Reaper's Gale/Chapter 12

I looked to the west and saw a thousand suns setting.

Sidivar Trelus

The Awl'dan

Brohl Handar

Atri-Preda Bivatt and Overseer Brohl Handar, along with a group of Letherii soldiers, scout the enemy camp of the Awl army and estimate that there are about 10 to 11 thousand combatants. The battle will take place in a valley named Bast Fulmar, which has some significance to the Awl. The Atri-Preda is confident in the outcome of the battle, believing the Letherii discipline will overcome the Awl's ferocity. Brohl Handar is concerned that the enemy did not have any pickets or outriders and wonders if the Awl's display of their camp was meant to intimidate the Letherii. He suspects that the Atri-Preda is trying to keep the Tiste Edur and the K'risnan out of the battle so that the victory can be claimed by the Letherii alone.

Toc Anaster

Toc Anaster examines his stone-tipped Imass arrows in a camp filled with thousands of people. The camp is a decoy for the impending battle, with Redmask and his warriors waiting to strike from a different location. An Awl elder appears and accuses Toc of being a Letherii traitor and plotting betrayal. Toc replies with a series of humorous and nonchalant comments and the elder leaves, banishing Toc, accusing Toc of being evil and speaking in lies, but not before quoting Torrent as having said that Toc's courage is broken and that he will run and be killed in the end. Toc senses Torrent, prowling wolflike in the dark outside the camp. Toc recalls that he knows how to ride a horse and wonders if cowardice may truly be bred in his bones.

Hood's Realm

A lone figure, Hedge, follows scuffed footprints in the wasteland. He realizes that the footprints belong to a T'lan Imass, an undead warrior, walking--odd because it's easier for the T'lan Imass to traverse the wasteland as dust. He approaches the warrior, who halts and turns to him. The T'lan Imass, named Emroth, has one arm and is missing part of its face. Hedge introduces himself as a ghost and former soldier named Hedge, of the Bridgeburners. Emroth tells him to go away but Hedge insists that they are heading in the same direction. As they converse, Hedge learns that Emroth was once a female warrior of Kron T'lan Imass. Hedge shares his story, telling Emroth that he was a hopeless with women and became a soldier to meet women. He reveals that he never shared love with anyone.

Bluerose Mountains

Udinaas

On a barren hill, a temple is in a state of disrepair with battered walls, sagging steps, and broken statues. Udinaas trembles as he finds himself in a dream-like state, unsure of where he is. Suddenly, scores of tall, pale corpses appear on the slopes beneath the temple. A figure covered in blood staggers into view at the top of the steps, and upon seeing Udinaas, reaches out to him. The figure screams with fury at the sky, and Udinaas tries to escape. The figure, the Errant, questions Udinaas about the meaning of the corpses' deaths, and then another voice speaks up, behind Udinaas and from the sky itself, scolding the figure for his own responsibility in their deaths. Menandore the dragon wheels around and lands, settling on the slope between Udinaas and the Errant. Menandore asks Udinaas if he knows her and he replies, "Menandore. Sister Dawn. Rapist." The figure and Menandore argue about ownership of Udinaas and the Errant threatens to take Udinaas from Menandore. Udinaas reveals that he in fact summoned them both and they are in his own dream.

Udinaas awakes, wrapped in furs and staring up at the sky. Kettle appears next to him and tells him about a temple that has collapsed, unable to hold all the souls and grief inside. She explains that Udinaas is meant to see this to understand and not be sad when everything happens. Kettle also tells him not to cry too soon and to wait. After she leaves, Udinaas realises that he's been suffering from a fever for a few nights now and that he's been having bizarre dreams within dreams. He finds comfort in the predictability of his life, even when it's not, and he observes that he's been receiving lessons on taking control. Returning to the dream world, Udinaas ends up at a huge table filled with all his favorite foods. Despite being gaunt as a wraith, he eats his fill every night.

Seren Pedac

Seren Pedac rises with the dawn and sees Fear Sengar trying to light a fire. Udinaas rises, looking sick and sweating, and he is coughing with laughter. He makes a series of strange comments about the people around him, claiming that the scene might be a dream. Clip, a Tiste Andii warrior, tells Silchas Ruin to either kill Udinaas or leave him behind. Seren Pedac asks when they will begin their descent to find herbs to cure Udinaas' fever, but Clip says it won't be for days and that what ails Udinaas is not entirely natural. Seren finds a T'lan Imass spear while digging for snow to make water. Clip approaches her and tells her the spear is T'lan Imass. He claims that he is the only one who can keep Silchas Ruin, another companion, from killing her and Udinaas, whom he considers useless and potential enemies. Seren finds Clip's statements unbelievable and wonders why Silchas would consider them enemies. Clip hints that there is more to the situation that she doesn't know and suggests that she keep the T'lan Imass spear a secret, adding that he was born in Darkness and is the Mortal Sword of the Black-Winged Lord. Seren collects her pot of ice and leaves.

