Fate and Furies by Helen Scheuerer Summary, Characters and Themes
Fate and Furies (The Legends of Thezmarr #3) by Helen Scheuerer is a sweeping fantasy tale of vengeance, betrayal, and rediscovery of power in a land fractured by war and shadow. At its heart is Thea, feared as the Shadow of Death, a warrior whose magic has abandoned her but whose determination burns brighter than ever.
Her quest to capture Wilder Hawthorne—the man she once loved and the traitor she now despises—draws her into battles with corrupted creatures, revelations about her bloodline, and the harsh truths of who truly manipulates the realm’s fate. This novel blends epic battles with raw emotion, charting a heroine’s struggle between loyalty, fury, and love.
Summary
Thea, known across the realms as the Shadow of Death, leads her companions Cal and Kipp in a desperate battle against howlers—men twisted into monsters by shadow wraiths. Though she is relentless with her blade, her storm-born magic, once her greatest strength, remains silent.
Haunted by its absence, she presses forward on her true mission: capturing Wilder Hawthorne. Once a Warsword, he betrayed their kingdom at Notos, siding with the Daughter of Darkness.
Thea believes him responsible for unleashing the plague of shadows and the horrors spreading through the midrealms. For a year she has hunted him, driven by rage and betrayal.
Following rumors of a rider on a black stallion, Thea tracks Wilder through cursed forests toward the capital city of Vios. Along the way, she recalls how she learned she was one of the lost heirs of Delmira, blood-tied to the very darkness she fights.
Despite her companions’ pleas for rest, she refuses to stop. When Wilder leaves her a gift—a mocking reminder of their past intimacy—her hatred deepens.
Yet Wilder, traveling in secret, reveals a different mission. Meeting Adrienne, an old ally, he admits concern over the worsening tears in the Veil and insists that Thea is crucial to the war, her power still necessary.
Their paths collide when Thea battles sea monsters in a frozen fishing village. Exhausted, she is saved only by Wilder’s intervention.
For one heated moment, desire and fury clash before she shackles him with enchanted manacles forged by her sister Wren. Determined to bring him to Vios for trial at the Moonfire Eclipse, she masks her turmoil with cold resolve.
Wilder accepts his capture, knowing her lost magic and the truths he carries will bind them together again.
On the road to Vios, Wilder presses her to hear his side of the story. He claims the shadow-touched—those who resisted a reaper’s curse—are not enemies but victims.
He tells her of his mentor Talemir, cursed but still human, and reveals that King Artos allowed reapers through the Veil, creating the very blight Thea blames Wilder for. She refuses to believe him, until he traps her in a cave to force her to listen.
There he shares painful truths of betrayal, corruption, and the false narratives spun by the king. Though she resists, part of her begins to doubt her certainty.
When she collapses from the cold, Wilder saves her life, sparking fragile remnants of the bond they once shared.
Their uneasy truce strains further when Adrienne, Wilder’s former lover, joins them. Thea is unsettled by Adrienne’s closeness to Wilder and her allegiance to the Shadow Prince.
Jealousy and distrust poison their interactions, even as Thea struggles with her buried desire for Wilder. A brutal attack on the Wesford Road forces them to fight together once more.
When shadow wraiths ambush a royal carriage, Thea cannot fend them off alone. Wilder is unchained, and together they cut down the enemy with a precision that reignites old memories.
Afterward, despite saving the princess, Wilder returns the manacles to her, showing his willingness to remain bound.
The journey takes them underground, where Thea comes face to face with her lost sister, Anya—the feared Daughter of Darkness. Through storm-born visions, Anya reveals her own past: framed and cursed by King Artos, branded falsely as the prophesied destroyer.
Betrayed by those she trusted, she was forced to survive as shadow-touched, hiding in exile and building forces against Artos’ lies. Slowly, Thea begins to see her not as an enemy but as family.
They share memories of childhood, stolen by war and deception, and start a fragile reconciliation. Meanwhile, Wilder’s presence pulls at Thea’s heart.
They confess, argue, resist, and finally give in to passion, though Wilder insists their bond must be rebuilt on trust rather than past wounds.
