Chapter 46

While marching past provision wagons, several corvids argue over hunger and danger, then a faction breaks ranks shouting for food. Galva rushes to Dalgatha, restraining her as Simón and his lanza form a human wall. Chainsdams arrive, inflaming tempers; three rebel birds escape toward the quartermaster’s wagons.

The three use birdscream to rout guards and gorge on meager stores. Black-tongued Galt archers shoot them in the head and beak; poleaxe-wielding knights finish them. Among the main flock, loyal birds battle rebels; one of Simón’s soldiers dies from a crushed skull. Loyal birds tear down the rebels; Nouva mercy-kills a gravely wounded ally. Galva keeps Dalgatha pinned, hearing Simón’s despair for humanity’s fate.

Nouva is summoned to the Pragmatist, who deems discipline paramount but refuses to discard their most effective weapon. The dead rebels suffice for punishment; Nouva’s lanza is attached to multiple commands, Nouva is promoted to Campamachur, and corvid rations are quietly tripled.

In the following weeks, three more rearguard battalions are sacrificed at a hill pass, in Trochette at the Arve bridge, and at a ford. As the retreat bends north, farms still stand, yielding food but also evacuations. Verday’s walls are judged untenable; the army billets one night, strips supplies and skilled folk, and moves on while some townspeople trail behind.

Approaching the Horn of Haros on the way to the fortress of Arvise, altitude and exhaustion slow the host while goblins close, estimated at 120,000. The Pragmatist calls one last lottery. The token reads Left Foot, committing Galva’s lanza, Dalgatha, elite Coldfoot spearmen, Ispanthian infantry, archers, support, and Sixt-General Migaéd dom Braga to hold and die so the army can reach Arvise.