The chapter opened in the torture cell where Gabriel de León was chained and bleeding, and Dior Lachance, armed with Ashdrinker, confronted Inquisitor Talya. Dior’s sword form was poor, but Ashdrinker guided her; she disarmed Talya’s whip, forcing Talya to switch to a hammer and call for help. During the melee, Talya landed a blow on Dior, but when Talya closed on Gabriel, he ensnared Talya’s neck with his legs, creating an opening for Dior to drive Ashdrinker through Talya’s torso, killing her.

The scent and sight of blood triggered Gabriel’s thirst, but Dior grabbed his pipe, dumped sanctus into it, and told him to breathe. The sacrament hit Gabriel hard, giving him temporary relief and strength. Dior used Talya’s key to free Gabriel from his chains, brusquely ordering him to dress, while she gathered sanctus phials and the portable foundry; she was wounded and bloodied from her own captivity.

Alarm bells began ringing through the priory, signaling Dior’s escape; inquisitorial troops and city soldiers converged. Dior tossed Gabriel Ashdrinker and led him from the cell. They passed another dead inquisitorial cohort member—felled by a single sword stroke—whom Gabriel noticed but Dior refused to discuss. Internal voices (Gabriel’s bond with Ashdrinker) noted Dior’s fire and likeness to a younger Gabriel.

They reached the priory’s ground floor as torches and boots filled the courtyard, so Dior diverted into a stairwell and then the kitchens. Dior grabbed a sack already prepared with food, revealing she had planned to flee but had returned to free Gabriel. A distant scream suggested Inquisitor Valya had discovered Talya’s body, heightening the danger.

Skirting the walls, they encountered young city troops arriving. At a clothesline, Dior threw Gabriel a nun’s habit and veil; both disguised themselves as San Cleyland sisters and slipped to the battlements. Gabriel, empowered by sanctus despite his shredded back, carried Dior on his shoulders and climbed down a forty-foot wall to the street below.

Moving through Redwatch amid snowfall and clanging bells, they reached the docks. Dior proposed stealing a boat; Gabriel briefly raided a shop for cloaks and blankets, leaving coin behind. Dior had already launched a rowboat, and Gabriel leapt aboard. They rowed into the Volta, the city’s alarms fading behind them, and made landfall on the north bank through ice-choked shallows.

On shore, Dior sat wordless, battered and pale, while Gabriel offered a hand. Though shaken, she asserted her resilience—having fought to defend him, returned to rescue him, and endured torture without breaking—and refused help with, “I’ve got me,” before leaping onto the frozen shore.