# Reaper's Gale 16-18

## Chapter 16

Big shocker when we find out that Brohl Handar has survived the battle at Bast Fulmar. He was healed by his K'risnan with pure Emurlahn. They are chasing or trying to chase after the Awl armies who have been evading them for some time now. The awl are ambushing outriders and collecting armour and horses. The whole Awl'dan is said to be low in magic and yet the evasion of Redmask is not entirely sorcery. A Sollanta scout reports to Brohl and thinks that Redmask has split his armies and have them surrounded. But if Bivatt were to send a reconnaissance force, they would be overwhelmed and attacked. Though the Edur don't command the army, they agree that the best course of action is to retreat to Drene.

The Edur return to the main Letherii army and find that they are preparing for battle. Redmask seems to be marching towards them from the southeast. So this is battle number 2 at Pradegar. Bivatt the overconfident is ready to face Redmask since they can use sorcery here. There is a ridge at the south which is too far away for the letherii to reach, so they stay put at the plains. They have arranged all the wagons with their wounded and livestock in the middle and have taken up defensive positions all around. She has arranged the Crimson Rampant heavies and Merchant batallion heavies towards the east and west ends of the field. Flanking them are double depths of medium infantry. The rest of the skirmishers and medium reserves surround the wagons. She holds back the Bluerose cavalry. Behind the entire setup are the edur, at far north. They expect a line of attack from the high grasses at the north end of the field.

This time we get the Awl POV. The old man from Renfayar clan who knew all about Redmask's secret is found throttled in his tent. There is general mourning and a feeling that is bodes some ill omen. Redmask decides he has had enough of fleeing and plans to attack the Letherii. Toc is happy to join the battle with his bow and arrows, Torrent is not very happy about this. Through Toc's reminiscences we learn a little more of Malazan tactics- no feinting, every engagement is deliberate. Toc too has a moment where he wonders if Redmask has forgotten that the Letherii have access to sorcery in this battlefield.

Cut to Orbyn Truthfinder and Factor Letur Anict of Drene, investigating the missing wagon of weapons shipment. They try to guess which way Fear and co have gone and decide north is the most likely part, assuming they are looking to cross the Bluerose sea. They wonder if they can afford to stand aside when Fear tries to find his god. At the same time, Venitt Sathad is on his way to meet Orbyn and the Factor, and is surprised that the Factor is so far from Drene.

Orbyn and gang massacre all the remaining Andii in Bluerose, the Cult of the Black-Winged Lord is no more. He then finds out that the altar in this place was truly sanctified by Dark. His mage informs him that one of the Tiles possess an aspect of Darkness and its Fulcra is the White Crow. Orbyn decides to keep all this information hidden from the Factor.

Clip, the last survivor stands grieving. Seren wants to know what's happening and Udinaas tells her the story of the jarack birds to prove that cruelty is commonplace. Seren gets angry at one of his smart ass comments and conjures Hull Beddict to choke Udinaas. She doesn't know how to stop Hull and so goes on to conjure another figure, Trull Sengar who knocks out Hull and stands in front of Udinaas with his spear. Fear has seen the manifestation, claims that Trull is shorn and looks old and sad. By now the others have learned that all the Andii at Andara have died, Clip seems to recover and snaps out his rings to open the gate of darkness.

Yedan Derryg and Yan Tovis are bringing in a boatload of Shake witches and warlocks to Second Maiden Fort. They are about to crash and are rescued by Perish Thrones of War.

Banaschar has some thoughts on Laseen and her lack of omnipotency. He does a great job tracing what went wrong from the time she used her Claw to achieve her coup to having a version of it hit her back in Malaz isle when someone unleashed a Shadow Dance and also decimated most of the Claw. He can feel the Immortal Worm of Autumn stirring in his gut. His companions are Telorast and Curdle who have been kicked out by Lostara. For some reason they reminisce Kilmandaros who would have walked this place long ago. They also say they are close because of something Edgewalker told them. They exit his room via the windows.

