Joia spends a sleepless night fearing an attack, haunted by memories of earlier violence. She is also “mortified” (526) that she may have hurt Dee. At dawn, there is still no sign of the farmer army. Joia concludes that Troon intends to strike the volunteers on the plain rather than at the Monument itself. With Jara’s urging, Joia agrees to arm the volunteers, issuing bows and arrows where possible and allowing clubs and tools as substitutes so no one is defenseless. Jara joins the mission to oversee security. The march begins with strong numbers and high morale. 

Joia is encouraged when she sees Dee among the volunteers and resolves to repair their relationship during the journey. The first day’s travel to Stony Valley is uneventful, but Joia’s attempt to reconcile with Dee initially fails. Dee remains distant and hurt, accusing Joia of emotional ignorance. That night, however, Joia persists, openly confessing her “whole sexual history” (530) and love. Dee finally responds, teaching Joia what intimacy rooted in love feels like. Their relationship is consummated fully, bringing Joia renewed confidence and emotional clarity.

The next morning, work proceeds efficiently. Raising and securing the first stone onto a sled proves easier than the previous year, and the team sets off confidently. While crossing the plain, Joia discovers a lost toddler, Lim, wandering alone among the cattle. Soon afterward, the volunteers encounter deliberate sabotage: The track has been destroyed, and nearby lie the bodies of Dab and Revo, Lim’s parents, murdered while trying to defend the route. Joia is devastated but forces herself to act. She decides to repair the track rather than abandon it, assigning hundreds of volunteers to restore the path before nightfall. 

Jara assesses the military situation and concludes the farmers are nearby, waiting to strike again. Joia orders constant patrols along the vulnerable stretch of route, emphasizing that guards must warn and flee rather than fight. She also sends word ahead for food, as delays alter the schedule. Dab and Revo are cremated quickly, with Lim shielded from the sight. Later, Sary suggests that Lim be raised by the priestesses, so she will have “many mothers” (539). 

As night falls, progress resumes, and additional teams with more stones draw closer. Joia asks Dee to leave for safety, but Dee refuses, insisting they face danger together. Joia cautiously hopes the worst may be over, even as the threat of violence remains unresolved.

Seft and Tem climb onto the fourth and fifth stones to survey the camp. Hundreds of armed volunteers sleep around the stones, with Jara having positioned the strongest fighters on the western edge. The cattle beyond the camp are calm, indicating that the farmers have not yet advanced. Feeling “deeply unhappy” (540), Seft reflects bitterly on how his life, once free of violence, has returned to warfare despite all his efforts to build rather than destroy. His fears are confirmed when he sees a dark movement rippling through the herd. The farmers are advancing. 

The alarm is raised, waking Joia from sleep. Chaos erupts as volunteers seize weapons. Archers climb the stones under Seft’s direction and fire volleys into the densely packed farmer force. The farmers return fire and both sides suffer casualties. The elevated archers suffer losses as arrows strike them while they stand exposed.

The battle descends into close combat when cattle are driven into the camp, scattering fighters. Seft abandons his bow for an axe and Joia, armed with a knife and later an arrow, is drawn into hand-to-hand fighting. She wounds one farmer and then kills Narod when he attacks her. Dee also fights, shooting a man who rushes at her. The fighting is savage and confused, with neither side immediately gaining advantage. 

Seft confronts Troon but hesitates when Troon momentarily reminds him of his father, allowing Troon to escape. Eventually the farmers’ resolve breaks. Troon orders a retreat and the herders pursue briefly before stopping. In the aftermath, Joia forces herself back into leadership. With no time for cremation, she orders a “sky burial” (547) for the dead and organizes care for the wounded.

Despite losses, the stone project continues. Over the next days, additional stones arrive at the Monument, bringing the total to six. Joia rallies the exhausted volunteers and truthfully warns them that further deaths are possible if they continue. Many still choose to return with her. On the final march with the ninth stone, the farmer army blocks the route. Refusing to surrender and wary of another pitched battle, Joia devises a desperate alternative. She orders Zad and the herders to drive the cattle into a controlled stampede. 

The herd surges forward and overwhelms the farmers, killing many. Troon is left hurt and helpless. Confronting him, Joia recalls the deaths he caused, including Han’s, and kills him by driving a bradawl into his throat. With Troon dead and the farmer army destroyed, the fighting ends.

In the quiet after celebration, Joia and Dee sit together atop one of the newly delivered stones, reflecting on their achievement. Dee praises Joia as a “hero” (557), but Joia insists that her authority rests as much on perception as reality. Their intimacy deepens, yet tension emerges when Dee announces she must return home. A painful conversation follows in which Dee challenges Joia’s assumption that Dee would simply abandon her own life to follow Joia’s calling. Joia recognizes that she has prioritized the Monument and her role without fully considering Dee’s needs. They part with uncertainty but renewed commitment, promising to think carefully and reunite.

At Farmplace, the consequences of the farmers’ loss become clear. Pia, Duff, and Yana organize aid for the many widows left behind. Pia proposes a cooperative system in which families with older children help those without labor, but resistance emerges. Many women hesitate to act without male leadership, even after Troon’s death. Pia realizes that progress will require strategic use of male authority and persuades Duff to “pretend” (562) to be the visible leader to gain compliance. 

