Chapter 79

The protagonist awakens in her cell to discover she's back in captivity at the Pits of Khindard, finding the Shade's Princess Kyzari fevered and injured beside her, and Veya imprisoned in an adjacent cell. When guards arrive to extract her with magical fire, she fights viciously but is ultimately subdued by a blow to the head.

The protagonist regains consciousness in her cell, initially disoriented by a vivid nightmare in which Fallon died during sun starvation. She realizes she's back in the Pits, shackled to the ground. Beside her lies an unconscious white-haired fae wearing an ornate diadem with the Aether Stone embedded in it—Kyzari, the Shade's Princess and Kaan's niece—whom she senses she may know but cannot recall. Veya suddenly reveals herself from an adjacent cell, deeply traumatized and bearing a struck-through rune on her temple. She confirms that Arkyn has beaten Kyzari severely and implies he possesses knowledge of everything, including Kaan's whereabouts, though she cannot articulate more. The protagonist transfers Kaan's málmr carving to Kyzari for protection, wraps her in a cloak, and positions herself defensively at the cell bars. A contingent of black-cloaked guards with bronze beaked masks arrives with magical restraints and fire-wielding weapons. The protagonist launches a brutal counterattack, killing multiple guards, but is struck unconscious by a blow to the temple as she corners the key-bearer.