Deaglán fights Gallchobhar with a spear before a crowd of warriors and quickly realizes the mismatch is severe. Gallchobhar is bigger, more skilled, and using Will, and Deaglán can barely keep up with the attacks. After Gallchobhar wounds Deaglán in the shoulder and then drives a spear into the back of his leg, Deaglán appears close to defeat.

Instead of collapsing, Deaglán suddenly speaks strange words with a conviction that does not feel like his own. The accusations shock Gallchobhar and the audience, and Deaglán briefly fights with unnatural clarity, reading Gallchobhar’s movements and even landing a strike. That advantage vanishes as blood loss and pain return. When King Rónán orders the duel stopped, Gallchobhar ignores the command long enough to slash Deaglán across the chest, but Rónán finally halts him and Lir tends Deaglán’s wounds as consciousness fades.

The next several days pass in a drugged blur while Deaglán is moved by horse and then by ship. When he fully wakes, he finds himself at sea aboard a small coastal vessel, wounded but healing and no longer restrained. On deck he meets Neasa, who tells him they are sailing to Loch Traenala, a Bródúil warrior school, and that the journey will take weeks.

Neasa explains that four days have passed since the duel and that Gallchobhar has been exiled. According to her, the druid declared that the dead champion Artán spoke through Deaglán and accused Gallchobhar of murder, confirming long-standing suspicions around Artán’s death. Neasa also says Lir wants Deaglán taught the Tongue, but she makes clear that learning will not spare him from labor: despite his injuries, he must work and row if he wants to reach Loch Traenala.