The company makes the final, oppressive trek through the Stone Marshes toward the Lock. Manon, unsettled by the Eye symbol and by her own Valg-tainted blood, questions Dorian about whether Aelin can truly use the Wyrdkeys to banish Erawan without condemning hybrids or anyone with Valg blood.

Dorian admits he does not know how Aelin will decide who belongs in which world, but insists Aelin is the safest person to hold the keys. When Manon asks why Dorian should not wield them himself, Dorian reveals the danger of his grief and rage: he killed his father, shattered the castle, and purged his court, and he fears he would unleash that same destruction across the continent because the woman he loved suffered and died. Manon accepts this darkness rather than recoiling from it, which gives Dorian visible relief.

By midday, the group reaches the ruins surrounding the Lock: a waterlogged maze of pillars and walls centered on a crumbling stone structure. Rowan scouts and finds the area unnervingly empty, while Aedion, Lysandra, Gavriel, and Fenrys check the perimeter and water. Aelin and Rowan share a brief intimate moment before entering the maze, but Aelin remains suspicious that the place is too easy and too quiet.

Inside the ruins, Aelin, Rowan, and Manon locate a stone chest covered in Wyrdmarks. Aelin recognizes some of the marks and notes their presence deep in Eyllwe, recalling that Nehemia once knew how to use such symbols. Before they can open or test the chest, a dark pulse of power sweeps through the marsh and silences the area.

Rowan identifies the pulse as Lorcan’s warning signal rather than Valg magic. After climbing the ruins to survey the distance, Rowan reports that an aerial legion is approaching. The force is not Ironteeth witches but five hundred ilken, turning the discovery of the Lock into an imminent battle and making escape for Aelin the foremost concern.