Darrow follows Mustang’s fading flare under the ice, carves through the surface, and pulls Mustang out with Ragnar in tow. Parasitic, many-mouthed sea creatures cling to Mustang and Ragnar; Holiday shoots one while Darrow slices them off and drags both to safety.

Ragnar isn’t breathing, so Darrow performs CPR as Holiday, injured and doped on painkillers, helps. After tense moments, Ragnar coughs up water and revives, quipping, “Not yet, Allmother. Not yet.” The group takes brief shelter in a ravine, shivering around weak thermal flares.

They inventory meager supplies: a few rations, minimal heat sources, a blanket, a flare gun, a rifle, and razors—nowhere near enough for the lethal cold and dehydration. The storm is two hours out and will plunge temperatures to deadly lows. With satellites blind and Asgard’s jamming blocking communications, no rescue is coming.

Ragnar explains this is the season of the Eaters—castout human predators—while Mustang presses for a way to contact allies. They infer the pursuing ship is likely Cassius’s; Holiday even questions a leak, which Mustang rejects. Ragnar reveals he fired a sarissa missile during the fall, likely downing their pursuers deeper in the mountains.

With time short, they decide to cross the mountains and seize the crashed enemy’s survival kit. Holiday, a former Thirteenth legion dragoon, notes PFR requires ample gear aboard. Ragnar and Holiday prepare to move, but Mustang hesitates, voicing a final fear: if Cassius is there, Aja might be with him.