Outside the Savory Den, Lord Victor restrains an enraged Picket, advising him that he will gain nothing by fighting a warrior. He then recites the oath before departing. Emma takes Heather and Picket to Lord Rake’s quarters to rest while Heyward leaves to find Uncle Wilfred. After Emma departs, Heather and Picket are left alone and overhear a tense meeting in the next room. Rake, Helmer, and Lord Ramnor are arguing about the citadel lords’ demand to put Wilfred on trial. Ramnor warns that the citadels may use force if Rake doesn’t comply. The conversation turns to Picket, and Helmer defends his apprentice, praising his strategic mind but noting three key weaknesses: his fear of heights, his fear of birds, and a naive belief that their side can win the war.

Heather, Picket, Uncle Wilfred, and Smalls attend a large assembly in the great hall. Initially, the visiting citadel soldiers stand apart from the Cloud Mountain community, but Lord Rake gives a unifying speech that brings the two groups together. Afterward, Maggie gives a powerful address. She explains that her late husband died to save her life during the war and that she insists on using his last name, Weaver, to honor his sacrifice. She calls on everyone to end their divisions, remain faithful to King Jupiter, and unite behind his true heir. The assembly ends with musicians performing a somber but hopeful song about the Mended Wood, which Heather now understands is a core expression of the community’s hope for a restored world.

After the assembly, Heather learns from Uncle Wilfred that their forces are too divided to rally behind King Jupiter’s heir, which is why the heir hasn’t revealed himself. Soon after, Smalls approaches Heather and tells her that he’s leaving to find his mother, who he thinks is in danger in a place called Exile Glen. He says that he won’t be traveling alone and asks Heather to tell Wilfred. Suspicious about who might be accompanying Smalls, Heather follows him into Lighthall, the stained-glass workshop. There, she sees the unfinished 10th window, which depicts “a very familiar looking white rabbit” with a green emerald on his crown ruling over the Mended Wood (319). When she looks away from the window, Smalls is gone.

Heather finds Uncle Wilfred and Picket and is about to explain her discovery about Smalls when alarms sound, signaling a wolf attack. Wilfred tells the siblings to hide, but Heather quickly informs him that Smalls has left, possibly with Kyle. Enraged, Wilfred runs toward the battle, determined to find Smalls. Realizing that she may have inadvertently betrayed the prince by telling Smalls that she trusted Kyle, Heather resolves to help. She and Picket run to Smalls’s quarters to secure the Green Ember. Inside the ransacked room, they find Kyle searching Smalls’s belongings. Heather screams at him, demanding to know where Jupiter Smalls, “keeper of the Green Ember and rightful heir to the throne” (327), has gone. Picket, overhearing this, is stunned. Kyle confesses that the wolf attack is a diversion that he orchestrated and that he has sent Smalls into a trap at Jupiter’s Crossing, the site of King Jupiter’s murder.

Heather and Picket decide to separate. Heather will go find Uncle Wilfred and Lord Rake to gather reinforcements, while Picket, who has studied the maps, will travel directly to Jupiter’s Crossing to save Smalls. As they emerge from the mountain, they’re confronted by an injured Captain Frye, who again accuses them of treason. Picket disarms the injured captain but spares his life upon seeing that Frye’s wounds came from fighting the wolves. Heather names Kyle as the traitor whom Frye saw sneaking out at night, and Frye says that he will take care of it. Frye then tells Heather that Wilfred, Helmer, and Rake all went southeast. Picket immediately heads for Jupiter’s Crossing, and Heather runs to find help.

Heather runs down the mountain in pursuit of Uncle Wilfred and Helmer. She briefly stops to bandage a wounded soldier before continuing her frantic race. She soon finds Wilfred, Helmer, and a few other rabbits fighting for their lives, outnumbered by a pack of wolves. To create a diversion, Heather throws rocks and shouts false orders to an imaginary company of soldiers, making it sound like reinforcements have arrived. Her ruse works, and most of the wolves flee. She charges in to help Helmer but breaks her arm in the process. After the remaining wolves are defeated, Heather tells Wilfred and Helmer that Smalls is walking into a trap at Jupiter’s Crossing. Helmer goes to find Lord Rake, who has the rallying horn, while Wilfred runs directly toward Jupiter’s Crossing to pick up whoever he can along the way. Heather, despite her injury, runs back toward Cloud Mountain to gather more support.

Picket endures a grueling, non-stop journey to Jupiter’s Crossing. He battles exhaustion and self-doubt, burdened by his family’s traitorous legacy and his fear of birds. His thoughts focus on whether he will fail, wondering if he’s as much like Uncle Garten as Uncle Wilfred. He resolves to fight to the death if necessary. As the sun sets, he arrives at the infamous clearing and sees Smalls bound on the ground with Redeye standing over him, ready to deliver a killing blow.

Picket sees his traitorous uncle, Garten, take the Green Ember from Smalls’s satchel. As two massive birds of prey descend, Picket overcomes his terror and launches a calculated attack. He runs toward an eagle, uses its back as a springboard to leap into the air, and kicks a hawk out of the sky. As he falls, he draws his sword and kills Redeye. Garten, having tripped when he spotted Picket, drops the emerald and flees. Picket frees Smalls, who recovers the gem, but they’re immediately confronted by a line of 50 wolves. As they prepare for a final, hopeless stand, a large force of rabbits led by Uncle Wilfred, Helmer, and Lord Rake bursts into the clearing, routing the enemy.

After the battle, Wilfred formally presents Prince Jupiter Smalls to the assembled rabbits, who kneel before their king. Jupiter asks Picket to stand beside him and publicly declares that “the name Longtreader mean[s] salvation” (358), officially beginning the redemption of their family’s honor. Later, as the company rests, Lord Blackstar addresses Helmer by his former title, Lord Captain of the King’s Army, and tells him to stop hiding who he really is. Captain Frye, now a firm ally, praises Picket for rescuing the prince from two birds of prey and a wolf and says that he has never witnessed such an incredible act of heroism in all his years of war.

Several days later, life at Cloud Mountain continues under high alert. Heather, now celebrated as a hero, visits the storyguild and declares her intention to tell her tale. Her story is written down and circulates throughout the secret citadels, ending with a message of hope and a call to action: “Bear the flame” (364). Meanwhile, Picket trains with Helmer. Their session is interrupted by Captain Frye, who arrives with urgent intelligence. He reports that their spy network has located Morbin’s prisoners, and it’s believed Picket’s family may be among them. Picket immediately buckles on his sword, ready for the next fight.