The chapter opens in the immediate aftermath of Henrey's direwolf turning on him. Anassa explains to Meryn that extreme pain can sever the rider-direwolf bond, and that the bite Jonah's wolf inflicted severed an artery—a fatal wound beyond the wolf's healing magic. The northern defensive line collapses as the Phylax scramble to contain the breach, while the Daemos forces surge forward. Meryn struggles to maintain pack unity through the torrent of horror flooding the shared consciousness, but with Anassa's help she pulls the shattered Strategos bond back together.

Meryn and her packmates realize the northern line cannot be salvaged while Henrey's maddened wolf rampages, and that the wolf cannot be stopped without killing it—which will also kill Henrey. Henrey, pinned and being torn apart, locks eyes with Meryn and mouths "Please." Anassa delivers three impossible truths: the defense cannot hold while the wolf rampages, the wolf can only be stopped by killing it, and a swift death would be a mercy. Meryn decides to break formation herself, ordering her pack to hold strategic position while she rides Anassa across the field.

Approaching from behind Henrey's wolf, Meryn dismounts and creeps close with her sword drawn. Anassa warns her that killing a friend—not an enemy, not in self-defense—will mark her soul permanently. Henrey, pale and fading, chokes out "Do it." Meryn slides beneath the wolf's legs and drives her blade between Henrey's ribs, killing him instantly. His direwolf releases a mournful howl and collapses dead beside him, their broken bond dragging it into death.

Meryn remounts Anassa, fighting the urge to hunt down Jonah for causing this. Anassa counsels her to stay focused on leading her pack. Meryn throws herself back into the battle with furious intensity. The remaining hours pass in a blur, and when the final horn sounds, the Strategos-led defense has achieved victory over Daemos. Aldrich announces the Unity Trials are complete, praising each pack's performance without acknowledging Henrey's death directly. He declares that surviving Rawbonds will be officially Bonded at tomorrow's graduation ceremony.

As Meryn dismounts, still numb from what she's done, she notices something strange: servants carrying Henrey's body are not heading toward the castle gates where fallen Rawbonds are normally prepared for return to their families. Instead, they carry him through a heavy iron-studded door on the far side of the arena, beyond which Meryn glimpses torchlight and stairs leading downward beneath the arena—near where the hidden crown might be buried. The chapter ends with Meryn wondering why Henrey's body is being taken underground.