The Captain is not simply a Zaudunyani fanatic, he is an agent of the Aspect-Emperor, one of her stepfather’s countless slaves. But as inclined as he is to worship her, he possesses no inclination to heed her. He refuses to release Achamian—or to reveal the nature of his mission. All she knows is that it involves following through on Achamian’s quest. Even with the old Wizard bound and gagged, they continue the trek to the Library of Sauglish and the legendary Coffers.
The surviving Skin Eaters find themselves divided along the line of this revelation. Galian and his cohorts—those who care nothing for matters of faith—become more and more mutinous. Only their awe of Cleric—and craving for Qirri—seem to constrain them. They make no secret of their carnal designs. With Achamian incapacitated, the crazed Captain has become her sole refuge. So she plies the man as they march ever nearer the ancient Library, searching for some weakness, something she can use to win Achamian’s freedom. When the man proves immovable, she turns to Cleric, going so far as to shave her hair in an attempt to seduce him—anything that might change their dismal fortunes.
This is how she learns the astonishing truth of his identity. Cleric is none other than Nil’giccas, the last of the Nonman Kings.
She dares tell Achamian as much. Taking advantage of darkness and preoccupation, she crawls to a point behind where the old Wizard lays trussed and gagged. She tells him of the child—his child—in her womb. She tells him of her love … her hope.
The Captain discovers her, whips her with his belt before the leering others. But in doing so, he simply reminds her who she has always been: someone who cannot be broken for violence alone, someone who always has “one sip remaining.” The following morning, the Judging Eye opens, reveals the degrees of damnation awaiting each of her captors—none more than the Captain. And she understands that the tragedy of their circumstance dwarfs her own.
Though her silence gulls the scalpers into thinking her broken, their eventual arrival at the Library of Sauglish finds her strong, resolved in a manner she had never known.
Fearing treachery, the Captain bids Cleric accompany Achamian to the Library alone while he and the others hang back, holding Mimara as surety. As much as the prospect of leaving Mimara behind terrifies the old Wizard, he cannot but see the arrangement as a profound opportunity, given what Mimara has told him of Cleric. Seswatha was an ancient friend of Nil’giccas, the King of Ishterebinth: perhaps he can use his knowledge of the ancient Sohonc Grandmaster to prise the Erratic from the Captain’s homicidal influence. So they depart, and Mimara finds herself stranded with the last four surviving Skin Eaters aside from Lord Kosoter—Sarl, Pokwas, Xonghis, and Galian—as well as the sole surviving member of the Stone Hags, Koll.
Achamian plies the Nonman as they pick their way through the wooded ruins of Sauglish, bidding him time and again to recall who he really is: Nil’giccas, the Last Nonman King, anything but Cleric, the slave he has become. Too late does he realize his mistake: tragedy and farce, atrocity and slaughter: only these can make an Erratic remember. By declaring Seswatha’s ancient love in Seswatha’s own voice, Achamian has simply whetted the ageless Nonman’s appetite for loss. When they at last reach the ruined Library, they find the entrance to the legendary treasury of the Sohonc destroyed. If the surrounding blight were not sign enough, the smell and the spoor are unmistakable: Wracu …
A Dragon has made a den of the Coffers.
Mimara remains with the Captain in the camp, watching apprehensively as Galian, emboldened by Cleric’s absence, begins baiting his legendary leader. The surviving scalpers, it seems, have been plotting mutiny for some time, biding their time, waiting for this very opportunity. Horrified, she watches them cut down Lord Kosoter, a man she had thought immortal for sheer ferocity. The last of the Skin Eaters turn to her …
Cleric and the old Wizard, meanwhile, dare enter the ruined maw of the Coffers, where they find Wutte?t, the famed Father of Dragons, coiled about a great heap of Far Antique treasure. Achamian attempts to bargain with the Wracu, offering to exchange Truth for the map to Ishu?l.
“TURN FROM THIS PLACE,” the beast croaks. “TURN! COME TO ME WHEN THE WORLD HAS TRULY ENDED.”
As the leader of the mutiny, Galian is the first to assault Mimara. He tears her clothing away, promises to kill the unborn infant in her womb …
Achamian and Cleric assail the undead Dragon in tandem—Man and Nonman, as in days of ancient old. The Coffers become a furnace of killing light.