Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of graphic violence, death, child death, and animal death.

The Archimedes arrives at Io, which is destroyed except for the Garter. To evade detection, they land far from Sungrave, and Darrow and Sevro don Godkiller armor and depart. As he takes in the devastation, Darrow questions whether the people in the Rim are enemies: “If they are truly my enemies, then why do I want to weep?” (421).

Darrow and Sevro find Sungrave deserted, and they are joined by Aurae, Cassius, and—to Darrow’s and Sevro’s surprise—Diomedes. Aurae defends Cassius’s decision to bring Diomedes, arguing that the large soldier is “gentle” and will give Darrow his parole if Darrow lets him search for surviving family members. Darrow concedes, and they continue into Sungrave, which is underneath a mountain.

They find the head of the dragon, named Abraxes, that the Ascomanni slaughtered. Then, Darrow and Diomedes separate from the others. Darrow apologizes for the loss of Diomedes’s home, and he offers to help search for Diomedes’s family members.