Chapter Summaries

Lin Ze and Saira traveled north to Bitterwater Swamp after discovering that several people had approached their camp during the night. They reached Old Matt’s hut, learned about disappearances near a watchtower, and prepared to enter the swamp the next day.

• Lin Ze found fresh tracks from four or five people outside the camp’s protective charm, and Saira suspected they were the group seen near Quarry Village.
• Lin Ze and Saira traveled north for about four hours and arrived at Bitterwater Swamp.
• Old Matt told them that people who entered the swamp had disappeared or died, and he described a path through it.
• Old Matt showed them an old swamp map, which Lin Ze memorized and Saira tucked away.
• Saira agreed to leave her pony behind when she and Lin Ze entered the swamp the next day.

Lin Ze and Saira traveled into the swamp, where he used magic to make their journey safer and answered her questions about wizards and their schools. While sharing toasted bread at a midday rest, Saira asked why he had agreed to help her and described the arrogant wizard who had once intimidated her father.

• Old Matt gave Lin Ze and Saira food, boots, and advice about marking their route and avoiding poisonous green water.
• Lin Ze and Saira entered the swamp, and Lin Ze hardened the mud beneath his feet with his wand as they talked about wizarding education and patrol training.
• Lin Ze explained his yew wand and the saying that the wand chose the wizard while they followed a narrow branch deeper into the swamp.
• At midday, Lin Ze toasted their flatbread with a small flame, and Saira asked why he had agreed to help her.
• Saira recalled that a wizard at her father's castle had insulted his wine and frozen the dining table to frighten him.

Lin Ze and Saira crossed a dangerous, sprawling swamp and made camp in a stone shelter for the night. As they shared food and talked, Saira learned that Lin Ze came from a place beyond the maps of their era, while Lin Ze wondered where Mia and Sirius had been sent.

• Lin Ze tested the milky sap of the water lilies on a summoned toad, and the plant sap killed it before he led Saira through the patch.
• Lin Ze and Saira walked across the swamp all day, then used Lumos to reach a clearing as dusk brought thicker mist.
• Lin Ze transformed stones into a shelter and stove, and he and Saira cooked and ate salted meat with pickled vegetables.
• Saira asked about the swamp's past and Lin Ze's origins, and Lin Ze said he came from a place absent from maps of this era.
• After setting defensive spells and watching the mist clear above the swamp, Lin Ze thought of Mia and Sirius and hoped they would survive.

Saira and Lin Ze crossed the swamp on the back of a giant turtle, which stopped at a school of dangerous carnivorous fish. Lin Ze lured the fish away with a spell, and the turtle resumed its journey into darker waters.

• Saira woke to find that the ground beneath their camp was the back of a giant turtle carrying them deeper into the swamp.
• Lin Ze and Saira ate breakfast on the turtle's back and gathered water celery growing in a shallow pool.
• The turtle stopped before a dense school of fish that attacked and destroyed a stone Lin Ze threw into the water.
• Lin Ze used magical birds to lure the fish east, allowing the turtle to move past them.
• The turtle continued across the swamp as the water darkened and dead reeds appeared around them.

Lin Ze and Saira reached an old watchtower after the giant turtle stopped at its foot, then investigated its magical traces and entered cautiously. Inside, they found footprints and a staircase smashed by a millstone, and Lin Ze Apparated Sela onto the broken stairs.

• Lin Ze marked the giant turtle’s location with a Tracking Charm and made a stone path through the shallows to the watchtower.
• Lin Ze detected traces of magic beside the tower door and sent a transfigured tabby through the gap before Saira opened the door.
• Lin Ze and Saira entered the tower and found boot, sandal, and child-sized footprints leading toward the stairs.
• Lin Ze saw that a millstone had smashed the staircase, then Apparated with Sela above the broken steps.

Lin Ze and Saira investigated a strange magic formation in the tower and discovered the name Morgana written within it. They searched the upper floors for clues but remained unsure what had driven three people mad.

