Chapter 17

A grieving dragon-bonded individual named Raan helps prepare a nest from molten lava in the underground Gondragh warrens while waiting for the toxic smog to clear. A stranger named Kilíth arrives with a golden Sabersythe egg after his hut was destroyed by a rabid dragon, and Raan offers their prepared nest to him. The chapter culminates in Kilíth's egg successfully hatching while Raan departs, determined to seek out the Great Silver Sabersythe in the Vihn Peaks despite the danger.

Raan harvests molten lava to tend a nest in their underground cavern, using air-purifying runes to survive the sulfuric environment. Kilíth emerges from the stairwell carrying a golden Sabersythe egg after the southwestern hut was destroyed by a raging dragon. Recognizing the urgency, Raan surrenders their carefully prepared nest to him. As they wait for the egg to incubate, Kilíth reveals he bears a severe burn from the same dragon—the Great Silver Sabersythe—and learns Raan intends to climb the Vihn Peaks to pursue the dragon's own eggs. The hatchling emerges successfully from the magma, and Raan leaves Kilíth to bond with his dragon in private, their thoughts consumed by grief over Inkah and the desperate conviction that they must obtain a dragon egg of their own, this time from the Great Silver Sabersythe herself.