Fueled by anger and a long-suppressed need to act, Viv strides out of the bookshop after the gray-cloaked man, leaving her saber behind but armed with her walking staff. She catches up to him on the boardwalk and confronts him, demanding to know what he was doing in Thistleburr. He feigns innocence, but Viv detects a familiar, unsettling scent on him—something cold and coppery, reminiscent of the forest where she was wounded.

When his demeanor shifts, Viv attacks first, disarming one dagger but getting her injured leg hooked out from under her. They grapple, and she pins him, but he activates a magestone at his belt, blasting her across the street. Her leg wound tears open. She lunges back and tries to wrestle the magestone belt from him.

Gallina arrives unexpectedly, pressing a poniard to the man's throat and instructing Viv to remove the belt to prevent further casting. Viv frees the magestone just as Iridia, the tapenti Gatewarden, arrives with four others and arrests all three combatants.

Viv and Gallina are locked in one cell, the gray-cloaked man in another. Iridia confiscates their weapons and the magestone, says she'll send word to Highlark, and refuses to discuss anything until tomorrow. Viv reluctantly thanks Gallina, who teases her about needing rescue and angles again for inclusion with Rackam's Ravens.

The man in gray remains eerily still and silent, ignoring Viv's questions. To pass the time, Viv begins telling Gallina about Rackam—describing him as a brilliant fighter and a stoic uncle figure—and shares small anecdotes about the Ravens, revealing how much she misses them.