Under the Bog of Oorid, the Mask stops Nesta’s pain and need for air, and through its eyeholes she sees the kelpie clearly. The Mask’s power lets her sense the countless dead buried in the bog, along with their old weapons and armor. Instead of unleashing all of them, Nesta chooses control and calls only what she needs, embracing the Mask’s cold magic rather than resisting it.

When the kelpie attacks again, Nesta uses the dead to fight for her. Skeletal and half-decayed warriors seize the creature from every side, and Nesta, thinking of the times violence was done to her and she could only endure it, decides this time she will be the one acting. She commands the dead to tear the kelpie apart, showing no mercy after its assault on her.

Above the water, Cassian searches frantically for Nesta while Azriel flies overhead looking for any sign of her. Cassian finds evidence of her terror at the water’s edge and panics when neither he nor Azriel can locate her or contact Rhys. As they wade deeper into the black water, golden light begins to glow below the surface.

Then a legion of dead warriors rises from the bog, armed and armored, and kneels as Nesta emerges wearing the golden Mask. She holds the severed head of the kelpie, and the force coming from her is so overwhelming that Cassian and Azriel instinctively bow rather than challenge it. In that moment, the Mask makes Nesta seem like Death itself, with the dead existing only to obey her will.

When Nesta removes the Mask, the undead collapse back into the water at once and the power vanishes. Nesta also loses her strength and begins to sink, but Cassian catches her and carries her back to shore while Azriel stands guard. Once safe, Nesta’s eyes return to normal, and she clutches the Mask while shaking violently until Cassian holds her through the aftermath and she finally falls unconscious.