Shadow

Quick Ben, Trull Sengar, and Onrack the Broken are walking through waist-deep water and are being tracked by giant fish that Trull and Onrack recognise from a previous encounter in the Nascent. Quick Ben is feeling morose because of the loss of friends, including Whiskeyjack, Hedge, Trotts, Dujek Onearm, Kalam, and others since Pale. Trull observes that Quick Ben has been weakened since his battle against Icarium and fears that Quick Ben may not be able to make a gate durable enough for all three of them to pass through. The mage assures the group that he can take them through, but warns of potential "unanticipated developments" related to Onrack. The T'lan Imass is willing to be left behind, but Quick Ben insists on taking him with them. Quick Ben is forced to hurriedly open a gate that brings them to a realm of tundra. There the Ritual of Tellann's hold on Onrack is loosened and he becomes burly and muscled with smooth and wind-burnished skin. Recognising his friend is once again a flesh and blood mortal Imass, Trull is moved to tears. In wonder, Onrack identifies their location as Tellann.

Bast Fulmar

Redmask speaks to a group of warriors and his K'Chain Che'Malle companions about the ancient plains surrounding them. He describes how the earth was once a thin hide covering a frozen forest and how the plains descended as the sun's heat and rivers drained the buried forest. He then speaks of the Shamans of the Antlers, who used the hide of the earth to create magic and music that controlled the creatures of the plain; in their pursuit of eternity, however, the Shamans killed the earth itself and set out to wage war. Redmask tells the group that the Valley of Drums (Bast Fulmar) was once the site of the Shamans of the Antlers and their drumming, but the Letherii believe it was a battle between the Awl and the K'Chain Che'Malle. Redmask says that the truth is that the Shamans of the Antlers drummed the valley until all life was stolen and the waters fled.

Boaral Keep

Atri-Preda Yan Tovis has arrived at Boaral Keep, the birthplace of the Grass Jackets Brigade. The keep is now commanded by a distant relative of the Boaral family who holds the title of Dresh-Preda. Upon entering the keep, she learns that the Master at Arms has left with four soldiers to reach the coast quickly because of superstitious rumors of strange happenings in the sea, such as ghostly voices and fishermen disappearing. Yan Tovis plans to go find the missing Master at Arms. She asks the two old Shake women in the keep, Pully and Skwish, about the nearest detachment of Tiste Edur and is told they are in Rennis but have not visited the keep. More importantly, they reveal that the Atri-Preda's mother has died, making her the new Queen of the Shake.

Bast Fulmar

Bivatt and her army have marched through the night to reach a valley where they plan to engage in battle against Redmask and the Awl. Her army, consisting of over sixteen thousand soldiers and Tiste Edur, outnumbers the entire Awl population of warriors; however, Redmask has managed to deceive her with false information, leading her to believe the battle will be easier than it actually is. The valley has drainage channels that segment the battlefield and make it difficult to gauge the enemy's numbers. Brohl Handar warns Bivatt about the potential dangers of holding most of her medium infantry in reserve, but she has a plan to make use of the channels to her advantage and to use the Dresh ballistae as a rock and anvil.

The Letherii forces have started their advance into the valley. The skirmishers on the right and left flanks had reached the flat riverbed. The enemy's movements were obscured by clouds of dust, but the Letherii soldiers noticed that the clouds stretched both north and south, beyond the battle site. The Letherii forces consisted of three legions of the Crimson Rampant Brigade in shield-wall formation at the top of the slope, fifteen hundred medium infantry, flanked by five hundred heavies of the Harridict Brigade. To the right, there were a thousand skirmishing light infantry of the Crimson Rampant, and to the left were three half-legions of heavies from the Artisan Battalion, screened by a thousand Harridict skirmishers. Behind the heavy infantry was a feint, three companies of Bluerose lancers. The Letherii forces were eager to begin the battle, but Bivatt, the commander, warned her cavalry not to charge too soon as she didn't want their flank to be swept by the enemy's horse-archers.

Bivatt learns that Redmask has a company of wardogs, who number close to 2,000 and are moving through the high grasses. Suddenly, there is a cry of "wardogs on the knoll", and the Atri-Preda orders the second reserve legion to advance and butcher the beasts. She recalls a scene from months ago where the wounded wardogs stood observing the Letherii slaughtering their masters, leading her to wonder if they are now seeking revenge.

