Wraith

Isla struggles with the necklace that cannot be removed except by her death and with longing for Oro after choosing to leave with Grim. Seeking answers about the prophecy, she realizes Cleo likely heads to Nightshade to coerce Grim to open the portal, and decides the captive oracles may reveal how to change her fate.

Prompted by a dinner invitation, Isla searches for Wraith and finds him transformed into a massive dragon bonded to Grim. During a perilous ride, old intimacy resurfaces, but Isla remains guarded. On landing, Grim kneels and apologizes for erasing her memories and making unilateral choices; Isla demands and receives an oath—sworn on their marriage—that he will not act behind her back again.

Isla covertly turns the situation to her advantage: she asks Grim to teach her to ride Wraith so she can eventually search for Cleo’s fleet without powers. She practices handholds and balance while resisting Grim’s shadows helping her, determined to master riding alone.

Grim then takes Isla to a Nightshade village previously attacked during storm season. Villagers describe a shadowlike beast with crowded teeth that slipped indoors; survivors and bloodstains remain, though the monster was later killed. While many eye Isla warily, they treat Grim with reverence as he notes grievances and promises remedies, revealing careful, pragmatic leadership.

Departing, Isla fixates on a villager’s warning that storms are harbingers of the end. Days later, storm season arrives early, confirming escalating danger and intensifying Isla’s need to find the oracles and stop the tempests.