Anden wakes in a hospital bed, weak, sore, and attached to machines. His memory of the fight at the Twice Lucky returns, and instead of simple relief, Anden is overwhelmed by the terror, exhilaration, and craving caused by the enormous amount of jade he used to kill Gont Asch and two other men.

Anden realizes that the experience has changed how he sees jade. Anden understands why penitents call jade divine, but the thought frightens him because it suggests his own instability: the dangerous Aun bloodline, his mixed heritage, and his intense jade sensitivity may not have been overcome by Academy training after all. When Anden asks a nurse whether Hilo is alive, the nurse confirms that Hilo survived, then sedates Anden.

When Anden wakes again, Hilo is at the bedside, badly injured but joyful. Hilo praises Anden for killing Gont, saving Hilo, and turning the war. Hilo explains that Mr. Une called the Kaul house, Shae contacted Kehn and Tar, and No Peak forces were close enough to respond quickly. With Gont dead and the Mountain’s leadership badly weakened, Kehn retook the Docks, Tar took the rest of Sogen, and Juen pushed into Spearpoint, securing Poor Man’s Road.

Anden asks whether Ayt has been defeated, but Hilo says a Green Bone is not beaten until dead. Hilo recognizes that the Mountain is wounded and forced back, not finished, and speaks with renewed confidence about eventually getting Ayt. Anden, however, cannot share Hilo’s triumph; Anden feels hollow, detached from clan and family, and desperate to feel jade’s power again.

Hilo tells Anden that five days have passed and reassures Anden that Dr. Truw is treating both cousins. When Anden admits that killing Gont felt terrible but that he wants to do it again, Hilo insists Anden is not sick and explains that controlled doses of SN1 are being used to bring down Anden’s jade fever and stabilize him before graduation. As Anden rests, he senses Hilo’s muted jade aura and feels resentment and envy toward Hilo’s abundance of jade.