Gabriel and Dior travel north along a barren road in northern Ossway, passing abandoned villages and mass graves as winter tightens its grip. They banter about renaming their mare, with Dior needling Gabriel about his old choice of "Lionclaw" for his sword. Gabriel notes the empire’s decline and lends Ashdrinker to Dior for night watches to keep her alert, as they continue toward the Nordlund with hopes of finding safety and allies.

Reaching the Ròdaerr River, they find the bridge destroyed and the river only partially frozen. Gabriel warns that Wintersdeep will speed Danton’s pursuit across frozen rivers, making San Michon unreachable before they are overtaken. He proposes a detour to Château Aveléne on the Mère, hinting at a force there powerful enough to burn Danton. Despite warnings about the northern weald, they commit to this plan, and Dior volunteers to test the ice first.

Gabriel gives Dior his silversteel dagger and instructs her on safe ice crossing. Dior successfully scouts a zigzag path across the ice. Gabriel then leads the mare onto the river, following Dior’s route. As they near the middle, three wretched—an old man, a boy, and a young woman—approach across the ice behind them, turning a cautious crossing into a crisis.

Spooked by the scent of the Dead, the mare bolts, shattering the thinner ice. Gabriel runs, but the ice collapses beneath him; Ashdrinker skitters out of reach, and he plunges into the freezing current. Swept under the ice and away from his entry hole, he fights for breath, unable to find purchase without his dagger, and begins to black out.

Dior reaches him from above, using Ashdrinker to smash the ice. At Ashdrinker’s urging, she spears the blade through the ice and into Gabriel to hold him against the current so he can punch through. Thinking of Astrid and Patience, Gabriel smashes his fist until the ice cracks, and with Dior’s grip and the blade withdrawn, he surfaces, gasping and bleeding.

Dior gives Gabriel sanctus from his pipe, easing his wounds and shock. They bicker briefly over the stabbing before Gabriel begrudgingly thanks her. Dior reports the three wretched fell through the ice and "melted" without a sound. Their mare drags herself out as well, shaken but alive.

Recognizing their unlikely luck, Dior and Gabriel agree on a new name for the mare: Fortuna.