Chapter 19

Galva recounts the Western Army’s departure from ruined Espalle under Prima-General Peya Dolón Milat, noting its ninety thousand strength and the broader coalition racing to relieve King Luvain at Goltay. Logistics dominate: famine, disease, and the need to move deliberately threaten success more than battle itself.

Refugees trail the column, many maimed by the goblins’ “cut.” Peya decrees harsh penalties for feeding them to prevent theft and collapse of supply, yet allows camp followers to remain so they are not slaughtered by goblins. As the march consumes all food in its path, desperation grows.

Corvids strain the supply further. Exhausted and hungry, the birds grow “offended” by deprivation. On the third day, Melon breaks her tether and heads toward a farmhouse. Inocenta and Galva try to recover her calmly, avoiding triggering a flock rebellion by unleashing their own birds too soon.

Melon corners the farmhouse, then disappears into summercorn and kills a hidden ox, feeding triumphantly on its liver. With discipline paramount, Inocenta releases their birds; after a brutal fight out of sight, the corvids kill Melon themselves, preserving hierarchy without turning their aggression on their handlers.

Returning bloodied, Galva’s birds show wounds, and Olicat, Melon’s keeper, is shattered with grief. Nouva curbs Olicat’s outburst, frames the loss as bad luck and a matter of discipline, and orders control maintained. The farmer who hid the ox will receive no payment; the army will seize his remaining grain and stock.