Chapter 75

The narrator climbs a treacherous red-stone cliff in Gondragh to reach the Great Silver Sabersythe Ahra's burrow, hoping to obtain one of her eggs. Upon reaching the nest, the narrator discovers all three eggs destroyed by a fallen boulder and their hatchlings dead. When Ahra returns and finds the narrator mourning her young, a violent confrontation ensues that culminates in an unexpected bond—the narrator and Ahra merge consciousness and ride together as one being.

The narrator undertakes a perilous solo climb up a smoking cliff in the volcanic wasteland of Gondragh, conserving water and moving silently to avoid detection by the Sabersythe beasts. After narrowly avoiding a rockfall, the narrator reaches Ahra's burrow and descends into a magma-lit cavern. There the narrator discovers Ahra's nest containing three crushed eggs and decomposed hatchlings, destroyed by a boulder. The narrator carefully covers the dead hatchlings' faces as a gesture of respect, remembering the loss of Inkah, a beloved dragon companion who died years ago on sun-scorched plains. When Ahra returns to her nest and finds the intruder, she initially crushes the narrator beneath her claw, then tosses them aside. Desperate for death as penance for desecrating the sacred space, the narrator attacks Ahra in a fury. Instead of killing the narrator, Ahra takes flight, carrying them skyward toward the sun. During the violent flight—plummeting toward an active volcano—something shifts: the narrator feels Ahra's vast grief and ancient knowledge pouring into them. Rather than accepting the death offered, the narrator chooses to stay with Ahra, and their consciousness merges. They plunge together into the volcano's crater, cross the lava, and emerge skyward as a bonded pair, unified in purpose.