Oraya begins the night with a nightmare from her childhood, remembering the moonless sky and the winged darkness that came for her family. She wakes in the Crescent trial, violently sick in a black, smoky forest where the air and rising fumes burn her lungs and skin. Disoriented but alert, she kills a crazed attacker and realizes the trial has placed the starving contestants in a lethal wilderness rather than the colosseum.

As Oraya studies the area, she notices vampires feeding on deer and assumes the prey might be a useful distraction. That assumption collapses when she watches two vampires lose control, convulse, and tear each other apart with a level of madness worse than ordinary bloodlust. From that, Oraya understands Nyaxia's trap: after starving the competitors, the goddess has filled the forest with easy prey whose blood is poisoned, turning desperate vampires into feral monsters.

The realization immediately shifts Oraya's goal. Instead of focusing only on survival or the unknown objective of the trial, she thinks of Raihn and runs to find him before he drinks. She locates him hunting in full bloodlust, wings out and moving like a predator, after apparently killing a Shadowborn opponent.

When Oraya sees that Raihn is chasing a deer, she throws herself into his path despite knowing a blood-crazed vampire could kill her. Raihn hesitates at the sight of her, and Oraya uses that opening to tackle him, exploit his known weaknesses in combat, and pin him down. She threatens him, calls him back to himself, and refuses to yield until he regains control and recognizes her.

Once Raihn returns to himself, Oraya quickly explains the situation: they are in the Crescent trial, the animals are poisoned, and everyone who feeds is going insane. Raihn's brief return to his usual dry sarcasm reassures her, but she also notices that he is wounded and still badly weakened by hunger. With dawn approaching, Oraya helps support his injured body as they leave to find shelter and decide their next move, showing that despite their earlier break, she still chooses to save him.