On the other side of the coast, Crump of the Bole brothers digs holes while singing lewd songs. Corporal Shard is worried about his sister, Sinn. No, he is in fact terrified of her. He seems to have noticed that nearly all men are scared of her but the women are unaffected and he "had no answer' for this big mystery. Right on cue, we see Sinn, the child witch, Dryjhna's blessed spawn, High Mage with a thirst for blood, dancing in the stormy weather. At the same time, one of the holes seems to have a row of baby skulls that are stirring. Immediately, Crump is ordered to close the hole.

From one scared brother, we move to another. Nimander stands around thinking gloomy thoughts, mainly involving his sister Phaed. He knows that she lacks a moral compass and might harm Sandalath, yet he feels powerless. He wonders what would Anomander do? Kick the door in and kill her then accept the blame, probably. He hears a spinning chain and remembers his old dead lovers words about trying to find the carrier of the gates rather than their grandsire.

Finally, we get back to the battle at Pradegar. Turns out they have spent the entire day at a stalemate. Now it's night and the Letherii camp has set up pickets. Bivatt is obviously nervous. Nobody is resting on this side of the battlefield. On the other side, Toc understands Redmask's hesitation in attacking them, the Letherii have deadly mages. Meanwhile, Masarch from Renfayar has gathered a group of 600-700 mounted warriors intending to charge the pickets just past the ridge. Toc is sure the Letherii have dug pits and cautions them. They hear a Rodara horn and charge. Toc was riding bareback and after a brief hesitation, he decides to follow them. The Awl cavalry has avoided the pickets and start slaughtering the warriors. They notice sorcery being readied and withdraw. Toc shouts at them to stay amongst the enemy as protection against the sorcery but nobody hears him. Toc decides to take things into his own hands. Even one eyed, he takes an impossible shot at the Letherii wizard using the stone tipped arrows gifted him by Tool. The wizards head explodes.

Cut to the aftermath and we see the Letherii have been decimated again. This time the K'risnan is a confirmed kill since he's been cut into 3. The 'kechra' have taken some wounds this time. One more wizard who was magically linked with the dead wizard has also died in the exact same manner. We also learn that about thousand Awl, a few hundred Letherii and 82 Edur warriors have died.

## Chapter 17

Beak thinks of himself as a coward and stupid. He thinks back to Y'ghatan and remembers how Sinn had unveiled a pure candle of her own. He may have been sure of the surviving marines trapped underground but he didnt have the courage to tell anyone. He then thinks of his own life as being *unwitnessed* and is happy that Tavore has made all their lives unwitnessed. He and Faradan Sort are hiding from some riders. Briefly he catches the sounds of crashing waves and ice lances piercing hot flesh from Sort, who may or may not have stood the stormwall. Turns out Sort and Beak were tracking 2 squads who have moved too far ahead leaving behind a trail of corpses. Beak is able to trace the magic of Balgrid who uses the 'white candle' and removes their traces from the Letherii mages. But Beak also notes that they have recently acquired horses and the Hold magic can trace beasts. We learn a little about Beak- he has suffered sexual abuse from his mother and that when he shows his candles, there is always screaming.

Meanwhile Hellian and Urb's squads have just battled 20 warriors, they have lost Hanno and Hellian wants to hook up with Urb. Meanwhile Sort and Beak reach them. They decide that the best course of action right now is to keep going at a fast rate. Beak explains the Holds system of magic and the existence of a Beast Hold. They decide to capture atleast one Letherii mage alive and find answers.

Corabb is with Fiddler's squad. They have just escaped an ambush and ahead is a peaceful looking farm. Cuttle has been shot but he will live. Koryk has killed people in a frenzy and now Smiles has a crush on him. Stormy has lost one of his heavies, Sand. They decide to run past the farmhouse using Bottle's magic to hide or obfuscate their trail. Meanwhile, Fid and Cuttle will set up an elaborate mine using cussers, called 'The Drum' to take care of their pursuers. Cuttle watches with awe, since has only heard of the legends of Fiddler and Hedge but now he gets to watch one of them in action.

