Neema packs an escape bag and walks the service paths near the Raven palace to hide her pack near her old apartment. This marks the completion of the first vision she had in the Dragon Trial.

The contenders are invited to a private reception to honor the emperor’s successor. Havoc tells Neema he’s been promised the position of High Admiral by the current emperor, which prompts Neema to wonder whether Ruko knows about this. Rather than wear the dress the emperor sent for her, Neema wears a simple tunic and pants.

Shal Worthy is invited to Yasila’s chambers, where she offers him a job as High Commander of Helia. Yasila does not blame him for Yana’s fate. She states that tomorrow they will set sail for Helia, where Nisthala will rule. Shal pledges himself to their service to protect Nisthala. Yasila leaves for the celebration of the new emperor and orders Shal to stay in the room and not let anyone in.

Neema’s former assistant Janric approaches her at the party to tell her of the rumor that Ruko will move his court to Samra and get rid of all the reforms Bersun enacted. Neema and Tala learn that Fenn has been arrested. Tala forgives Neema for urging Sunur and her daughter off the island where they will be safe. Cain, still possessed by the Fox, is in attendance. He licks Shimmer’s masterpiece on the walls of the throne room, noting that the paint is laced with Dragonscale oil. Vabras knocks him out with the pommel of his sword.

Ruko, who’s noticed the emperor wears the Blade of Peace at his hip, demands its return, but is denied. Rivenna pricks Ruko in the neck with a numbing agent that makes him unable to move or speak. He falls to his knees at the foot of the dais. The emperor sings a short song that Sol calls The Soul Stealer and transforms in front of the court to reveal Andren Valit. Most of the court are his loyal allies and are not surprised, but Tala, Neema, and Ruko are.

Andren reveals Yasila is working with him. She arrives with Jadu. Andren sings the incantation again and takes a piece of Ruko’s soul, allowing Andren to take on Ruko’s likeness. Ruko writhes in pain.

Andren then reveals that Neema has made all this possible. Her research on Ketuan folktales and ancient songs unlocked powerful secrets from the past. She handed him the metaphorical key to everything.

He informs the court that the Guardians are not gods, but rather beings created by human magic meant to protect the world from Catastrophe. However, they evolved into powerful and demanding Tyrants. Andren seeks to call them back from the Hidden Realm and trap them in Shimmer’s masterpiece so that the world can be free of its fear of them.

Rivenna attempts to kill Tala with the Blade of Peace to summon the Guardians, but Neema seizes the knife and their following struggle leads to Rivenna being stabbed. The Guardians are summoned. Andren and his followers sing the tune of “Come to the Mountain” but with new words that command the Guardians to make their home inside the room’s walls. Sol is nearly ripped from Neema, drawn out by the song, but she clings tightly to him.

While the Guardians are sucked inside, Neema saves Sol’s fragment of the Raven and the Dragon fragment worn by Jadu is saved by Yasila. In the aftermath, Andren admires his work and when he seeks out Neema, Cain, and Tala, they are gone.

The Fox being knocked unconscious by Vabras causes Cain to wake. In the distraction of the Guardians’ return, he leads Neema and Tala out of the imperial palace. Outside, they discover the Samran Hounds Andren called to the island over the past week are purging everyone on the island they believe might resist Andren’s rule.

The Fox palace explodes twice and the Bear palace falls under attack by Andren’s Hounds. Andren and his allies plan to blame it on Bersun—“an attempted coup […] After twenty-four years on the Thorne, the Old Bear had refused to hand over the reins of power—least of all to Andren Valet’s son” (605). Anyone who doesn’t believe them or becomes suspicious will die.

Neema and Cain grab the bag she’d stashed near the Raven palace, then run for the Fox palace when they hear the explosions. Meanwhile, Tala runs off to warn people to escape. Cain becomes emotional at the carnage they find. There are no survivors.

Meanwhile, the Raven palace is relatively untouched due to Kindry’s loyalty to Andren. He explains Ruko’s accession and the fictionalized story of Bersun’s resistance. Any scholar who asks too many questions is discreetly killed.

Most of the boats are destroyed so no one can use them to escape the island. Andren uses the Dragon-prowed boat to leave with Yasila, Nisthala, Jadu, Shal, Ruko, and a few guards. Nisthala is touched by Jadu and her suffering ends as her wounds marking her as Chosen are soothed. Nisthala removes the Dragon diadem from Jadu’s head and places it on her own, crowning herself the new ruler of Helia. With the diadem no longer keeping Jadu young and near-immortal, she quickly withers with age and turns to dust.

Cain and Neema search for a discreet way off the island but do not find one. Sol is no help. He is deformed because of the spell and sad to have no flock.

They decide to go for the obvious exit—the Mirror Bridge—yet before they can start running, they are surrounded by Vabras and 24 Samran Hounds. Neema asks Sol if he’d like to fight with her and Cain, as a flock of three. Sol is invigorated by this idea. They fight against the Hounds to get to the Gate. Surprisingly, Vabras helps them.

Havoc brings Fenn above deck to speak with Andren. He tasks the High Engineer with restoring Samra to its former glory. Andren plans to abandon the imperial island and make Samra the capital again.

Andren then visits Ruko. He laughs at Ruko for believing he could take the throne. He then gifts Ruko the chameleon, Pink-Pink, to keep him company while he’s imprisoned. Ruko frees Pink-Pink from his cage and finds Benna’s red ribbon from his last Festival fight inside that says, “Team Ruko.” It makes him laugh and gives him courage to face what’s ahead.

The Fox escaped the binding spell by sending one fragment of itself into the painting. However, it dragged him out of Cain, so he found the next closest host—Vabras.

Back on the imperial island, from within the painting, the Raven apologizes for failing the Dragon. Tiger apologizes on behalf of Andren and Rivenna. The Dragon forgives them, stating all is as it must be.

Meanwhile, Benna sneaks onto the emperor’s ship as a servant and cuts her hair short to better disguise herself. Yasila asks Nisthala about the beaded necklace she’s always worn. Nisthala has discarded them as if they’re nothing. Yasila fondly remembers that Ruko made that necklace for his sister in childhood.

Cain and Neema make it to the Mirror Bridge, where they jump onto the platform and winch themselves down the rock face. They jump into the water, where they’re picked up by Tala and Fox Abbot Fort, who have located a boat to escape on. Abbot Fort survived thanks to the Fox, who told him to hide under the floor of his chapel after he’d filled it with chickens. He was never found by the Samran Hounds.

They are hidden under the blankets as Fort ushers them away from the island. Sol asks Neema if they’re still a flock, and she assures him they’re a permanent flock. She tells him that he was magnificent fighting the Hounds on the island, making Sol very happy.