Believing Raker has abandoned her, Aris escapes the island ruins in a boat during a storm. She lands on the shore and enters the dangerous Storm Woods, where she is attacked by violent vortexes of wind called storm serpents. She then encounters a terrifying, eyeless spectral woman whose psychic scream she repels by focusing on a happy memory and remembering Raker’s warning that dark creatures feed on attention.

Immediately after, Aris is ambushed by Valen, a fellow competitor. Valen reveals there is a bounty on Aris’s head and that she was offered a goblet of magic—without making the journey—in exchange for bringing Aris to a cavalry, as Valen is dying from an infected wound. Before Valen can attack, a falling branch crushes her arm. Aris takes pity on her, freeing her and healing her injuries with a vial of steelclaw saliva. In gratitude, Valen warns that an immortal cavalry is hunting both Aris and Raker.

Overcome with guilt, Aris runs back to the lake to warn Raker, only to see the cavalry advancing on the ruins. Raker appears behind her, having swum ashore. He knew they were being hunted for their powerful swords. As they escape, Aris spots a crest on the cavalry’s shields and, recognizing it by its color, concludes that a god—not merely a lord—is behind the pursuit.