In the Asteri prison, Aidas tells Hunt that Rigelus is probably harvesting Hunt’s lightning magic for its resurrection potential. Meanwhile, the Hammer and the Hawk have decided to kill Ruhn.

In Lunathion, Bryce returns to Midgard, landing in her father’s study. Her father, the Autumn King, immediately apprehends her with gorsian shackles—a special restraint that binds magic—and seizes Starsword and Truth-Teller. He interrogates her about the world she visited, claiming to want information for his personal research.

The Autumn King reveals that for the past five days, while Bryce was away, Ophion has been hemorrhaging members, but Ruhn and Hunt are still alive. In turn, Bryce tells him about Prythian, the Fae’s original home world. There, Fae are much stronger because they don’t have to pay a portion of their power to the Asteri in the Drop. She adds that she stole Truth-Teller to fulfill the prophecy of uniting the twin swords to unite their people.