Over two weeks, Manon and the Thirteen train relentlessly with their wyverns, learning to fly canyon runs as a single fighting unit despite injuries, exhaustion, and near-fatal mistakes. Manon stops them from eating the king’s strange meat and has riders and mounts hunt mountain goats instead, which helps the Thirteen begin outpacing the other covens. To hide their advantage, Manon orders the Thirteen to hold back whenever the Yellowlegs watch.

Abraxos remains Manon’s main concern because his wings are still too weak for the most dangerous maneuvers. After convincing her grandmother that the Blackbeaks need rest before the covens erupt into open violence, Manon wins two days off. Rather than sleep, Manon saddles Abraxos and leaves for the Ruhnn Mountains to seek spidersilk from the legendary Stygian spiders, hoping the silk can reinforce Abraxos’s wings.

A storm strikes as Manon and Abraxos reach the western Ruhnns, forcing them to land and endure a freezing night against a cliff. Manon sees the journey as necessary for victory and the Wing Leader position, even while regretting the risk. During the night, Abraxos shields Manon from the storm with his wing and keeps her warm with his breath, deepening the sense of trust between them.

After the storm clears, Manon and Abraxos find a web-shrouded forest and caves littered with bones. At one cave, Manon meets an ancient Stygian spider, who recognizes the Ironteeth witches as kin in darkness and discusses old ties to the Bluebloods. The spider also reveals rumors from the Wastes: a mortal High King was deposed by a wine-red-haired young woman now calling herself High Queen, which enrages Manon because Manon intends the Wastes for the witches.

When the spider produces a magnificent bolt of spidersilk, the price becomes Manon’s beauty rather than years of life or dreams. Manon pretends to inspect the silk and lures the spider and its guards close to the cliff edge by claiming there is an imperfection. Once the spiders are positioned where Manon wants them, Abraxos lashes out with his tail, knocks them into the ravine, and Manon steals the silk before flying away, revealing the bargain was a trap from the start.