As Thorn carries Murtagh north from the grasslands near Gil’ead, Murtagh tries not to dwell on everything that has gone wrong. He worries that Nasuada, Arya, Eragon, Du Vrangr Gata, or the elves may be hunting them after the destruction in Gil’ead, but he also accepts that he and Thorn cannot simply abandon responsibility and live apart from the world.

At their first camp near the Ninor River, Murtagh hunts and continues helping Thorn face his fear of confined spaces, though Thorn again freezes among sparse poplars. The next morning Murtagh studies the stolen dictionary of the ancient language, discovers the word deyja, meaning death, and experiments with a light-gathering spell. The spell detonates with blinding force, destroys their campfire and breakfast, and teaches Murtagh that the magic is dangerous except at a great distance.

The journey takes them across empty plains toward the Spine. They rest in open country, where Thorn is relieved by the lack of enclosures, and then enter the mountains by the Anora River. At Ristvak’baen, the ruined elven watchtower where Galbatorix killed Vrael, Murtagh is overwhelmed by rage and grief over the fall of the Riders and the suffering that followed. Thorn steadies him, fiercely rejecting Murtagh’s despairing thought that another life might have been better, and reminds Murtagh that Thorn chose him.

Murtagh searches the ruined tower, keeps an old elven brass goblet as the first treasure of “House Murtagh,” and reflects on the cursed legacy of Zar’roc. From there, Thorn flies over Palancar Valley. Murtagh sees Therinsford, the burned remains of Eragon’s old farm, rebuilt Carvahall, and Roran’s unfinished castle, but decides not to land because meeting Roran would cause conflict and delay the search for Bachel. The valley forces Murtagh to confront painful questions about his mother’s choices and his own comparison with Eragon, though Thorn’s loyalty eases his bitterness.

Beyond Palancar Valley, Murtagh and Thorn follow the Bay of Fundor along the wild northern Spine. They observe several Urgal settlements, prompting Murtagh to reconsider his assumptions about Urgals and remember his own violent encounters with them. Thorn’s willingness to eat Urgals or humans leads to a moral disagreement, and Murtagh makes Thorn promise not to do so. After a confrontation with a huge bear and a night of unnatural nightmares shared between them, Murtagh and Thorn recognize that something strange is affecting the land. The next afternoon they find a dark, smoky cleft stinking of sulfur and realize they have reached their destination.