After the bomb explodes at Dacre’s speech, Iris flees through the dark streets of Oath, injured, disoriented, and terrified. She reaches the museum just before its doors magically lock for the night, believing it will protect her from the violence outside. As her shock ebbs, Iris remembers the museum has a night guard and tries to hide, but she is discovered by a middle-aged woman who surprisingly offers help instead of turning her out.

The guard brings Iris to the museum office, removes glass from Iris’s injured foot, bandages it, and gives her tea. During their conversation, the woman speaks cryptically about the museum as a refuge, about once playing music, and about not being originally from Oath. Iris grows drowsy under the woman’s care and falls asleep wrapped in a blanket.

In a dreamlike vision, the woman leads Iris through the museum and shows her an enchanted sword once given to King Draven, explaining that it can kill divines if the wielder first offers it blood. The woman then guides Iris into a deeper, unreal passage that becomes part of a hidden realm, where she speaks of a locked door, the heart of the realm, and the need for a key. As the dream continues, she reveals more of her history: she was bound to Oath through her vow with her husband, Alzane, and can no longer leave the city.

On a grassy hillside within the vision, the woman finally reveals that she is Enva. Enva explains that Dacre wants to kill her and absorb her powers, which would make him unstoppable. She also says that in trying to keep Dacre from harvesting the powers of other divines, she weakened her own gifts, leaving her unable to fight him directly. Enva insists that Iris already has the pieces needed to defeat Dacre, but warns that if Dacre becomes the last divine and is later killed, magic itself will fade from the world.

The dream begins to dissolve as Iris understands who Enva is and realizes she has mistaken Enva’s presence for memories of her mother. Enva encourages Iris, telling her that mortals are stronger than they know. Iris wakes in the museum office before dawn to find clean clothes, fresh tea, and the jeweled sword from the dream leaning against the wall. Understanding that Enva’s visit was real and purposeful, Iris takes Draven’s sword into her hand.