Iskra Yellowlegs’s bull catches Abraxos by the throat in midair, and Manon is briefly paralyzed by terror. Manon tries to shoot the bull loose, then prepares to leap across the impossible gap and kill it herself, choosing Abraxos over every crown, war, and future before her.

Before Manon can jump, Petrah Blueblood crashes into Iskra’s bull and frees Abraxos. Petrah arrives with hundreds of rebel Ironteeth witches who turn on Morath’s aerial forces, then tells Manon to go protect Orynth’s walls while Petrah takes Iskra in vengeance for Keelie. Petrah lures Iskra into a lethal dive, circles too tightly for Iskra’s bull to open its wings, and escapes at the last instant, leaving Iskra and her mount to smash into the earth.

Manon, Abraxos, and the Thirteen fly to the river grate where Morath soldiers are trying to enter Orynth. Despite Abraxos’s terrible neck wound and failing strength, Manon directs the witches to drop boulders into the river until the vulnerable tunnel is sealed. Abraxos then barely reaches the castle battlements before collapsing, and Manon and the Thirteen desperately hold pressure on his wound while a healer works.

Lysandra, exhausted and injured from shifting and fighting, reaches the battlements as Ren and a Bane soldier bring up a half-conscious Aedion. Aedion has survived killing a Valg prince but has reopened his wounds. Lysandra then reveals the worse danger: Morath’s witch tower is moving toward Orynth, powered by Ironteeth witches making Yieldings, and its next blasts will destroy the castle and city.

Manon demands another wyvern and plans to break through the Ironteeth defense around the tower, but Abraxos cannot fly and Lysandra’s magic is drained. The Thirteen silently decide to act without Manon. Asterin tells Manon to live, strikes Manon down to keep her from following, and leads the Thirteen into the sky in a final formation.

The Thirteen carve through the Ironteeth blockade at the cost of their lives, clearing a path for Asterin. Asterin kills the acolyte about to trigger the tower, crashes Narene into the structure, and fights her way to the Blackbeak Matron. Asterin and the Thirteen make the Yielding not with darkness but with pure light, destroying themselves, the witch tower, and Manon’s grandmother.