During two days of cold rain in Velaris, Cassian takes Nesta alone to a small blacksmith’s shop after the other trainees cannot come. He wants Nesta to understand that a blade is made through patience, craft, and discipline rather than existing only as a weapon. Nesta is unusually polite with the blacksmith, listens closely to the forging process, and then asks to try hammering blades herself.

At first, Nesta’s blows are clumsy, and the heat and popping coals make her flinch. She persists, though, and steadily improves as she works on a sword, then a dagger, and finally a greatsword. By the end, Nesta moves with remarkable control and intensity, hammering in a near-trancelike rhythm that makes Cassian feel that something important is taking shape inside her.

The next day, that change carries into training. Nesta, Gwyn, and Emerie practice with sharper focus than before, and Nesta keeps to herself after only quietly thanking Cassian for the blacksmith lesson. When sword practice ends, Cassian allows Nesta to spend the last part of training striking the padded punching block, and Nesta throws herself into it as a way to drive out fear, rage, self-loathing, and restless energy that has consumed her for three days.

Nesta loses herself in the punching, barely noticing anything around her, including Lucien’s arrival. Lucien, sent by Feyre to see how Nesta is progressing, watches with unease and warns that some things should perhaps not be awakened, which angers Cassian. Nesta then lands a final devastating blow that splinters the block, turns toward them with a flash of silver fire in her eyes, and leaves without speaking. When Cassian examines the impact point, he finds an ember-like burn mark in wood that is somehow ice-cold; the entire block then collapses into cinders, confirming that Nesta’s power is surfacing in a dangerous new way.