The group returns to Morthryn after the guardians' trial, and the familiar halls feel briefly like safety. Everyone is physically and emotionally exhausted, but the place itself is deteriorating: windows open onto black emptiness, floors split apart, and the stone groans as if the Descent is close to collapse. Mische reflects on the guardians' warning that no mortal can complete the task and that countless innocent souls depend on them.

Elias confronts Asar, accusing Asar of expecting to see a dead woman during the trial and of dragging everyone into the Descent for her rather than for Nyaxia. Mische tries to calm Elias by touching his shoulder, but Elias reacts violently and strikes Mische across the face. Luce snarls, and Asar immediately attacks Elias, hurling Elias into the wall and warning Elias not to touch Mische.

The argument escalates as Elias accuses Asar of hypocrisy and suggests Asar is still pursuing the dead woman, power, or redemption after exile. Elias points out that Asar now carries two artifacts of Alarus and argues that such relics could be used as weapons, citing what the House of Night accomplished with Alarus's teeth. Mische, remembering the catastrophic power of those godly remains, steps between Elias and Asar and insists that no mortal should wield such power.

Elias reveals that his spies believe the House of Night is also cultivating some form of Alarus-derived weaponry, arguing that all the vampire Houses are preparing for survival. He adds that the House of Blood has conquered a human nation, shocking Chandra and alarming Mische, who understands that such an act breaks a long-standing boundary. Elias frames the growing unrest among Houses and gods as proof that Asar should use the relics rather than continue the mission.

Asar rejects Elias's proposal, condemns his own sister and father as blind, and reminds Elias that their oaths still bind them. Asar declares that disobeying Nyaxia would bring divine punishment, then uses compulsion to command Elias to silence. After briefly noticing Mische's injured cheek, Asar tells the group to rest while they can and leaves down the hall with Luce.