Euyn and Mikail push through the night on the road to Tile, riding unreliable horse-camel “hamels” they traded for after their original horses collapsed in the heat. They refuse to speak or light a lantern, watching the sky and relying on distant city lights and starlight because traveling uncovered this far from a city center is dangerous.

A loud caw confirms Euyn’s fear: a samroc is hunting nearby. Mikail orders Euyn to dismount, and they run while dragging the hamels by their reins, hoping to reach Tile before the bird closes in. Realizing the hamels will slow them and make them easy prey, both men abandon the reins; moments later, a samroc seizes a hamel and begins eating it alive behind them.

Instead of continuing straight for Tile, Mikail yanks Euyn off the road toward a rocky outcrop and a nearby tunnel entrance. As they sprint for it, a second samroc dives in—one with iridescent neck feathers that mark it as a mother—snatching at Mikail and knocking him down.

Euyn tries to protect Mikail with his crossbow, firing at the samroc’s chest and neck from close range, but the bolts bounce harmlessly off the bird’s armored feathers. With Mikail injured and the samroc poised to take him, Euyn forces himself to attempt a nearly impossible shot at the creature’s eye, using moonlight to find the target, and manages to hit it.

The wounded samroc’s scream is deafening but it does not die; instead, it becomes enraged and draws attention from its mate. Euyn throws aside the crossbow, hoists Mikail onto his back, and runs for the tunnel. The samroc catches Euyn by the shirt, but Mikail hauls him inside, ripping the fabric free. Trapped at the entrance, the samroc screams and stares into the tunnel with its remaining good eye, leaving Euyn with the chilling sense it will remember and hunt him later.