Together with Anya’s allies, they begin planning rebellion. Reports of King Elkan’s death and rumors of reaper strongholds shift their strategies.
Thea and Wilder are sent to scout, leading them to the Singing Hare tavern. There, among warmth, laughter, and secrets, their relationship deepens, though dangers loom larger than ever.
Thea’s path continues into the Great Rite, where she must face brutal trials to reclaim her power. Scaling the Glacier’s Embrace, she narrowly survives a monstrous basilisk, fighting without magic until sheer determination carries her through.
In visions within the Rite, she confronts illusions of Wilder and sacrifices part of herself, even severing her own hand, before her storm magic surges back in a thunderous rebirth. Lightning fills her veins once more, annihilating reapers and restoring her identity as a wielder of storms.
The three Furies themselves appear, granting her a Warsword forged of Naarvian steel and naming themselves as women erased from history. Thea honors them with her vow: “I am the storm.
When she emerges, she finds Artos’ army waiting. To protect herself, she feigns loyalty as he falsely claims she captured Wilder.
She learns Wilder has been taken to the Scarlet Tower, a place of dread. Rage and devotion burn within her, and instead of accepting her place as a pawn in Artos’ schemes, she chooses her own path: rescuing Wilder.
On this new road, she encounters Talemir Starling—the legendary Shadow Prince and Wilder’s mentor—who offers his aid. With her power restored, her family ties reshaped, and her heart ablaze, Thea steps into the darkness with a vow to save the man she loves and to face the storm of war still to come.
Characters
Thea
Thea, the Shadow of Death, is a complex and layered protagonist in Fate and Furies. Her defining trait is her unrelenting determination, seen in her single-minded pursuit of Wilder Hawthorne, whom she believes betrayed their people.
She is haunted by the loss of her storm magic, once a vital part of her identity and power, and this loss becomes both a source of frustration and a deep vulnerability. Despite her companions urging her to accept this weakness, Thea refuses to surrender her mission, showing her stubborn resilience.
Her past weighs heavily upon her—discovering her lineage as an heir of Delmira, tied to the Daughter of Darkness, leaves her grappling with questions of fate and identity. Her character is defined not only by vengeance but also by an ongoing internal war between her desire for justice, the echoes of her past love for Wilder, and her emerging role as a leader.
Her arc is one of transformation: from a warrior defined by vengeance and rage to someone who reclaims her magic, embraces her destiny, and begins to reconcile with her estranged sister, Anya.
Wilder Hawthorne
Wilder embodies contradiction and inner conflict. Once revered as a Warsword, his fall from grace brands him as a traitor in the eyes of Thea and much of the world.
Yet beneath this image lies a man burdened by guilt, loyalty, and a desperate desire to uncover the truth about the shadow-touched. Wilder’s love for Thea is a constant undercurrent, adding tension to their fraught reunion.
He seeks not just her forgiveness but also her understanding, striving to show her that his actions, however treacherous they seemed, were motivated by a larger truth—that the shadow-touched are not enemies, but victims of corruption. His courage is quiet, rooted in sacrifice, whether it is saving Thea’s life in the frozen cave or chaining himself to a tree to protect her from Artos’ wrath.
Wilder’s complexity lies in his duality: a prisoner and yet a guide, a betrayer and yet a savior, a man who carries the weight of love, loss, and destiny.
Kipp
Kipp serves as a loyal companion whose calm and pragmatic nature balances the intensity of Thea’s quest. Though not as central to the narrative as Thea or Wilder, his presence is steadying.
He shows compassion and empathy, even toward Wilder, revealing his ability to see beyond labels of traitor or hero. Kipp’s decision to release Wilder during the battle against the shadow wraiths demonstrates both his trust in Wilder’s integrity and his faith in Thea’s judgment, even when she resists it.
His heritage, tied to the legendary “Son of the Fox,” gives him a subtle gravitas, positioning him as someone respected not only by his friends but also by those they encounter. Kipp is, in many ways, the quiet moral compass of the group, guiding with loyalty, patience, and unshakable steadiness.
