In the great room, Fern sharpens a pencil with Breadlee, who complains at the indignity. She writes a long letter to Viv, reflecting on her journey and her need to apologize. A handsome young rattkin named Quillin startles her and asks to join her, noting that most rattkin he meets on the road are penitent monks. Fern is flustered but pleased by his attention.

Over brandy, Fern tells Quillin a modified story of their adventures in Bycross, carefully omitting Zyll. When they part for the night, Quillin invites Fern to meet him the next day and slips a note under her door. Fern returns to find Zyll sitting up in bed holding Astryx’s sword, Nigel, and Zyll comments that Fern is flushed. Breadlee accuses her of canoodling from the satchel. Annoyed, Fern tells Zyll to make room for her on the bed.

The next morning, Fern wakes to find Quillin’s note inviting her to meet at 11 o’clock. Astryx warns Fern to be careful, says they will likely leave tomorrow despite the rain, and departs on errands. Fern meets Quillin, and they tour Turnbuckle’s dreary sights in the rain, which Fern finds delightful. Quillin explains that he travels for work but avoids talking about it until running out of other conversation topics.

When pressed, Quillin reveals he is an adventurer skilled at finding people who don’t want to be found, and he is pursuing the biggest bounty he has ever seen for an unarmed goblin in a patchwork coat. Fern is horrified but hides her reaction. They picnic in the stable beside the inn, where Quillin asks Fern why she is traveling with Astryx. During their tour of the town, Fern spots an orc with braided hair she recalls from Bycross.

Fern makes an excuse to leave and returns to the room, finding Zyll hunting spiders under the bed. Astryx enters just after her, and Fern tells her that someone is hunting Zyll’s bounty and they must leave immediately. After a moment of hesitation about staying with Quillin, Fern commits to departing with Astryx.

They flee Turnbuckle in the middle of the night during another rainstorm. Fern drives the cart alone while Astryx spirits Zyll away on foot to avoid leaving an obvious trail. Once beyond the village, Astryx rejoins them with Zyll. They travel through the night as sleet joins the rain, and the road ascends into the mountains.

Eventually, they shelter under a basalt overhang. After Astryx praises her for her quick thinking in Turnbuckle, Fern is emboldened to attempt a deeper conversation. She asks why Astryx still pursues this lonely, dangerous life after so many years. Astryx compares her life to a sword, a tool she knows how to use. The conversation grows tense and is derailed when Breadlee and Nigel start bickering. Astryx says they will talk about it another time. Zyll murmurs the word “daylight” before falling asleep immediately.

They wake to frost and intermittent snow. The temperature plummets as they continue ascending the mountain road. Astryx briefly considers turning back for Fern’s sake, but Fern insists they continue. They pass between low stone walls studded with bell towers marking a Tarimite monastery higher on the peak. The road leads to an ancient stone bridge spanning a vast chasm. The bridge is flanked by carved towers with walkways between them, abandoned and ice-encrusted.

Halfway across, they are ambushed. An orc warrior with many braids named Tullah blocks their path ahead, while three more bounty hunters emerge from the tower behind them: a red-haired man named Marv with a short blade, a stone-fey woman with a bow, and another orc named Kell with a maul. Astryx orders Fern and Zyll to take cover behind the cart.

Tullah reveals she is not interested in the bounty and intends to kill both Zyll and Astryx; then she attacks.

The battle erupts on all sides, with Tullah accusing Zyll of messing up her life. The archer keeps Fern and Zyll pinned behind the cart with arrows. The horse, Bucket, rears and strikes Kell, who is trying to control him. Marv rounds the wagon to attack Fern and Zyll. Zyll hurls cutlery at Marv, wounding him, and leaps on him. During the struggle, the cart’s wheels go over the edge of the bridge. Bucket strains against the weight, his hooves sliding on the ice.

Astryx is wounded and driven to one knee by Tullah’s assault. Fern seizes Breadlee and dashes to Bucket, slicing through his harness straps to free him from the cart. The wagon plunges into the chasm. Astryx recovers and shears Tullah’s axe handle in two with Nigel. Astryx scoops up Fern and mounts Bucket, with Zyll leaping aboard as well.

As they gallop past Tullah, Astryx strikes the orc with Nigel’s pommel, spinning her to the ground. After they cross the bridge, Astryx brings Bucket to a halt. Zyll uses Breadlee to split two heavy rocks and trigger the bridge’s collapse. The section between them and their pursuers falls away into the chasm, trapping Tullah and her crew on the far side. Astryx collapses in the snow, badly wounded.

Fern and Zyll struggle to roll the unconscious Astryx over and bandage her wound with cloth from Zyll’s pockets. She briefly regains consciousness, insisting they help her mount Bucket. Using Nigel as a walking stick, Astryx manages to get onto the horse with their assistance, then loses consciousness again. Fern secures Nigel through Bucket’s girth straps.

Following the sound of distant bells, Zyll leads them through worsening snow and plummeting temperatures. Fern enters a dreamlike state as they trudge upward. They eventually reach a small Tarimite way station with a stone brazier. Bucket forces his way inside. Astryx briefly wakes and encourages Fern to start a fire, then collapses on a bench.

With no flint, Fern uses Breadlee to strike sparks from stone, despite his protests. She successfully starts a fire. As Astryx rests by the fire, the wire bracelet on her wrist pops open and falls off. Exhausted, Fern writes another letter to Viv before collapsing against Zyll and falling asleep.

Fern dreams of being pursued through snow, first by Viv and then by Tullah. She wakes to find her letters scattered around the room by drafts, the fire dead, and Astryx still unconscious with fever. Three Tarimite monks arrive, drawn by smoke from the fire. The piebald monk, Brother Rhubarb, immediately attends to Astryx while another monk, Hemlock, helps support her.

When Fern warns them that Tullah may still be pursuing, Rhubarb instructs her and Zyll to mount a donkey while they figure out how to get Astryx onto Bucket. The journey to the monastery is a blur for the exhausted Fern. They arrive at a sprawling stone complex dominated by a chapel with six spires. The monks guide them into warm stables, where Brother Rhubarb says they will do their best for Astryx but cannot predict her chances.

Fern waits in the refectory, wearing a borrowed habit while her clothes dry. An older silver rattkin brings her a meal of stew, bread, and mulled wine, then reveals she is Abbess Bluebriar and overheard Fern’s earlier comment to Breadlee about the monks being credulous idiots. Despite the awkward beginning, Bluebriar is amused rather than offended. She requests a full account of events.

Fern recounts their entire journey, carefully omitting some details about Quillin but explaining how Zyll collapsed the bridge. Bluebriar examines Breadlee with interest and notes that while the bridge’s destruction is unfortunate, the monastery has sufficient stores for winter and alternative routes exist, though the bridge took a decade to build. Rhubarb reports that Astryx will survive the night thanks to Brother Burdock’s medical skill.

Bluebriar declines Fern’s request to see Astryx, saying she needs rest. Bluebriar tells Fern that Zyll has been stealing tableware, and Brother Rhubarb escorts Fern to a dormitory where the goblin is already asleep. Exhausted, Fern climbs into bed without bothering to latch the door.