Chapters 31-32 - The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett (Also: The Painted Man)

 Finally the battle of Cutter's Hollow begins. People have seen the Warded Man beat the living piss out of the corelings outside of the wards. Now some of the villagers have warded weapons to fight with. It was smart of Leesha and the Warded Man to work together in order to get the villagers to act. By drugging the corelings it is easy to show that they can be defeated. It also shows us that they are susceptible to natural phenomena- and more importantly- they aren't supernatural or divine. At least as far as this story goes.

The Warded Man's message, and he will continue to state this- is that everyone served the capacity of 'Deliverer' and everybody made a difference in both their survival and the successful repelling of the enemy. Leesha has been busy for some time studying the carcass of a wood demon. The dissection has revealed quite a lot about the corelings.

The demons people have been fighting are not relatively smart- and their armor is like a carapace. Innards also happen to be similar to how insects are. There is another good word for the Core. I'd call it the hive. The Warded Man is prepared to leave with the battle concluded- and he does not want company because he does not know his new self and whether he will infect (or affect) people or not.

The very ending of the book talks about the Shar'Dama Ka and a band of soldiers reaching Anoch Sun. It is implied that Jardir and a band of warriors reached the ancient city after some time and are going to study it (and loot it maybe?) to reveal its secrets.

-story ends here-

The next volume in the series 'The Desert Spear' will go into Jardir's history and provide much more context to the story of Krasia in the south. There will be some retellings of events that happened in the first volume, only with more information and context involved. Humanity is fighting back now, defeating the drone demons and watching their corpses burn away to the sun.

The 'minds' within the hive (Core) have taken notice. They aren't stupid.

This isn't your grand daddy's coreling. Leesha forshadowed the different types of insects that operate within a hive. This type of coreling is much higher up in rank than a simple drone. In fact it can control them. Being that the Corelings do have a hive, it can be said that the hive has a Queen. A queen- and her chosen mate.

Chapters 28-30 - The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett (Also: The Painted Man)

 The Warded Man and Rojer set out to get the horse and their gear back. Finding the men and the gear, they both take back the horse, most of the gear and the portable warding circle. The men are left to the mercy of the wild now. The Warded Man did kill the majority of corelings in the area, but you never know what might be stalking about. The bandits are knocked out anyways. They don't know what's going on until they wake up. 

The two return to camp and Leesha wakes up with hot air blowing in her face. The horse is back. She questions Rojer as to how the horse is now here. They set out and eventually ride by the bandit camp, one of them missing, body parts strewn about everywhere and blood painting the ground. It's here that Leesha turns a little bit hissy and begins her speech about how killing people is wrong. She is countered with 'sometimes it is necessary'. She either makes a baseless accusation against the Warded Man and chooses to feel 'offended' or there is not enough context for me to understand what she meant by 'you mock what I am'.

You know what... she just freaks out and chomps left and right. Upon ranting about the corelings, the Warded Man is hit in the feels and begins to back up toward the entrance to the cave. He roars at a coreling bashing into the wards, a sound described as 'inhuman'. He does the 'stupid thing' and exits the wards to start combat against the corelings, in the rain- probably expecting to die. Rojer goes out to bring him back. The Warded Man then realizes it's no longer just his life on the line. They both make their exit.

Leesha is out in the dawn collecting herbs when the Warded Man stumbles upon her. There is a makeup process in their conversation as both of them take fancy to each other. She falls back with a plump into the mud, and then...

*beeta cah beeeeeh. watta chicka wakka beeta cah beeh beh behhhhh!* that happens. You know precisely what I am talking about. 

And then the wood demon skulking in the forest wants to become a willing participant to a free two course meal. The Warded Man is going to have none of it, entering combat with a rather large 8 footer. They fight and that point of dawn where the sun approaches and the corelings de-materialize is now upon them. The coreling begins to return to the core and burn at the sun's light.

But there is a problem. It's pulling the Warded Man down with it. Down to the core. The Warded Man experiences the worst fear of his life as he makes a grab for the surface, the Core calling to him. Somehow he manages to grab hold of the demon and shove it back towards the surface. He makes it above the plane with the coreling- right as the coreling shrieks in terror and begins to light on fire and steam into a corpse pile.

He doesn't know what is going on; terror gripping at him. He nudges Leesha away and starts to tend to his wounds, which will heal fast. And of course- she begins to mouth off again. I don't know anymore... Leesha's character is kind of annoying, but authentic in a way that a person could behave like this in reality. My reply to her comments of 'corespawn it!' would be: 

 'Sorry honey, but the world isn't going to care what your ideal vision of it is'.

On the way to Cutter's Hollow, both the Warded Man and Leesha trade barbs. Rojer inquires about traveling further with the Warded Man, but if his music can not kill the corelings, it is of little use to him. Amid the conversation, they all notice fire and smoke coming from the hamlet.

As noted before, the bad news from the Hamlet is that a disease is spreading throughout the area. The symptoms sound an awful lot like bubonic plague, but let your imagination run wild I suppose. Leesha begins preparations to treat the people of the Hamlet when again she lashes out at the Warded Man for still being here and wanting to help. He vows not to break his oath again- to give nothing to the corelings. 

He pulls part of the carcass of a demon out of his travel bag on his horse and throws it to the ground where it steams some more. It stops everyone in their tracks. The Warded Man announces that these demons of the core can be killed, and he can ward weapons to make it so. One by one people begin to volunteer... to finally fight back.

