Chapter 14 — Isla

While dragging a weakened Lark through the cursed forest, Isla is yanked into a vivid memory of training in the Wildling woods years earlier. Terra overwhelms Isla with dual blades and then with the forest itself, impaling her nonfatally to harden her for the Centennial. Poppy intervenes to tend Isla’s wounds, and an argument reveals lingering hurt over Isla’s mother’s choices.

Later that night in the memory, Terra discovers and destroys Isla’s cherished keepsakes from her mother, pushing Isla into despair. In desperation, Isla uncovers a hidden floor compartment containing a silver stick that creates keyholes. Through it, she glimpses snowcapped mountains in another world, feeling seen and less alone for the first time.

Isla snaps back to the present in agony as Lark battles a pallid, clawed creature that shifts to an alluring form before reverting to monstrous. Recognizing Lark’s weakness without her powers, Isla calls for the sword and decapitates the attacker, noting the world’s corrupting curse that has twisted once-glimmering beings.

Lark begins to speak of the world’s past but locks into another memory. Injured and half-carrying Lark, Isla flees as bark-women erupt from the trees, wielding root-forged weapons. Isla narrowly escapes strangulation by severing a wooden arm, yet the pair are soon surrounded by a legion closing in.

As the warriors lunge, Isla’s vision blurs toward another memory, leaving her certain she cannot fight off the attack while Lark remains mentally trapped—ending the scene with Isla outnumbered and on the brink of being overwhelmed.