After leaving Karrðarskogur, Emily climbs into the fells north of Hrafnsvik to survey the wider landscape. From a mountain summit, she studies the surrounding valleys, boulders, water, and fungi, recording possible faerie thresholds and defining a practical boundary for her research. Pleased with her progress and convinced she has already contacted one or more common fae, she returns to the village hungry but satisfied with the day’s work.

At the tavern, Emily finds nearly the whole village assembled. Krystjan jokes at her expense outside, while Finn escorts her inside and helps introduce her to the villagers, including Lilja Johannasdottir, who has a supposed faerie door behind her house. Emily notices a pattern of hesitation when she asks to investigate local sites, and Finn repeatedly smooths over the villagers’ discomfort. When Emily speaks with the headwoman, Aud Hallasdottir, and mentions Aud’s expertise on the Hidden Ones, both Aud and Finn react awkwardly, suggesting Emily has touched on a sensitive subject she does not yet understand.

Emily is seated near the fire with Thora Gudridsdottir, an extremely old and blunt woman. Thora tells Emily that the villagers ridicule her as a foolish outsider obsessed with faeries and are betting on how long she will survive in Hrafnsvik. Yet Thora also makes clear that she does not share their contempt: she has read Emily’s papers and recognizes that Emily has encountered the Folk before and lived. Their exchange leaves Emily unsettled but also confirms that at least one villager takes her knowledge seriously.

The mood darkens when Aud’s niece, Auður, enters the tavern in a broken, dissociated state. Auður only eats and drinks when Aud commands her to, and Aud asks Emily not to include Auður in her book. From Auður’s condition, Emily infers that the young woman has been damaged by the Hidden Ones, but what she sees does not match any familiar case; Auður seems terrifyingly empty rather than merely traumatized. When Emily asks questions, Thora implies that others have been taken and never returned, deepening Emily’s sense that the local faerie danger is more serious than she had realized.

Back at the cottage, Emily tries to distract herself by settling in for the evening, only to discover she is nearly out of firewood. She goes to the woodshed in the snow, but the wood has not been cut into stove-sized logs. Cold, exhausted, and increasingly frustrated, Emily attempts to split a trunk segment with an axe, misses repeatedly, and finally leaves the axe embedded in the wood. Defeated, she returns inside, uses the last of the fuel, piles blankets on the bed, and ends the night shaken by both Auður’s condition and her own practical unpreparedness.