Missing villagers draw the Omenseekers into Aldergard, where Kaya accompanies Inga Rune-Eyes and an elderly traveller called Asi. The tracks lead to a cave threaded with metal that should not be there. At its centre, a raw-limbed creature folds the bodies of its prey into itself and repairs wounds faster than ordinary weapons can make them.
Kaya can sever more than flesh, so her enchanted blades leave damage the monster cannot simply absorb. Inga's stasis magic creates openings, yet the quarry adapts, sacrifices its own limbs and steers Kaya into bad positions. Before they can finish it, the creature merges with the metallic growth in the cave and vanishes beyond the realm.
Asi reveals himself as Alrund, god of wisdom. He cannot explain the invader, but his visions show Kaldheim's realms moving toward an exceptional Doomskar. He lends Kaya Cosima's longship so she can cross the Cosmos and continue the hunt. A private contract has already widened into responsibility for a world she barely knows.