The storm continues outside the temple while the dead pound at the door, leaving Mische, Asar, and Luce trapped with no relic. Asar concludes the relic was once in the god-marked box because the lid was respectfully placed aside and the chamber’s guardians remain intact, but whether Elias or someone else took it, the result is the same: the party has reached the Sanctum and found nothing.

Because Luce is badly injured and the dead are too numerous to fight, Asar decides they must wait for the storm and crowd to thin. Asar tends Luce with shadow magic, worried despite insisting she has survived worse, and Mische tries to reassure Asar that Luce would not abandon him easily.

While Asar watches Luce, Mische explores the temple’s upper levels and finds an old worship space with an altar and a broken statue that seems to have represented Alarus. The space reminds Mische of the Citadel and of kneeling before Atroxus after being given a second chance. Mische instinctively prays, but in the Descent there is no light to answer; Mische hears only Saescha’s voice.

Asar joins Mische at the altar, saying that although Asar does not believe in prayer, Mische does. The kindness breaks Mische’s composure, but instead of accepting comfort, Mische asks how Asar helps wraiths pass on. Asar understands Mische is thinking of Saescha and admits that in this deep part of the Descent, Asar has never succeeded, though Asar vows they will not leave Saescha trapped.

Mische’s guilt erupts into a confession: Mische believes Saescha is trapped because of Mische, and Mische clings to self-hatred because if Saescha’s fate is not Mische’s fault, then Atroxus and the faith Saescha served may be to blame. Mische fears that without the light, nothing good will remain. Asar angrily rejects that belief, insisting Atroxus did not make Mische valuable and that Mische’s gentleness, power, wit, and ability to make lost souls love Mische are Mische’s own.

Asar then admits that if Mische will accept it, Mische will have Asar too. The admission exposes the desire and danger between them, and when Asar starts to pull away, Mische stops him. Mische asks Asar to show what love should feel like, and the two finally give in to their attraction.