Bivatt realizes that Redmask is treating this battle as a plains engagement in miniature, rather than a traditional Awl battle. Huge wagons filled with warriors and bristling with spears come rolling through the gaps between the wedges and collide with the Crimson Rampant heavy infantry. The resulting chaos leads to frenzied slaughter. Bivatt orders a general withdrawal and signals the retreat, but there is also an attack on the baggage camp which she hopes the Edur can handle. As she rides back, she hears the sound of a rising battle and sees that the mages are pursuing demons. She recalls the mages, but it is too late.

Brohl Handar hears the Atri-Preda's forces engaging the Awl and realizes that four hundred Letherii guards are not enough. He orders two cohorts to the supply camp and is on his way with his group of Arapay warriors and a Den-Ratha K'risnan when he hears the sounds of terror and slaughter coming from the camp. The K'risnan tells him he feels heavy footfalls on dead land. When they reach the camp, they see that the Tiste Edur who had attempted to flee the camp had been ambushed and slaughtered by the Awl. The main attackers, whatever they were, were heavy-footed and powerful, wreaking havoc and destroying everything in their path. Brohl ordered his men to engage the attackers and protect the remaining survivors, and he rode into the camp, sword drawn, ready to face the unknown threat. The K'risnan and his warlocks followed close behind, their magic at the ready.

The K'ell Hunter, Sag'Churok, suddenly appears and attacks, causing chaos and destruction among the warriors and their horses. Brohl Handar is thrown from his horse and badly injured with a deep wound to his left leg. Despite the arrival of other warriors to help, he realises in disbelief that he has sustained a killing wound and falls back, closing his eyes.

Bivatt is leading her reserve medium infantry units in battle against Gunth Mach. The K'ell Hunter is overpowering the soldiers and Bivatt sees it attack and kill a female mage. She orders her soldiers to attack the creature with magic, but it manages to flee. Bivatt is disturbed by her lack of control over the situation and retreats with her soldiers back to the camp. She hopes that the Edur legion, which was sent to defend the camp, is successful. Bivatt admits defeat and is riding her horse back towards the valley after being outwitted; despite feeling chilled, she is determined to eventually defeat Redmask. Bivatt's main concern now is to get her soldiers back to the camp safely and hopes that Brohl Handar, who she prays has not forgotten how to think like a soldier, is faring better than she did.

The Letherii Coast near Boaral Keep

Elsewhere, Yan Tovis is riding to the shore at dawn with her three soldiers. The shore has been a constant battle for her people, the Shake, who have seen their sacred isle desecrated and turned into a prison by the Letherii. In the past, there were demon-kissed children born among the Shake and some were chosen by the coven to be taught the old ways, while the rest were thrown into the sea as a gift to quench its thirst. Yan Tovis had run from her people years ago as she could not accept their barbaric brutality and the guilt it brought. She witnessed the births of demon-kissed children; some were flung into the sea, and some were kept by the coven. The coven would choose the child if only a single drop of demonic blood flowed in its veins. The sea's seeds of demonic blood thrived and resided in all living things, sometimes including even the wombs of pregnant women, stealing the fate of the child within. Yan Tovis had believed the coven was destroyed but now understands it was the birth of a priesthood that led to devolution among the Shake. The coven held exclusive power as long as every child born with demon blood was initiated into the coven, Yan wished that the Letherii had succeeded in their pogram against the coven.

The burning fleet of the 14th off the coast of Lether, Interpretation by Spindrift

Malazans on the shore by Dejan Delic

Yan Tovis and her soldiers encounter a group of Letherii riders on the shore. The soldiers are wary and draw their swords, but relax when they see that the riders are also Letherii. Yan Tovis introduces herself; and the lead rider identifies himself as Yedan Derryg, the Master at Arms of Boaral Keep. The riders are armoured and appear to be hunting. The atmosphere is tense. Yedan reveals that he recognises her even in the gloom, and that as her half-brother he had fled their father and mother's house when she was only a toddler. He reveals himself and his soldiers as part of the Shake and acknowledges that he is the Watch. Yedan explains that he used to believe the title was meaningless, but now believes differently after a strange event that happened three nights ago. Yedan says that he was summoned by "the shore," but is not sure who or what he is looking for. Yan Tovis suggests the strangers he is searching for might be ghosts. The two of them, along with six soldiers, then climb to the top of a ridge and look out to sea. They see hundreds of ships burning on the ocean. Yan Tovis recognises the ships as dromons belonging to the distant Malazan Empire and is filled with foreboding and a dark delight, remembering that her armies had killed thousands of Malazans in a clash with its fleets and believing that the Malazans have not forgotten this blood debt. She orders her soldier to return to the Keep and prepare for their departure and also to bring the witches along. She tells Yedan that, as the Watch, he needs to come with them.