Chapter 66

This chapter is an introspective interlude in which the narrator reflects on her solitary life in a hidden dwelling, journaling about her inability to leave despite her initial intentions, and grappling with fragmented memories of a past involving Kaan, Elluin, and a dragon.

The narrator begins her day by bathing in a hidden spring, foraging for food in the jungle, and returning to her dwelling. She settles at her table with her foraged meal and is drawn to a diary she acquired from The Curly Quill, along with a quill and ink. As she writes, she reflects on her repeated attempts to leave the dwelling to confront Rekk Zharos, only to find herself returning with supplies and furnishings instead, mysteriously compelled to restore and inhabit the space. She acknowledges a strange sense of belonging she has never experienced before, noting that she exists in an "in-between" state of isolation that paradoxically feels connected. She writes about her awareness that Kaan fell in love with a softer, past version of herself, and she confesses that despite her hunger for vengeance against Rekk Zharos, she cannot leave her current refuge. The narrator then touches upon fragmented memories: she knows she somehow left this place, lost Kaan, lost herself, and lost a dragon who loved her enough to encircle her protectively. Though she struggles to process this grief, she decides she must eventually let it go, but resolves she is not ready to do so yet.