Kings of the Wyld

Clay brings Gabriel inside to meet his wife, Ginny, and his dog, Griff. Gabriel looks like a wreck. Ginny isn’t very welcoming, possibly because Gabriel has previously tried, in the ten years of their marriage, to convince Clay to go on various adventures. Clay thinks Gabriel is exactly “like an old man clinging to memories of his golden youth” (8). Ginny serves them stew, then leaves to find their daughter, Talia, whom they call Tally.

Gabriel has come to talk about his daughter, Rose. Gabe laments, “Kids these days… they’re obsessed with these mercenaries, Clay. They worship them. It’s unhealthy. And most of these mercs aren’t even in real bands! They just hire a bunch of nameless goons to do their fighting while they paint their faces and parade around with shiny swords and fancy armour” (11). Gabe taught Rose how to fight, and after she became famous for killing a cyclops, she started her own band.

Gabe reveals that his wife, Valery, left him, and Gabe sold his sword, Vellichor, which was given to him by the druin leader known as the Archon. Rose went to fight with the army of the Republic and is now one of the thousands trapped inside Castia. Gabe says he wants Clay’s help to go after her, saying, “It’s time to get the band back together” (15).

Clay won’t leave his wife and daughter to go traipsing across the Wyld. He protests, “We got old, Gabriel. Too old to do the things we used to, no matter how good we were at doin’ ‘em. Too old to cross the Wyld, and too old to make any difference at all if we did” (17). Gabriel insists he has to try to save his daughter. Clay doesn’t want to admit he’s afraid. As he leaves, Gabriel tells Clay he’s a good man.

Tally, Clay’s daughter, comes home and shows him the frogs she found. Clay tucks his daughter into bed and tells her a sanitized bedtime story based on one of his own adventures. Tally asks if Uncle Gabe is going to rescue Rose, and she asks if Clay would come to her rescue if it were Tally who were in trouble. Clay assures her that nothing in the world would stop him from trying to rescue her, and Tally says, then he should try to save Rose too.

As they part, Ginny instructs him, “Come home to me, Clay Cooper” (24). Clay finds Gabriel at the King’s Head. He takes leave of his Sergeant, who gives Clay a sword and a helmet. As they walk, the two men catch up. Clay shares that he and Ginny want to send Tally to school and open an inn of their own. They pause by the site of Clay’s childhood home, which stirs painful memories. Clay recalls his father, Leif, teaching him how to cut down trees with the advice, “Hit it like you hate it” (33). Clay visits his mother’s grave beneath a birch tree.

Clay hears how Gabriel parted with Vellichor, the sword that had belonged to a race of near-immortal beings called druins. The druins established an empire known as the Dominion, which was led by the Archon, Vespian. After being mortally wounded by his estranged son, Vespian gave his magical sword to Gabriel. Gabriel admits he pawned it to Kallorek, their old booker. Kallorek is also the man Gabe’s wife, Valery, left him for.

Gabe explains to Clay that fighting is done in arenas these days; he says, “People want excitement. They want blood. They want to see their heroes in action, not just hear about it from some bard” (36). Clay reflects that it’s through story that the glory is made, when the actual event was brutal and disgusting. Gabe wants Clay to help convince the others to rejoin the band.

The two are robbed by a female archer, Lady Jain—an allusion to the Rolling Stones song “Lady Jane”—and her band, the Silk Arrows. Gabriel has nothing but rocks in his pack. Clay has sandwiches and socks that Ginny made. The robber remembers that Clay’s nickname was Slowhand (in real life, a nickname for British guitarist Eric Clapton—see Background) and declines to steal Blackheart, Clay’s infamous shield, from a hero. She takes their money, the socks, and the sandwiches. Gabe says he brought the rocks because Rose collected them, and if he doesn’t succeed in his mission, he could at least put the rocks on her grave.

Clay recalls what he knows about the Dominion, the druin empire that covered all of Grandual in the east, Endland in the west, and the Heartwyld Forest in between. The druins bred monsters to form their armies, but the monsters turned on them and became the Horde. During the War of Reclamation, the Horde was driven into Heartwyld Forest, and Grandual was divided into five kingdoms.

