Elvar, now chief of the Battle-Grim, directs the Wave-Jarl to the town of Starl to purchase food and ale. Aboard are Ulfrir, Skuld, and the treasure they recovered from Oskutreð. To prevent word of their valuable cargo from spreading, Elvar orders most of the crew to remain on the ship.

As they dock, three women approach: Orka, Halja Flat-Nose of the Bloodsworn, and a thralled woman accompanying them. They demand the release of Uspa. Elvar refuses, and a fight seems imminent. However, Uspa appears on deck, expressing shock and joy at seeing Orka, whom she believed to be dead. Just as Orka demands Uspa come with them, Ulfrir steps forward. He recognizes Orka and addresses her as his “wolf-child,” halting the confrontation.

Orka is stunned to see Ulfrir, who was slain during the Guðfalla—the cataclysmic war among the gods that took place before the novel’s timeline. Ulfrir invites her aboard the Wave-Jarl for a discussion, and Elvar grants a temporary truce. During the parley, Orka explains that she is searching for her son, Breca. Uspa reveals that her son, Bjarn, was also abducted, leading them to conclude the boys were taken for the ritual that freed Lik-Rifa.

Orka asks Uspa to join her, but Uspa is bound by a blood oath to follow Elvar’s plan to rescue Bjarn. Ulfrir claims Orka is his daughter and insists her place is with him, but Orka refuses, unwilling to be delayed in her search for Breca. The conversation shifts when Halja recounts the Bloodsworn’s recent activities, including that Skalk took Orna’s talon, fragments of the Raudskinna, and Uspa’s sister, Vol. The meeting culminates when Elvar reveals that Orka’s prisoner, Myrk, has lied; the Raven-Feeders, who have the children, traveled east, not west as Myrk claimed.

Biórr travels with Lik-Rifa, the Raven-Feeders, and the captive Tainted children, including Breca and a recovering Bjarn. Their long journey east brings them into sight of the Boneback Mountains and onward to the coast of the Icebound Sea at a rocky promontory. Lik-Rifa leads the column to a sheer cliff face. There, she transforms into her massive dragon form and sings a Galdur-song. The song causes the cliffs to tremble and crumble away, revealing the hidden entrance to her ancient stronghold, Nastrandir. The entrance is a colossal doorway flanked by enormous, animated stone serpents that writhe and bow to her. Lik-Rifa welcomes her followers to her home.

|At Queen Helka’s fortress in Darl, Guðvarr apologizes to his aunt, Jarl Sigrún, for failing to kill Orka. Sigrún dismisses his failure, stating that her real concern is not revenge but projecting strength to prevent Helka and the other jarls from seeing her as weak. She also tells Guðvarr that Helka has summoned her rival, Jarl Orlyg of Svelgarth, for a meeting. Their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of an escorted Prince Hakon, who has been returned by the Bloodsworn. Guðvarr calls out a greeting to the prince, catching his eye as Hakon is led into the fortress. Queen Helka greets her son and announces a feast to celebrate his return.

Biórr and the others enter the vast, serpent-themed main hall of Nastrandir. Lik-Rifa senses that someone has been in her home. She leads her followers through the fortress, past an underground dock with longships, to another large chamber. Inside, they find a lavish feast already prepared. A tall, handsome man steps forward and welcomes Lik-Rifa home, calling her his sister. She is shocked and identifies him as Rotta, the rat-god, whom she and everyone else believed to be dead. Rotta reveals that rumors of his death were false; he escaped his prison during the Guðfalla.

Guðvarr attends the feast celebrating Prince Hakon’s return. A farmer named Leif Kolskeggson arrives with a mercenary, Sterkur, seeking Queen Helka’s permission to hunt Varg, who murdered Leif’s father when he was enslaved. Leif reveals that Varg has joined the Bloodsworn. Helka grants her blessing, adding that the Bloodsworn recently sailed from Liga in pursuit of a prince from Iskidan.

Afterward, Hakon initiates a shield-dance, a balance and agility contest. Guðvarr joins the competition and races through the shields, at one point colliding with Princess Estrid and sending them both crashing to the ground. Hakon wins, and the collision earns Guðvarr the prince’s amused attention. Following the feast, Guðvarr goes to The Dead Drengr inn with a woman named Vilja.

