Violet found herself in a storm-swept field before Draithus, initially believing she was running toward Tairn and a raging battle, but she realized the scene was one of Xaden's nightmares. When she recognized it as Xaden's dream, she separated from him within the dream-space rather than being part of his perspective.

The Sage appeared, revealed he was the one holding Xaden within the nightmare, and immobilized Xaden by choking him. The Sage demanded that Xaden bring "her," threatening to be a harsher "teacher" than Theophanie and declaring that even with restored wards, they held the advantage. He warned that if the demanded person was not delivered, "she" would come or die, echoing a coercive ultimatum.

Knowing the pattern of Xaden's dreams and that waking usually followed the Sage's strike, Violet chose to inflict pain on herself to force an awakening. She drew a dagger within the dream and cut her arm, which jolted her awake in bed at dawn. Xaden woke moments later, gasping but safe, and they confirmed that Violet had consciously entered and acted within his dream. Violet questioned how dream-walking remained possible without Andarna, and Xaden suggested the ability might persist even if the power was gone.

A pounding at the door interrupted them. Garrick arrived injured from patrol, bleeding and swelling from a recent fight. He reported that Theophanie, the enemy lightning wielder, had intercepted them, ripped them from the sky, and spared him to deliver a message: the enemy had reached Draithus’s walls and demanded that Bodhi and Violet present themselves within five hours or "she" would die.

As Xaden processed the demand, Garrick produced what he carried on his back. It was not a shield but a large green scale, the exact shade of Violet’s armor. Violet and Xaden realized the captive was Mira. The chapter ended with the stakes set: Theophanie had Mira and was using her to force a confrontation at Draithus.