• Lin Ze examined the unfamiliar formation on the second floor and used his magic to reveal writing at its center.
• Saira recognized the writing as eastern tribal script and translated it as “Morgana,” a name Lin Ze associated with Merlin.
• Lin Ze and Saira searched a ransacked storeroom but found only old supplies and a damaged shield.
• Lin Ze and Saira climbed to the lookout, where they wondered what the three people had seen in the tower.
• Lin Ze said they would search the tower thoroughly for more clues.

Lin Ze fought off a swarm of slime-covered swamp creatures, then spotted a much larger shadow moving beneath the water and discovered the magic circle was expanding. He copied the circle’s pattern to show someone who might recognize it.

• Lin Ze and Saira saw slime-covered creatures swarm the watchtower, and Lin Ze left the tower to fight them while Saira stayed inside.
• Lin Ze froze the ground and shattered the creatures with a spell, defeating the swarm.
• Lin Ze spotted an enormous shadow moving beneath the swamp toward the northern bank, and he and Saira discussed the possible danger below the water.
• Lin Ze and Saira noticed that the water lotuses were moving and that their faint sweet scent matched the smell near the tower.
• Saira found that the magic circle’s powder and lines were spreading outward, and Lin Ze copied its pattern to ask someone he knew about it.

Lin Ze and Saira escaped the watchtower as red-lit water lilies climbed its walls, then Lin Ze reshaped the tower’s stonework into a ramp and unleashed Protego Diabolica against the monsters. He burned through the advancing creatures and vines while Sela watched in shock.

• Lin Ze and Saira left the tower and saw the red-lit water lilies spreading up the slope to trap them.
• Lin Ze used Apparition to reach the tower wall, softened its stones, and reshaped them into a sloping ramp.
• Lin Ze raised a stone wall to slow the monsters, but they broke through and rushed toward him.
• Lin Ze cast Protego Diabolica, sending a golden-red fire dragon across the slope that incinerated the monsters and vines.
• Sela stared in shock as Lin Ze controlled the fire dragon.

After Lin Ze and Saira survived the monsters at the watchtower, they discovered a hidden passage marked with the name Morgana and decided to travel east to learn more about the magic array. As they left, Saira asked whether Lin Ze could return to the distant place he came from, and he said he could if he found the way.

• Lin Ze used Protego Diabolica to burn away the monsters, then returned to the watchtower with Saira and examined the scorched remains.
• Lin Ze and Saira stayed in the tower overnight, and Lin Ze wondered whether the repair craftsmen had uncovered something beneath it.
• After daybreak, Lin Ze found carved magic-array markings at the tower’s base and blasted open a hollow passage with Reducto.
• Saira deciphered the writing at the passage’s end as “Morgana,” and explained that the Eastern Tribe’s territory lay east beyond the North’s border.
• Lin Ze and Saira packed their supplies and set out east to investigate the array and its connection to Morgana.
• Saira asked whether Lin Ze could return to his distant homeland, and Lin Ze said he could once he found the way.

Lin Ze and Saira traveled into the East, where Lin Ze asked a village elder about Morgana. The elder directed him toward Crow Valley, said Morgana had lived there, and knew nothing about Merlin.

• Lin Ze and Saira crossed into the East and learned from Saira that its tribes followed their own chiefs and that the region had been devastated by wars.
• Lin Ze and Saira camped in an abandoned village, where they talked about Lin Ze's schooling and how he learned he was a wizard.
• Saira avoided an eastern village because its people distrusted northerners, so Lin Ze went in alone to ask for directions.
• Lin Ze told an elderly villager he was looking for information about Morgana, and the elder invited him into his courtyard.
• The elder told Lin Ze that Morgana was said to have lived in Crow Valley, five days farther east, and that she had been a powerful witch who could speak to the dead.
• The elder said he had never heard of Merlin and warned that people avoided Morgana's former home.

Lin Ze and Saira crossed Blackstone Flats and reached the entrance to Crow Valley, where Lin Ze explored a hidden stone house. He found a booklet written in the same script as the boundary marker, but could not read it, and the chapter ended with him noticing Saira watching him in the dim light.

