Contents
3. The Last Town for Fuck-All Miles
Overview
The trio leaves the last provisioner and pushes into the Thralls with Worrig guiding, buying honey and mead in a final hamlet where corpse-hiving bees unsettle the narrator. A major storm looms as they camp. Trust and roles clarify—Worrig proves capable and sly, Galva vigilant—while the trapped, lethal book writhes, underscoring their peril.
Summary
The narrator, Galva, and their Wostran guide Worrig leave the provisioner heavily supplied and ascend toward the Thralls. Banter about gods and death colors the march as cold intensifies. The narrator dons a fur hat, trading mockery with Worrig, while the iron-trapped Book of the Full Shadow rides among their gear, restless but contained.
They traverse fields of late-season orange flowers alive with bees; Worrig teaches the local word for bee and leads them to a tiny last settlement marked by a bee sign. Inside, they purchase hive goods—especially mead and honey—which sparks the narrator’s memory and brief warmth before a coarse hair in the honey sours the moment.
On the road out, more bees drift around them. Approaching a grove, they discover the local hives are built within human corpses suspended in the trees. Worrig insists the bees feed on flowers, not flesh, and that living in the dead is an honor for the fallen. The narrator forces a laugh at the grisly joke of fate and eats more of the “nasty” honey to appease his mischief god.
Dark clouds mass over the Thralls. Worrig predicts the first serious snow and guides them to a rocky saddle where they rig an oilskin and coax a small fire. He reveals he travels light thanks to cached provisions along the route. When Galva likens him to war corvids, Worrig feigns offense, then laughs, showing a mischievous streak that unsettles her and pricks the narrator’s pride.
As night falls, the travelers’ roles settle: Worrig competent and guarded about his god, Galva vigilant with blade under furs, and the narrator drowsing to thunder and hiss of wet snow. From the packs comes the clink of the bear trap and the whimpering squirm of the imprisoned book. The narrator warns Worrig not to read it—its letters kill—reminding all that dangers stalk both the mountains and their own baggage.
Who Appears
- NarratorLeads the account; buys honey and mead, reacts to corpse-hive bees, maintains the trapped murderous book, and gauges Worrig and Galva.
- WorrigWostran guide; sets pace into the Thralls, teaches about bees, reveals cached supplies, and shows a teasing, mischievous side.
- GalvaStoic companion; declines honey, recalls war corvid caches, keeps armed watch, and is momentarily wrong-footed by Worrig’s jest.
- Book of the Full ShadowSentient, dangerous tome restrained by an iron bear trap; squirms and whimpers at camp, prompting a warning not to read it.
- DonkeyBeast of burden carrying supplies and the trapped book during the ascent toward the Thralls.