Luzia and Teoda realize they must act quickly before Luzia is taken for more interrogation and water torture. Luzia abandons the hope that Santángel will rescue her and decides she would rather fight and be hunted than submit. Teoda manages to get a message to her brother, Ovidio, by convincing the guard Rudolfo that Luzia can perform a love spell to win Mariposa Baldera, giving them leverage to pass notes.

They debate involving Neva, but Neva makes her position clear: she already knows they are plotting and refuses to participate, wanting only to go home to her children. Teoda worries about waiting for papers, but Luzia insists they leave as soon as possible. Four days after the toca, they prepare at night, wash up to look respectable, and wait for the signal while counting bells and listening to the prison settle.

When a different, clanking bell sounds, Luzia uses a refrán to open their cell door and they slip into the dark passage without raising an alarm. Guided by Ovidio’s map, they reach the door separating the cells from the prison’s entrance. To create a distraction, Luzia sings another saying and conjures a terrifying, building roar from the cells, loud enough to draw the guards toward the commotion.

As torchlight and guards rush into the passage, Luzia and Teoda slip past into the now-unmanned entry and meet Ovidio. He gets them into the courtyard and retrieves hidden clothing: a uniform for himself, a cloak for Teoda, and a fresh gown for Luzia. Disguised as respectable visitors, they hurry to the gates where two guards challenge them. Ovidio improvises a story about escorting secret visitors from a cleric, then pays a bribe to be let through.

At the threshold, one guard grabs Luzia, notices her callused hands, and realizes the disguise does not fit. Ovidio orders Luzia to go and kills the guard holding her, but the second guard calls for arms; soldiers flood in. Ovidio is quickly run through and collapses as Teoda screams.

Luzia forces herself to choose who can survive: she blocks the way with rising cobblestones, separating herself from Teoda and the soldiers, buying time for an outrider to shove Teoda into the coach and flee. Luzia tries to hold the magic steady despite fear pulling her toward escape, but she is struck from behind, beaten, and loses the song as darkness takes her, hoping it is enough that Teoda got free.