Mustang tends Darrow’s lashes in the warroom as they trade barbs. At dawn, Darrow organizes six three-person scout squads with crackling commUnits and sets a southern course to find House Apollo, honoring his promise to Fitchner. Winter slows cavalry, but Darrow presses on, spotting Jupiter’s flag over Juno and shadowy Pluto scouts led by bone-adorned Lilath. A larger Apollo warband appears.

When Apollo’s Primus, Novas, rides out, Darrow stages his army as hapless and undisciplined. Novas offers mercenary shelter and alliance against the Jackal, then insults and slaps Darrow when he refuses. That night, expecting a raid, Darrow has Pax weaken the river ice; Apollo’s cavalry plunges through in the dark, forcing MedBots and losses. Darrow avoids pitched battle, continuing south while baiting and bleeding Apollo’s small scout parties.

On the march, Mustang notes Darrow’s sleeplessness; their rapport warms, and she implies he left her side needlessly. Tactus, newly obedient after the lashes, quietly confronts Darrow about Proctors following in ghostCloaks and gravBoot trails; Darrow urges him to help destroy Apollo for answers. Around campfires, Pax entertains with stories as morale holds.

Sabotage mounts: all horses vanish, their ropes torn; soup pots crack; bread is worm-ridden. Darrow conceals his suspicion that Proctors are responsible while Mustang doesn’t press. That night, Mustang asks why Cassius betrayed him; Darrow admits he killed Julian in the Passage and that Proctors revealed it via the Jackal, confirming cheating in the South.

Later, a voice mimicking Mustang lures Darrow into the woods. Sensing a trap, Darrow climbs a tree. Proctor Apollo decloaks beside him, taunts him, and shoves him to the ground. As Darrow falls into the snow, a massive beast roars in the dark, leaving him under direct Proctor assault.