Fiddler recalls the first time they were given Moranth munitions. Whiskeyjack had handed the entire crate to Fid and Hedge who went about experimenting and naming the munitions: Crackers, Sharpers, Burners and Cussers. Cussers were of course designed to be thrown high overhead while flying the Quorls. He sets the trap, Cuttle refuses to leave him.

Bottle senses some living folk within the farmhouse. Uru Hela crawls forward to Gesler and tells him that Bottle can sense that there are two of them inside. She volunteers to approach them as if asking for water. As she nears, Bottle suddenly realises the farmhands are not humans. They are, in fact, Kenryll'ah demons. Uru Hela tries to run but is cut down immediately. There is furious fighting between the squads and the demons before Ges decides to withdraw. They run on and Stormy is even more upset at having lost a second heavy under his command. Meanwhile the 2 demons decide to continue the fight and head up the track. From Fiddler's pov we hear the Letherii/Edur horses followed by 4 cussers getting blown up.

This has been noted by Thom Tissy of Keneb's squad. He has some misgivings about Tavore and soon realises that much like her he too is keeping his soldiers at a distance.

Cut to the icy desolate realm with Hedge and Emroth walking to some destination. Emroth guesses that Hedge plans to somehow destroy her master (remember, she is one of the Unbound, so her master is the Crippled God). She calls him a ghost and says there is nothing she can do to thwart him. Hedge answers that he is a 'manifestation of the will' and not simply a ghost. He explains that since the Bridgeburners ascended, he is now an inversion of the T'lan Imass- soul without flesh. They are nearly at the edge of the ice field. He says that beyond lies Tellann, home of the Imass. They discuss some more about how the Jaghut underworld lacks any Jaghut souls and realise that their non belief in the concept of souls has effectively annihilated their own souls (sorry, this is the best I can do. If you can add more clarity to this conversation, feel free). Emroth says that within the ice lands, they would always find pockets of tundra and forests, called the Refugium. Just as she steps into her land, Hedge throws a cusser (manifested out of his, um, raincoat) and blows her up. In his mind, he is injured in the explosion but shakes it off and keeps walking. Within the refugium, there is no T'lan ritual. Hence he finds her body parts which have turned into mortal flesh and blood just before dying.

Onrack and co now take care of the Emlava kittens. Onrack being flesh and blood is happy, maybe too happy for Trull's sake. Slowly he relaxes. The 3 then decide to share stories for the sake of bonding. Trull about the Eresal, Quick Ben about a tale of 12 souls and Whiskeyjack and Onrack about his story regarding painting. All of a sudden, they hear a cusser going off!

Fiddler and his squad, including Bottle are doing fine. Tarr (who was named for being steadfast) is ready to fight for everyone in his squad, except for Corabb. Smiles thinks back to her squalid village and is content here. They hear a few explosions to their right but for once stick to their orders and continue moving ahead. There is a lot of character work in these sections that add a lot to the feel of the novel, but dont really move the plot along. One relevant point which might have stood out to you is Bottle mumbling that 'he never sees the owl'.

Cut to Shake Brullyg, Shurq Elalle and Tavore. Shurq is uncomfortable with the Malazans around her, especially Deadsmell and Throatslitter. Tavore is trying to understand the deal with the Letherii emperor, Of a Thousand Deaths. Yan Tovis walks in with the Watch and throws the self declared 'Rise' out. She asks Tavore if the Malazans have followed them so far for vengeaence.

This is a little obscure, but the Shake are the original guardians of the Shores of Night. Yan adds a correction that it is just the Shore now, since they have lost the rest. Deadsmell knows a lot of their history and even explains that both Yan and Yedan's names are their titles too. And that they guard the shores because that is where the newborn K'chain come from (or at least those cast off by K'chain matrons). Regardless, Tavore recognises Yan's claim to be queen of the Isle and decide to leave soon. They briefly discuss how the saved witches and warlocks won't be grateful for long. All the Malazans now need is a guide to take them to Letheras. All eyes turn to Shurq.

