Vera's team has the misfortune of being hunted by a Frostbiter, while Vathek is brought before Jade following his surrender at Cavigor.
- Alarm SOS: As the Mogriffs warn each other of the Frostbiter by screeching, one of Snowpoint's guards alerts the whole fortress to the situation with an alarm horn.
- Almost Kiss: After the plan to bury the Frostbiter under rocks succeeds, Tinsley and Alan find themselves on the ground, but as their faces move closer, they're interrupted by Amelia who tells them to be sure the danger is truly over.
- Armor-Piercing Question:
- Jade, disbelieving Vathek's now trying to negotiate peace with her, brings up that during all the months since they first met, he and the others have only tried to either imprison or kill her while showing no desire to try to make peace with her. When she asks what changed that, he can only remain silent for several moments before she says the answer to be fear of her might.
- Vathek himself attempts to invoke this as he tries to reason with Jade; while he concedes that his side has been making mistakes and hurting innocents, he asks if she can call herself any better while she's helping Phobos. They get interrupted by the alarm warning about the Frostbiter, and Jade decides their conversation is deferred for now. Before leaving though, she answers Vathek's question by stating that she's aware her decision has consequences, but she has made effort to minimize the damages by taking precautions. She then asks if he and his friends did the same when they put Elyon on the throne. As she leaves, Vathek is the one who's left with a more shaken resolve.
- Beast in the Maze: The Frostbiter ends up chasing the noble heirs in a canyon where jagged rocks form a natural maze.
- Benevolent Boss: Jade is pleased to know the injured Phobos loyalists under her command are recovering well and saddened for those who fell before her relief force arrived.
- Big "WHAT?!": Vera shouts this when Amelia objects to continuing her mission after the Frostbiter is buried under rocks.
- Both Sides Have a Point: When Jade and Vathek debate her plans and goals, she admits that he's right that Phobos is a self-serving tyrant who can't be completely trusted, but counters that it doesn't change the fact that Elyon was never properly prepared to rule, something Vathek reluctantly concedes.
- Brick Joke: Tyrian is briefly shown approaching Jade's sleeping steed Onyx with the intention of bathing the shadow snake near the chapter's beginning. When Jade summons Onyx to her side at the end of the chapter, the snake spits out Tyrian.
- Broken Pedestal: Kandrakar's decision to pull the Guardians away from Meridian has shaken Vathek's faith in the institution itself, though not in the Guardians.
- Call-Back: The headcount of the casualties makes Jade somber since hardly anyone died in any of her family's adventures, though considering how Drago wrought havoc upon San Francisco right before her banishment, she starts suspecting there were deaths she wasn't made aware of.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Vathek voices his belief that Phobos is in his hunger for power already plotting to find a way to take Jade's power or betray her somehow, stating that he'll be surprised if that isn't the case.
- Cliffhanger: With alarm roused in the fortress by the Frostbiter's proximity, Jade and her troops head off to investigate.
- Convenient Cranny:
- When the Frostbiter chases Caroline who's separated from the others, she manages to take cover in a gap between sturdy rocks just as the beast is about to catch her. It then tries to move the rocks aside before Alan provokes it to chase after him, allowing Amelia to fetch Caroline.
- After Philip is injured, Caroline manages to pull him inside another gap while all the others dive in a tunnel Vera accidentally discovers. The Frostbiter has no time to try to fit in either of these when a squad of Mogriffs tries to chase it away.
- Curse Cut Short: Upon waking up and realizing the Frostbiter is outside the cave, Amelia is about to use the f-word before Tinsley covers her mouth.
- Delicious Distraction: The noble heirs escape from their cave when Vera distracts the Frostbiter by shooting an arrow that has some meat seasoned with sleeping potion tied to it and a drop of Caroline's blood on it.
- Description Cut: When Rosetta tries to explain to Quinn her romantic interest in Tyrian, Quinn snarks that even as they speak, the madman is likely doing something that's either stupid, dangerous or both. As Rosetta asks if that's not exaggeration, the scene briefly cuts to Tyrian who's planning to bathe Jade's sleeping shadow snake Onyx before Quinn deadpans in response to Rosetta that if anything, she's underestimating Tyrian.
- Due to the Dead: Jade is sure to ask if the fallen Phobos loyalists have been given funeral rites, both out of respect and the pragmatism of not risking a plague.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Jade is angered to learn that Kandrakar has ordered the Guardians to stay away from Meridian while hoping to find a peaceful way to deal with her; though she has no fondness of Meridian in general, she's unimpressed that the protectors and overseers of the Infinite Dimensions seem to be using Meridian as a meat shield to give them time to protect themselves against her.
