Chapter 5

This chapter shifts to the perspective of Raeve, an Elding Blade assassin who has just completed a personal mission to rescue younglings from Tarik Relaken's cells. After confirming the rescue via the rubbish chute, Raeve finds a moment of peace on a high skybridge above Gore, then reads a supply list from her companion Essi requesting various items from the Undercity, with the final request obscured by blood.

Raeve disposes of Tarik Relaken's hand down a rubbish chute in the Undercity as confirmation that members of Fíur du Ath have caught and will rescue the younglings. She reflects on her unusual emotional investment in this mission—a personal passion project that diverted the Ath's resources from their typical work implicating The Crown—and acknowledges her yearning to witness the younglings' freedom, though she knows she'll never visit The Flourish, the underground safe haven where they'll be taken. Fearing retirement would make her restless, she prefers her current indispensable position under the Ath's leader. Raeve then travels to a rarely-used skybridge thirty-three levels high, lying on her back in the snow to find momentary peace while imagining herself as a dragon. She observes the petrified moon of a dead Moltenmaw suspended above Gore and ponders whether the dragon chose that spot or whether something else pulled it from the sky. Retrieving a parchment lark from the Hungry Hollow, she unfolds a message from Essi containing a supply list of items to gather: iron for boot pins, Sabersythe tusk shavings, an etching stick, and sowmoth powder. The final request is obscured by Tarik's blood. Raeve recalls rescuing Essi from the Undercity miners' muck hall years ago, taking her to see the sky for the first time and promising to keep her safe. Now Raeve must stay away from Essi until the younglings escape Gore, though she plans to gather the supplies. She also reflects with unease on her decision not to eliminate a mysterious loose end—the nice-smelling stranger—which breaks her usual pattern of killing without hesitation, leaving her anxious about potential consequences.