Chapter 17

Kazhimyr and Ravezio arrive in the suspicious village of Susurria after days of travel. A wanted poster for Melisara—scarred, one-eyed, accused of demutomancy and spreading rumors of Cadavros—rekindles Kazhimyr’s past: she once hired him to steal the Mortucrux, leading to his Solassion imprisonment. Inside a foul tavern, they meet a local captain to buy forged Bloodmarks, only to learn the master forger, Maelrik, was arrested.

With Calyxar entry impossible without papers, an eavesdropping Elvyniran, Dravien Nokvayne, offers a solution: use his legitimate residency to register them as subordinates for passage via a Wyntertide merchant. He shows his bloodmark and sets a fee payable on arrival. Kazhimyr remains wary, noting Dravien’s sharp hearing and a suspicious ear tug, but defers a decision until morning. Dravien also warns villagers suspect them of ties to King Sagaerin amid unrest after the Costelwick uprising.

Outside, Kazhimyr and Ravezio find their tethered horses butchered. Enraged, they storm back in. Ambushed immediately, Kazhimyr kills multiple attackers with precise, lethal strikes while Ravezio cuts down others, his basilisk tattoo poised to turn deadly. When a blade nearly pierces Kazhimyr’s back, Dravien decapitates the threat, saving him. The tavern floor is soon littered with dead and dying men.

Dravien offers directions to a slain attacker’s farm for replacement mounts and presses his smuggling terms. Cornered by circumstance, Kazhimyr agrees to 1,250 liro for passage to Calyxar. Convinced Dravien engineered the horse slaughter, Kazhimyr immediately punches him in the face, venting suspicion even as they cement the uneasy alliance.