Chapter 67

The caravan continues its journey along the Path of Daes in heavy snow. Noeve, the cart driver, subtly reveals she recognizes Raeve's resemblance to someone from fifty cycles past, and shares troubling news about the protagonist's sister Veya, who retrieved a dangerous bangle from the velvet trogg against orders and is now missing.

The chapter opens with the protagonist riding in Noeve's cart alongside sleeping companions: Pyrok (heavily intoxicated), Ahvi with his hatchling, and Raeve, who vigilantly guards the group. Noeve remarks on the unusual stillness of the Path and mentions Clode's ongoing erosion of Bulder's edges. When Pyrok becomes distressed in his sleep, Raeve confiscates his flasks to prevent further drinking. Noeve then draws the protagonist into conversation, revealing she recognizes Raeve as bearing a striking resemblance to someone she escorted fifty cycles ago—someone with white hair like their grandmother. The protagonist deflects this obvious reference to Raeve's lineage. Noeve reports that her communication line with Dothea has been severed due to the Mists. She then mentions the protagonist's sister Veya, whom Noeve saw roughly thirty cycles prior after the protagonist's last visit. Veya had retrieved a jeweled silver bangle from the velvet trogg—an artifact the protagonist believed destroyed and strictly forbade her from recovering. The bangle carries an unsettling aura. The revelation that Veya lied about disposing of it and survived the dangerous lair enrages the protagonist, though they suppress the surge of dragon-fire magic to avoid endangering their bonded dragon Rygun, who guards Líri and Maell in a burrow east of the Path. The chapter ends with the protagonist anxious about Veya's current whereabouts and well-being, unable to locate information through their contact Borg.