I Read What?!

So last time, poor Cadderly has gone from a fairly happy-go-lucky young man to someone with a pretty severe case of PTSD and imposter syndrome. Poor kid.



So we start the chapter (entitled "by surprise", by the way) with some hundred elven archers, hiding in the Dells of Shilmista.

Our first speaking character is the "elf maiden" Shayleigh. I really hope she's not the only woman in the cast, because it occurs to me that I'm not sure we saw any women who weren't Danica in Canticle either. Maybe a Sune priestess?

Um, Salvatore, you really should be doing better than that. You're a few books past Crystal Shard, and while I'll grant that it's less noticeable in this series, it's still pretty aggravating.

Anyway, Shayleigh has violet eyes and golden hair, that she carefully keeps beneath the cowl of her cloak, so it won't give her position away.

...

I don't think blonde hair actually works that way, dude. It doesn't fucking glow. But okay, fine. Elves are sparkly.

Anyway, the elves are lying in wait as goblins advance. Shayleigh is giving them instructions via a silent code of hand signals and hushed whispers. Which isn't silent, but okay. Also, how do hand gestures work in the dark?

I'm probably being too nitpicky here though. Sorry.

I do like that Shayleigh is very clearly a leader here, it's a nice contrast to Danica, who is a competent student, but still quite junior to most of the library.

An orc emerges and ends up getting an arrow to the face. As do a lot of the goblins. There's another wave coming, causing the elves to take flight. This is all part of a plan though.

There's a second line of elves, this one commanded by "Galladel, the elf king of Shilmista." We don't get to know HIS hair or eye-color. But there's more shooting. Shayleigh's group joins up with the new folk and "join in the massacre".

It's interesting how this is worded actually:

Shayleigh’s group crossed the second ridge and fell into place beside their elven companions, then turned their long bows and joined in the massacre. With horrifying speed, the valley between the ridges filled with corpses and blood.

It's kind of a bleak description and makes me wonder if the horrors of war/violence might end up being a continuing theme in the book.

Anyway, one ogre actually manages to get almost to the elven line, only to get a dozen arrows to the chest for his trouble. Shayleigh also leaps over the nearest archer and drives her sword into its heart. Nice.

We switch focus now to a wizard named Tintagel. He's apparently part of a group of four magic using elves, and they're holding the line in the east. This is rather interesting because Salvatore tends to avoid writing magic using protagonists, I've noticed. The Companions of the Hall (Drizzt's group), really doesn't have a single mage to its name, except I think maybe Catti-brie eventually? God knows how many books in.

Tintagel seems more competent than the Harpells at least. Oh, and he has "thick dark locks" and blue eyes, so apparently it's not just a female protagonist thing. The king's just not hot enough for a description.

Anyway, the wizards cast web spells which appear to be very effective! Yay!

--

We switch back to Shayleigh. The elves give up the second ridge (but not before killing "scores" of invaders), they regroup at the third ridge. There are screams to the east and torches in the north, Shayleigh wonders how many invaders there actually are.

This time the invaders hit some hidden spike traps. And then there's a giant.

We switch to the wizards who are doing more magic. They're very synchronized actually:

Tintagel mentally counted to five, then clapped his hands. At the sound of the signal, the four wizards began their identical chants. They saw the forms, shadowy and blurred by the web veils, slipping through the maze, apparently having solved the riddle. On came the charging goblins, hungry for elven blood. The wizards kept their composure, though, concentrating on their spells and trusting that they had timed the approach through the maze correctly.

That's pretty cool.

This time, they're using lightning bolts channeled down the webs. Nice.

Back to Shayleigh. Galladel tells her it's time to leave, and "for once", she doesn't argue. However, bugbears attack on the west. Shayleigh goes to help another "young maiden" who she knows is inexperienced and can't handle a bugbear. Indeed, she takes a club to the head before Shayleigh gets there.

Shayleigh ends up throwing her sword into the bugbear, which inexplicably works. But she then has to retrieve the weapon, which opens her up to an attack by another bugbear.

The wizards regroup with the others and Tintagel saves Shayleigh with a well placed lightning bolt. She seems pretty shocked, while Tintagel takes charge and orders the archers with him to gather up poor Cellanie (the dead elf girl), they don't want to leave any dead for their enemies to toy with. Ick.

Tintagel apologizes for casting the lightning bolt too close to Shayleigh - she's lightly burned from the effect. She's pretty okay with the fact that he saved her life, noting that the burns will heal better than her head would have if she'd gotten clubbed.

I'm not sure if they're a couple, but they seem to vibe a little that way.

Shayleigh's comment about clubbing leads her to think about the other poor elf girl and she asks how many they've lost. Three, apparently. Tintagel is pretty grim about it, but this leads Galladel to interrupt them.

“Only three,” came the voice of King Galladel, moving to them from the side. “Only three! And the blood of hundreds of goblins and their allies stains the ground. By some accounts, even a giant was felled last night.” Galladel winced when he noticed Shayleigh’s red face.

“It is nothing,” the elf maiden said into his wide-eyed stare, waving her hand his way.

Galladel broke his concentrated stare, embarrassed. “We are in your debt,” he said, his smile returning. “Because of your fine planning, we scored a great victory this night.” The elf king nodded, patted Shayleigh on the shoulder, and took his leave, having many other matters to which to attend.

Tintagel reminds Shayleigh that they did win, but Shayleigh's still torn:

From his somber tone, Shayleigh knew that she did not have to explain her fears. They had hit their enemy by surprise, on a battlefield that they had prepared and that their enemy had not seen before. They had lost only three, it was true, but it seemed to Shayleigh that those three dead elves held more value for the elven cause than the hundreds of dead goblinoids held for the seemingly countless masses invading Shilmista’s northern border.

...I'm not sure how I feel about the whole three elves being worth hundreds of dead goblins thing. It reminds me of Catti-brie casually mowing down tons of duergar but being devastated at killing one human woman. That said, I think Shayleigh's thought is probably meant more as a "it's better to have these three alive than to have killed a hundred enemies", which is a statement I can get behind.

I do think the dynamic between Galladel, Tintagel and Shayleigh is interesting though. Galladel as king seems to have a lot less of a sense of gravity or perspective than I'd have expected. Tintagel and Shayleigh are much more somber about the whole thing. I'm wondering what the respective ages are. Maybe we'll find out.

But not this chapter, as it ends here.