Exhausted and cornered in Fornax, Deaglán tries every obvious way to survive: he pushes at the blocked exit, strikes the Aurora Columnae, and fights off the silver guardians with his blunted sword. When the Will in his blade becomes perceptible, Deaglán instinctively pulls that Will out, then uses a Harmonic connection on the guardian gripping him. His desperate commands make the statue stop, release him, and attack its twin; after it tears the other guardian’s head-symbol free, both silver bodies go still, and Deaglán finally has a moment to recover.

Knowing dawn is approaching and he is still trapped, Deaglán tests the now-docile guardian. He discovers he can command it well enough to open the sealed exit. Outside, however, hundreds of black statues have risen and are waiting for him; when Deaglán steps out alone, they charge in perfect unison and stop only when he retreats under the archway. He concludes he cannot fight through them, and his attempts to use the abandoned weapons in the pool only produce the same sickening judgment of UNWORTHY, convincing him that the trial has gone wrong or has unfolded in a way he does not understand.

Trying to salvage something useful, Deaglán orders the silver guardian to bring him proof that he passed the test. The statue responds by tearing the arm from its fallen counterpart and handing it to him, giving Deaglán a token marked with Fornax’s symbol that he hopes will satisfy Lir. When he asks whether the guardian can communicate, it gives no answer, but its earlier choice makes clear it can interpret his intent. Deaglán then commands it to get him safely out of Fornax.

The guardian ignores Deaglán’s dignity, hoists him over its shoulder, picks up the severed arm, and carries him through the city. As it walks, the black statues close in from every side but never cross an invisible boundary around the silver figure; instead, they match its pace exactly, surrounding Deaglán in an immense, silent escort. After a long, terrifying passage and with dawn nearly upon them, the guardian abruptly reaches the city’s edge, throws Deaglán across the boundary, and tosses the silver arm after him. When sunlight strikes Fornax, the city begins to sink again, and Deaglán runs for the shore while the statues remain motionless and disappear beneath the water.

Deaglán reaches Lir and drops the engraved silver arm before him. Lir is shaken, calling it a great gift and reacting with visible fear or alarm at what Deaglán has brought out of Fornax. Before Deaglán can make sense of that response, armed figures emerge from the trees and block his escape. They throw down the shattered remains of his spear, and Gallchobhar steps forward, greets him as Leathfhear, and reveals that Deaglán has escaped one ordeal only to walk into a new confrontation.