With Aja vanished into a crevasse, Darrow tries to stanch Ragnar’s mortal wounds while Mustang urges they cannot stay. Ragnar, bleeding out and apologetic, struggles to speak as Mustang scans the hills and Holiday limps in. Darrow clings to the hope of reaching the Spires, but he cannot save Ragnar.

Ragnar points skyward. A massive griffin descends, followed by twelve more bearing Obsidian women. Their leader, Sefi the Quiet, arrives with her Valkyries. Recognizing Ragnar, Sefi removes her helm and kneels, moved by his return. She dispatches four Valkyries down the crevasse to hunt Aja while the rest secure the pass.

Darrow asks to fly Ragnar to the Spires, but Sefi judges it too late. Ragnar accepts his end, confirms his men found Sefi, and privately warns Darrow in Aureate that words will not sway his mother. Sefi prepares to end Ragnar’s pain, but Ragnar insists Darrow do it, choosing to die among his friends.

Darrow promises Ragnar that the Obsidians will be freed. Ragnar rejects dying with an axe and urges Sefi to “live for more.” Darrow pierces Ragnar’s heart, and Ragnar dies beneath the cold lights of Phobos, leaving Sefi and the others in heavy silence as the Valkyries continue their hunt for Aja.