Escaping the dungeon, Dilvish wanders the castle, eventually finding Semirama, a Queen from long ago resurrected by Jelerak because she can speak Tualua's ancient language.

Black manages to sneak into the castle in his human form, and encounters Jelerak, who was disguised as Weleand, about to sacrifice an unconscious Arlata as a means to gain control of Tualua.

Here they encounter the Elder Gods, who appear as gargantuan beings the height of the stars, gambling with dice, apparently for the right to control the outcome of the contest beneath them.

Semirama, her resurrection canceled by the Elder Gods' capture of Jelerak, collapses into dust, her soul now inhabiting the alternate universe of mirrors in the castle, where she meets up with an ancestor of Dilvish's, Selar.

The Elder Gods re-attach Castle Timeless to the flow of time, and it passes through the beginning of the universe, where the magicians have to do battle with the "Hounds of Thandalos".