The Blade Itself

Logen survives the fall and crawls out of the river, nursing his wounds. With the woods still full of Shanka, his best option is to head into the mountains, but he needs provisions to survive the cold. He decides to go back to his camp to retrieve his boots and other supplies. The camp bears signs of battle, but his possessions are still intact—boots, cloak, blanket, backpack, and cook pot. He fears for the fate of his companions, but he can only save himself now.

Inquisitor Glokta hobbles through underground corridors, his crippled body wracked with pain. He enters an interrogation room where a prisoner named Salem Rews sits bound to a chair and pleading his innocence. Rews is accused of defrauding the king, and Glokta offers him the chance to confess or suffer torture. Rews refuses to cooperate, so Glokta leaves him alone with his “Practical,” a brute named Frost, while Glokta himself is called to a meeting with his superior, Kalyne. Kalyne reprimands him for interrogating one of the Mercer Guild, whose members are supposed to be untouchable. Glokta’s associate enters just then with a box of money (a bribe), and Kalyne relents.

Back in the interrogation room, Glokta still seeks Rews’s confession in order to obtain a document of guilt to present to the Mercers. Before the torture can continue, however, Arch Lector Sult—“[o]ne of the most powerful men in the Union” (20)—appears, summoning Glokta to a private meeting. He reviews Glokta’s personal history—prisoner of war, administrator of a mining camp, Inquisitor—before tasking him with securing a confession of high treason from a powerful politician named Sepp dan Teufel.

Logen wakes in a high valley, alone and thinking of his family and friends, who are all dead at the hands of the Shanka. With no other options, he wanders south to seek work and to survive. He hikes out of the mountains and makes camp. He smokes a fungus called “chagga” and sips from his flask, and soon, three spirits appear. They tell Logen that a “Magus” (a wizard) is searching for him. Logen decides to head further south to find the Magus, avoiding the Shanka.

Captain Jezal dan Luthar, officer in the King’s Own, plays cards with his fellow officers. He loses track of the time and runs to meet Lord Marshall Varuz for fencing practice. With only four months to turn Jezal into a “master swordsman,” Varuz is unhappy with his student’s progress and punishes him with a grueling workout routine. He orders Jezal to cut out the drinking and “carousing,” at least until the Contest, four months hence.

Hours later, Jezal is drunk again, and his comrades witness an abduction. Glokta’s albino torturer, Frost, drags Sepp dan Teufel out of a tavern—and Jezal and his comrades rush to intervene. However, Glokta appears from the shadows and informs the men that their prisoner is a traitor. Glokta and one of Jezal’s comrades, Major West, reminisce briefly, having served together nine years ago, and Frost walks off with Teufel over his shoulder.

Inside the interrogation room, Glokta orders Teufel to confess. When he refuses, Glokta chops off several of his fingers. Teufel signs the confession.

Logen camps in the “withered moors” south of the mountains and waits for the Magus. He hears a horse approaching, but the rider is a “gaunt, pale, sickly-looking young man” (51) named Malacus Quai, apprentice to the Magus Bayaz. Quai has been sent to bring Logen to his master. Before they set off, a famished Quai eats Logen’s stew and falls fast asleep.

The next morning, they head south to the Great Northern Library. Quai is feverish, so they take the main road, which offers better opportunities for finding food despite the accompanying risk of ambush by bandits. Before leaving, Logen “inhales” a fire spirit from their dying campfire, holding it under his tongue. As they make their way through the moors, they are waylaid by bandits. Logen spits the fire spirit into one bandit’s face, setting him ablaze. With brutal efficiency, he kills the other three, although he is wounded, and Quai’s horse runs off. They scavenge the bodies in search of food, and Logen also takes a pair of boots.