Contents
1. The Forest of Orphans
Overview
An unnamed Galtish thief joins a highway ambush against a lone Ispanthian warrior. She reveals deadly skill and a war corvid, crippling the gang and ending the fight swiftly. The thief’s accurate shot earns her grudging respect and mercy. The encounter pivots his path, marking a fateful turning point.
Summary
The unnamed Galtish thief, indebted to the Takers Guild, lies in wait with Pagran’s gang to rob a lone traveler on the White Road through the Forest of Orphans. He senses the woman is a magicker and warns Pagran, but the captain orders the ambush, tempted by her rare springwood shield.
The thief looses first, but the Ispanthian warrior pivots behind her shield, deflecting arrows. As Pagran and three brawlers charge, a massive war corvid erupts from the trees, mauling Spear and gruesomely felling Jarril (Axe). Frella is badly cut, and Pagran is wounded as the Spanth’s speed and skill with a spadín turn the tide.
With the gang broken, the thief faces the Spanth and the bird, realizing he cannot win or outrun the corvid. She calls him out, and he yields. Acknowledging his accurate shot, she returns his arrow and shares wine only with him, withholding aid from the others.
As the wounded scatter or lie stricken—Jarril unconscious, Spear fleeing with her severed hand, Frella bound off by the thief—Pagran is left moaning. The war corvid vanishes as abruptly as it arrived. The Ispanthian warrior departs down the road, leaving the thief convinced the encounter has changed his fate.
Who Appears
- Unnamed Galtish thief (narrator)Indebted, skilled thief and archer; senses magic, lands a true shot, surrenders, and earns the Spanth’s respect.
- Ispanthian warrior (Spanth birder)Lone traveler with springwood shield and spadín; commands a war corvid, devastates the ambushers, spares the narrator.
- PagranGruff leader of the thieves; orders the ambush for the springwood shield; hamstrung and defeated.
- FrellaPagran’s wife and gang fighter; suffers a severe underarm wound; disarmed and tied off by the narrator.
- Jarril (Axe)Brawler with an axe; catastrophically injured by the war corvid and left unconscious.
- SpearFemale brawler; back shredded by the corvid; hand severed and flees carrying it.
- Naerfas “Nervous”Young archer; panics at the war corvid, cries out “Awain Baith,” and runs.