Iris throws herself into the firing line just as the Graveyard executes Dacre’s captured soldiers. The other men are shot, but Roman is spared because the masked gunman aimed at Iris does not fire. Iris confronts the executioners, declares Roman innocent, and presents his letter as proof that he secretly warned Enva’s forces about Dacre’s plans. The Graveyard’s apparent leader questions whether Roman is truly the informant known as R., but Keegan steps forward, backs Iris’s claim, and argues that the prisoners deserve humane treatment and lawful judgment rather than summary execution.

Once the rifles are lowered and Enva’s soldiers intervene, Iris rushes to Roman. Roman is physically and emotionally shattered, marked by blood and injuries, and he breaks down in Iris’s arms. Iris reassures Roman that he is safe, and the two weep together after narrowly escaping his death.

Roman later regains full awareness in a hospital bed. After describing his symptoms and his exposure to gas at Avalon Bluff, Roman is told by a doctor that scar tissue in his lungs is making it hard for him to breathe and is also straining his heart. The condition cannot be cured, only managed, and may eventually prove fatal. Roman is further distressed to learn that former soldiers are being held under the new chancellor’s orders, though the doctor assures him she knows he is not truly one of Dacre’s men. Unable to see Iris or go home, Roman is left frightened and isolated.

Three days after the bombing, Iris throws herself into rescue and recovery work across ruined Oath, helping clear rubble, identify the dead, and support the city’s attempts to rebuild basic services and reconnect separated families through the Tribune. She keeps working partly because she has not yet found Forest and partly because the hospital has refused to let her visit Roman. Near dusk, on a badly damaged southern street, workers uncover Forest and Sarah’s bodies beneath the debris. Forest had tried to shield Sarah, but both died with their hands entwined, and Iris collapses under the weight of losing not only them but the future they would never have.