It's just heartwrenching to read throughout the book how much Hylas misses Scram.
Pirra tries to foil her Arranged Marriage by scarring her face, but that only leads to her mother deciding Userref will not come to live with her in Akea after all, much to the girl's horror and the Egyptian's sorrow.
Hylas and Pirra find a lion that was injured by the fire the Crows set on the Island of the Fin People and is dying from thirst. They try to revive it and fail.
Hylas is anguished to learn that his best friend Telamon has all along been a member of the House of Koronos and wonders if their friendship was ever real. What makes this worse is that Telamon did truly befriend Hylas and Issi, but now he's stuck between his friends and the ruthless relatives he didn't even know he had until very recently. Even after they both fail to make an agreed trade (Issi's location in exchange for the dagger) due to mutual deceit, Telamon still begs Kratos to spare Hylas. After Hylas fakes his own death, Telamon grieves him under the pretense of mourning Kratos.
Spirit almost causes Hylas to drown when he takes the boy underwater in an eager attempt to show him the world beneath the sea. This proves to them both that they cannot be together since neither can live in their respective worlds. Parting ways as friends with a mental promise to see each other again makes it just a little better.
Pirra ends up being caught and brought back to her mother. Though Telamon makes sure she won't have to marry him, she knows her mother will still use her as a pawn in her political games. She's only able to give Hylas an inconspicuous farewell and her last gold bracelet as a travel expense before having to part ways with him.
