Nesta crosses the valley away from the sleeping warriors and realizes Gwyn and Emerie are not among them. Remembering Cassian’s explanation of the Blood Rite’s three dumping grounds, she deduces that she was placed in the west and that her friends must be in the north and south. She briefly hopes Cassian might come for her, but forces herself to accept that no rescue is possible because the Rite’s laws would mean death for anyone who intervened.

As Nesta studies her surroundings, she notices that her cuts are not healing and understands that the Rite suppresses both magic and faerie healing, making every injury dangerous. When the other warriors begin waking behind her, she prepares to flee and then notices that the silver charm on the bracelet she Made with Gwyn and Emerie is glowing. By testing different directions, Nesta realizes the bracelet can still act as a beacon inside the Rite and that the strongest pull points north, where one of her friends is in immediate danger.

The discovery gives Nesta a crucial insight: although the Rite suppresses ordinary magic, it has not fully neutralized Made objects. She also realizes that while her own power is inaccessible, the magic still recognizes her as a person rather than merely a Made thing, which steadies her sense of self. Determined to save her friends, Nesta hides the glowing bracelet, checks the stolen knife, and heads north despite her lack of food, water, shelter, and proper boots.

As Nesta climbs through the forest, she begins thinking more strategically, trying to move quietly and leave little trace in case other warriors are hunting nearby. Her caution proves justified when an arrow flies past her, confirming that weapons have been placed in the Rite beyond the knife she already took. Nesta retrieves the arrow, creeps forward, and is immediately confronted at close range by another armed warrior who orders her to stand.

Elsewhere, Cassian and Azriel search the lands around the queens’ former castle, now effectively Briallyn’s stronghold, trying to find the captured Eris. Cassian sees no sign of Eris and struggles to stay focused because his thoughts keep returning to Nesta, Gwyn, and Emerie in the Blood Rite. Unable to help them directly, Cassian resolves to keep searching and refuses to let himself accept any outcome in which they do not survive.