Jezal endures a storm on the plains of the Old Empire, soaked and miserable. Logen takes off his shirt as he rides ahead, enjoying the rain. Jezal is repulsed by the sight, muttering that Logen is a brute. Quai overhears Jeal and tells him that Logen is the Bloody-Nine, the most feared man in the North. Jezal says he could not care less. Bayaz scolds Jezal for complaining about the rain, insisting that leaders do not whine. Despairing of his circumstances, Jezal thinks of Ardee. Jezal is aware that his life so far has been one of ease and privilege, which makes the transition into hardship all the more difficult for him.

When the rain stops, the group stumbles across a gruesome massacre, dozens of slain merchants strewn across the ground. Jezal, who has never seen a corpse, becomes sick at the mangled bodies. When he vomits, Logen offers him water and blames bad meat, a kind gesture that surprises Jezal. Ferro reports the attackers were numerous and well-armed.

Realizing that their path ahead may be beset by enemies, Bayaz rules out the usual river crossings, leaving only one way forward: through the feared, ruined city of Aulcus. The others are shocked. When Jezal suggests burying the dead, Ferro mockingly tells him to bury them in his vomit.

As it turns early winter, the Dogman and his band are ahead of West’s unit, scouting for Bethod’s army. Dow complains about their degraded status, from once-renowned Named Men to nameless soldiers, but Threetrees cuts him off and orders the group to focus on the task at hand.

They spot three of Bethod’s scouts and plan an ambush. It goes slightly awry— Dogman and Grim shoot the same target—but they kill two scouts before the third cries for help. Dow kills him, as two more enemies appear. Dogman shoots one and is nearly killed by the other before Tul intervenes.

Threetrees sends Dogman ahead, where he espies the largest army ever assembled in the North—hundreds of fires and dozens of clan standards, all serving Bethod. Dow proposes sneaking in to assassinate Bethod, and the others are tempted, but Threetrees vetoes it. Their duty is to warn the Union.

Jezal’s party reaches the immense canyon of the River Aos. When Logen attempts to talk to Ferro about her origins to ease the tension in the group, Ferro snaps at him, revealing that the Gurkish conquered her home and enslaved her as a child, making her their property. Logen is shocked, since such practices are uncommon in the North.

Suddenly, using her supernatural vision, Ferro spots riders in the distance. Bayaz orders the group to hide in the nearby ruins of the Emperor’s winter palace from the Old Time. While Ferro keeps watch from a pillar, the others wait in an overgrown orchard. Longfoot brags about his navigation until Logen slices through the branch he’s sitting on, sending him crashing down. Logen and Jezal laugh together, which Logen sees as progress.

Later, Jezal is hit by a clod of bird droppings and looks up to see Ferro on the wall above, smirking. Enraged at the prank, Jezal storms off. Ferro reports the riders are gone, and the group moves out.

Glokta receives a letter from Arch Lector Sult, the head of the King’s Inquisition, denying his request for more men and money. At a council meeting, he learns the city’s debts total 500,000 marks. He and his Practicals conclude that a traitor within Dagoska silenced his predecessor Davoust, and that successfully defending the city is the best way to flush the traitor out. Magister Eider can raise only 12,000 marks but offers Glokta her personal jewelry as a gesture of support.

A banker named Mauthis then arrives representing Valint and Balk, bearing 1 million marks in silver, gold, and gemstones. His employers want Dagoska defended—but in exchange, Glokta must grant Valint and Balk unspecified favors in the future. Seeing no alternative, Glokta signs. After Mauthis leaves, he realizes the sudden wealth will arouse Arch Lector Sult’s suspicion, and that revealing the deal could get him executed. He must be more careful than ever.

Traveling through rocky gorges, Jezal is constantly anxious about ambushes. He asks Logen about combat, and Logen describes the terror of every fight. He offers three rules: appear weak, never underestimate enemies, and act without hesitation once committed. The rest is luck.

They enter a steep gorge blocked by a fallen tree. A man named Finnius, a servant of Emperor Cabrian, announces they are surrounded and demands surrender. Bayaz refuses. When an enemy grabs his horse, Bayaz unleashes his Art, his anger making five enemy-men explode to bits. He goes on to lose control entirely, shaking as the ground around him begins to churn and trees go flying off. Jezal is thrown from his horse and cowers while Logen fights the remaining attackers. Ferro shoots dead a man about to kill Jezal.

The chaos stops as Bayaz falls unconscious. When Logen tells Jezal to catch their fleeing horses, Jezal bristles at taking orders. Logen calmly asserts his experience in war, and Jezal, recognizing his own incompetence, accepts his authority.

Glokta wakes from a nightmare to find a stranger sitting in his darkened room. The man is Yulwei, one of the original Magi (the 12 apprentices of Juvens, including Bayaz). Yulwei, the only of the 12 still loyal to Byaz, brings the urgent news that the Gurkish are moving a massive force, the Emperor has built a fleet of 100 ships, and Khalul (prophet in the South and Bayaz’s bitter rival) is sending his elite soldiers—the Hundred Words, an army of Eaters, led by Mamun, Khalul’s first apprentice. Yulwei also reveals that an Eater is already in Dagoska and silenced Davoust to protect a traitor within the city, but he refuses to name the traitor. As proof of his warning, he promises five Gurkish columns will appear at dawn, then vanishes.

The next morning, Glokta stands on the walls with Cosca and Vissbruck as the Gurkish advance in exactly five columns. He orders the great ditch flooded, turning Dagoska into an island. Spotting siege engines, he understands the Gurkish are fully committed.

As the group cross the river in a boat, Bayaz lies unconscious and feverish in the hold. Quai explains to the group that using the Art involves taking magic and power from the Other Side. Such an exchange is never unconditional, requiring a sacrifice from the practitioner: Bayaz may have left part of himself on the Other Side and could remain unconscious for hours or forever.

Feeling the weight of leadership and recalling how he once led men to their deaths, Logen reluctantly takes command of the group since Bayaz is indisposed and decides they will push on toward Aulcus. Brother Longfoot argues in favor of retreating; Logen overrides him. Ferro readily agrees, saying she never trusted Bayaz.

Logen finds Jezal distraught over his failure to act during the fight. He reassures Jezal that freezing is common the first time, and that being alive means having a chance to do better. The group mounts up and looks to Logen. He gives the order to move out.