• Lin Ze told Saira that Crow Valley lay beyond Blackstone Flats and showed her Galleons and knives they could trade for food.
• Lin Ze and Saira crossed Blackstone Flats and found a broken stake pile containing an iron emblem that Saira identified as belonging to an eastern lord.
• At the edge of Crow Valley, Lin Ze entered alone while Saira stayed behind with the pony, which refused to approach the gorge.
• Lin Ze used Apparition to reach a stone house inside the valley and found signs that someone had recently been there.
• Lin Ze discovered a hide booklet written in the same script as the boundary marker, but could not read it and put it in his pocket.
• Saira arrived at the house, explaining that the pony had run off, and Lin Ze continued searching while she watched him from the doorway.

Lin Ze uncovered a bloodstained stone platform and realized that the Saira accompanying him was Morgana in disguise. Morgana confronted him about his knowledge of magic and Merlin, then guessed that he came from the future.

• Lin Ze examined a hidden chamber and found bloodlike stains around a hollow stone platform.
• Lin Ze noticed that Saira had not blinked and questioned how quickly she had reached the valley.
• Morgana revealed that she had put the real Saira to sleep and was impersonating her.
• Morgana dissolved the stone building, formed a chair from the rubble, and questioned Lin Ze about his wand, Hogwarts, and Merlin.
• Morgana guessed that Lin Ze had come from the future, startling him inwardly.

Lin Ze confronted Morgana about the Broken Arc Array and learned that one of her former students had created it before being expelled for his interest in transforming the living and dead. Morgana revealed a finger bone said to represent death, which matched the one Lin Ze had received from Colin, but she left him waiting to learn how to use it.

• Morgana reconstructed Lin Ze’s Boundary Break spell and told him she had never seen magic like it.
• Lin Ze told Morgana he had found a Broken Arc Array bearing her name, and she identified it as a spell she had taught a gifted student over a century ago.
• Morgana revealed that she had expelled the student because he wanted to transform living people into the dead and the dead into something else.
• Morgana opened a compartment beneath the stone platform and showed Lin Ze a finger bone that closely matched the one he had received from Colin in Whitewater Valley.
• Morgana used her finger bone to summon a ghost and explained that it represented death, one of five bones said to uphold the world’s rules.
• When Lin Ze asked how to use his bone, Morgana teased him and asked what he would give her in return for the answer.

Lin Ze bargained with Morgana to help find her former student Mordred in exchange for learning to use the god’s finger bone. He discovered that the bone granted powerful spatial abilities at little magical cost, but Morgana warned that repeated use would erode his humanity, and Lin Ze asked how to find Mordred.

• Lin Ze agreed to help Morgana find Mordred after she explained that he had stolen her heart and left her cursed to remain in Crow Valley.
• Morgana used her death finger bone to reveal the Gate of Death and explained how matching magic could activate a god’s finger bone.
• Lin Ze channeled spatial magic through his finger bone, opening a small rift and sensing the details of Crow Valley, including Saira asleep beside the pony.
• Morgana identified Lin Ze’s finger bone as the space finger bone and warned that using it would leave divine marks and diminish his humanity.
• Lin Ze thanked Morgana for the warning and asked how he could find Mordred.

Lin Ze learned that Morgana could use the Space Finger Bone to sense the Life Finger Bone stolen by Mordred, then left Crow Valley with Saira. They headed for the royal capital to look for clues about what they were seeking.

• Morgana explained that Mordred had taken her Life Finger Bone, and that it could resonate with Lin Ze’s Space Finger Bone.
• Morgana revealed that she was a Night Elf and told Lin Ze to leave Crow Valley after giving him precautions about the finger bone.
• Lin Ze used Apparition to return to Saira, who woke up after being knocked unconscious.
• Lin Ze told Saira they were going to the royal capital and frightened her with a story about Morgana before they set off.

