Tharion, who secretly works intelligence for the River Queen, searches Sofie Renast's hacked email account because the River Queen wants the matter kept quiet. As he reads through ordinary messages from Sofie's past, he focuses on anything connected to Emile or Sofie's plans after escaping Pangera. While racing against the time limit on how long he can stay out of the water in human form, he finds strange messages about "Dusk's Truth" and "Project Thurr," along with a draft mentioning a safe place in Lunathion "where the weary souls find relief from their suffering."

Tharion traces the sender of those messages and is shocked to learn the account belongs to Danika Fendyr. That discovery links Danika to Sofie and suggests Danika may have helped arrange a hiding place in Crescent City. Tharion wonders whether Sofie meant to pass that location to Emile and whether either sibling might still be alive and heading toward a reunion.

After briefly submerging to maintain his mer form, Tharion checks incoming field reports and finds a major lead: a small abandoned boat in the Nelthian Marshes near Lunathion contains a child-sized life vest marked Bodegraven and the scent of a young human male. Believing Emile must have been aboard, Tharion travels to the marshes and inspects the vessel. He finds signs that a child intentionally landed the boat there rather than drifting helplessly, which strengthens the idea that Emile reached the city area on purpose.

Tharion then discovers blood, a severed human arm, and evidence of Ophion's elite Lightfall unit in the reeds, indicating armed rebels were also tracking Emile and that one of them was killed by a marsh predator. Inside the boat, Tharion finds a map showing the marshes and a route toward Crescent City, suggesting Emile fled on foot toward the city. Realizing the boy may lead him to Sofie or other hidden allies, Tharion orders his officers to search from the marshes toward Lunathion, stay armed, and shadow Emile if they find him instead of grabbing him immediately.