The city of Conthas remains outside the control of any one king and so is now “[o]ne of the last wild places in an ever more civilized world” (45). With no law and no taxes, the city is a filthy free-for-all. They pass shrines to Grandual’s gods: the Winter Queen, the Spring Maiden, Vail the Heathen, also called the Autumn Son, and the Summer Lord. Clay sees a beggar who has the rot, also called the Heathen’s Touch (47), an affliction that gradually eats away skin and organs, causing a terrible death. They see a parade for a band calling themselves the Stormriders, along with a band of female warriors calling themselves the Sisters in Steel. Gabe laments that this is what it’s like now: “So much spectacle, so little substance” (50). The Stormriders are parading goblins, a manacled troll, and a heavily drugged chimera. The band members throw coins to the audience as they pass. Women scream hysterically. The band members look like kids to Clay.

Kallorek now lives in a temple. He greets Gabe and Clay as “Kings of the bloody Wyld” (54). Kallorek, who is dressed well and has furnished his house with treasures, says the other two look tired and old. Gabe’s former wife, Valery, is at dinner, and Clay sees signs that she uses scratch, an addictive and mind-altering substance. He recalls Gabe and Valery’s love story and believes their marriage was the start of the band’s breakup. Kallorek mentions that Rose visited him and stole some weapons. Kallorek makes much more money now as a booker than he ever did back in the day. He mentions that Vanguard, a rival band, equally legendary, is still touring. Gabe asks for his sword.

Kallorek shows them his collection of treasures, which includes armor called the Warskin. A statue of the Autumn Lord is holding Vellichor. Kallorek says if Gabe wants the sword, he’ll have to take it. Kallorek has a rune medallion that controls two golems, large mechanical creatures that obey Kallorek’s commands. Gabriel isn’t able to pry the sword from the statue. Kallorek claims that Rose is dead and that none of their old bandmates will want anything to do with them. Clay punches Kallorek, who trips over the sarcophagus of Kit the Unkillable. Clay takes the medallion and orders the golems to get him and Gabe away.

Gabe and Clay visit Moog in his tower. Moog was the band’s wizard and now runs a phylactery where he manufactures cures for erectile dysfunction. He also has an odd assortment of artifacts and creatures upon whom he performs experiments. Moog has two obsessions: the mythical creatures called owlbears and finding a cure for the rot, which claimed the life of his beloved husband, Freddie. Moog reveals that he, too, has the rot.

Moog is upset that his experiments have been unsuccessful; he feels he has no legacy to leave behind. Moog reveals that a druin calling himself the Duke of Endland has asked the kings of Grandual to call a Council of Courts. The Duke is responsible for inciting the Heartwyld Horde. When Gabe reveals that they are going to Castia to rescue Rose, Moog immediately says he’ll come, adding, “What kind of friend would I be otherwise?” (80).

Kallorek brings a band of thugs to knock on Moog’s door and demand entry. Moog packs a magical bag with everything he can carry and directs them to go upstairs. He blows up his phylactery, then orders the others to jump through his magical mirror.

Clay emerges in a bedchamber where he is attacked by an assassin. Gabriel and Moog enter the room behind him. Matrick, the King of Agria, lies snoring on the bed. One of Kallorek’s thugs comes through the mirror, and Clay battles him using his shield, Blackheart. Clay realizes it’s been years since he’s been in a real fight. Moog says they’re getting the band back together, but Matty says he has too many other responsibilities and can’t join them.

Lilith, Matrick’s wife, enters the room, along with a shirtless bodyguard. As they join the royal pair for breakfast the next day, Clay meets Matrick’s five children. He is surprised to find that his friend seems to be a good father. Lilith announces that she is pregnant again. As soon as she leaves, Matrick asks the others to get him out of there: The kids aren’t his biological offspring, and he suspects that Lilith hired the assassin they found in his room. They debate ways of escaping. Moog says he has a plan, but it’s risky.