Sunny hides near a camp at dusk and watches the enemies hunting Alex: four men, one woman, and a werewolf. While reflecting bitterly on her lot in life as a spy rather than a leader, Sunny gathers poisonous mushrooms called Nun’s Worries and plans to slip them into the camp stew. Before she can act, eight more riders arrive, led by Duke Sabbas. From their conversation, Sunny learns the search is widening, other parties are being recalled, and the werewolf has already identified Alex’s companion as an elf by scent, which confirms that the danger around Alex is growing.

Because doing nothing would mean Alex is soon caught, Sunny crawls closer and targets the horses. She steals a stable boy’s dagger without revealing herself, cuts the hobbles after he ties them, then trips him and smacks Sabbas’s stallion hard enough to start a panic. The horses bolt together, leaving Sabbas and his people furious and suddenly far less able to continue the chase. Sunny avoids stabbing anyone, but her sabotage creates immediate confusion and delays the pursuit.

The Dane, the werewolf tracker, senses Sunny’s presence and begins hunting her by smell. When one of the sorcerous twins prepares a spell to expose Sunny, Sunny shoves the woman face-first into the fire and tosses the mushrooms into the stew as she passes. The other twin unleashes a blast of wind, but Sunny is only grazed by it and reaches the trees. The Dane chases her on all fours, yet Sunny uses the dark forest, her stealth, and her ability to vanish from sight to mislead him until he loses her trail.

After escaping, Sunny finds Alex speaking with a man and woman in a cart. Sunny urgently pulls Alex away from the road and warns that they must keep moving. Alex explains that she tried to make herself useful by talking to travelers and learned only a little: there is a local war between nobles, Troy lies in a certain direction, and she managed to get some bread from the couple. Sunny, still irritated that Alex exposed herself, admits she found the pursuers and claims only that she slowed them by scattering their horses and poisoning their stew.

As they walk on in the dark, Sunny tells Alex that her cousin Sabbas is among the hunters. Alex bitterly reflects that discovering her true family has only shown her how eager they are to kill her for power, though Sunny offers some hope that Alex’s uncle Michael may still be alive and waiting in Troy with Severa. The conversation then turns personal: Sunny admits she does not know how to make friends and feels her own story gives people nothing to like. Alex answers that Sunny has already made one, ending the chapter with a small but meaningful strengthening of their bond.