Viv and Gallina ride a slow mule cart back toward Murk, Viv consumed with dread that Varine's wights are descending on her friends. Hearing alarm bells in the distance, Viv leaps from the wagon, hoists Gallina onto her back, and sprints the final stretch into town. At Thistleburr, she sends Gallina to check on Fern, then races to Sea-Song to confirm Maylee's safety, kissing her urgently and ordering her to arm herself, lock the door, and stay alert.

Approaching the city walls, Viv finds the gate unguarded and the streets choked with wights battling outnumbered Gatewardens. Satchel reanimates from his bones, insisting Iridia cannot harm him and pressing Viv to retrieve Varine's black book first. Viv plows through revenants with Blackblood, exhilarated by the violence in a way that unsettles a small part of her, recognizing she has slipped back into her old warrior self.

Viv reaches Iridia at the Gatewardens' bastion. After a tense exchange, Iridia agrees to hand over the book in exchange for Viv's help pushing back the undead. Inside the garrison, Iridia unseals a warded vault and retrieves the canvas-wrapped tome. Satchel laments that with the wards broken, Varine can now perceive them clearly. Viv opens the book and dog-ears a page in the middle.

When they return to the street, the wights have frozen. Their heads turn in unison toward Viv, and Varine speaks through their mouths, expressing her pleasure at meeting Viv soon, in person. The minions collapse, and Viv now knows exactly where the necromancer is.