Chapter 24

The protagonist returns to Mah's house in the green wing, contemplating her absence while Pyrok and Roan settle in with supplies. Raeve unexpectedly arrives with the book and a strange silver thread wound around her hand, and the group tends to their wounds together in an intimate, tension-laden scene.

The protagonist enters Mah's house, cleaning blood from their hands before stepping inside, struck by the absence of their mother's presence in the familiar space. Pyrok and Roan follow, bickering about whether Raeve has taken the book; the protagonist is confident she will return with it, understanding the psychological toll her actions in the anthe den have taken. Struggling against Rygun's overwhelming strength, the protagonist suppresses the dragon's power, nearly collapsing from fatigue before moving to the bay window in the main suite. Roan and Pyrok enter with supplies and alcohol, the brothers continuing their verbal sparring. Raeve arrives wearing her black cloak, dusted with snow, carrying the book. She drinks from one of Pyrok's bottles and sits on the pallet, revealing a strange luminous silver thread tangled around her hand. When the protagonist insists Roan treat Raeve's thigh wound first, she removes the pin herself with brutal efficiency, then begins stitching the wound while remaining stoic. As Roan extracts the pins from the protagonist's back, the protagonist watches Raeve work, captivated by her fierce concentration and the visible struggle beneath her composed exterior. The scene concludes with Ignos and Bulder's songs restoring the protagonist's strength as the final pin is removed.