The Knight
The Knight is the third book of The Last Horizon by Will Wight.
 | |
| Author | Will Wight |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Series | The Last Horizon |
| Genre | Sci-Fi/Fantasy |
| Published | June 11, 2024 |
| Media type | ebook, paperback, audiobook |
| Preceded by | The Engineer |
| Followed by | The Pilot |
Synopsis
“As the Knight of The Last Horizon, I challenge you.”
The Last Horizon has already sown new legends across the galaxy, tales of monsters defeated and worlds saved. For better and for worse, their reputation is spreading.
Their enemies have taken notice.
On Karosha, the Perfected gather fleets crewed by inhumanly flawless soldiers. In the Galactic Union, the secretive organization known as Solstice pulls strings in the shadows. And in the depths of Dark Space, after years of silence, the ravenous D’Niss begin to stir.
Raion Raithe, Knight of The Last Horizon, sees these threats as a chance to redeem himself. He will stand against the danger, and he will stand strong, no matter what it costs.
His friends are counting on him.
Plot Summary
For a chapter by chapter summary, see /Summary.
Obtaining The Zenith Cannon
It's been months after the events of The Engineer, and the crew of The Last Horizon has spent that time cleaning up the Iron Legion and other threats. Mell has continued progress on the search for the Zenith Cannon, and the crew holds a meeting to discuss the new intel. The Zenith Cannon has been traced back to be in the care of Benri Vallenar, and with some convincing Varic plans call his father. The meeting ends when Raion receives a call. The Green Titan Knight is alive, after having been infected with the parasites that wiped out the other Knights five years prior when they killed Neth'terith and drove out the D’Niss from the galaxy.
Varic and Raion travel to the Titan Force headquarters to meet with the creator of the Divine Titans, Doctor Cryce. Parryl Cryce, the aforementioned Green Knight, has been in a coma since her infestation, and Doctor Cryce is growing desperate. Varic proposes a ritual requiring the Heart of Visiria, the planetary treasure of Visiria, that can save her, and suggests Raion to go after it. On Visiria, Raion and Varic meet with Raion’s brother, Ryzer, who works for the planetary government. They convince him to help them obtain the Heart, by working their way through Visiri Senators. Varic trusts them with the task and returns to the ship, where Sola reports a potential new enemy. They head out in a shuttle to check out the threat. While on route, Varic calls his father to discuss the Zenith Cannon, and a meeting is considered. Before reaching their destination, Varic’s Cosmic Path leads their shuttle out of Subspace early. While trying to find the cause, Varic’s spell is caught by Sel’miroth, and she emerges from Subspace along with her soldiers. Varic and Sola escape after a failed attempt to kill her.
Back on The Last Horizon, Varic calls Raion to tell him of the return of the D'Niss. He convinces Raion to continue his mission, while they move to deal with the D’Niss. After the call, the crew suddenly receives an emergency transmission from the Karoshan royal guard, and Shyrax informs them that some ships had been taken over by traitors compelled by the Perfected. The crew aids Shyrax in taking care of the attackers, and once back on The Last Horizon, Mell shares the intel she found of the Galactic Union supporting the King Regent Felrex. The crew decides to continue pursuing the Zenith Cannon for now.
Benri meets with Varic and The Last Horizon. To Varic’s dismay, the Cannon, or Mortal Edict, is awake. They agree that Edict should stay with the crew, but her presence results in Horizon and Shadow Ark complaining. Shyrax finally makes the choice to become Shadow Ark’s guardian. With the Zenith Colony now activated, the Karoshan rebels fleet and D’Niss refugees settle down inside Ark.
Raion and the Visiria Government
While the Last Horizon crew deals with the D’Niss incursion, Raion and Ryzar meet with the Planetary Governor at the Prime Arena of Visiria. The Governor, Nelula Seiren, reveals her and the Senator’s disappointment with Raion’s actions as part of the Last Horizon crew. She insists on Raion fighting with representatives of the Senators to earn Visiria’s trust. Raion realizes it's a trap, but decides to accept. After defeating the first representative fighter, Raion learns that he must beat at least seven opponents in a row, one for each Senator. Believing he can overcome the challenge, he continues to fight and win rounds, making it through the seventh. Governor Seiren calls for more opponents and rounds continue.
On the other side of the galaxy, Varic awakens with a premonition of danger. Realizing Raion is in danger, he orders the ship to enter Subspace immediately to reach Raion.
Ryzer and Governor Seiren observe a bloodied and unconscious Raion on the ground. In a hologram, King Felrex praises them before leaving, and Raion is taken to medical moments before Varic teleports nearby. Though his demeanor is mild, storm clouds begin to roll above them as Varic watches the footage of Raion’s fight. Varic declares that he could pick up the challenge where Raion left off. The Governor tries to dissuade him, but after some provocation, Varic challenges the Senators. Varic beats all the Senator representatives using his various magics. He then challenges the Governor herself, threatening her and Visiria. Releasing her, he turns to threaten Ryzer instead. But before Varic follows through on that threat, an injured Raion hobbles inside and stops him.
