Kings of the Wyld

The band arrives at the village of the Boneface, the name of Jeremy’s people. The Boneface have several captives in cages. One is an ettin, a two-headed giant. One of the heads greets Clay cordially and introduces himself as Gregor. He then introduces his brother, Dane, who has misshapen features and is blind. Gregor cheerfully describes their surroundings in glowing terms, keeping Dane happy and entertained.

Outside the chieftain’s hut, they encounter Kit, who was captured by the Ferals. Inside, they find that the chieftain is an extremely large woman who has rot on her fingers and toes. Teresa treats the chieftain with the mudweed given him by Taino. The chieftain wants to negotiate a trade, returning Kit in exchange for one of the band members. The chieftain requests Sabbatha for breeding purposes. Moog refuses to trade Sabbatha. He has a different idea.

Moog gives his magical hat that produces food to the Boneface in return for Kit. He notices that the mudweed healed the chieftain of the rot. Clay realizes his broken nose has healed, and so has Sabbatha’s broken wing. Moog looks at his foot and realizes the rot is gone; he’s been cured. Moog weeps, realizing that if he had only known, he could have saved his husband.

After a feast that night, the band sets out the next day, taking the ettin with them. Gregor describes the landscape around them in fantastic terms to Dane as they trudge along. They journey for days. Clay misses his wife, daughter, dog, and home. They find an Old Dominion road that once led to Teragoth, a druin city. Kit describes how Castia was built by the founder of the Republic and is a marvel of engineering. Teragoth is where Kit was born, and he tells the story of how he became a revenant after he pet a phoenix, mistaking it for a peacock.

The band pauses at an old fort and the members converse around the fire. Sabbatha chases a man who looks like a traveler into the firelight. The newcomer is a druin who introduces himself as Shadow. Shadow suspects that Lastleaf wants to open the Thresholds: three magical portals that allowed the druins to cross great distances. One was in Teragoth, one in Kaladar, and one in Antica, which is currently at the bottom of the sea.

As they sit around the fire, Sabbatha asks about the Thresholds. They need to be opened using a keystone. Only one keystone remains in existence, and it is in Teragoth, guarded by Akatung, the dragon.

Clay recalls that when the band found Vespian, he was hunting down Lastleaf, his son. Vespian gave Vellichor to Gabe so Lastleaf could not steal it. Shadow explains that Vellichor was created to allow the druins to pass from their own ruined world to this one. But if they were nearly immortal, only able to be killed by violence, they also could only bear one child per lifetime. Vespian’s wife, Astra, gave birth to a daughter, and then died. Grieving, Vespian forged another sword, Tamarat, for one reason: If it were used to take a druin life, then it could resurrect Astra.

Vespian killed his infant daughter in order to bring Astra back. Astra, despondent and grieved by what he had done, killed herself. Vespian killed to bring her back again, and this cycle continued until, as Shadow says, Astra was “indifferent to beauty, or sorrow, or love” (352). She began to practice necromancy, and the people of the Dominion rebelled against their rulers, leading to the war that brought about the downfall of the Dominion. In time Astra gave birth to another child, who was described as “sickly and strange, an outcast from the moment he was born” (352). This son stole Tamarat, the sword, and fled into the Heartwyld. Clay realizes that the gods of Grandual are based on these four figures, which means the Autumn Son, also called the Heathen, is Lastleaf.

Moog smells something and realizes the druin has sprinkled an herb on the fire that will make them fall asleep. Shadow admits he intended to steal Vellichor, which he says is a key by which druins can return to their own world. Shadow reveals that his whitewood staff is a scythe.

The druin’s magic creates shades of each man, which they each have to fight. Kit tries to attack, and the druin destroys his batingting. Clay fights his own shade using Blackheart, then wrests the scythe from Shadow. Clay knocks the druin out, then goes to help his friends. He watches as Ganelon defeats his own shadow. Larkspur—Clay isn’t sure if she is Larkspur again, or still Sabbatha—beheads the druin with his own scythe.

The band has a sober breakfast. Sabbatha, who has kept the scythe, asks who Larkspur was. She warns Gabe to be careful trying to make friends from enemies. Moog arranges for Gabe to speak to Rose using some of the potions Shadow left behind. Rose appears, talking to someone named Freecloud, and is surprised to see her father. She is in charge of the defense of Castia. Gabe warns Rose that the Horde poisoned the city’s water supply. Gabe says he is coming for her. Rose doesn’t believe Saga can do anything. She tells her father to go home, saying, “I don’t want you to die because of me” (373).

As they leave the fort, Gabe dumps Rose’s rocks out of his pack. Clay puts them on the druin’s grave.

Outside the forest, they hear the Dark Star cruising overhead. They debate ways to cross the mountains. Clay senses that the others will follow whatever he chooses, so to make Gabe happy, he agrees to take the Cold Road. Moog spots an owlbear.

Moog is upset that they had to kill the owlbear and carries its cubs in his pack. Clay feels the effort of climbing the mountains, acknowledging his aching knees. They find a cave in which they spend the night. There is a Tetrea board, and Ganelon and Sabbatha sit down to play. The rest of the band discuss their many bards. Kit becomes their new bard, telling stories of his adventures. During the night, Clay wakes and realizes Sabbatha and Ganelon have stopped playing Tetrea and are having sex. Clay misses Ginny.

They reach the Cold Road, which becomes a narrow ice bridge over a deep gorge. The ettin helps them dig through the landslides; Gregor tells Dane they are searching for precious metals. Gabriel hangs back to thank Clay for helping him find and rescue Rose. Gabe says that Clay is the leader of their group and that he, Gabe, is just the frontman. Clay muses over this, not quite believing it as he feels he’s always followed Gabe. As they reach the ice bridge, creatures called rasks attack them. The fight goes badly, and Clay recalls Gabe’s warning: “The Cold Road takes its toll” (401).

The ettin attacks the chief rask, but then falls from the bridge. Larkspur reveals she is her old self again, showing her ability to compel others. Clay wonders how long she’s been fooling them. Larkspur tells Gabe he isn’t a hero but a deluded mercenary. Clay rushes in, pins her, and is about to strike her with his hammer, Wraith, when she begs him to wait. Clay wavers. Larkspur cuts off his hand with the scythe. Clay slips and falls off the bridge.