Lin Ze and Saira reached the Blackwater River ferry and met a young traveler who shared rumors about the Witch King. The young man described the Witch King's arrival at the palace and his service to the kingdom, leaving Lin Ze curious about the Witch King's possible connection to Mordred.

• Lin Ze and Saira crossed the plains and arrived at the Blackwater River ferry, where they stopped at a tavern for food.
• A young man joined their table and said he was headed to the royal capital as well.
• The young man asked whether Lin Ze and Saira had heard that the king had imprisoned the Witch King, whom he considered a good man.
• After Lin Ze paid him with a gold coin, the young man recounted rumors that the Witch King had appeared at the palace three years earlier and used witchcraft to help the kingdom.
• The young man described how the Witch King had turned a foreign prince who demanded the princess's hand into a pig-headed man.

Lin Ze and Saira met Arthur at a tavern and invited him to travel with them toward the capital, where they planned to find someone. At their campsite, Arthur learned Lin Ze was a wizard and recognized Saira as the North’s rumored sword-wielding patrol officer.

• Arthur shared rumors that the Witch King was imprisoned and recalled seeing him travel in a black carriage escorted by soldiers.
• Lin Ze and Saira invited Arthur to join them on the road to the capital, and he introduced himself as Arthur.
• On the journey, Lin Ze noticed Arthur moved with the practiced quiet of someone trained to fight.
• At their campsite, Arthur watched Lin Ze use magic and asked whether he planned to rescue the Witch King.
• Arthur repeated a rumor about a North patrol officer who could cut off seven heads in a row, and Saira ordered him to eat when he guessed she was the officer.

Lin Ze and his companions traveled toward the royal capital, where Arthur’s account of the Witch King convinced Lin Ze that Sirius might be there. At the city gate, Saira planned to enter separately, while Lin Ze disguised his clothes with magic.

• Lin Ze, Saira, and Arthur continued along the busy highway toward the royal capital.
• Arthur described seeing the Witch King perform magic with a gem-set wand, and Lin Ze concluded that the Witch King was probably Sirius.
• Arthur excitedly asked whether Lin Ze was going to the capital to rescue the Witch King, making Lin Ze suspicious of him.
• As they reached the capital, Saira said she would enter separately because her armor was conspicuous.
• Lin Ze used Transfiguration to change his robes into an ordinary coarse-cloth gown, leaving Arthur astonished.

Lin Ze and Arthur entered the royal capital and settled into an inn, where Lin Ze learned that rumors about the Witch King included claims that the king had imprisoned him. The chapter left Lin Ze planning to approach the palace and still uncertain why the Witch King had been confined.

• Saira used her patrol badge to enter the city, while Lin Ze and Arthur passed through with a flock of sheep.
• Lin Ze explored the capital with Arthur, who revealed that he had grown up there and had almost no family left.
• Lin Ze noticed armed men speaking quietly with a bearded leader in the inn, then placed defensive spells around his room.
• Arthur brought roast meat and flatbread to Lin Ze, and they discussed Lin Ze's search for the Witch King.
• Lin Ze told Arthur that the Witch King might be a friend, and Arthur shared rumors that the king had imprisoned him for plotting against the throne, refusing to fight, or being too powerful.

Lin Ze watched the crowd gather before the palace for the public whipping of a deserter who had defended the Witch King, while Saira offered to help him enter the palace as her attendant. The chapter ended as the young man proclaimed the Witch King’s innocence and the fat official ordered the beating to begin.

• Lin Ze left the inn and learned from a soup-stall owner that a former Witch King guard had been caught trying to plead the Martial King’s innocence.
• Lin Ze went to the palace square, where guards prepared a platform for the deserter’s public whipping.
• Saira found Lin Ze, gave him chestnut cakes, and warned him about the palace guards and their anti-wizard weapons.
• Saira offered to take Lin Ze into the palace as her attendant when she reported on the North the day after tomorrow.
• A fat official brought the emaciated deserter to the platform, and the young man declared that the Witch King was innocent.
• The fat official ordered the soldiers to beat the young man.