Rotta explains to Lik-Rifa that he escaped his prison during the Guðfalla but was too terrified of Orna and Ulfrir to aid her. Lik-Rifa discloses that she wrote her own Galdrabok during her imprisonment, but it has fallen into the wrong hands. Lik-Rifa forgives her brother, and they embrace. At the feast, Biórr’s crewmate Storolf defends a tennúr named Tannbursta from another warrior, knocking the man out and giving the man’s tooth to the tennúr. Rotta then approaches Biórr, acknowledging their shared divine bloodline and expressing sorrow for the suffering it has caused him. After Rotta’s apology, Lik-Rifa addresses the assembled host. She declares that their new purpose is to kill her brother Ulfrir and restore their kind to power. She then sings a powerful Galdur-song, calling all the vaesen she created to come to Nastrandir and join her.

Orka and her small group of Bloodsworn are hiding in a stable in Starl with their prisoner, Myrk, who taunts them until Orka silences her. That night, a group of cloaked figures attacks the stable. The fight is a ruse, orchestrated by Orka with Elvar and the Battle-Grim. The staged chaos allows Myrk to escape with her horse. Orka’s plan is for Myrk—who does not realize she has been allowed to escape deliberately—to lead them directly to where the Tainted children, including Orka’s son Breca, are being held.

Orka introduces her companions to Sæunn, an enslaved man Tainted with the blood of Hundur the hound, who can track Myrk by the scent of her blood. Before the Battle-Grim depart, Elvar gives Orka a valuable silver arm-ring as a token of regard to accompany word to the Bloodsworn, whom Elvar wishes to hire at double pay, with instructions for them to meet her at Snakavik.

Guðvarr wakes with a severe hangover at The Dead Drengr inn. Remembering Skalk’s command to get close to Prince Hakon, he goes downstairs and finds the prince meeting secretly with a cloaked man named Kalv. Eavesdropping, Guðvarr learns that Kalv is a messenger from Drekr, reporting that their “job is done” and that a female god (Lik-Rifa, though Guðvarr does not learn her name) is now free (396). Guðvarr also glimpses what appears to be a tattooed mark beneath recently re-grown hair on the back of Hakon’s head.

To avoid being caught spying, Guðvarr pretends to be drunk and stumbles into the room. Hakon, amused by Guðvarr’s antics during the previous night’s shield-dance, invites him to eat with them. Their meal is interrupted by the arrival of Skapti and Hrolf, the two men from the Grimholt who know of Guðvarr’s association with Skalk.

Varg is suffering from severe seasickness as the Sea-Wolf sails toward Iskidan. Røkia and Svik laugh heartily at his misery. After Svik walks away, Varg comments that at least his sickness has restored Svik’s good humor, as Svik has lately been in an uncharacteristically somber mood. Røkia explains that Orka rescued Svik after he escaped his enslavement and raised him as a son: Seeing Orka alive again at the Grimholt reopened old wounds.

Later, Varg talks with Refna, one of the children rescued from the Grimholt. She tells him her brother was brutally executed by Brák Troll-Slayer, who served Drekr. Varg reacts with horror at hearing Brák’s name and its connection to Drekr. The conversation is cut short when Sulich, using his enhanced Tainted sight, spots two ships on the horizon. Recognizing them as a threat, Glornir shouts for the Bloodsworn to arm themselves.

The narrative returns to Guðvarr in The Dead Drengr. Recognized by Skapti and Hrolf, he creates a diversion by flipping the table onto Prince Hakon and flees the inn. Kalv, Hrolf, Skapti, and Hakon’s guard give chase. Guðvarr leaps into a canal to escape, but his pursuers find a boat and continue the pursuit.

Desperate, Guðvarr runs toward the Galdur tower, hoping Skalk will protect him. Just outside the tower gates, Hrolf catches up and is about to kill Guðvarr with a throwing axe. However, a guard from the tower kills Hrolf with a spear. Kalv, revealing himself to be Tainted, charges Guðvarr. Skalk emerges from the tower and incapacitates Kalv with a Galdur spell, trapping him in a magical fiery net. After knocking Kalv unconscious, Skalk orders the captive to be brought inside and commands Guðvarr to follow him.