Falkan, still wearing a kharankui form, cuts Nesryn and Sartaq free from the webbing and urges them to move before the spider queen realizes no reinforcements are coming. Nesryn and Sartaq recover their weapons, confirm they both heard the revelation about Maeve, and follow Falkan out of the cavern toward a steep slope leading upward from the pass.

As the kharankui begin to close in, Nesryn remembers the spider queen's admission that Valg hate fire. With no easy escape and no sign of Kadara, Nesryn tears strips from her shirt, Sartaq cuts pieces from his braid for kindling, and they use flint to light arrows. Nesryn first fires a burning arrow into the sky to distract the spiders, then uses the next flaming shots to wound the spider queen and another attacker, buying a little time.

While Sartaq helps prepare another arrow, Falkan asks Nesryn for a final favor. Falkan reveals that he has spent years searching for a lost niece in Rifthold, the abandoned daughter of his older brother, and asks Nesryn to find the woman if she still lives and give her his fortune. Then Falkan runs down toward the spiders to hold them back, choosing sacrifice so Nesryn and Sartaq can escape.

Before Nesryn and Sartaq can flee, another kharankui attacks from the far side of the peak. Sartaq shoves Nesryn out of danger and wounds the spider, but the creature slashes deep into Sartaq's thigh. Nesryn fires her last arrows, blinding the spider in one eye but failing to stop it, then drops her bow and stands between Sartaq and the monster with her Fae blade drawn.

The spider prepares to leap and promises torture, leaving Nesryn only one chance to strike. At the last instant, Borte arrives on the dark ruk Arcas, who slams into the kharankui and knocks it off the cliff, saving Nesryn and the wounded Sartaq.