Before — Chapter 54

After training with Terra, Isla feels a wordless summons from the forest and portals to a river by cliffs the eldress had once shown her. There, she finds a heavy, double-bladed sword with a red-stoned hilt—Hearteater. Grim arrives, recognizes the weapon, and appears shaken.

Pressed for answers, Grim recounts seeking the sword over twenty years earlier with his best general, who disappeared using a relic—Isla’s starstick. Realizing Isla is uncursed, Grim concludes the general was Isla’s father. He explains that rare non-rulers can have flairs; her father’s was immunity to curses.

Grim then reveals deeper history: Lightlark is a miniature of an older world; a portal to that world is embedded in Lightlark’s foundation, and using it would destroy the island. Only a Wildling ruler can open it, and someone with Grim’s portaling flair must operate it. Cleo knows of it and wants it used; Grim claims he abandoned the pursuit after his father’s death.

When Isla demands full truth, Grim admits the sword was cursed and that he once intended to use Isla’s flair to break the curse at the cost of her life or lifespan. The confession shatters Isla’s trust, confirming that their original deal had hidden, lethal stakes for her.

Devastated, Isla throws Hearteater to Grim and rejects him. Despite Grim’s pained attempt to explain his change of heart, Isla says goodbye and ends their relationship. Grim vanishes, leaving Isla with the revelations about her Nightshade parentage, the catastrophic portal, and the betrayal tied to Hearteater.