The Harbingers emerge from the sea upon the eastern shore of Scarsden, near the beach where their journey began, but Lily and Torrin are missing and everyone except Yurias Castus has been stripped of nearly all power and legendary equipment. Ernan bears old chain burns and carries his original guitar rather than Isabella, Bjorn retains only the axe form of Helvegen, Vyr's Ix Crystal has reverted, Helena's vial holds almost no light, and Yurias alone remains unchanged with the Tome of Stars. Torrin returns through his box after wandering a lightless void, where a familiar girl named Logia dissolved and left behind a stuffed animal resembling Th'Marck. Normandy's abandoned cabin appears exactly as it did at the campaign's beginning, while Bjorn's whistle unexpectedly summons a living Odo. At Ephthalas, Torrin and Bjorn witness a black lake, ruined terrain, and a shadowy antlered creature, and Magda Navaa's voice warns Bjorn that they are in danger. Each time the group sleeps, they awaken with the unexplained sensation that something small has been taken from them.
Following Normandy's old treasure map toward a hidden sanctum, the Harbingers discover a murdered Velpan Trading Company driver and a plague-tainted shipment intended for settlements near Andros Port, even though the surrounding villages appear prosperous and untouched by the storms. A traveler named Ernest, also called Bubba, gives Torrin a young color-changing Panthex that the party names Mr. Tickles. Whisper's shistel summons a hostile young Shryke at an abandoned hunting barn, followed by a larger Shryke that nearly kills Helena and Whisper before Yurias brings it down. The map leads the party to a Felrick cache concealed within an older Veyan complex, where speaking the word Atrosa opens a hidden passage. Two Veyan researchers explain that they serve Sethis and are attempting to sever the Vey from Solarus so their immortal people can finally die. Their experiments have created a lightless and shadowless being called a Null, but a sweep of green light suddenly reduces the researchers and pristine laboratory to ancient dust, revealing that the Harbingers have been witnessing some preserved or reconstructed version of the past.
A concealed Veyan waygate carries the Harbingers first to an empty, indistinct Twilight Temple and then to a deserted Keph whose blurred surfaces contrast with unnaturally detailed shadows. Atop the keep, a pulsing void occupies the place where the dragon should be and erases anything placed within it. Yurias consults the Tome of Stars, and Phaedras tells him that he still possesses all of his memories and experiences and is not alone. Unable to reach the Chained Fortress directly, the group travels through the gate network to Gavra and activates its ancient portal with a remembered Veyan symbol. They arrive inside the empty Panopticon, where the Dios Ostium stands open and pours light into the fortress. Wherever that light touches, citizens of the Chain emerge from shadow and advance toward the Harbingers as the incomplete world begins filling itself with familiar forms.