The Scourgelands quest party’s division turns the expedition into several linked missions after Tyrus vanishes in a struggle with the Kishion. With the company’s fighters down and the survivors facing an impossible choice, Annon inherits responsibility for the quest: Tyrus’s final reminder that his daughter is in Stonehollow leaves Annon holding both a secret and a charge. The group disperses toward Stonehollow, a hidden oracle, the Shatalin temple, and a guarded tree portal, setting its members on separate paths toward the same struggle against the Plague.

The Charge Passes to Annon

Tyrus’s disappearance comes at the point when the expedition seems close to ending before it has entered the Scourgelands. Annon sees the remaining spirits dart away and understands that his fireblood might destroy the soldiers but cannot stop the Kishion. Escaping by Tyrus’s device would leave Paedrin, Prince Aransetis, and Nizeera to die, so the available choices seem to doom either the people left behind or the quest itself.

Tyrus pushes past Annon and lunges at the Kishion. Before the two vanish, he looks back and reminds Annon that his daughter is in Stonehollow. The reminder identifies her as the missing linchpin, but it also carries a transfer of responsibility: Tyrus is entrusting Annon with the quest. Annon feels the weight of that handover as despair, not triumph.

Afterward, Annon tells the survivors that Tyrus shared information with him that he has not shared with anyone else. He insists that it remain secret for now, then asks whether they will accept the tasks Tyrus gave them to aid the journey into the Scourgelands. The assignments are therefore not an improvised change of destination; they continue a plan whose full basis Annon is not yet disclosing.

Separate Destinations, Shared Purpose

Prince Aransetis is the first to state his destination: Stonehollow. His route follows directly from Tyrus’s reminder about his daughter, though the available account does not further identify what the prince is to do there. Annon’s announcement keeps the information about the daughter within the group rather than turning it into a public explanation of the assignment.

Annon asks Khiara and Erasmus to accompany him to the oracle of Basilides. The temple is being built in secret in the mountains, away from Kenatos, as a refuge should the city fall; it remains under construction, and the party must first discover its location. Khiara agrees after glancing toward Prince Aransetis, whose attention does not meet hers. Erasmus weighs the peril in his characteristically gambling terms: he has lost his ducats, may be wanted in several kingdoms, and recalls that the last party to venture into the Scourgelands died. Yet he also judges that Tyrus has improved their odds and accepts the assignment in hopes that the oracle will offer useful knowledge of their chances.

Annon’s further instructions direct Paedrin and Hettie toward the forest west of Silvandom, where a Dryad tree saved by Annon is guarded by the Bhikhu. Nizeera is to guide them, and Annon promises that spirits will watch for them. He frames the route as preparation for a later attempt on the Scourgelands, emphasizing the safety of numbers and warning that the Arch-Rike may retaliate after his defeat.

Paedrin and Hettie Choose a Route

Paedrin accepts his charge in open opposition to the Arch-Rike. He intends to resist the Arch-Rike’s influence over the people and explains that, while imprisoned in the Arch-Rike’s dungeon, he was brought before his master to be disavowed. The master’s words seemed to condemn him, but Paedrin understood from his eyes that he was communicating without speech: the story of Cruw Reon carried information meant to aid the quest and perhaps restore the Shatalin temple. Paedrin accepts the assignment, but initially insists on going alone.

His stated destination changes from the forest route to Kenatos. Because the Arch-Rike’s minions will be searching the kingdoms for a Bhikhu, Paedrin believes he can disappear within the city and move freely there. He must find his master, who can tell him where to begin the search for the Shatalin temple; he also asks whether a portal exists in or near Kenatos. The route thus joins a personal purpose—finding his master—to the expedition’s larger need to restore the temple.

Annon is surprised when Paedrin finally agrees to travel with Hettie, and he doubts their declared plan to part company in Kenatos will hold. The two reach agreement only after verbal sparring. Their partnership is unsettled rather than reconciled: Paedrin is determined to proceed, while Annon sees stubbornness on both sides and suspects that the promised separation may not come to pass.

The Portal and the Parting

Annon explains that the portal opens through a gap in the tree and that travelers emerge at another portal by thinking of their destination. When Hettie asks whether passage will involve sleep, as it did when Drosta found them, the question recalls the party’s earlier experience without changing the practical terms of this journey: she and Paedrin intend to pass through together.

Before leaving, Hettie’s expression softens. She embraces Annon fiercely, kisses his cheek, and apologizes, telling him that he has changed. Annon accepts the apology, touches her cheek, and fingers her earring as he asks her to be safe and says he will miss her. Their farewell makes the division more than a logistical rearrangement: the newly reunited siblings are choosing separate work at the moment Annon most wishes he could keep the whole company together.

Paedrin floats up to the opening; Hettie climbs the rough surface after him. He waits with a disdainful expression, and when she reaches him they lock arms and enter the gap together. Annon feels the magic pass through him and their absence at once. He hopes they will meet again and that Tyrus was right to trust them, but their departure deepens his sense of inadequacy and leaves him wishing they could have stayed.

The Remaining Company

Prince Aransetis follows through the portal toward Stonehollow. Before going, he studies Annon as though weighing him and urges him to be wise, reminding him that Tyrus has placed considerable faith in him. Annon apologizes for the blood shed at the prince’s home, knowing that the Vaettir regard life; the prince accepts the apology and calls him wise. The exchange gives their separation a measure of mutual recognition, even as the prince leaves Annon with the burden of command.

Khiara watches the prince with a pleading look, but he does not acknowledge her unspoken request. He bows stiffly and departs. Her silent appeal contrasts with the explicit assignments around her: the division sends people toward distinct objectives, but it does not resolve every personal attachment among them.

Annon is left with Khiara, Erasmus, and Nizeera. Hettie asks whether Tyrus is dead; Annon cannot answer, acknowledging both Tyrus’s cleverness and the Kishion’s apparent invincibility. The question keeps the handover suspended between inheritance and loss. Annon has accepted responsibility for stopping the Plague, but the departure of his sister, Paedrin, and the prince leaves him feeling the burden grow heavier, while Tyrus’s fate remains unknown.