- Everyone Has Standards:
- Though Vera's pushing her friends to their limits with her stubborn determination, she reacts with shock and anger when Amelia believes her to be about to suggest sacrificing Caroline to the Frostbiter.
- Jade admits that while she has a low opinion on Elyon and her followers, she can't see them abandoning to danger settlements they haven't judged to be loyal to Phobos.
- Though Tinsley's been told since birth that Mogriffs are monsters, she's appalled by Vera's willingness to smash their eggs. Amelia also feels that harming defenseless hatchlings and eggs is dishonorable, as much as she detests Mogriffs.
- Facepalm: Jade resists the urge to facepalm at Vathek's claim that the nonhuman races would be given a chance to live peacefully under Elyon's reign. She later pinches the bridge of her nose and massages her forehead when her shadow serpent Onyx spits out Tyrian.
- Good News, Bad News:
- When Caroline's repellent turns out to be effective enough to keep the beast outside the team's cave, Alan assesses that to be the good news. The bad news is, the beast is a Frostbiter that's becoming angrier by the minute.
- When Caroline flees the Frostbiter into the cover of big rocks, she finds the good news to be that the stones look sturdy and the beast can't fit itself through. The bad news is, there are no exits.
- Green Around the Gills: Alan pointing out that Caroline's repellent is probably made of "Passling juices" causes green faces with some of the team.
- Hand Gagging: Alan does this to Tinsley to wake her up quietly when the Frostbiter looms outside their cave. Tinsley does the same with Amelia who in turn does it with Caroline.
- I Can't Believe I'm Saying This: Alan says this about agreeing with Amelia that they need to rest after running for hours from the Frostbiter.
- Internal Reveal: Jade learns from Vathek that Caleb sent her to the Infinite City against Elyon's orders, Kandrakar has ordered the Guardians to stay on Earth, and Nerissa caused Kandrakar to interfere with Phobos and Meridian. Vathek in turn learns the full extent of Jade's plans for Meridian.
- I Owe You My Life: Jade reaffirms her sense of gratitude towards Raythor by saying that she owes him her life for helping her survive in the kingdom that has tried to have her either dead or locked up.
- It Can Think:
- When the Frostbiter realizes that the repellent keeping it at bay is all over the snowy ground, it starts digging in order to remove this obstacle.
- This chapter shows the Shadowkhan are capable of having internal disagreements. When the Razor Khan bring Vathek to Snowpoint so that he can have an audience with Jade, a group of Ninja Khan angrily demand an explanation and suspect Vathek's surrender could be a ploy to lure their queen into a trap. The nonverbal yet intense discussion between the two Shadowkhan tribes threatens to escalate into a physical fight before Jade arrives to hear Vathek out.
- It's All My Fault: Caroline berates herself for unintentionally bringing the Frostbiter's attention to her team.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Alan admits out loud that Amelia's criticism on Vera isn't without a merit of truth, and when she rips into him about continuing to support Vera despite knowing how dangerous a Frostbiter can be, he can't argue back for once.
- The Juggernaut: The Frostbiter's scaled hide makes it invulnerable to arrows, and burying it under rocks only makes it more pissed off.
- Just Between You and Me: Lampshaded. While revealing her plans to Vathek, Jade wonders to herself if this would be her "evil monologue moment".
- Kick the Dog: It's one thing that Vera cuts Caroline's palm to use her blood to distract the Frostbiter so that they can all escape, but it's another that she does it without a warning or apology.
- Little "No": This is Vathek's first word when he learns about Jade's plan to turn Phobos into a Villain with Good Publicity.
- Loud Gulp:
- Both Tinsley and Alan gulp when they see the Frostbiter outside the cave.
- Caroline gulps when she realizes her hiding spot won't hold off the Frostbiter for long.
- Alan gulps during his and Tinsley's Almost Kiss moment.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: The Frostbiter is depicted as a giant lizard with white fur and a beak-like snout filled with fangs.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: The Frostbiter, the fierce apex predator of Meridian's northern mountains, is strong enough to crush a squad of fully armed soldiers and known by the Mogriffs as "the White Death".
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: When Jade figures out Elyon is likely planning to evacuate the north, she anticipates bringing the refugees to the capital — that probably can't feed them all — will damage the young queen's reputation when the panicked citizens realize she can't make their problems go away with a snap of fingers.
- No One Gets Left Behind: When the Frostbiter chases after Caroline who's separated from the others, Amelia vehemently refuses to leave her behind, and everyone, even Vera who's angered by another delay, help her rescue Caroline. However, when Caroline and the injured Philip are separated from the others and find a hiding place while the others escape into a tunnel going underground, Amelia is reluctant to leave her closest friends behind, but she's forced to dive into the tunnel when she spots a squad of Mogriffs approaching the Frostbiter.