Healing Parryl and the D’Niss Invasion of The Visiri System
Back on The Last Horizon, Raion learns the Heart of Visiria wasn’t obtained, and tries to get up to continue the mission. He is sedated, and Varic reports back to the crew on Raion’s condition. They take into account their current situation, with the ship surrounded by the Visiria fleet and the Perfected soon to arrive. The situation worsens when Mell suddenly announces the arrival of D’Niss. They receive a transmission from the King Regent Felrex, inviting Varic and Shyrax aboard his flagship. Varic offers to arrive after the D’Niss are dealt with and Felrex eventually agrees. Felrex disconnects, and Varic assures the crew that the Karoshans won’t be able to win against the D’Niss.
Watching the battle between the Karoshans and Hesh’ellik, Varic notices the Karoshan flagship begins to recklessly advance forward. The flagship releases a drop pod, which then releases a powerful Combat Art, splitting Hesh’ellik into two. He realises the attack came from multiple Perfected and recognizes the opportunity to strike. Unfortunately, Horizon finds herself blocked from teleporting them onboard. Two more D’Niss warp into the system, and Varic now knows that this was a trap meant for The Last Horizon. They try to force their way through the Visiri fleet to dive into Subspace, minimizing as many casualties as possible. Omega takes Mortal Edict with him to board and take down ships, but loses her when he is defeated by Zyrana, one of the Perfected. Varic is forced to release his protection spells on the ship to help Shyrax, who was also boarding ships, when another D’Niss prepares to warp into the system. He realises the battle is lost, with the D’Niss there to take the Visiria system, and allows Sola to kill their way through the trap. Before The Last Horizon dives into Subspace, Varic teleports to Visiria, and makes Governor Seiren reluctantly hands over the Heart of Visiria.
Aboard the ship again, Varic reassures the crew that they hadn’t lost. After all, they only need hours to recuperate, while their enemies need more time for their plans. They start by heading towards the Titan Force headquarters, where Varic conducts the ritual to heal Parryl. He convinces Cryce into giving the headquarters to Shadow Ark.
The Last Horizon returns to the Visiri system with her full fleet. The system is infested with D’Niss, and the ritual to summon the Swarm-Queen has started. With the crew working in cohesion, they destroy Zyn’tharak and kill Xarro'kesh with Worldslayer. However, Varic notices that the spell to summon Esh’kinnar was still too stable. He takes out Eurias and begins to directly seal out the spell, only to realize that Alazar is aiding the D’Niss. Varic calls for Shyrax’s help, and together they end the summoning spell, but are too late to stop Esh’kinnaar from entering their dimension. Varic orders a retreat to return later with reinforcements, and is horrified to learn that Raion already went to Shadow Ark to enter his Divine Titan.
Defeating Esh’kinnaar
Before Raion launches out in his Titan, Varic appears before him. He tries and fails to convince Raion to stop. Determined to not let Raion die as he did in his previous life, Varic turns to leave. Suddenly, the Blue Divine Titan awakens, somehow remembering Varic. With new options available, Varic prepares to fight in the Titan. Varic and the crew come up with a plan to fight Esh’Kinaar in their current state. Varic starts fighting his way through the horde of insectoid soldiers, and upon seeing him in the Blue Titan, Raion eagerly begins to follow the plan again. Varic attacks, seeing how far he can push the Blue Titan. He does significant damage to Esh’Kinaar, yet she refuses to move from her position over the sun. With the Titans limited by fuel, they decide to go all out and hit her as hard as they can. They determine Esh’kinaar is hiding a cocoon. After she launches her special attack, Varic clones Sola with Worldslayer, and with only a second to spare, Esh’kinaar is hit six times. With the Swarm-Queen dead, it is decided that Raion and Varic should break the cocoon. They hit the cocoon together, breaking it and releasing a wave of destructive energy. The spell hits Varic and Raion, the magic trying to consume their energy. Varic withdraws after the attack when he is suddenly attacked by a new Swarm Queen, one with the magic of death, left behind from the cocoon. Horizon teleports him out just before the Blue Titan is split into two.
The Red Divine Titan starts to clash with her, causing Raion consciousness to sink further into the Titan. Varic puts together a plan to stop it, putting Raion’s friends and family on call from across the galaxy. From their friendship channeling through Raion, he lands a devastating attack on the new Swarm Queen, allowing Varic to seal her away with Absolute Burial.
After the fight, Horizon complains to him about his choice to throw the bodies of both Swarm-Queens into a sun. Varic wonders what threats the Aether has prepared him for, and plans to strike at Solstice next. Meanwhile, across the galaxy, Benri Vallenar receives a call from the Zenith Processor, inviting him to Solstice.