Elide is cornered in Oakwald by an ilken, a winged, soulless creature from Morath that offers her a quick death while clearly intending to tear her apart. With no help in sight and little chance of outrunning it, Elide remembers Manon’s terrifying composure and decides to use deception instead of force.

Clutching the strange stone in her pocket, Elide adopts Manon’s cold authority and claims she has been sent by the Dark King to hunt the escaped girl. The ilken hesitates at her Morath leathers and the stone’s dark presence, but nearly sees through the lie when Elide mentions her injured ankle, which matches its prey. Elide recovers by implying that Erawan put something terrible inside her at Morath, and the creature backs down long enough for her to walk away.

After fleeing half a mile, Elide collapses and vomits from fear and relief. Lorcan finds her, bloodied from fighting the other ilken, disarms her, and questions why she smells like Morath and why the beasts are chasing her. Elide explains that she escaped Morath and is heading north to safety; Lorcan cuts her arm to confirm her blood is red, then introduces himself and carries her away from the pursuing creatures.

From Lorcan’s perspective, he reflects that killing the ilken took significant magic because of their resistance, and he recognizes that Elide survived by intelligence. When they stop, Elide gives the false name Marion and reveals only enough to learn that they are in central Adarlan, far from Terrasen. Lorcan sees her ruined ankle and shackle wounds, which support her claim that she was a prisoner rather than an ally of Morath.

Lorcan offers Elide healing salve in exchange for information. Elide tells him about Morath’s Ironteeth host, the Thirteen, the armies, the forges, and her escape after an explosion at the castle. She says she is traveling to Terrasen to find Celaena Sardothien for a friend, then Aelin Galathynius, whose army she wants to join so no other girls are taken to Morath.

Lorcan withholds the truth that Celaena and Aelin are the same person and says he is heading toward Morath on his mistress’s orders. They agree to travel together until the Acanthus River: Lorcan will protect Elide in return for more details about Morath. Elide makes Lorcan swear not to abandon her, then warns that ordinary crossings will be watched and hints that she has another plan.