Kings of the Wyld

Moog electrocutes himself with his wand. Gabriel and Clay are paralyzed by the chimera’s poison. Ganelon faces the beast alone, and when the cords holding the chimera’s wings break, Ganelon rides it into the sky. A skyship fires on the beast. Ganelon kills the chimera in midair, and the body comes crashing back to the arena, falling on the stands, including where Dinantra is sitting. One of the towers holding the tethered Maxithon crumbles, and the entire arena begins to spin on the water. Lastleaf, still standing, draws his middle sword, but then the skyship descends, and Clay recognizes the passengers.

The skyship belongs to the members of Vanguard, a band that was a friendly rival of Saga’s back in their heyday. Barret is their leader, and other members include Ashe; Tiamax, who is an arachnian; their bard, Edwick; and Pig, the son of a former band member, Hog. Clay is impressed that they still have Edwick because Saga’s bards were always getting killed. They discuss the dangers that await in the Heartwyld Forest and the coming War Fair, a triannual event where every band in Grandual gathers in Kaladar. Ashe says the fair isn’t what it used to be: “every snot-nosed whelp with a hair on his chin and a sword in his hand thinks he’s got what it takes to be a merc” (226).

Moog reveals that he has the rot, and Matrick is devastated. As they stop for the night, the bands gather around the fire and share stories about the first thing they killed. Clay doesn’t want to share that his first kill was his father. Gabe says he wants to visit Kallorek.

This chapter opens with an omniscient narrator describing, in a solemn and bardic tone, the five heroes advancing on Kallorek’s citadel. Then Moog trips and falls. The third-person narration resumes to describe how the band storms Kallorek’s house. Gabe punches Kallorek and drags him into his treasury. Moog uses firewire to melt the statue of the Autumn Son, and Gabe takes his sword, Vellichor. The others choose what they want from Kallorek’s collection. Clay takes the impenetrable armor called Warskin and selects a hammer he names Wraith. He sees that the lid of the sarcophagus is ajar. Matrick selects a horn that, when blown, pours bees. Moog finds a hat that dispenses food.

They are leaving Kallorek’s compound with Kal as their prisoner when Valery appears. She is pale and confused. She says she always believed Gabe would choose Vellichor over her. She asks Gabe to bring Rose home and informs him that Kal has a skyship. They find a revenant named Kitagra, known as Kit the Unkillable, on board. Kit agrees to come with them to Castia and informs Matrick that he is a ghoul, not a zombie.

Some of the gang go to Conthas to gather supplies for their trek to Castia. Clay and Ganelon visit a tavern where they find Lady Jain and her band. A woman enters the tavern, and Clay finds her the most attractive woman he’s ever met. Jain tells Clay to run, explaining that the woman is a bounty hunter. The woman announces that she is looking for Matrick. She begins naming the members of Saga, and when she says Moog’s name, Moog responds.

A fight breaks out. Ganelon attacks the woman, who spreads her wings and knocks him down. She has a red-robed monk fighting for her, whom Clay attacks. She tells Ganelon her name is Larkspur, and she’s the last woman he’ll ever love. A bounty for Matrick has been offered by Lilith, who will most likely have Matrick accused of treason and killed. Moog explodes an orb containing a gas that gives everyone the giggles. Lady Jain fires arrows while the members of Saga escape to the ship. Kit explains that Larkspur is a daeva and has the power to compel men with her beauty. Kit says she had a troubled history. Her given name was Sabbatha, but after an incident at her girl’s school, she became a manhunter and changed her name. Kallorek says if Larkspur is after them, they’re all dead.

Moog flies the ship while Clay guards Kallorek. Kallorek tries to bribe him, then goads Clay by saying he will hurt Ginny and Tally. Clay throws Kallorek over the side and reflects that the monster inside him is “[n]ot gone. Never gone, it would seem. Just … dormant” (264).

They travel over the expanse of the Heartwyld, looking at landmarks. Kit plays an instrument he calls a batingting, the last of its kind (in the real world, a batingting is a musical instrument from the Philippines, similar to a musical triangle). Kit sings a song about Grandual’s gods, describing how the Summer Lord’s wife bore two children: Vail, the Autumn Son, whom the Lord shunned, and Glif, the Spring Maiden. When the Queen died in childbirth, Vail, whom they called the Heathen, gave his life so she might be resurrected. But she came back changed and different, the icy Winter Queen. Clay believes this is all just a story, “[a] means of making sense of an all too senseless world” (269). They spot a storm approaching.

The storm is unpleasant, but then Larkspur’s skyship, the Dark Star, attacks. She and her monks fly above them and land on their ship in the air. Clay takes a beating from the monks, though Moog intervenes to help him. Clay yells at Moog to fly the ship. Gabriel, who is fighting Larkspur, tells her she’s lost and should go home. Larkspur grabs Matrick and tries to fly away when an electric charge jolts them and they fall.

Clay thinks that Gabriel briefly looked like a hero as he fought Larkspur; now he looks old and haggard again. Gabe instructs Moog to land the ship inside the Heartwyld Forest. They split up to search for Matrick, and Clay goes with Ganelon. Several strange and suspicious creatures menace them, including a fearsome warg, but when Ganelon growls at it, it runs away. Clay says he can’t think of a worse place, and Ganelon says the Quarry is worse. While he was frozen, Ganelon was still sentient. He admits that for a while he hated all his old friends, but he wondered what kind of monster he had to be for Clay to give up on him. Clay feels guilty.

They find Matrick with a troll, whom Ganelon attacks before Matrick reveals that the troll is helping them. Larkspur, who seems groggy, smiles and introduces herself as Sabbatha.

Matrick conjectures that Larkspur has lost part of her memory and only recalls her life before she became a bounty hunter. Taino, the troll, takes them to his home and offers to make them food. Moog produces food from his hat. Taino packs a pipe with what he calls magic mudweed, saying it is a cure for many things. When Clay shares the pipe, the ache of his bruises fades, and he recalls Ginny asking him whether he is monster or man. He remembers scenes from his childhood, including his mother.

Clay wakes and talks with Larkspur, who tells him about her past. Her kind are born by parthenogenisis, and her father at first tried to kill her. After children in her village bullied and tormented her, Larkspur retaliated and killed or injured them. In response, the villagers murdered her parents and burned their home to the ground. After that, she reflects, “what could I become but a monster?” (299).

Taino is visited by Jeremy, one of the people called Ferals. They eat any meat they can find, including that of people. Jeremy has come to ask Taino for a cure for his chieftain, who is ill. He says he will walk part of the way with the band as they return to their ship.