House of Sky and Breath

At the Black Docks, across which the Bone Quarter lies, Bryce (bearing the Starsword) and Hunt prepare for their journey. Baxian turns up, suspecting their plan. Hunt knows that Baxian is following them and dismisses him. Bryce and Hunt drop the Death Marks and a boat comes forward to collect them. It takes them to the Bone Quarter as if being pulled by an invisible rope. The boat docks at steps leading to a derelict stone archway bearing the Latin phrase "Memento Mori," which means, "Remember that you must die."

Bryce and Hunt cross the archway to the cold, dull district. The corpse-like Under-King, who governs the area, meets them. He swears that Sofie and Emile are not in the Bone Quarter. Bryce questions him about the Reapers who took Ruhn, but the Under-King denies his involvement. Contrary to what most people believe, Reapers can exist anywhere in the world, not just close to the lands of the dead. What’s more, there is no afterlife, known as the Sleeping City in the stories of Midgard. The truth is that the souls who pass through the stone archway are eventually fed to the archway as energy, or consumed by the Under-King himself.