Varg and his fellow Bloodsworn, including Svik and Æsa, join an ongoing battle at the Galdur tower. Varg is horrified to witness Guðvarr sweep up Jökul’s own hammer from the ground and slam it into Jökul’s head, killing him. Consumed by grief and rage, Varg pursues Guðvarr into the tower and down the tunnel.

He is joined by Svik and Æsa, and they soon realize the tunnel leads to Queen Helka’s fortress. The rest of the Bloodsworn, led by Glornir Shield-Breaker, regroup with them. Inside the fortress, they find Prince Hakon, Helka’s son, naked in bed with a woman, and take him hostage. They then storm the queen’s mead hall, leading to a fierce battle with Helka’s honor guard of Úlfhéðnar, Tainted warriors descended from Ulfrir the wolf god, bound by Galdur-collars. During the fight, Varg is attacked by an Úlfhéðnar and has his ear bitten off. The battle is brought to a halt when Røkia holds a blade to the captive Hakon’s throat.

Guðvarr watches from the side as the standoff in Queen Helka’s mead hall unfolds. Glornir demands the return of Vol and Skalk. Guðvarr steps forward and reveals that Prince Jaromir’s forces have already taken Vol and a chest containing the bones of the god Hraeg. This news changes the dynamic of the confrontation.

Skalk appears, having survived the chasm, and confirms Guðvarr’s story. Queen Helka, a shrewd negotiator, proposes a new arrangement: Instead of continuing their fight, she will hire the Bloodsworn to hunt down Prince Jaromir. This allows them to rescue Vol, and Helka wants Jaromir caught and punished for the insult. In exchange, the Bloodsworn must spare Skalk’s life for now. Glornir agrees but insists on keeping Prince Hakon as a hostage to ensure that Helka honors the deal. As the tension subsides, Varg confronts Guðvarr. He warns him that Lif, whose brother Guðvarr also killed, is seeking revenge and declares that he, too, will eventually kill Guðvarr for murdering Jökul.

Huld calls for an Althing—a formal assembly—to challenge Elvar for the position of chief of the Battle-Grim. Elvar agrees to a holmganga, a duel to the death, to settle the matter. Her second-in-command, Grend, is worried because she has an apparent shoulder injury.

Elvar does not reveal that the Seiðr-witch Uspa has already healed her shoulder with Seiðr-runes. Elvar feigns weakness during the fight, luring Huld into a false sense of confidence. When Huld overcommits to an attack, Elvar strikes decisively, killing her. Having proven her strength and cunning, Elvar is formally recognized as the new chief of the Battle-Grim. She decides their first move will be to travel south and return to their ship, the Wave-Jarl, rather than immediately pursuing the enemy warband.

Varg and the Bloodsworn prepare to depart Darl on a drakkar, a longship provided by Queen Helka. Before they leave, Varg, accompanied by Svik, Røkia, and Einar Half-Troll, goes into the city. His mission is to find Brimil, the human trafficker who purchased his sister, Frøya. To move through the slaver’s world unnoticed, Varg puts on his old iron thrall-collar.

They locate Brimil in an inn, and Varg brutally beats him until he reveals what happened to Frøya. Brimil confesses that he sold her to a trapper named Brák Trolls-Bane. During the interrogation, Varg loses control, and his Tainted wolf nature briefly manifests. To protect their secret, Svik and Røkia swiftly kill Brimil and his guards. The Bloodsworn then set sail from Darl with Prince Hakon and his Úlfhéðnar bodyguard, Frek, as hostages. Another Bloodsworn, Sulich, explains their plan: They will sail to the port city of Liga to intercept Prince Jaromir before he can escape Vigrið on his own ships.

Biórr, traveling with the Raven-Feeders, is tormented by guilt over his betrayal of the Battle-Grim and his killing of their chief, Agnar. Lik-Rifa begins to indoctrinate the Tainted children who were abducted for the ritual to free her.

