Chapter 7

After parting from Amiel at curfew, Galva spends the morning feeding and exercising the war corvids, running them through commands like Attack, Fall back, and Shiver, the wing-blur defense against missiles. She notes their breeding against known poisons and the hope these “blessed engines” inspire as Gallard children watch from a safe distance.

Training shifts to the dams, who practice facing goblin tactics in three-dam wedges with wooden gisarmes. Veterans like Nouva and Inocenta correct technique based on prior wars, stressing low guards, avoidance of bites and spurs, and leveraging heavy shields to break limbs. The unit acknowledges the biters’ adaptability and the grim advances in poisons since earlier conflicts, balancing fear with renewed hope thanks to corvids.

During a hot break, Galva chats with a boy, Sambard, who gifts her a piece of amber-colored glass. His innocence contrasts with the surrounding atrocities—desecrated churches, scattered remains, and small bones—that resurface in Galva’s mind, moving her to tears and deepening her disillusionment with the god Sath even as she treasures the token.

A messenger in Pol dom Braga’s livery summons Galva to attend a Sath temple service honoring the new commander of the Western Army. Nouva insists she go, framing the invitation as a de facto order and an opportunity to advocate for corvid provisions amid shortages. Nouva warns that hungry birds risk accidents and that traditionalists might seize any excuse to destroy the corvids and demote the dams. Galva departs to comply.