The Blade Itself

Scouting ahead, Dogman spies a small farm burning—a sure sign of battle. He returns to his clanmates and leads them back to the site, where they find four bodies hanging from a tree, including two children. They vow to find the perpetrators and “pay ’em a visit” (322). Dogman tracks the raiding party and finds them sitting around a campfire. They have made no attempt to cover their tracks or conceal their location. He returns with his clanmates, and they ambush the raiders, killing three and taking two prisoner (a boy included). The raiders claim that they’re Bethod’s “tax collectors,” that Bethod is the undisputed king of the North, and that he has gone to war against the Union. As punishment for hanging the farmers, Dow buries his axe in the leader’s head. They kill the boy also, with some regret.

Later, they watch a procession of Bethod’s troops—mostly too old or too young—marching off to war, leaving the North vulnerable to the Shanka. All the former clan leaders are dead now, so Bethod is the last line of defense. Forley the Weakest offers to warn Bethod about the Shanka. Threetrees doesn’t like the idea, but he doesn’t have a better one.