Bryce and Nesta follow Silene’s carvings to an underground river cutting across their tunnel. The reliefs depict Fae kingdoms, a masked queen, an island archipelago, and an underworld motif reminiscent of Midgard’s memento mori themes, leaving Bryce unsettled but focused on the problem: the water is too wide and violent to jump.

With Bryce too drained to winnow again and Nesta unable (or unwilling) to do it, Bryce notices her chest-star brightens when her hand is in the river and dims when she faces the far tunnel. Concluding the star is directing her into the water, Bryce warns Nesta only with “See you at the bottom” and jumps in.

The current batters Bryce through the cavern, but her star throws a beam toward a calm pool and a small bank with another tunnel entrance. Bryce fights sideways against the rapids, and Nesta follows close behind, both reaching the pool before they are swept past. They haul themselves onto the rocks, shaking with cold, and Bryce explains she followed the star’s guidance.

Nesta snaps that they could have avoided getting soaked, then calls for the shadows to reveal themselves. Azriel drops down from above, wings spread across the cavern, armed with his black dagger—and carrying the Starsword on his back, confirming he has been tracking or guarding them in the tunnels.

In Midgard’s dungeons, Ruhn, Hunt, and Baxian lie chained on the floor amid blood and filth after being dropped from their suspended shackles. They eat the meager food left just out of reach and trade grim observations: Hunt insists there is no easy escape, and Ruhn wrestles with despair over the Oracle’s prophecy and the possibility Bryce never made it to Hel. Ruhn refuses to “talk to” Lidia for help, but tries to steady Hunt’s resolve, prompting Hunt to ask Ruhn what he is planning.