Elspeth finds herself in a new inner darkness: not the shore where the Nightmare had kept her before, but a sealed room with a window. Through that window, Elspeth can now see what the Nightmare sees while he controls her body, and she watches Ravyn and Jespyr walking ahead through the misty glen.

Elspeth realizes the horror of the Nightmare’s former existence: being trapped inside another person, forced to watch and listen without control. The Nightmare, still wearing Elspeth’s body, has cut her hair and left her filthy, claiming the changed appearance makes Ravyn less visibly distressed when he looks at her.

The Nightmare needles Ravyn by repeating Elspeth’s reactions to him, and Ravyn quickly deduces that Elspeth can see him. Ravyn uses the Nightmare Card despite the Nightmare’s resistance, and salt opens a link that lets Elspeth and Ravyn speak directly for a brief moment. Ravyn blames himself for being too late at Stone, but Elspeth insists her disappearance was caused by magic and degeneration, not by his failure.

Ravyn swears they will get more time together, but the Nightmare cuts the connection short, arguing that separation will motivate Ravyn to retrieve the Twin Alders Card. Before the conflict can continue, arrows strike the path where Ravyn had stood, and Jespyr shoves Ravyn aside just in time.

The arrows release sweet-smelling smoke from glass vials, incapacitating the group. As the Nightmare collapses, Elspeth sees Petyr losing consciousness and Wik lying unmoving with an arrow in his skull. The last thing Elspeth sees before the Nightmare passes out is two attackers approaching through the grass, one of them declaring they have found two more Destriers.