Jezal’s broken leg has healed enough for him to ride, though painfully. Crossing a lifeless plain toward Aulcus, Bayaz explains that Glustrod had the avenue of oaks that once lined the road felled to feed his furnaces. Jezal reflects on his changed priorities and imagines asking Ardee to marry him when he returns home. The group enters the massive ruined city through a crumbling archway. Bayaz establishes a rendezvous point at the Saturline Rock in case they become separated. Ferro and Logen hear a metallic clicking sound, but Bayaz dismisses it as a bell swinging in the wind.

The road ends at a massive chasm that has split the city open. Forced to find another route, they eventually reach a pristine metal bridge built by Kanedias spanning the River Aos. Ferro refuses to cross until Bayaz reveals the truth about their quest. Bayaz tells the group that the Seed is a stone from the Other Side that Glustrod used to destroy Aulcus. It is deadly to touch, but Ferro can handle it because of her demonic ancestry. Bayaz promises the Seed will bring her the vengeance she desires against the Gurkish Empire. Convinced, Ferro crosses with the others, though she remains certain they are being watched.

The following morning, Logen and Jezal look out from a high window over the ruined city stretching into the distance. The group rides through a massive empty square filled with thousands of colossal, faceless statues—every likeness of Juvens that Glustrod had gathered and defaced. Despite warnings from Logen and Ferro, Bayaz insists on exploring the ruins of the Imperial Senate chamber, where he reminisces about the great debates he witnessed in his youth.

Jezal discovers a Shanka (also known as “flatheads,” brutal creatures made by Kanedias) hiding in the shadows, who quickly escapes through a crack in the wall. Realizing more will come, the group rush outside as bells clang across the ruins. They flee on horseback as Shanka emerge from the buildings. A spear strikes Logen’s horse as they ride through a ruined temple hall, throwing him to the ground. Ferro dismounts and shoots arrows at the swarming Shanka. Bayaz uses his Art to bring the temple roof crashing down on the attackers, but the magic causes the floor to collapse into the chasm below. Logen and Ferro find themselves on a teetering slab of stone, Ferro dangling over the abyss held only by Logen’s hand. Jezal tries to pull them up using his coat as a rope, but the sleeve rips, and Logen and Ferro plunge into the chasm.

Logen and Ferro survive their fall, landing on a rubble ledge beneath the collapsed temple. Hearing Shanka above, they escape through a dark tunnel. In the complete darkness, Logen panics and Ferro takes his hand to guide him, reflecting that he may be the only person she trusts. They pass through a cavern filled with human bones the Shanka have been feeding on, and Ferro shoots three Shanka dismembering a corpse. Logen grows grim, remembering the devastation the Shanka brought to his homeland.

They find a vast forge where dozens of Shanka are making weapons. The sight triggers Logen’s transformation into the Bloody-Nine. He enters the forge and begins a brutal slaughter with the Maker’s sword while Ferro shoots arrows from the darkness. As the rage subsides, he sees Ferro aiming her bow at him, telling him she will have to shoot him if he doesn’t calm down. Logen collapses back to himself, horrified by the carnage he has committed. The two continue through underground tunnels until they find a subterranean stream that Ferro believes will lead them outside the city.

Ferro and Logen force through a rusted grate blocking the stream’s outlet, escaping Aulcus. They take shelter for the night in a ruined mill, where Logen gives his coat to a shivering Ferro. After thanking Logen, Ferro proposes they have sex, taking Logen by surprise. He agrees and the two spend the night together.

The next morning, Ferro wakes startled and instinctively elbows Logen hard in the face. The brief intimacy shatters into mutual anger and confusion, and Logen storms out. At the Saturline Rock, Bayaz, Jezal, Longfoot, and Quai have been waiting. The two arrive battered and hostile toward each other, refusing to discuss their ordeal. With only two riding horses remaining, Logen climbs into the cart with Bayaz, Longfoot claims one horse for scouting, and Jezal takes the other due to his injured leg. After a tense glance at Logen, Ferro declares she will walk.

Glokta arrives back in Adua with his Practicals and tells them to lie low, anticipating punishment from Sult for the fall of Dagoska. Before reporting, he visits Ardee and finds her destitute in a ransacked house—a moneylender named Fallow seized her money and possessions to cover her father’s debts. Glokta comforts her and orders Frost to find Fallow, hurt him, and return everything within a day.

At the House of Questions, Glokta expects orders for his execution but is astonished when Sult welcomes him. Sult reveals he never intended to hold Dagoska; Glokta’s prolonged defense served to discredit his rival High Justice Marovia and break the power of the merchant guilds. Sult also mentions he knows about the Eater Glokta encountered, and notes that Crown Prince Ladisla’s death in Angland is politically beneficial. A bewildered Glokta leaves, alive and unexpectedly in Sult’s favor, and apologizes to Vitari for mistrusting her.

At Ardee’s now-refurnished house, Fallow grovels for forgiveness before Ardee beats him and sends him away. When Glokta asks after her brother Collem (West), Ardee tells him Collem is presumed dead, killed in the same battle as Ladisla. The news leaves Glokta deeply shaken.

After weeks crossing the frozen wilderness, West and his companions reach the Union army’s winter camp in Angland. West reports to Lord Marshal Burr, who is overjoyed to see him alive. West lies about how Pike survived with him, securing the convict a place on Burr’s staff, and also lies about Ladisla’s death, blaming a surprise Northman attack rather than revealing the truth. Burr describes the army’s dire situation—terrible weather, sickness, low morale, and constant bickering between the generals, Poulder and Kroy; West in turn provides vital intelligence that Bethod’s army is only two days behind them. West reunites with his officers Jalenhorm, Kaspa, and Brint, who tell him Jezal was pulled from their transport ship and has not been heard from since.

West goes to find the Northmen who saved him and locates Threetrees and Black Dow drunk by their fire. They direct him to Cathil’s tent. Approaching it, he hears noises inside and peers through a gap to see Cathil having sex with the Dogman. Shocked and heartbroken, West stumbles away into the darkness, filled with loneliness and despair.

Past Aulcus, the group arrives at the Broken Mountains and proceeds on foot, the pass too treacherous for horses. Logen carries the heavy box from the Maker’s House, and Ferro kills Jezal’s horse to provide meat for the journey. As they begin the arduous climb, Logen finds himself watching Ferro. He reflects that he never thought of her romantically until they had sex, but now cannot stop desiring her. Ferro confronts Logen for staring at her, and he frankly admits he was looking at her backside. Resting by a mountain pool, Jezal confides in Logen about his plan to marry Ardee West, and Logen encourages him, advising him to find a life that does not involve killing.

Jezal asks Bayaz why the Seed was hidden at the edge of the world. Bayaz recounts how the three sons of Euz—Juvens, Bedesh, and Kanedias—agreed to hide the Seed on the remote island of Shabulyan after Glustrod’s fall. Bedesh commanded the island’s spirit to release the Seed only to one carrying the staff of Juvens—which, Bayaz reveals, is his simple walking stick. Longfoot questions the wisdom of retrieving such a feared weapon, but Bayaz remains resolute. That night, Jezal is woken by noises and discovers Logen and Ferro having sex beside him, leaving him filled with disgust and loneliness.