- Obviously Evil: Jade tells Vathek that she's well aware Phobos has all the looks and aptitudes of a bad guy, and it's only because of Raythor's loyalty she's giving the prince the benefit of the doubt.
- Oh, Crap!:
- The noble heirs have this reaction to waking up and finding the Frostbiter outside their cave, and this happens again when the beast is revealed to have tracked them to the rock maze.
- Realizing how exactly Jade intends to return Phobos to the throne elicits this reaction from Vathek.
- Palm Bloodletting: Vera cuts Caroline's palm to have some of her blood to distract the Frostbiter.
- Pet the Dog: Though Jade has bad history with Vathek, she does give him a chance to try to negotiate peace with her, debates with him about the merits of having either Elyon or Phobos on the throne, and opts to, at least for now, just put him in a cell rather than do anything worse to him. Him being openly remorseful for his past actions and ashamed about the Full-Circle Revolution may have something to do with it.
- Repressive, but Efficient: Jade argues to Vathek that even if Phobos doesn't really care for his subjects, his actions have given hope for the more discriminated species gaining better standards of living, and he's better suited for managing himself in courtly matters and imposing his will than Elyon whose ignorance has been taken advantage of by her nominally loyal followers who're bringing chaos to the realm by persecuting innocents they accuse of being monsters and Phobos sympathizers.
- Reptiles Are Abhorrent: The Frostbiter, the Super-Persistent Predator that gives Vera's team trouble, is basically a furred lizard thrice as big as a horse.
- Right Behind Me: When Vera's team reaches a rock maze after running for their lives from the Frostbiter, she ends up in yet another argument with Amelia. As she rants, she fails several times to get that the others have noticed something she hasn't. Only after hearing a growling sound does she turn around to find the Frostbiter gazing on them on top of a cliff.
- Sanity Slippage: By the time the noble heirs reach the rock labyrinth, Vera's Detrimental Determination is already eating up her lucidity as she accuses the others of wanting to give up when they're in reality pushed to their limits.
- Sarcastic Clapping: When Amelia objects to Vera's idea to run into the rocky maze to evade the Frostbiter and demands they turn back now, Vera sarcastically tells Amelia how returning to the apex predator's territory where it has a better chance of catching them is not a good idea, and she finishes by clapping slowly while mock-congratulating Amelia.
- Security Cling: Inverted; Alan pushes Tinsley behind him when he sees the Frostbiter has found them again.
- Slasher Smile: Vera grins ferally at the thought of attacking Mogriffs in their nest and smashing their eggs.
- Super-Persistent Predator: The Frostbiter is so determined to catch Caroline that it chases her team into a maze of rocks where the boulders can only slow it down.
- That's What I Would Do: The Phobos loyalist leaders find it unlikely that Elyon's army would try to approach Snowpoint through the difficult northern terrain, but Jade decides to have the Mogriffs keep an eye out in that direction in case a small group is trying to infiltrate them. She states from her experience that if she were in the rebels' position, she'd choose the path the enemy would least expect them to use. This turns out to be a wise precaution as it leads to Vera's team being discovered while the Frostbiter is chasing them.
- Tragic Dream: When Vathek voices his resolution to fight for a Meridian where everyone can finally live free from tyrants like Phobos, Jade considers it to be a nice dream that won't be possible with the current state of things.
- Translator Buddy: Telonio, the Number Two of Grimjaws, the Lurden commander of Snowpoint, serves to translate his speech.
- Villain Has a Point: As he tries to negotiate peace with Jade, Vathek is forced to concede to a number of points she brings up; she's within her rights to resent the heroes after everything they put her through, Elyon wasn't properly prepared for taking over the throne, and his old comrades have been making a mess of things out of revenge and Fantastic Racism since Phobos was kicked out of the throne.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Amelia's reaching the end of her patience with Vera's increasingly blatant obsession to press forward and push everyone to their limits to see her mission through.
- Why Won't You Die?: Alan exclaims this after the Frostbiter survives being buried under rocks.
- Wide Eyes and Shrunken Irises: Caroline's eyes turn pinprick upon her realization that she's trapped.
- Would Hurt a Child: Vera makes it clear she's happy to smash any Mogriff eggs coming her way.
- Wouldn't Hurt a Child: Tinsley is horrified by Vera's willingness to kill Mogriff offspring, and even Amelia, who detests Mogriffs, feels such a thing to be too excessive.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Amelia snarls this when Vera opts to continue their mission regardless of the Frostbiter.
