An intelligence report from Lord Algar Omesta suggests the sabber onslaught is a migration, driven by a mysterious threat called the skeer.

In the forest of pools, Evar clasps a hand rising from black water and hauls out a bruised, ink-stained girl in a blue robe. She is Livira from the library. They trade names, test each other’s boldness, and Evar admits he is searching for an unnamed woman who feels integral to him.

Spotting a white-enamelled Assistant across the glade, Evar sprints after her. The Assistant vanishes, leaving a small cream-bound book by a rippling pool. Livira recognizes it as Reflections on Solitude—the very Relquian work she seeks—upending her belief that the library holds only one copy of each book.

They debate what this implies: perhaps multiple assistants and even multiple libraries, as Evar’s brother once theorized. Evar confesses the hollow at his core and his need to find the woman; Livira promises to help, calling the woman his “girlfriend.”

As they return to the black pool that brought Livira, a grey hand reaches up and seizes her ankle. Evar lunges but is too late; Livira is dragged back beneath the water, leaving Evar alone amid the countless pools.