Bloodless

Isla flees Grim’s mounting rage to their room, tormented by news that a Nightshade town was destroyed and witnesses might accuse her. Troubled by dreams, extra dirt on her body, and warnings about the skyre’s cost, she doubts herself but goes to the ruins. There, amid earthen-buried bodies and grieving survivors, Grim immediately believes her denial and shields her with shadows, though Isla can’t shake her history of unintended slaughter.

Fearing herself, Isla asks Grim to follow her if she sleepwalks. Remembering the augur’s “follow the snakes” riddle, she crafts the skyre on the prophet’s tooth and visits Wren; every snake turns toward her and climbs her, deepening her dread that the trail leads back to herself. She goes to Grim, who vows to defend her even if she is his downfall.

The castle suddenly convulses as branches and rocks spear through shattered windows. Astria bursts in, reporting an army at their gates that looks like Nightshades. Before Grim can reach Isla, the floor splits and swallows her; she survives the plunge with a Starling shield as a force tunnels her deep underground.

In a firefly-lit cavern, Isla meets a Wildling woman woven in vines who resembles her and admits she aims to kill every Nightshade. Isla attacks with blade and combined powers, severing an arm, but the woman regenerates effortlessly. Unmoved, the stranger declares she intends to use Nightshade bodies to build a new world—and has done it before.

As Isla’s snakes abandon her to coil around the woman, Isla recognizes their shared features. The Wildling smiles and reveals her name: Lark Crown. She claims the serpents and Isla’s likeness, positioning herself as a worldmaker and sworn enemy of the Nightshades.