Charlie meets the goose girl, who communicates through her horse, Falada. She recognizes Bowditch as Adrian and remembers Radar as a puppy. Leah warns that Charlie must be silent, follow Adrian’s marks, and never enter the city at night. She calls Charlie “whole,” contrasts him with the gray, and forbids speaking a dangerous name that might hasten a waking threat.

Exhausted, Leah reveals her curse by opening a small lesion on her cheek to drink puree through a tube, emphasizing the pain and humiliation she endures. She identifies the sundial’s location in the stadium plaza behind the palace and says retrieving gold inside the city is far more dangerous. Leah acknowledges being the littlest princess and lists her dead siblings and parents, then directs Charlie to her uncle’s brick house near Seafront Road for more answers.

Leah explains Dora’s shoe tokens: travelers who give ruined shoes receive tokens for new footwear at her brother’s store. Charlie, homesick and worried about his father’s sobriety, briefly decides to turn back—until Leah’s gray maid grips his elbow and whispers, “Help her,” compelling him to commit to aiding both Leah and Radar.

On the road, Charlie meets a gray young couple with a dilapidated cart; he gives the barefoot man a token. They fear “wolfies” and hurry toward the farm and barn Dora drew for them, telling Charlie the land is called Empis. As dusk deepens and distant howls rise, Charlie hurries to Dora’s.

Radar greets him warmly, strengthening his resolve. At Dora’s, Charlie sees her treasured yellow sneakers from Bowditch and a photo of Bowditch with puppy Radar. They share stew; he doses Radar with pills. Wolf howls crescendo until Dora points out a rift revealing two racing moons, after which the howls cease. Charlie reflects on Empis’s curse, the northward exodus, and possible risks to himself, then falls asleep with Radar beside him.