Helena remembers an earlier expedition into the white wastes of the Undying Quiet Lands, where she searched for her missing brother beside six Vanari companions, including Captain Itharos. As the light within her companions' vials died, the travelers lost their memories and began seeing the dead. The Blades of Nas descended upon them, extinguishing the Vanari one by one until Helena invoked the unity and courage of her people. Daylight erupted from her body as the memory ended. In the present, Helena and Vyr keep watch while the others sleep, and Bjorn's wolf, Odo, returns after tracking him through the forest. The group resumes its journey toward Ephthalas, briefly meeting the extravagant tailor Rupret Cunningham and his wife, Evie, before reaching the isolated farm of Victor and Margaret.

The travelers find the farm's wheat drained of color and confirm that Tyve's Plague has returned after nearly twenty years. Rue's pure glint forces the corruption to recede slightly, but a sick child named Philip emerges from the farmhouse and begs the group to save his family. Rue enters despite the danger and kills the violently transformed Victor and Margaret when he realizes that neither can recover. In the cellar, Bjorn finds their daughter, Sandra, beside a barrel filled with black glints. She reveals that an unknown man in Andros sold her the barrel as seed before the infection consumed the family. Bjorn kills Sandra after she attacks him, while the others destroy a plague-mutated horse outside. Believing Philip cannot be cured, Bjorn gives him a poisonous mushroom and stays with him until he dies. The party burns the farm and its crops, leaving the black glints buried beneath the collapsing structure, then departs beneath the weight of what they chose.

Seven black-armored knights intercept the travelers in the forest. Their leader carries the Scepter of Astarius, wears a familiar face resembling Captain Silas Palligref, and commands Whisper to kill the group. The knight nearly kills Bjorn as the others retreat. When Rue sees the armor, he remembers Veyan armies fighting beneath a burning sky and a similar black knight pointing toward him. The vision briefly restores the power of the warrior he once was, allowing him to banish the attacker long enough for everyone to escape. After pushing onward without rest, the group reaches sight of Ephthalas and its Abyssal Falls on the eve of the Sarexian Eclipse. Aggie admits that she is frightened to face what waits there, while the darkness within Helena's vial deepens in response to the group's choices.