Crystal Storm is the fifth novel of the Falling Kingdoms series.
Summary
The ruthless Empress Amara of Kraeshia has taken the Mytican throne, and now uncertainty looms over the three kingdoms. Since Lucia unleashed the fire Kindred, wreaking havoc throughout the land, Myticans have been looking for someone—anyone—they can trust. They believe in Amara, not knowing her grand promises are built on lies.
In Paelsia, Magnus and Cleo reluctantly follow King Gaius to the home of his exiled mother, Selia. Selia is a powerful witch and claims she can help unlock the magic of the Kindred—if the visitors agree to her terms. When Jonas arrives from Kraeshia, he is shocked to find that his rebel army now includes his sworn enemies. Along with Nic, Felix, and the mysteriously resurrected Ashur, the contentious group agrees to cast aside old grudges—for now—and united against their common enemy: Amara.
Meanwhile, bearing the child of a Watcher and feared by all, Princess Lucia travels across Mytica to find her family. But time is running out. The impending storm signals the dark prophecy Timotheus warned her about. Her fate is written, and it includes none other than the rebel Jonas. When their paths collied, Jonas and Lucia must decide between blindly following their destiny or fighting for their own free will.
The battle for power culminates at the Paelsian palace, where Amara resides. Rain pours. Blood spills. And soon all will discover that the darkest magic comes at an even darker price.
Synopsis
This is a spoiler-filled section. It is meant to be used more as a reference for those who have already read the book and desire a refresher on the story line or need the information for some other means. By no means is this meant to be an alternative to reading the book. The book is infinitely more complex and its majesty cannot be captured in a simple, short summary. The book is excellent. If you haven't already, go read it.
Seventeen years ago, King Gaius Damora took a potion from his mother, Selia Damora, a witch, that would cause him to be unfeeling toward the love of his life, Elena Corso, who was the wife of King Corvin and the mother of his two daughters, Emilia and Cleiona. Gaius did forget her and his desire for power consumed him.
Jonas learns that Prince Ashur Cortas is, in fact, not dead, as he joins them on their voyage home from Kraeshia. He is brother to Amara Cortas who recently made herself empress after massacring their whole family.
Cleo and Magnus are appalled to find that King Gaius, who should be dying after a fall from a cliff, is in fact returning to health. He says he will fully die in time but for now he seems to want to help Magnus. He points Magnus toward his long lost witch of a grandmother, Selia. Gaius also vows to help search for Lucia, who they believe is the key to getting rid of Amara.
Gaius returns to his new wife Amara and makes her believe that he is searching for Magnus. She doesn’t believe him and has him followed. Amara learns that her soldiers are not loyal to her because she is a woman. She claims she will give the throne to Ashur upon his return. Of course, she believes that he is dead. Magnus and Cleo meet up with King Gaius to go to his grandmother Selia to try to find Lucia.
Following her altercation with Kyan, Lucia travels to the crystal city of the Watchers. She seeks Timotheus. She finds him and he makes known to all that she is the sorceress reborn. They bow to her. It is confirmed that she is pregnant with Alexius's child.
Jonas and Felix Gaebras, still on a ship to Mytica, fight over who loved Lysandra best and who let her die. Jonas’s fists begin to glow and he flings Felix across the deck. He retreats to his room and finds the mark of a Watcher on his chest, of air magic. Olivia, a Watcher, is stunned and tells him she is sorry as he passes out.
Timotheus says that the lands around The Sanctuary are dying. Lucia is determined to trap the fire god, Kyan, again and bring them all the mortal realm.
When Magnus and his group finally meet Selia, they find that her magic has faded, so they must retrieve a bloodstone, which once belonged to the immortals themselves and will restore her. Selia agrees to help Gaius, who’s health is deteriorating quickly, as well as to find Lucia and lift Cleo’s curse (which guarantees her death in childbirth). Magnus asserts that he might like to have this object for himself.
Amara tries to learn the secrets of the Kindred from Nerissa, Cleo’s former maid. When left alone Kyan, the Fire Kindred, visits her and promises unlimited power if Amara will help him. He convinces her to journey to Paelsia and help restore him to a corporeal form.
Timotheus tells Lucia that her world and The Sanctuary are two of seven worlds and Damon, an ancient maleficent being, travels between them, draining their power. Lucia returns to Mytica, only to find it occupied by Amara’s Kraeshian soldiers, who boast the deaths of her family. She also discovers that the child in her womb has grown exponentially, and she quickly becomes heavily pregnant.
