Chapter 38, Escape Summary

The Dreamreader completes his self-appointed task, having found several fragments of the Librarian's mind. He sleeps for several hours in the morning, and then travels to the shadow grounds. He enters the grounds, then sneaks into the donjon and retrieves his shadow. The shadow is too weak to walk and asks to be left behind. The Dreamreader insists the shadow accompany him and literally carries the shadow up and out of the donjon and across the miles of snowy fields and roads.

The shadow reasons that there must be an exit from the Town. The Town is perfect—too perfect—and offers a solution to every desire; thus, the shadow's desire for egress must somehow be met. The shadow had deduced that the southern whirlpool must in fact be the Town's exit. While the shadow talks out loud the...