Bree obeys Selwyn Kane’s command to leave the quarry party, moving toward the parking lot with Dustin. When Bree trips and cuts her already-scratched palms on a pine trunk, the pain disrupts the compulsion. Bree’s thoughts return, and Bree realizes Selwyn has altered both Bree’s and Dustin’s memories, replacing the flying creature above the campfire with a false blank space.

Bree hides behind a tree and overhears Tor and Selwyn discussing the remaining football players and Selwyn’s memory wipe. Bree sees the green, flickering creature still above the clearing while Selwyn restrains the injured, disoriented boys with unnatural strength. Bree considers leaving to find Alice and Charlotte, but curiosity and fear keep Bree in place.

Selwyn and Tor prepare to hunt the creature. Silver smoke wraps around Selwyn, his eyes glow, and Tor reveals a collapsible bow. Tor shoots the creature in the wing, and Selwyn uses murmured magic to send the football players away in a dazed line. Bree sees their slack, unfocused faces and realizes Selwyn’s power may have made Bree look the same.

The wounded creature falls to the ground and speaks, calling Selwyn “Merlin” and then “a Kingsmage.” Selwyn pins it with needles of light and questions it, revealing that the creature is an “isel” that fed on human aggression. The isel hints that the nearby Gate is “not my Gate,” a statement that unsettles both Selwyn and Tor, but Selwyn destroys it before learning more.

After the isel’s death, Tor suggests there may be more creatures nearby. Selwyn decides they will keep hunting, uses silver smoke to extinguish the campfire, and leads Tor into the woods. Once they are gone, Bree notices the forest come back to life and recognizes that even the animals had hidden from Selwyn. Terrified by both the monster and Selwyn’s power, Bree runs through the woods without looking back.