At dawn, Cassian wakes Nesta with food and immediately sets a hard tone for the day. He tells her they will hike from dawn to dusk with only two stops, gives her a heavy pack to carry because his wings prevent him from wearing it, and orders her to wash the dishes later at the river. Nesta obeys without protest, physically sore, emotionally numb, and convinced that nothing Cassian does can repair what is broken inside her.

They begin climbing and crossing the mountain in silence. Nesta struggles under the pack and the terrain, first with the ascent and then with the more dangerous descent toward the river below. The mountain path forces her to move carefully while Cassian advances with the ease of a warrior who knows the land and has wings as a safeguard. Through heat, exhaustion, and pain, Nesta keeps walking, saying nothing.

At the river, they stop for a brief lunch of bread and cheese. Nesta drinks desperately from the cold water and collapses on the grass, drained. Cassian gives her thirty minutes to rest and tells her to refill a canteen, warning that if she faints she could fall and shatter every bone in her body.

Nesta does not answer, but Cassian sees in her expression that part of her would welcome that outcome. He realizes with shock and dread that Nesta does not merely hate herself in an abstract way; she hates herself enough to wish she could stop existing. That understanding changes the meaning of the entire journey for him, because he recognizes that returning her to Velaris would not solve the deeper danger.

After the break, Cassian resumes the march and Nesta follows in the same heavy silence. In his point of view, Cassian reflects on the history of these mountains, remembering that Mor once said this region and the lake ahead were ancient places of healing for people wounded in body and spirit. He concludes that some instinct led him to bring Nesta here in hopes that the land itself might help her begin to recover, though he is uncertain whether it will be enough.