Adrienne Ashford
Adrienne enters the story as Wilder’s old ally and former lover, immediately creating tension between her and Thea. She is confident, resourceful, and unafraid to insert herself into delicate situations, particularly when it comes to offering counsel about the spreading darkness and the importance of prophecy.
Adrienne’s alliance with Wilder, coupled with her beauty and familiarity with him, ignites Thea’s jealousy, underscoring the fragile and complicated emotional landscape between the central characters. Beyond this interpersonal conflict, Adrienne is significant as a ranger and strategist, someone who possesses valuable knowledge of the shadow-touched rebellion and the larger war effort.
Her loyalties are nuanced—while she resists pledging allegiance to Anya, she still works within the cause against Artos. Adrienne represents the ambiguity of alliances in the story: she is both an asset and a potential threat, a mirror of the distrust and precarious bonds the rebellion relies upon.
Anya
Anya, the Daughter of Darkness and Thea’s lost sister, is one of the most compelling figures in the novel. Branded from childhood as a prophesied villain, her life is marked by manipulation, suffering, and survival.
Her transformation into a shadow-touched being is not the product of evil, but of betrayal at the hands of Artos and the Guild. This backstory reframes her as a tragic figure, wronged and forced into a role she did not choose.
Despite her exile and torment, Anya emerges as a leader, rallying the shadow-touched into a formidable force. Her reunion with Thea is emotionally charged, filled with both pain and hope, as the sisters begin to rebuild a bond fractured by lies and distance.
Anya’s strength lies not just in her magic and her wings, but in her resilience, her ability to lead, and her capacity to forgive. She is at once a symbol of loss and of reclamation, embodying the themes of family, destiny, and resistance.
King Artos
King Artos stands as the shadowed figure of corruption and tyranny in the story. Though less present in direct scenes than the other characters, his influence pervades every event.
He is revealed to be the true orchestrator of much of the suffering—allowing reapers to pass through the Veil, framing Anya, and manipulating prophecy to maintain power. Artos represents institutional rot, the dangerous intersection of deception and authority.
His actions not only create enemies but also fracture entire realms, forcing others into rebellion. In contrast to Thea’s growth and Anya’s redemption, Artos remains fixed in his role as deceiver and tyrant, embodying the darkness that the protagonists must ultimately confront.
Talemir Starling
Talemir, once Wilder’s mentor and now the enigmatic Shadow Prince, adds depth to the lore of the story. His fall into becoming shadow-touched reveals the blurred lines between corruption and survival, victimhood and monstrosity.
His presence emphasizes Wilder’s truth about the shadow-touched—that they are not inherently evil, but persecuted beings forced into difficult existences. By the time he emerges to offer aid in breaking into the Scarlet Tower, Talemir has become a figure of resilience and rebellion, carrying the weight of his transformation while still fighting for light.
As a mentor, his connection to Wilder adds layers of loyalty and legacy, bridging the old Warswords’ ideals with the new rebellion’s reality. His role hints at the possibility of redemption not just for individuals but for entire groups once condemned.
Themes
Betrayal and Trust
In Fate and Furies, betrayal and trust form the backbone of Thea and Wilder’s relationship as well as the broader conflict that shapes the fate of kingdoms. Thea’s entire pursuit of Wilder is driven by his betrayal at Notos, an act that in her eyes cost countless lives and unleashed darkness across the midrealms.
Her mistrust is not limited to Wilder—it extends to her understanding of the shadow-touched, the monarchy, and even her own lineage. Every revelation challenges her perception of truth, making trust a fragile, volatile currency.
Wilder’s presence is equally steeped in contradictions: he wears the label of traitor yet continuously acts in ways that contradict Thea’s narrative of him as a villain. His insistence that the shadow-touched are victims rather than monsters shakes the moral certainty that Thea clings to.
Their uneasy bond—oscillating between intimacy, suspicion, and reluctant cooperation—underscores how betrayal has poisoned both personal ties and political alliances. The struggle to decide whom to trust highlights a world where betrayal is not always treachery, but often survival or sacrifice misinterpreted.
This theme examines how fractured loyalties can shift the course of war and how reclaiming trust requires confronting uncomfortable truths.
