The Thirteen drill relentlessly with the other Blackbeak covens, and Abraxos improves thanks to the Spidersilk patches on his wings. After Abraxos defeats Lin’s bull in a dominance fight, no other wyvern challenges him. With the War Games approaching, Manon’s coven remains alert for retaliation from Iskra, but the larger problem becomes Abraxos’s failure to complete the Crossing.

Manon’s grandmother summons Manon and attacks her for allowing the other Matrons to learn that Abraxos has not made the Crossing and therefore may be barred from the Games. The Blackbeak Matron explains that winning matters because she wants the Blackbeaks to rise as queens of the Waste, not merely High Witches. The Matron also reveals that Iskra has captured a Crochan spy, then orders Manon to attempt the Crossing the next day, warning that failure in the Games will have deadly consequences.

The next night, the entire host gathers to watch Manon and Abraxos. Asterin and Sorrel cannot ride in to save Manon because the Matron has forbidden it, and the High Witches watch from above. When Abraxos sees the Matron, he refuses to move and growls a warning, causing the Thirteen to subtly reach for their weapons in case the Matron orders Manon and Abraxos killed.

Manon recognizes the strange, fierce feeling that rises in her whenever Abraxos is threatened. The bait beasts and chained wyverns begin a deep beat, and Asterin, the Thirteen, the Blackbeaks, and even the Bluebloods join in to support Abraxos. Manon tells Abraxos that he is one of the Thirteen and binds herself to him in words before mounting.

Abraxos charges down the tunnel and leaps into the Gap with Manon on his back. As they plummet, Manon refuses to close her eyes and trusts the Spidersilk to hold. Abraxos opens his patched wings at the last moment, pulls out of the dive, and soars up the side of the Omega into the night, successfully completing the Crossing.