Murtagh wakes abruptly in a cold stone cell, disoriented but clearer than before. He remembers the caves beneath Nal Gorgoth and Bachel’s confrontation, then realizes he cannot sense Thorn or any other nearby minds. The silence suggests either mental interference or that Thorn is imprisoned too, which forces Murtagh to focus on escape.

Murtagh tests the iron bars with magic, but the spell fails because his mind cannot pierce the usual barrier needed to manipulate energy. He recognizes the taste in his mouth as vorgethan, the drug Galbatorix once used to weaken him and make spellcasting nearly impossible. This discovery confirms that Bachel’s people have deliberately stripped him of both physical strength and magical power.

A prisoner in the opposite cell speaks to Murtagh: Uvek, a scarred Urgal shaman. Uvek says Bachel used the Breath to capture Murtagh and explains that the captives are poisoned so they cannot use their powers. Uvek also knows Murtagh by reputation as Thorn’s Rider and questions his history with the Urgals, but accepts Murtagh’s blunt honesty.

Murtagh and Uvek compare their situation, and Uvek warns that even his greater strength has not broken the magically fortified bars. Murtagh thinks of reaching Thorn, but his weakness and the drugs make that impossible. As Murtagh fades, he is pulled back into fragmented dreams that sometimes seem to brush against Thorn’s mind and also hint at a vast, malevolent presence beneath the visions.

Murtagh is awakened when white-robed cultists splash him with cold water. They restrain him, expose him again to Bachel’s enchanted vapor, and force-feed him slop that tastes of burning brandy, likely more drugged food. After leaving briefly, the cultists return, drag Murtagh from the cell despite his protests, and take him away.