Tension escalates with the return of Shen, Troon’s former lieutenant, who attempts to assume power through intimidation. Pia investigates and uncovers Shen’s abuse of Laine, witnessed by her son Arp. At a public meeting, Duff confronts Shen’s claim to leadership by presenting Arp and Laine to testify. The crowd decisively rejects Shen. Duff is chosen as Big Man under conditions that guarantee women’s land ownership and freedom of choice in partnership. Shen leaves in disgrace and Farmplace begins a cautious transformation away from tyranny.

Seft oversees the technical refinement of the Monument. He prepares leather templates to ensure precise fitting of future stone crossbars and proudly acknowledges his son Ilian’s crucial insight about peg-and-socket joints. 

Seft’s abusive brothers, Olf and Cam, reappear. They are destitute. Though resentful, Seft offers limited aid while keeping firm boundaries, determined not to let his past dominate his present. 

Joia is reunited with Dee at Midsummer. Joia prepares to “sacrifice” (575) her role as priestess for love, but Dee unexpectedly declares her wish to become a priestess instead. Joia realizes she does not have to choose between love and her mission.

The day after Midsummer, Seft forces his brothers Olf and Cam to join the new mission to bring the stone crossbars from Stony Valley, even though they think it is “stupid” (578). He makes clear that in Riverbend no one eats without working and that their past idleness has exhausted the elders’ patience. Though resentful and unwashed, the brothers comply. 

At the Monument, Seft and Joia assess the volunteer turnout. Numbers are lower than the previous year because memories of violence linger, but Seft calculates that the smaller crossbars will require fewer pullers; the mission remains viable. Joia is reassured when she sees Dee among the volunteers.

The march begins smoothly and in high spirits. Seft learns from the flint miner Bax that Olf and Cam were not victims of farmers, as they claimed, but were injured while attempting to “steal from another miner” (580). Seft is unsurprised and quietly resolves to keep firm boundaries. 

Along the route, Joia discovers that Seft has expanded the more stable embedded-timber track to every uphill section, making transport easier and signaling his commitment to the Monument as a long-term endeavor. Both recognize that rebuilding the full stone Monument will take decades, and both accept this as their life’s work.

At Stony Valley the village has grown again and the operation runs efficiently. Olf and Cam disappear overnight. Seft does not pursue them. The transport of the five crossbars proves the easiest yet, completed in three days without sabotage. Back at the Monument, the stones are carefully carved using leather templates so that each crossbar will fit precisely onto its paired uprights. 

Seft then achieves his greatest technical triumph. Using a massive timber giant, ropes, and a raised platform, he lifts a crossbar entirely into the air and lowers it onto the uprights. The peg-and-socket system works perfectly, allowing the stone to slide into exact alignment. 

As the first trilith is completed, the crowd erupts in a “roar of triumph” (585). Seft stands atop the crossbar in triumph, crediting the collective effort. His celebrations are briefly curtailed when Neen angrily reveals that Olf and Cam robbed the family home while the family was away. She makes Seft promise to “never let this happen again” (582). 

Joia and Dee stand together, watching the completed structure. To Joia, it is a “beautiful, beautiful sight” (586).

Chapter 36 takes place 15 years after the events of the previous chapters. Ani is now very old and frail, unable to walk more than a few steps, though her mind remains sharp. Joia knows this is Ani’s 69th midsummer. 

Before dawn on Midsummer Day, Joia, Seft, Neen, and Ilian carry Ani on a specially built wooden bed to the Monument so she can witness the sunrise ceremony. This year’s Rite is especially solemn because the Monument was completed the previous summer, making this the first Midsummer in the finished stone circle. As they approach the Monument, Ani greets Jara, now the elder in place of her long-dead brother, Scagga. 

When Ani finally sees the completed structure, her reaction overwhelms Joia. The Monument now consists of a continuous ring of 30 uprights topped by 30 crossbars encircling the original five triliths. Visitors arrive from “unknown lands” (590) beyond the Great Sea to see it, recognizing it as unmatched anywhere else. Unlike the old timber circle, these stones cannot be burned or destroyed, ensuring the priestesses’ ability to track time far into the future. The crowd is larger than ever, despite the absence of any stone-moving mission. People come simply to witness the Monument and the Rite. Ani tells Joia she is glad she lived long enough to see it finished. Neen praises Seft and Joia together, acknowledging their shared achievement.

At Farmplace, Pia and Duff attend the Rite with Pia’s grown son Olin, now a strong young man resembling his biological father Han but shaped in temperament by Duff, who remains Big Man. Farmplace has prospered under shared leadership. Land is still scarce, but expansion is negotiated carefully with the Riverbend elders. The relaxation of oppressive rules governing women has transformed farmer society. Women now own land jointly with men, choose partners freely, and work as equals. Pia reflects that Troon’s “cruel system” (591) seems incomprehensible in hindsight.

At the Midsummer Rite, 100 priestesses, including Lim, perform a refined and powerful ceremony. As the sun rises perfectly framed by the stones, the priestesses fall silent. The sun clears the horizon, the stones glow pink, and “all [is] well” (592).