The morning after the storm, Mara carries her last packet to the market town of Hollowmere, where an old courier clerk recognises her father's token and a crew of relic thieves comes for Starfall. When the thieves seize the innkeeper's son, Mara stops holding back and the sword's power breaks loose again. The clerk reveals her father was a Star Warden, and Mara sets out north while Voss watches from the rooftops.