Lord Arteloth Beck continues his grueling journey southeast through the Spindles, surviving alone after Kit's death. He hunts mountain ewes for food, sleeps in caves, and fights against the encroaching Draconic plague—a rash crawling down his back and fever tormenting his sleep. He carries a pack with gold and silver suns and a compass given by the Donmata Marosa, following her instructions to reach the Ersyri capital of Rauca and then travel onward to Rumelabar, where Chassar uq-Ispad lives. His dreams are haunted by Kit entombed in glass, Sabran dying in childbed, and the Donmata Marosa dancing freely before her imprisonment.

While sheltering in a cave, Loth is discovered by a cockatrice—a monstrous, bone-white, bird-like Draconic creature with a torn wing. He attempts to flee but the cockatrice snatches him with its talons and carries him to a mountain summit. Loth fights back with his ice staff but loses it, and the cockatrice pins him down, savaging his cloak. He prepares to die, clinging to cherished memories of Margret, Ead, Sabran, and Kit.

Before the cockatrice can kill him, a giant ichneumon—a mongoose-like creature the size of a bear and a natural enemy of wyrms—attacks and kills the cockatrice by ripping out its throat. The ichneumon sniffs Loth and initially growls, likely smelling the plague, but ultimately allows him to ride on its back. Loth recalls that in Inysh legend, an ichneumon once carried the Damsel during the Saint's journey, and he takes this as a sign of divine guidance.

By dawn, the ichneumon carries Loth to the edge of the Desert of the Unquiet Dream, bringing him within reach of Rauca and significantly closer to completing his mission to deliver the iron box to Chassar. Despite the plague threatening his body, Loth resolves to follow the path he believes the Saint and the Damsel have set for him.