On the glass bridge, Dorian senses fire, light, darkness, and ice as Aelin rises before him, healed by the restored magic. A light from the ring on his finger cracks into the Valg darkness inside him. Aelin urges Dorian to remember, and her flames hold the demon back rather than harming Dorian, allowing Dorian to push through the possession and see Aelin as Celaena Sardothien.

Below the city, Aedion, Rowan, and Lorcan are trapped against the cave-in as Valg soldiers flood the tunnels after the tower’s destruction. Rowan is badly wounded and barely conscious, while Rowan’s and Lorcan’s magic begin to fail from exhaustion and blood loss. Aedion knows they have succeeded in destroying the tower and restoring Aelin’s power, but he also believes the three of them will die buying Aelin time.

Lorcan is dragged out of sight by soldiers, then appears to cut his own path through the enemy elsewhere, leaving Aedion and Rowan facing a regrouped Valg line. Aedion steps in front of Rowan and prepares to die defending him. Just as the Valg commander orders the charge, the commander’s hand is torn off by Lysandra in the form of a ghost leopard.

The chapter shifts to Lysandra, who had sent Evangeline onward to safety and then felt magic return in her blood. Freed into her shape-shifting power, Lysandra tracks her friends through the city and tears through the Valg in the sewer, driven by vengeance for her own and Evangeline’s stolen lives. After Lysandra clears the soldiers, Rowan pleads with Lysandra to go to the palace and help Aelin.

Lysandra races through the panicking streets toward the glass castle, where fire and darkness are clashing above. At the gate, thirty Valg guards aim crossbows at Lysandra, and one bolt is about to strike her heart. Nesryn Faliq shoots the bolt out of the air, then she and her rebels pick off the guards, clearing the way for Lysandra to run up toward the castle and Aelin’s battle.