Contents
9. A Wrestle at the Faire
Overview
Kinch is trapped in a book-crafted dream at a Gallardian faire, wrestling a version of himself until Filaine, the soul bound into the Book, briefly frees him. She begs him to burn it; he bargains for its secrets. Galva’s iron intervention shatters the vision.
After waking, Kinch updates Galva on Norrigal’s plan and Three-Head. Grateful to Kinch, Galva recalls a past savior and Dalgatha, while Filaine’s mental keening reveals she is both victim and monster, sharpening the moral stakes against the Guild.
Summary
In a vivid dream at a Gallardian faire, Kinch finds himself inhabiting Malk’s body and wrestling a duplicate of himself in a beggar’s ring. Realizing the Book is trapping him, he calls to a girl in the crowd—Filaine—who pulls him free just as a crab-headed horror tears Malk apart.
Kinch confronts Filaine in the dreamscape. She admits she is the Book’s bound soul and begs him to burn it. Kinch refuses without extracting its secrets to hurt the Guild, prompting her anguished outcry as the Book’s monster seizes him.
Remembering iron disrupts the Book, Kinch shouts for iron. In the dream, iron nails and a colossal hammerhead fall from the sky, wrecking the scene; in waking, Galva has set iron on the Book’s page, breaking its hold and saving Kinch.
After a crude but grounding wake, Kinch thanks Galva, ensures she takes more healing pellets, and explains Norrigal’s guidance toward a secret mountain route via Three-Head, though snow stalls them. Galva, stronger, expresses gratitude for his care and recalls Inocenta, a woman who once nursed her and led her to Dalgatha.
Kinch gently backs off when Galva isn’t ready to recount Gallardia’s horrors. He is then wracked by Filaine’s psychic keening, realizing she is both the suffering girl and the Book’s monster—a revelation that deepens his hatred of the Guild and the moral urgency surrounding the Book’s use and eventual destruction.
Who Appears
- Kinch Na ShannackNarrator; trapped in a lethal Book-dream at a faire, bargains with Filaine, saved by iron applied in waking.
- GalvaRecovering companion; places iron on the Book to free Kinch, commits to leaving soon, gratefully recalls past aid.
- FilaineSoul bound into the Book; pleads for the Book’s burning, manifests both as victim and monstrous enforcer.
- The Book of the Full ShadowSentient grimoire; traps Kinch in a wrestling dream, attacks through a crab-headed avatar, repelled by iron.
- Malk Na BrannyckMemory-figure; his body appears in the dream, torn apart, underscoring the Book’s cruelty and Kinch’s guilt.