After the harrowing ice wall climb, Meryn, Izabel, and Venna reach the mountain's ridgeline—not the true peak, but a place with scattered trees offering slight shelter from the wind. They rest, eating hardtack and jerky while carefully rationing their water. Izabel and Venna confer in sign language, and Izabel voices how different it is to actually witness people dying compared to merely knowing the statistics. Meryn agrees. From the ridge, they can see the Bonded City's spires, the castle, the forest they crossed, and the king's roads stretching in every direction.

In her exhaustion, Meryn accidentally reveals her true reason for being on the mountain: her sister Saela was taken by the Nabbers. She tells the twins about the disappearances plaguing Eastern and all of Sturmfrost—kidnappings the Bonded City residents had no knowledge of. Izabel expresses sympathy and starts oversharing about her own bond with Venna before being playfully cut off. Meryn also spots another group on the ridge, including Henrey, a commoner she recognizes who is determined to forge a bond.

Venna notices an approaching storm and urges them to move immediately. Rather than descending into the valley like Henrey's group, they follow the ridgeline as it curves back toward the peak—a less direct but less vertical route. The blizzard hits them with brutal speed once they're forced back onto ice. They communicate through rope-tug signals Izabel taught Meryn. Screams of falling climbers echo through the storm, reinforcing the danger of moving too fast. Meryn's body is in agony, and her mind drifts to memories of training with Igor, reading to Saela, caring for her mother, and kissing Lee.

Izabel signals she can see the top, and one by one they haul themselves over the edge. But before Meryn can orient herself in the whiteout, a huge hand grabs her throat—it's Jonah, the man who wanted to kill Izabel earlier, lying in ambush with an accomplice. Jonah chokes Meryn and calls her a "gutter slut." Meryn feigns defeat, then explodes into action using Igor's fighting combinations. She elbows the man behind her, headbutts him, and uses her crampons as weapons. One attacker flees after taking multiple blows. Jonah attacks with an ice pick and slashes Meryn, but she sweeps his legs, stomps his hand to disarm him, and lands a devastating roundhouse kick that sends him stumbling backward into the storm. Meryn doesn't know if he fell off the cliff, and she finds she hopes he did.

Izabel and Venna emerge from the snow. Venna's shoulder is wounded and bleeding—she was also attacked. With Venna's arm effectively out of commission, the group faces a grim reality: Venna can't climb much longer. Izabel grimly says they'd better be close to the summit, and leads them onward. Meryn resolves that even though she doesn't want to bond, she won't let the twins fail now.