## Chapter 18

Chancellor Triban Gnol, son and lover of Turudal Brizad, also known pedophile, murderer and general pos asks Sirryn if they have found Bruthen. He then decides to meet the Emperor and tell him of the war they are in. Triban has noted that the foreign invaders are targeting only the Edur and this is a fact he is going to hide from Rhulad. At the throne room, Hannan is already present, he tries his best to tell Rhulad that the Malazans are targeting only Edur but Triban stalls him. It is decided that Triban is now war commander, with Hannan and the rest seconded to him. Rhulad then declares that the challenges will begin in 4 days. They decide the order and place Karsa as the last but one challenger with Icarium coming last. Rhulad is also told that the Cabalhii monks worship Icarium as a god and Rhulad is suitably impressed by the idea. He assumes he will rise to godhood by killing a god.

Outside the throne room, Hannan dismisses Triban and walks away. He reaches his office to find Karos waiting for him, asking about Bruthen. Tensions are high between the two. Triban says Karos was meant to be called in for questioning anyway, to find the source of the impending financial collapse of the empire. Now Karos reveals that he came from a very poor background and that Tehol was one of his inspirations as well as cautionary tales. Karos has amassed huge amounts of wealth and is actually poised to save the Empire if he chooses. He only wants power and full control of the Empire in return. Triban has nothing else to respond with, and says that Karos is foolishly obsessed with an impossible puzzle, even crying out during sleep.

The Errant watches Rhulad in the throne room. He sees the fear in Rhulad's eyes as he realises that convergence is coming. Next, he goes to meet his High Priestess Feather Witch. She tells him to stop Mael so that they can acquire the trapped demon. She also says she will visit Udinaas in his dream and bring him to their side.

Karos beats Tanal,, accuses him of being a spy and reporting to the Chancellor. Tanal goes to collect a guard detail to arrest the saboteur/traitor. Errant finds the still sanctified altar of Mael that was buried under Gerun's house. He uses the powers at his disposal and weaves a ritual. By the end of the chapter we realise this traps Mael when he gives up the corporeal body of Bugg.

Advocate Sleem is trying to collect his fees from Bugg, who has a sliver under 2 docks at his disposal. Slowly Sleem figures out that Bugg is the mastermind behind the impending financial doom and calls him insane. Other than a much needed breath of levity this scene doesn't have much to offer. They discuss values and Bugg is certain that anything of true value is free. we next move to Janath, Tehol and Ublala where amidst talk of plucked chickens and grit soup, Tehol explains his motivation for causing the economic collapse.

> ‘There are all kinds of evil, Janath.’
>
> ‘Yes, but yours will see blood spilled. Plenty of it.’
>
> ‘Is there a difference between spilled blood and blood squeezed out slowly, excruciatingly, over the course of a foreshortened lifetime of stress, misery, anguish and despair – all in the name of some amorphous god that no-one dares call holy? Even as they bend knee and repeat the litany of sacred duty?’

Soon, Tanal and his band arrive looking for Bugg. He finds Janath and though Tehol assures him that she has received a full pardon, he still arrests both of them. Bugg returns to find only Ublala, tells him to go away or stay safe. Soon after Bugg gets trapped within the Errant's ritual.

Meanwhile, Rhulad has a vision of his whole family, including Nisall, Udinaas and Mayen. All his self loathing, doubts and insecurities are voiced by the figures in his visions. Turns out his parents have died while kept chained in the dark underground cell because of an oversight. Rhulad has no peace to look forward to.

Elsewhere, Trull and Onrack watch Quick Ben reunite with Hedge. Onrack asks Trull about his love and he starts talking about Seren. The next chapter begins with her pov.