE READ-A-LONG

What is this? The read-a-long is an opportunity to do a long distance book club with other Dragon Age fans, where once a week one chapter will be discussed in Liane Merciel's tie-in novel, Dragon Age: Last Flight

[Official book teaser blurb]The Grey Wardens are heroes across Thedas once again: the Archdemon has been defeated with relative ease and the scattered darkspawn are being driven back underground. The Blight is over. Or so it seems.

Valya, a young elven mage recently recruited into the Wardens, has been tasked with studying the historical record of previous Blights in order to gain insight into newly reported, and disturbing, darkspawn phenomena. Her research into the Fourth Blight leads her to an encoded reference scrawled in the margins of an ancient map, and to the hidden diary of Issenya, one of the last of the fabled griffon riders. As the dark secrets buried in Isseyna's story unfold, Valya begins to question everything she thought she knew about the heroic Grey Wardens. . . .

If you've read it and have Thoughts or Feels, comment to discuss! Discussion can be serious or snarky, but please keep it constructive and not destructive.

- Chapter 1 (29-Sep)

(If the first person who gets to this post can start a comment thread entitled 'Serious Discussion' and a second one for 'Snarky Discussion', I would greatly appreciate it.)

[Chapter 2--Synopsis]Chapter 2 Synopsis

5:12 Exalted

We meet Isseya, the author of the book Valya found, and a griffon-rider in training. As she rides double with a more senior Warden, Huble, into Antiva City, she reflects on the training involved and how the new Blight is speeding up the process. She notices the destructive swath of the darkspawn, the mass as it approaches the city, the refugees outside the city walls...and comments on how beautiful Garahel is.

She is present in the conversation between Warden-Commander Turab and the King and Queen of Antiva, Elaudio and Giuvana. Turab delivers a harsh truth to the monarchs--that there is no way, in his opinion, to defend Antiva City and everyone who can should flee. A tough pill for the Antivans to swallow. Isseya and Gaharel are shown to barracks, and Isseya makes note of the small civilities extended to them by people and how different that is from the darkspawn.