Lysandra takes bird form and flies ahead to scout Morath’s coming army. It consists of 50,000 soldiers led by ilken—monsters created by Erawan—and 5 Valg princes. Terrasen’s amassed troops number 25,000. Morath’s forces push northward for two days, slaughtering Terrasen’s crumpling army. Lysandra disguised as “Aelin” shows up, but of course cannot wield her fire magic.

Elide sneaks into the kingdom of Doranelle and questions a group of soldiers at a tavern while pretending to be Cairn’s jilted lover. She learns that Maeve has left the city, but the soldiers do not reveal Cairn’s whereabouts. A female warrior of the group, Essar, follows Elide when she leaves. She claims to be a friend of Maeve’s Cadre and reveals that Cairn is with the soldiers at the city’s eastern camp.

Elide and her group plan to infiltrate the camp at dawn, when the watch is weakest.

Manon and the Thirteen prepare to follow the Crochans to Eyllwe. Manon completes tasks for Glennis, delivering cleaned brooms to various Crochans throughout the camp. Dorian continues teaching himself to shift but only manages to turn his eyes brown. Dorian and Manon come close to admitting they care for one another.