Captain Schael Corwin and her aide, Corporal Bence Duncan, maintain order in the caravan from Baldur’s Gate. Some who joined the expedition are unaccustomed to Flaming Fist discipline. Hard lessons are learned in the early days of the march north.
The journey is slowed by the crusade’s victims. A multitude of broken, haunted men and women clog the Coast Way. When asked, they speak of fields set aflame, granaries ransacked, and family conscripted by the crusade. Yet many characterize these hardships as a necessary sacrifice in pursuit of a greater good. A strange acceptance, even admiration, of Caelar Argent is disconcertingly common in those she has wronged. Some proclaim the Shining Lady as a prophet, doing the work of not one but all faiths, all gods.
Is it possible Caelar Argent’s cause is a righteous one? Or is she engaged in a great deception to further her own agenda, as Sarevok once did?
It seems the Hooded Man is everywhere, questioning everyone…
The Hooded Man casts spells on Caelar…and no one attacks him…
Chapter Eight Intro