As Aelin's fleet reaches Eyllwe's coast, the ships pass village after village burned by unseen attackers. Aelin and Rowan cannot stop long enough to go ashore, so Aelin extinguishes the fires from the ship by stretching her magic across the sea and land, leaving herself exhausted and painfully thirsty.

Rowan repeatedly flies inland to question survivors, but each village gives the same account: unnatural darkness covered the sky before flaming arrows struck. Neither Erawan's forces nor Maeve's appear, and rumors spread that Aelin herself is burning Eyllwe in revenge, despite her efforts to save the villages.

Aelin tries not to absorb the accusation while also carrying private worries about her body and future. Rowan has realized she is not pregnant, after their earlier discussion that Aelin is not taking contraceptive tonics because Fae blood may make conception difficult and Terrasen may need an heir. Aelin has not asked whether Rowan wants children after Lyria, and she also avoids explaining her recent sickness.

At sunset on the third day, the fleet reaches the Stone Marshes: a drowned, ruined city rising from waterlogged land. The captains report that the object the group seeks lies about a day and a half inland, though its exact location is unknown, so the ships will anchor while Aelin's party searches.

Manon learns she must accompany the inland party, and Aelin orders Abraxos to leave because a wyvern would be too visible over the marshes. Manon forces herself to send Abraxos away, thanking him for saving her life and promising their bond will endure, but his departure shakes her because it feels like losing the last part of her identity as Wing Leader.

After Abraxos vanishes, Manon confronts the meaning of the red cloak tied to her Crochan half sister, Rhiannon. Manon cuts a strip from it to bind around her braid, then throws the rest into the sea. Aelin and Dorian witness the gesture, and Aelin quietly tells Manon that the faces of the dead never stop appearing, creating a brief moment of grim understanding between the two queens.