With Morthryn no longer providing halls between Sanctums, Mische, Asar, and Luce are forced to cross the barren deserts of the Descent on foot. Asar guides them along winding routes to avoid souleaters and wraiths, but starvation becomes their worst threat because the vampires have only one salvaged bottle of blood to ration. Their wounds heal slowly, and Mische is tormented by hunger, especially by the scent of Asar's blood.

To distract herself, Mische asks Asar constant personal questions while they travel. Asar answers with unexpected patience, revealing small, humanizing details, including that he has always wanted to learn the cello. Mische imagines a future in which they return home and she finds him one, but both Mische and Asar are unsettled by the fragile hope in the phrase "when we get back."

The journey remains shadowed by larger dangers: Elias has the stolen relic petal, Ophelia is still following them, and the coming Sanctum of Secrets is uncertain and likely hostile. Asar also pushes Mische to keep practicing her Shadowborn magic after witnessing her power in Psyche. The darkness calls to Mische more strongly than ever, tempting her with power and frightening her even more than physical hunger.

During rests, Mische struggles with guilt over enjoying Shadowborn magic despite believing she belongs to Atroxus and the sun. She wonders whether Atroxus can see her actions in the Descent and what punishment might await a bride of the sun who uses darkness. Mische also worries that if she completes Atroxus's mission, Asar may be condemned as a tainted Shadowborn prince, so she convinces herself she can earn back Atroxus's love and use it to save Asar too.

After judging Mische and Luce too exhausted to continue as they are, Asar takes them along a narrow, treacherous side path through cliffs. The path opens into an impossible gray field with a strangely ordinary stone house on a hill. When they reach the door, it opens before Asar can knock, revealing Esme, a semi-transparent wraith with a terrible wound through her chest. Mische reaches for her sword, but Asar greets Esme warmly and smiles, making clear that this alarming figure is someone he trusts.