Lik-Rifa removes their Galdur-collars and tells them their Tainted blood is a gift, not a curse, marking them as descendants of gods. She encourages them to discover and embrace the “beast” within them. The children, including a boy named Bjarn and another named Breca Thorkelsson, begin to identify with their divine animal ancestors. Biórr then witnesses Brák Trolls-Bane, the trapper who bought Frøya, brutally beat and maim Breca for attempting to escape, breaking the bones in his hand and scarring his face as a lesson.

Orka continues her journey with her small band, tracking the Raven-Feeders. She interrogates Myrk, who reveals that the Raven-Feeders used a powerful rune-scroll and the blood of many Tainted children, including Orka’s son Breca, to perform a ritual that freed Lik-Rifa from her ancient prison.

Enraged that Breca was used in the ritual, Orka gouges out one of Myrk’s eyes. Myrk confirms that Breca is still alive. Orka consults her companions, then strikes a deal: She will reveal the name of Myrk’s father’s killer in exchange for Breca’s location. Myrk tells her that Lik-Rifa and the children are heading west toward the Iskalt Islands. In return, Halja Flat-Nose, one of Orka’s companions, tells Myrk that Varg killed her father.

Aboard the drakkar sailing from Darl, Varg and the Bloodsworn anchor for the night. Glornir discovers that Einar Half-Troll has smuggled a group of children out of the city hidden in barrels. To entertain the crew and the children, Svik tells a story about a clever widow named Helka, a hungry troll named Einar, and a cunning wolf named Frek.

The tale is an allegory about fairness, power, and perception. It concludes that there is no fixed “way of the world” (288); rather, individuals make their own choices. Prince Hakon is confused by the story’s moral, but his Úlfhéðnar bodyguard, Frek, appears to understand its deeper meaning about challenging established power structures.

In Darl, Guðvarr is summoned to the Galdur tower by Skalk. To reassert his dominance, Skalk uses his Galdur-magic to activate the hyrndur inside Guðvarr’s chest, causing him excruciating pain. He reminds Guðvarr of his mission: to get close to Prince Hakon when he returns to Darl. Terrified and realizing he is completely under Skalk’s control, Guðvarr goes to his aunt, Jarl Sigrún, and confesses that he is in grave danger.

Elvar leads the Battle-Grim south, reaching their longship, the Wave-Jarl. As she grapples with the new responsibilities of leadership, Uspa challenges her worldview, arguing that the brutal “way of the world” is a choice, not an inevitability (307).

Their camp is suddenly visited by a Froa-spirit, a towering, tree-like vaesen, who has come seeking the wolf-god Ulfrir. When the Battle-Grim attack the creature, Ulfrir transforms into a giant wolf to protect it, killing one of Elvar’s warriors, Ketil, in the process. He declares the Froa-spirit an ally. To re-establish control, Elvar uses the power of the Galdur-collar to force Ulfrir back into his human form, inflicting immense pain on him. She demonstrates her absolute authority over both him and his daughter, Skuld, solidifying her command over the two gods.

Plagued by guilt over his role in the abduction of Uspa’s son, Bjarn, Biórr attempts to reconnect with the boy by offering to play tafl, a strategic board game, but Bjarn is uninterested and seems mentally unfocused. Kraká tells him that some of the abducted children are not yet fully themselves. Breca, the boy whose hand was broken by Brák Trolls-Bane, plays in Bjarn’s place.

Lik-Rifa continues her efforts to win the loyalty of the Tainted children, teaching them to embrace their divine heritage and reject their mortal parents. During her speech, a swarm of tennúr arrives. They report that her brother, the wolf-god Ulfrir, has been seen alive and has crossed the Isbrún Bridge, a mythical landmark. Lik-Rifa is enraged by this news.

Orka’s group arrives at the lakeside town of Starl. Myrk confirms that the Raven-Feeders sailed across the lake from here. To gather information and supplies without raising suspicion, Orka purchases a Tainted thrall named Sæunn, who has knowledge of the local human trafficking networks.

While in Starl, Orka observes followers of Lik-Rifa openly preaching about the return of the dragon-god. As she looks out across Lake Horndal, she feels the familiar presence of Snaka’s power emanating from one of his giant ribs that arches over the water. Her attention is drawn to an approaching drakkar bearing the shields of the Battle-Grim, which Halja identifies for her.