Identity and Inheritance
Thea’s journey is not just about defeating Wilder or reclaiming her magic but about confronting the bloodline she has long denied. Her ties to Anya, the Daughter of Darkness, reveal a stolen childhood, manipulated history, and a heritage both empowering and damning.
In discovering the lies spun by Artos and the guild, Thea must reconcile her role as heir of Delmira with the darker legacy of her sister’s suffering. This theme of identity is deeply tied to choice: whether to accept what blood dictates or redefine destiny through action.
Anya embodies the shadow of this inheritance—wrongfully branded, exiled, and transformed into something otherworldly—while Thea stands at the crossroads between embracing or rejecting kinship. In a broader sense, the narrative questions whether identity is forged by birthright, by those who control the story, or by the choices one makes when truth is finally unveiled.
For Thea, inheritance becomes less about royal blood and more about whether she will wield that lineage to fight against corruption rather than perpetuate it.
Love, Desire, and Power
The relationship between Thea and Wilder exists in a constant push and pull between desire and resentment, vulnerability and dominance. Their intimacy is never separate from their power struggles—every look, touch, or memory is haunted by betrayal and the specter of lost trust.
Thea’s attraction to him is a source of frustration because it undermines her determination to see him punished, while Wilder’s restraint and guilt color every attempt at reconciliation. Love in this narrative is not soft or redemptive but jagged, often emerging in moments of violence, exhaustion, or near-death.
Power dynamics complicate their passion: Thea’s storm magic, her manacles, and Wilder’s physical strength all blur the line between control and surrender. Beyond their romance, love extends into jealousy, as seen with Adrienne’s presence, and into loyalty with companions like Kipp and Cal.
The theme underscores that in war, desire does not dissipate but becomes another battlefield where power, trust, and longing collide.
Corruption and the Shadow of Power
The presence of the shadow wraiths, the howlers, and the blight serves as a reflection of political and moral corruption. The shadow-touched embody the complexity of corruption—seen as abominations by some, revealed as victims by others.
King Artos’ manipulation of prophecy, his orchestration of Anya’s branding, and his willingness to allow reapers through the Veil expose corruption at the highest levels of rule. In this world, darkness is not simply a supernatural threat but a metaphor for how power festers when left unchecked.
Wilder’s claims about Artos’ role in unleashing the blight destabilize long-held beliefs, forcing Thea to consider whether the real enemy lies not in shadow-born creatures but in the rulers who exploit fear for control. This theme invites readers to see corruption as not just external but systemic, embedded in the very institutions that claim to protect people.
Survival, Sacrifice, and Resilience
Thea’s trials, whether in the frozen forests, the sea battle, or the Great Rite, embody the theme of survival through sacrifice. Her refusal to rest, her climb up the Glacier’s Embrace, and her decision to sever her own hand during the Rite speak to an unyielding resilience that defines her character.
Survival is never passive—it is an active defiance against overwhelming odds. Sacrifice, too, is portrayed as inevitable; it is the price of victory, whether through bodily harm, loss of innocence, or strained relationships.
Wilder’s self-imposed capture to protect Thea from suspicion mirrors this willingness to suffer for a cause greater than oneself. The narrative insists that survival in such a world is not just endurance but a willingness to give up parts of the self—blood, trust, love—in pursuit of freedom.
Resilience emerges not only in battle but in Thea’s ability to rise after each betrayal, reclaim her storm magic, and redefine her purpose.
Fate and Free Will
Prophecy and destiny hover constantly over the characters, shaping how they see themselves and one another. Anya’s branding as the Daughter of Darkness, Thea’s role as storm-born heir, and Wilder’s designation as a fallen Warsword all highlight how fate is often a story imposed by others.
Yet, the characters resist being bound by these roles. Thea’s ultimate triumph in the Rite, where she refuses to choose between loved ones and instead summons her storm magic, is an act of defiance against the very idea of predetermined paths.
Fate in Fate and Furies is shown not as immutable but as something manipulated by rulers, guild masters, and even supernatural forces like the Furies. Free will, then, becomes the power to reject imposed narratives and reclaim agency.
This theme suggests that while fate may set the stage, it is choice that determines whether one becomes a pawn of prophecy or its challenger.