I love the Warded Man's reply to Leesha. "What good is a mad obsession without helping people?" OW. Got the nail. Straight. On. The head. I laughed. They make way to Bruna's Hut where Leesha extracts stores of demonfire. The Warded Man shows intense interest in the substance and wants to learn how to make it.

"NOPE" says Leesha. Previously, Bruna warned against giving 'such power' to men again. We get a brief reunion between father and daughter, Erny continuing to show that he has a pair into older age and is no longer a cuckold. Daughter does what she can for her father, and then has to leave. He understands and WANTS her to go. He won't be the same after the illness if he survives, but he will carry on. 

Rojer performs his duties as Jongleur in the hospit, telling tales of awe of the Deliverer (or Warded Man?) ripping giant demons in half. He didn't hear it this time, but this kind of talk, and religious talk of God or the deliverer makes the Warded Man scowl. The tales, the performances and the fiddle playing are doing a world of good for the patients of the town, even if Rojer doesn't believe them or feel that they will make it out alive. There are four more "ripping" books in the series, so you take a guess as to the outcome about to play out.

Chapters 25-27 - The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett (Also: The Painted Man)

 Skipping to the near future, we read that Rojer messed around with a farmer's wife, being the jongleur and all. He is running from his wrath and can not blame the man. He thinks about his life's choices and wonders about settling in one of the hamlets, or returning to Angiers. He decides to visit the guild charity house in Angiers to meet a retired jongleur named Jaycob who could become his sponsor.

At the application meeting Jasin appears to muck things up. Jaycob and even the guildmaster can not blame Rojer for throttling the man. To pay for restitution and the medical bill, Rojer can tour with Jaycob as his sponsor and proceeds would flow to the guild. Jaycob is happier than he has been in decades thanks to the performances with Rojer. Jasin and his apprentices corner the two, severely beating Rojer and killing Jaycob with blunt force- all right before the sun sets.

Rojer's story is about to collide with Leesha, and soon the Warded Man. Now 27, her teacher still wonders why she still has not romped another man or had children. When you read about Leesha's explanations, things do kind of make sense. She has not sought men because men seek her- and do not give her a reason to hold confidence in them. During her conversations with Jizell cries for help are heard.

Guards attempt to bring two unidentified males to the Hospit. Corelings give chase- ones from the sky. A guard is killed as well as one of the men decapitated. They are able to get the remaining man and everyone else within the wards and the entire Hospit gets to work. Losing a guard, the captain wants to know what happened to the remaining survivor- who is obviously Rojer- but Rojer clams shut.

Leesha's character shines through as she helps Rojer deal with his despair. Weeks later, it isn't long before Halfgrip, with a healing broken arm is playing the fiddle and bringing fresh air to the hospit. A little bit of home escaped from the hamlets and Leesha was happy to revel in it. More or less, you could say that Rojer makes a good Patch Adams.

Dark news reaches Leesha from the hamlets. A plague has hit Cutter's Hollow and has taken many people, including the ancient Bruna. She blames herself for not being there, finishing her apprenticeship a long time ago with Jizell. She must depart immediately and at all costs to see to her father and the others who still live. She can't really afford a messenger and trecking it a week alone was extremely dangerous, but she was willing to pay the price to get to them. Moved, Rojer volunteers to help her get there.

When Rojer reveals that he can manipulate the coreling with his fiddle, even Leesha denies that it is even possible. Despite the conflict, a friendship will form. In time they will make it to Cutter's Hollow, but they let their guard down and are too friendly at a nearby inn. Upon departure the next day on the approach to the hamlet, the duo are mugged. Rojer is constrained and pinned down as men take turn raping Leesha. 'Whelp, there goes that' I said as I read the text. Leesha will learn later that what is hers is for her to give freely, and that this violent crime counted for nothing for the men. Just remember that karma is a bitch.

The thieves took their horses, most of their gear and most importantly- the portable ward. Both contemplate their imminent doom and the setting sun puts them on edge as the corelings begin to rise. In a cutaway, the thieves look for their next target and spot a lone man on a horse. The horse appears demonic with a headset of demon horns and warded armor. The man is cloaked and hooded with his face not visible. The men continue to talk out their ass, giving themselves an out to let the man go, who is clearly not afraid. Not speaking a word- the man continues on his destrier.

Rojer tries to bring Leesha out of her shock. He knows that he will not last long without the complete fiddle to protect them both, until they meet the hooded man on his horse as the corelings materialize. They all run for it and make it to the camp of the man, who reveals his face and is determined to be the one and only- Warded Man who hunts corelings and feasts on their flesh. The Warded Man rolling his eyes at the exaagerations spreading through the hamlets. As they ran to the protection of his camp, left and right Rojer and Leesha ran from corelings only to watch their heads explode and their limbs ripped off.

Leesha begs the Warded Man's aid to get to Cutter's Hollow, which he declines. He is eventually convinced- his stoic demeaner likely shielding him from getting involved in the affairs of other people- who he has distanced himself from. Other than going to the major cities or hamlets for supplies, the Warded Man and his horse largely keep to themselves and rarely come into contact with people. But they sure as the core come into contact with the very thing he hates- the abominations known as corelings.

One of my favorite lines of the book comes from this chapter. 'Why did you save us from the demons?' Rojer asked. The Warded Man replies 'because you are human and they are abominations. And because you struggled to survive, right up to the last minute'. 'What else could we do?' Rojer replied. The Warded Man said 'you would be amazed how many people lie down and wait for the end to come'.