Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of graphic violence, death by suicide, animal cruelty, and illness and death.

Emily does not want to write the events of January 19 in her journal, but she knows she must make a record. The story should not end where it does. However, some stories do end, even though one wants them to continue.

Because Emily could never have guessed that Arna’s hideaway was in Lake Silverlily, she feels that the story of King Macan has run away from her. Events are unspooling in a way she cannot always predict, which makes her uneasy. Thus, when Wendell decides that he and Emily should sail on Silverlily alone, she refuses at first. However, when Wendell insists, Emily realizes there is no option but to go to the lake. Taran prophesizes that Emily and Wendell’s quest will end badly. Wendell hugs Orga and asks her to stay behind. As he and Emily get onto a boat, Orga slashes Taran viciously, taking her revenge on him for trying to kill Wendell early in the novel. The cat then leaps onto the boat.