Malazan Book of the Fallen, #1
Gardens of the Moon
by Steven Erikson
Contents
Chapter Fifteen
Overview
Hairlock ambushes Paran and hurls Toc into a Warren, but Quick Ben severs Hairlock’s escape, letting Shadowthrone’s Hounds destroy him. Anomander Rake arrives, kills two Hounds, forces Shadow’s withdrawal, and confirms Oponn has left Paran—though his sword remains ensorcelled. Paran briefly enters Dragnipur and engineers the Hounds’ escape, then recommits to confronting Lorn. Meanwhile, Lorn wounds Coll and Murillio but spares Kruppe’s party; Cotillion is recalled, freeing Sorry into amnesiac Apsalar, whom Crokus escorts to Mammot.
Summary
Quick Ben, guarded by Trotts, monitors Hairlock via fettered sticks and, realizing the puppet is on Rhivi Plain, enlists Cotillion through Sorry to steer Shadowthrone’s Hounds to Hairlock’s exact location. On the plain, Hairlock ambushes Paran and Toc, collapsing Paran’s horse and flinging Toc into a Warren. As Hounds close in, Quick Ben cuts Hairlock’s strings, leaving the puppet helpless.
The Hounds tear Hairlock apart, then turn on Paran, only to be confronted by a Tiste Andii—Anomander Rake—who kills two Hounds and compels Shadowthrone to withdraw and recall the Rope. Rake examines Paran, reveals Oponn has withdrawn from him but that his sword remains a tool of the Twins, and departs.
Grieving Toc’s loss, Paran touches Hound blood and is drawn into Dragnipur’s Warren, where chained souls drag a vast wagon. He meets a prisoner and then aids the agonized Hounds by baiting Oponn within the sword’s darkness, sending the beasts into Kurald Galain and out of the prison. Cast back onto the plain, Paran accepts responsibility for his choices and recommits to finishing matters with Lorn.
Elsewhere, Lorn wrestles with doubt, then collides with Kruppe’s scouting party, wounding Coll and Murillio, disrupting Kruppe’s sorcery with Otataral, and sparing them before withdrawing. Sorry tracks the Coin Bearer, intent on killing him, but the Imass’s nearness and Shadow’s recall interrupt her.
Afterward, Crokus and Coll confront a bewildered, amnesiac girl—the freed host of Cotillion, now calling herself Apsalar. Recognizing signs of possession, Coll orders Crokus to take Apsalar to Mammot in Darujhistan while he tends Murillio and Kruppe.
Who Appears
- Ganoes ParanAmbushed by Hairlock; spared by Rake; enters Dragnipur, frees Hounds, and resolves to confront Lorn.
- Anomander RakeConfronts Shadow’s Hounds, kills two, forces Shadowthrone to withdraw and recall the Rope; assesses Paran’s state.
- HairlockPuppet sorcerer ambushes Paran and tosses Toc into a Warren; destroyed by Shadowthrone’s Hounds.
- Quick BenContacts Cotillion via Sorry, feeds Hairlock’s location to Shadow; cuts Hairlock’s strings to trap him.
- Adjunct LornDoubts her mission; clashes with Kruppe’s party, wounds Coll and Murillio, then withdraws.
- Crokus YounghandSurvives Lorn’s attack; encounters freed Apsalar; agrees to take her to Mammot.
- Apsalar (formerly Sorry)Cotillion’s recall frees her; amnesiac fishergirl from Itko Kan, bewildered and vulnerable.
- ShadowthroneAppears to Rake, concedes the field, recalls the Rope; mourns fallen Hounds Doan and Ganrod.
- Toc the YoungerThrown into a Warren by Hairlock during the ambush; fate uncertain.
- CollDuels Lorn and is badly wounded; directs Crokus to bring Apsalar to Mammot.
- MurillioDuelist who wounds Lorn but is knocked unconscious by her riposte.
- KruppeFails to open a Warren near Lorn’s Otataral; left unconscious after the skirmish.
- CroneGreat Raven observes; hints Paran’s sword is not the only manipulated tool.
- Onos T'oolanSilent nearby presence whose Tellann influence hampers sorcery; unseen during Lorn’s skirmish.
- TrottsGuards Quick Ben during the Hairlock operation, ready for violence.
- Rood and Gear (Hounds of Shadow)Lead the hunt; two kin die; later freed from Dragnipur by Paran’s gambit.