As Mische and the others approach the Sanctum of Psyche, the Descent grows colder and more broken. Frost coats Morthryn’s halls, sunlight feels unreachable, and Mische’s nightmares intensify. With Eomin at rest, her dreams turn to Saescha, Malach, Atroxus, Raihn, Oraya, and the countless mortal lives threatened by the future Atroxus showed her.

Because sleep becomes unbearable, Mische spends more time helping Asar repair the failing gates. The damage is widespread: collapsed rooms, crumbling tunnels, invading wastelands, and wards so thin they barely function. Some gates have stopped working entirely, leaving confused wraiths wandering without purpose.

Mische asks whether Asar can release the lost wraiths as he released Eomin, but Asar says they are too far out, the risk is too great, and their path to the underworld may no longer exist. His inability to save them visibly troubles him, and Mische notices the careful tenderness with which he inspects and repairs the damaged gates.

While working together, Mische asks whether the brutal stories about Asar are true. Asar admits he has killed many people and explains that, as an eight-year-old bastard spared by his father, he made himself useful by becoming very good at his violent role. Mische says a past does not define a future, and she realizes Asar may care what she thinks of him, though he denies it.

Later, Mische remembers the warning that Asar likes her but will ruin her. Her dreams become charged with desire for him, but Atroxus’s distant call pulls her away. Atroxus warns that time is running out and darkness is coming, and Mische promises to complete her task while hiding how attached she is becoming to the haunted world below.