Jonas wakes and learns that because he was healed by two different Watchers at the brink of death, he has absorbed some of their elementia magic. He is disappointed, though, that he is only a vessel and cannot wield it at will.
Cleo, Magnus, Gaius and Selia travel to Basilia and request help from one of Selia's old magic wielding friends, named Dariah Gallo, in finding the bloodstone. Coincidentally, they run into Jonas and his crew. They agree to a temporary alliance until Amara is removed from power.
Tensions are high at the Inn where they all stay, not helped by the fact that Magnus is unsure where Cleo’s loyalties lie. They send spies to learn what Amara might be doing in the area when they learn she is there.
They then discover that Ashur is missing from their company and the Earth and Air Kindreds are missing. They already know that Amara has the Water Kindred. What they don’t know is that Kyan, the Fire Kindred personified, is also with her, guiding her. Nic is forcibly coerced by Magnus to go after Ashur and recover the Kindreds before the prince can surrender them to his sister Amara.
Amara addresses the people and Felix tries to kill her when other rebels create a distraction. He is detained instead. Nic is fatally stabbed, but Lucia manages to heal him. Jonas then saves Lucia from the angry mob that calls for her death. He takes her to his sister, Felicia, after Lucia's begins to experience contractions, because Felicia is a well-versed midwife. However, Jonas soon learns that his sister utterly despises him after his long absence and everything that has happened.
Jonas dreams of Timotheus and the immortal tells him that Lucia will die in childbirth and that the fate of the worlds now rests in his hands, as he will be the one to raise her son.
Olivia tells Cleo that Nic is dead and that Magnus is to blame. Cleo is distraught and does indeed blames Magnus, pushing him further away.
Magnus and his grandmother meet with the man who carries the bloodstone. His grandmother subsequently kills the man and her old friend Dariah. She then uses the stone to heal Gaius.
The next day grandmother Selia tries to poison Cleo, but to Cleo's surprise, King Gaius intervenes, and subsequently sends his mother away. Also to Cleo’s surprise, he banishes her as well. When Magnus wakes to discover this, he storms out, only to find that Amara’s army has found them. Him and his father are arrested by her forces.
Lucia and Jonas return to the Inn to find that Magnus and Gaius are gone. Kyan finds her and tells her that he no longer needs her. She tries to trap him in his orb but fails.
Cleo visits Amara to try to get in her good graces once more and align herself with someone powerful. Ashur shows up, but Amara lays the blame for her family's treasonous murders squarely on Ashur's shoulders. She has him thrown in the pit where all of the other rebels are being held. Magnus and Gaius are brought forth to be executed by Amara, but Nerissa and Nic manage to save Magnus and together they go to find the Air Kindred. They are caught once more, and all but Magnus are taken to the pit as well.
Kyan returns to Amara with “the storm”. Selia arrives with her powers fully restored. She also brings with her the watcher Olivia ,who is bound to her by magical marks. It was Selia who stole the other Kindred, not Ashur. They are now all gathered together before the pit. Selia, in an astonishing move, pushes both Cleo and Amara in.
Lucia gives birth to a daughter. Although Timotheus predicted that Lucia would have a son and die during childbirth, Jonas suggested that she drain his own unaccessible magic to save her own life. She does this, and Jonas's power strengthens her life force substantially, and she survives.
The ceremony to free the Kindred begins in the pit. Kyan takes Nic’s body and the Earth Kindred takes Olivia’s. But when Gaius vengefully kills his mother, the ceremony cannot be completed. The Air and Water Kindred are free of their orbs, but they cannot be permanently bound to mortal bodies without a presiding witch. The Air Kindred enters Taran and the Water Kindred enters Cleo. However, these two Kindreds cannot entirely seize control of their bodies, due to the absence of Selia, and Taran and Cleo remain in control of their consciousnesses. Nic (now known as Kyan) and Olivia, now controlled by the Kindred within them, leave with promises to return and help free their brethren.
It is later revealed that Kurtis Cirillo, the current Limerian kingsliege, kidnapped Magnus from Basilia and strung him up in a dungeon. After extensive torture, Magnus wakes as he is being nailed into a coffin and buried alive.
This summary was provided by the website "Book Series Recaps", the link for which is below, and was written by an author named Sara. It has been slightly edited and links have been added, but most of the original script remains.
http://www.bookseriesrecaps.com/what-happened-in-crystal-storm/