As Salamis makes her own way to Persia to exact revenge on Xerxes for his violation of Sparta's manhood, she stops by the road to rest, grieve, and reflect on the loss of a generation of warriors who she, as a midwife, helped bring into the world. A mysterious warrior, representing renewal and the pride of Sparta, stops to share her camp, and the two take comfort in each other as the fire blazes.