Unable to sleep, Veya packs early for a secret trip to Arithia to search for Elluin’s diary instead of waiting to prepare properly. As she climbs through the mountain burrows, she is pulled back into childhood memories of Jógo, her mother’s beloved Sabersythe, who wasted away in grief after her mother died and eventually flew up to die before Veya’s eyes. Veya remembers that their father blamed her for that loss when she was young, a wound that still shapes how she thinks about guilt and mourning.

Near Rygun’s burrow, Veya finds Kaan packing for an urgent departure. A message has arrived saying Blóm, Chief Thron’s charmed beast, has gone rabid and already burned half a village after slaughtering livestock without feeding. Because the poison will keep corroding Blóm’s heart and put more settlements at risk, Kaan is leaving immediately to hunt the beast, with Grihm meant to follow behind if he can catch up. Veya understands the practical necessity, but she also knows killing a Sabersythe is emotionally brutal for Kaan.

Veya then confronts Kaan about taking Raeve to his private shrine and pushing her too quickly toward truths she is not ready to bear. She warns that if Raeve leaves, gets recognized by the twins, and falls under the influence of their tools, Dhomm could be exposed and destroyed. Kaan remains calm and says he is leaving for as long as thirty aurora cycles, partly because there is kingdom business elsewhere and partly because Raeve does not want him near her. When Veya accuses him of effectively helping Raeve flee, Kaan corrects her: Raeve never left the stronghold and instead headed toward the western point, meaning she is still somewhere inside Dhomm. That news hits Veya hard and confirms Elluin has not truly abandoned them.

Once Kaan notices Veya’s own travel pack, Veya admits she plans to go to Arithia to find Elluin’s diary because she needs answers Raeve cannot yet give. Kaan offers to go himself, but Veya argues that Tyroth would never let Kaan move freely through Arithia, while she can pass unseen. When Kaan points out that she claimed to have discarded the bangle that helps her do that, Veya lies and implies she still has it. She then deliberately shocks him with suggestive teasing about enjoying herself on the road until he gives in and allows her to go.

Their banter gives way to a darker truth beneath both missions. Veya reflects that Kaan will eventually have to tell Elluin that their father helped destroy her life by poisoning her family, and she fears that revelation could deepen Elluin’s growing bloodlust into something incurable, especially because their father is already dead by Kaan’s hand. With that danger hanging over them, Kaan mounts Rygun and departs to hunt Blóm, while Veya is left facing her own journey and the unstable future gathering around Elluin.