In the Oracle’s sulfurous, bone-scented chamber, Hunt arrives burdened by last night’s execution and asks for confidentiality. The sphinx Oracle emerges from the smoke, and Hunt poses his question: why does someone want Luna’s Horn?

Breathing the fumes, the Oracle answers that the Horn is sought to open doorways between worlds—specifically to reopen the Northern Rift. She adds that while the Horn is broken, it can be repaired; however, both the method and the seeker’s identity are veiled from sight. The revelation shifts Hunt’s understanding of the Horn from a seal to a key, contingent on the bearer’s will.

The Oracle addresses Hunt as “Lord of Lightning” and then by his birth name, Orion Athalar, unsettling him with memories of his mother. She offers to reveal his future, but Hunt refuses. When the Oracle asks whether he wishes to know what she once saw for Bryce, he again declines, insisting it is Bryce’s business.

Before dismissing him, the Oracle says Hunt reminds her of something long lost and advises him to keep well away from Bryce Quinlan. Outside, Bryce and Ruhn wait, unaware of the warning and the expanded stakes surrounding the Horn’s purpose and possible repair.