Chapter 47

The protagonist descends into her internal mindscape to retrieve fragmented memories of Bulder's language, only to discover her Other has strategically hidden the shards beneath piles of silver memory stones—forcing her to absorb unwanted memories of her Other's past in exchange for the knowledge she needs.

Locked in her slumbersuite, the protagonist prepares for a dangerous internal dive despite her dread and physical pain from Sereme's blood-bind poison. She has only seven rises to reach Bhoggith, complete her mission, and save The Flourish. She enters her internal lake and finds herself trapped beneath frosted ice, relieved when her Other emerges above rather than below. Swimming toward the den's pillar cluster, she discovers her Other has reorganized the memory stones and deliberately fragmented the memory shard containing Bulder's language, burying each piece beneath piles of silver egg-shaped memory stones. Recognizing this as a forced trade—language knowledge for absorbed memories of her Other's past, potentially involving Elluin—the protagonist protests but knows she cannot leave empty-handed. With everything at stake, she kneels before a pile of stones and reaches out, preparing to touch one despite the certain emotional trauma it will bring.