Dorean says goobye to Hobbes and Vinter, and Vinter gives Dorean a statuette of a lizard person holding a flower. It is a Stone Lotus of Sofala—guardian of travellers, wishing her safe travels. Vera visits Gavin—he is doing better and is looking for a new adventuring party to join—and Kaiviren—who remains a bird. She also visits Vidh Zadh to thank him for his help and to perhaps consider removing the curses on her. He is able to remove the ring without issue, which she requests back as she did it on purpose, but the others are more complex. He reveals that there is a third curse she was unaware of buried beneath the other two. One is haphazard and perhaps accidental, while the other is very intentionally done and could easily kill her if done incorrectly—it would be easier to kill her, remove the curses then, and then revive her. He refuses to remove the more complex of the curses for reasons he says she knows.

Ward visits Noh. He asks some questions about the things Noh trades in. Ward trades his proficiency in caligrapher's tools for the knowledge of how to use shields. He also trades a spellbook for some ancient fae booze. He decides that Noh, while willing to accept trades that might be detrimental to the other person, his aim is for equivalent exchanges rather than gain. His purchases made, he departs the mirror. Edwin invites Ward out to dinner once more. Ward ends up telling him that he's under a curse such that food tastes bad; understanding, Edwin offers to leave the establishment to have the remainder of their date. Edwin is disappointed that Ward is leaving soon, though he understands. The two agree to exchange letters.

The morning of the seventh, a large red dragon teleports nearby and swoops toward the ship. He transforms into a humanoid creature as he lands on the deck. He asks if Snowcap is done sulking. She says that she will return home, but that he won't, because she finds him revulting and does not wish to see him again. He accepts this after deciding that a fight was not worth the effort necessary. Snowcap departs, soon followed by Kallebaugh, though not without him throwing a threat Eck's way.

Along the way to their destination, on Lysaroth 10, they pass by a small shard, which Merely wishes to look at. Ward also wishes to examine it, so Cecily stops the airship and allows the group to do so. The shard is parts of two homes, which someone had been camping out in. Ward locates half of a family photograph at the edge of the shard with two children, two adults, and a dog the apparent subjects of the photo. While he examines it, Merely reaches into the wall of the shard, retrieving the other half of the photo. Merely explains that she can't go through shard walls the way others can. Her upper half can reach through to what was originally in the place of the shard, while her lower half passes through into what is there now. She is also able to create a small window between her fingers, allowing her to move about the area and see where the shard was from. Merely explains that Dorean is made of bieclectic synthetic organism that is a fusion of her organic cells and the shard stuff; Merely herself is mostly made of shard stuff attached to organic material. Vera colelcts some stuffed animals, including a killer whale for Merely, while Mira collects an entire entertainment center.

On the way back to the ship, a post tortle arrives with a letter and package for Ward and a small package for Luna. Ward's package is a small vial of a mysterious liquid and a letter from Dr. Hayward. The letter expresses an interest in taking Ward up on his offer of collaboration. The vial is for Dorean to drink; he claims it will not harm her beyond perhaps a headache. Luna's package contains a small metal device with a concave glass lense and a button; it appears to be of similar manufacture as her arm. Upon pressing the button, a projection of a warforged face with three ominously glowing eyes, Shepherd, appears, and delivers a prerecorded message. He has no new information about the things that she had asked him about regarding her sister; a new manual would be arriving soon for her arm.

Back on the ship Ward is able to identify that the liquid from Hayward is not magical; Merely is able to identify it, though. She describes it as a "copy guy." A project Hawyward was working on, something that would be able to assimilate with creatures and gather samples. It wouldn't remove anything noticeable from Dorean, but it would be giving Hayward information that they are hesitant to give him.

Introduced

• Kallebaugh
• Shepherd
• Rigg

Returning

• Hobbes
• Vinter
• Gavin
Vidh Zadh
• Kaiviren
• Noh
• Edwin
• Snowcap

Mentioned

• Dr. James Oratio Hayward

• Shield proficiency (Ward, from Noh for caligraphy proficiency)
• Fae Booze (Ward, from Noh for a spellbook)
• Several stuffed animals (Vera, from a shard)
• TV, DVD player, PS3, AV reciever, four speakers, 172 feet of speaker wire, a quantity of disks, a record player, an entertainment center (Mira, from a shard)