The insectoid creature chases Éile back to where Syndril’s opened a gateway. The creature follows her through but Syndril closes the gateway quickly, cutting it in half and it dies. Eventually.

This time, Syndril’s brought them to within eyesight of Xin’trea. As they head to the city, Meldof appears, throwing rocks at them to get their attention. She’s trying to warn them that it’s feeding time for Balor’s beast.

They follow Meldof into her subterranean cavern dwelling. She explains Gwen told her they were a special lot. That’s why she warned them. She feeds them and settles them for a rest, telling Éile how her exploits are becoming legend.

They sit down and Meldof asks about their plans to kill the empress and Balor’s beast. Syndril suggests they create their own beast to fight and kill Balor’s beast. He thinks he and Zacaré could use the heart of the insectoid creature to combine a person with the beast to gain strength and power in order to battle Balor’s beast.

He needs Zacaré to help him do it and she refuses because they’d done something like this before and it had gone wrong. They’d resurrected their dead mother and she was a monster.

In the palace, Merwyn watched the comets in the sky from her room.

Avallac’h searches Balor’s rooms for The Book of Monoliths. He finds it hidden under a floorboard in his bedroom.

Éile tells Syndril that the merging of elf and beast needs to be a warrior. Zacaré warns them the transformed person will be lost forever and the transformation will be brutally painful. Éile quotes Ithlinne’s prophecy and insists that it must be her destiny.

Fjall tries to talk Éile out of undergoing the transformation. She tells him she needs to atone for the killing she did for her clan. Fjall argues she brings hope to the world and she needs to live.

Meldof throws a party for Éile as a wake, assuming she’ll be dying in the morrow. Éile insists Fjall drink with her. Scían is thoughtful, considering their chances. As the others drink and game, she asks Fjall about the secret entrance to the palace. He admits there isn’t one. Scían goes outside for fresh air, looks carefully at one of Fjall’s wanted posters.

In the palace, Avallac’h is showing Merwyn the Monolith book and controller. Balor bursts in, uses his magic to blast Avallac’h across the room, calling him a thief. Merwyn flees with the Monolith tool. Balor’s about to throw Avallac’h off the balcony when Eredin arrives. He has Fenrik in shackles and a blade to her neck.

Balor relents. Fenrik signs an apology to him. Merwyn has the guards take Balor into custody, while she calls for a physic to see to Avallac’h.

In the cavern, Meldof tells Brother Death the story of Gwen and her hammer. She then asks him about Zacaré, but falls asleep while he’s talking.

Deep in her cups, Éile sings a song that evokes emotion in everyone. Later she and Fjall lie under the sky and he tries to sing it back to her to hilariously bad effect.

They discuss how life could’ve been different for them. Fjall recognizes that his love for Merwyn wasn’t real compared to what he feels for Éile. They kiss. Thunder and lightning crashes.

Éile wakes suddenly in the morning to the sound of a far-off scream. Fjall’s snuck away while she slept and taken the first elixir. She tries to get them to stop but Syndril tells her if they stop now, Fjall will die. Fjall’s fighting them all. They pour the second elixir, a black liquid down his throat. This is the first ever Trial of the Grasses.

At the palace, Avallac’h attempts to open the monolith gateway but fails. Merwyn tells Eredin she’ll get Balor to help them.

Éile stays with Fjall as they begin the actual procedure. They pour another elixir into his mouth. Zacaré calls on her magic to bind Fjall with the heart of the beast from the other dimension. Vines grow out of the heart and spear Fjall, injecting him with its essence.

He screams, convulses, and the vines wither and shatter. He lies as if dead. Éile kisses his forehead. His eyes, now yellow, fly open as he revives.

Outside, Meldof and Brother Death sit around a campfire, discussing how elves have abused dwarves for generations. Meldof explains the monoliths were buried by dwarven ancients to bring fertility to the land. Digging them up has caused the famine.

Meldof decides to join the mission to kill the empress as her last hurrah, hoping to die in battle so she can join Gwen in the afterlife. She looks around and wonders where Scían has gone.

Scían rides up to a group of Xin’trean troops and shows them the Fjall bounty poster and demands to be taken to the empress.

In the throne room, she sees Soulreaver, Ghost tribe’s sacred blade, on display. She demands the bounty in advance for Fjall and the Lark. When she brings the empress Fjall, she wants Soulreaver returned to her.

She also requires 50 Golden Empire soldiers to apprehend Fjall and bring him back alive.

Merwyn agrees to all the demands.

Éile tries to communicate with Fjall. He tells her he can smell her blood and that he wants to destroy everything. She reaches out to comfort him. He apologizes for taking the elixir before she could. She tells him she couldn’t bear it when she thought he had died. They kiss and then make love.

In the cell that once held Syndril, Balor and Fenrik sit. Balor’s figured out what sacrifice the arid world being requires.

Merwyn enters. Balor realizes Avallac’h wasn’t able to open the gateway. Merwyn clarifies her respect for him and his abilities and asks him to work with her to shape the future of elfkind. He agrees. He insists that Fenrik be released to assist him. Merwyn agrees.

Meldof realizes Scían took her best mare. She theorizes Scían jumped ship after learning Fjall didn’t know of a way into the palace. Just then Scían returns, claiming she scouted ahead and found a path. Fjall and Éile join them and they head out.

Scían leads them into a box canyon with a dead end. The Xin’trean troops block the exit. Scían moves to join them. She leads them into the canyon as Éile scrambles to get the group organized. Once the troops are in place, Scían whistles and signals hidden sellsword archers to reveal themselves and ambush the Xin’treans.

Scían introduces Uthrok One Nut to the gang as they disguise themselves in the Xin’trean armor. She explains to Éile that she took the bounty and used it to hire Uthrok’s sellswords.

As they wait to be let into the city, Fjall begins to lose his control. Éile hums to him to keep him calm. They’re let in.