On the wave-tossed deck of the Depth Charger, Bryce and Hunt face the towering wall of mist that guards Avallen. Commander Sendes explains the ship cannot pass: there is no mist underwater, but an invisible, solid barrier that seems naturally occurring, as if Midgard itself created it. Bryce notes the mists resemble those around the Bone Quarter and wonders why the Asteri cannot cross.

Baxian suggests he and Hunt fly recon along the mist wall, but Ruhn arrives with Flynn and Dec, followed by Tharion and Lidia. Bryce offers brief comfort to an exhausted Tharion, while Lidia silently watches the mists, her composure strained by thoughts of the sons she left behind. Bryce apologizes that Lidia cannot stay with them, and Lidia quietly accepts the sympathy, while Ruhn watches without comment.

Realizing Ruhn, Flynn, and Dec have been here before, Bryce asks how to get inside Avallen. Ruhn explains entry usually requires an invitation from Morven, but during his Ordeal he learned that possessing the Starsword grants entry privileges. At Ruhn’s urging, Bryce draws the Starsword, and a triangular doorway opens in the mist—like the one in Silene’s caves.

A white boat carved with a stag’s head prow glides out through the opening, and a deep male voice speaks through it: Morven welcomes Bryce Danaan and says he has been expecting her. As the group begins boarding, the moment shifts into Tharion’s perspective as he realizes staying behind on the Depth Charger will end badly for him.

Choosing flight over whatever punishment awaits, Tharion vaults over the rail into the white boat, stunning the others. Flynn immediately follows, urging the boat to go, while Sendes shouts that she will be killed for it. Tharion taunts that Sendes would have to breach the mists first, and the boat slips into the dense fog; inside, the strange sense of power vanishes. Facing his friends’ alarm—especially Lidia’s grim understanding—Tharion declares he is coming with them into Avallen.