Chapter 22

Galva reflects on goblin siegecraft, recounting how their sappers outmatch kynd underground and imperil walls by burning tunnel props. This makes Carrasque—built on fertile, diggable soil—especially vulnerable. As the army trudges through heavy Highgrass rains toward the fortress, constant wet, rust, and blisters sap morale, even as camp music briefly lifts spirits.

Along the march, mushrooms proliferate in the fields. Several Ispanthians die while foraging, prompting the Pragmatist to forbid mushroom hunting except by quartermasters with expert local guides. When the rains finally break, fires from Carrasque become visible.

Nouva orders the troops to make themselves presentable as they approach the besieged king of Gallardia. Galva anticipates seeing a just monarch, contrasting him with Kalith. The army crests a hill and beholds sprawling goblin hive mounds and siegeworks. The sight provokes a shared, unspoken fear: they are too many.

Beyond the horde, Carrasque stands battered—its west wall breached and two turrets burning—yet still flying Gallardia’s lion-and-tree banner and the king’s crowned toad. The goblins had bypassed the gateway fortress to take Goltay, then returned to finish Carrasque via tunneling, coming within days of collapse. The Western Army arrives in time, and with Holt and the Far Banners approaching, the goblins are expected to lift the siege to avoid encirclement.

Before any withdrawal, command intends to test the enemy with an attack. Though not ordered to join, Galva’s lanza chooses to go anyway, asserting initiative on the eve of the probing assault.