Ravyn, gravely wounded by Hauth’s dagger, drags himself through the snow toward Castle Yew before losing consciousness. Petyr, Jon Thistle, Fenir, and Morette find him and carry him into the great hall, where the dagger remains lodged in Ravyn’s side. Jespyr and Emory rush to Ravyn, but everyone fears that removing the blade will make him bleed out.

The Nightmare arrives violently and takes control of the rescue. Because Ravyn cannot safely use most Providence Cards, the Nightmare relies on family magic and orders Jespyr, newly infected in the alderwood, to place her hands on Ravyn’s wound as he pulls the dagger free. Ravyn blacks out from the pain as Jespyr’s unknown magic saves him.

Ravyn wakes two days later in his bedroom with Elm beside him. Elm shows Ravyn the clear blue sky and confirms that the mist has lifted. Jespyr, Emory, and Ione visit; Emory has been healed by the new Card and can touch people without visions. Elm also shows Ravyn the new twelve-colored Providence Card, called the Shepherd, depicting a yellow-eyed crowned man, and says the Nightmare wants Ravyn to wait before using it on his infection.

That night, the Nightmare wakes Ravyn and shows him the last remaining Nightmare Card, hidden at Stone while the twelve Cards that formed the new Deck vanished. The Nightmare leads Ravyn to the Shepherd King’s chamber in the wood, where the bloodstained crowns of Aemmory Percyval Taxus and Brutus Rowan rest. Ravyn and the Nightmare discuss whether Ravyn will tell his family about their ancestry and speak openly about Elspeth’s fear of being rejected for what she is.

The Nightmare reveals that Elspeth cannot be healed by the Shepherd Card because her strange magic would absorb the Card and all twelve Providence Cards within it instead. When Ravyn asks whether he and Elspeth can ever meet again on this side of the veil, the Nightmare gives him the last Nightmare Card and explains that destroying it will make the Nightmare’s soul vanish, leaving Elspeth’s degeneration with nothing to cling to so she can return.

Ravyn is furious to learn that the means to free Elspeth existed all along, but the Nightmare admits he delayed because he still had the Deck to gather, history to rewrite, and was not ready to say goodbye to Elspeth. Ravyn insists that the Nightmare take time to say goodbye. After waiting ten minutes in the meadow, Ravyn tears the final Nightmare Card in two.