“Form a line!” a mush-mouthed voice hollers at the collection of minor lawbreakers and out-of-doors folk. “Facing me! Spread out an arm apart from each other, and stand straight! I don’t give a stallion’s steaming load whether you’re drunk, sick, or half dead! Stand! Now!”

The voice belongs to stocky man with the shoulders of a bull. His small head is shaved completely bald, making his thin mustache stand out far more than it should. He wears a tunic that is quite obviously too long for him, almost reaching his knees. He’s at least had enough sense to tear away the sleeves. Over the tunic, he’s strapped an armored leather vest decorated with the polished skulls of small animals, including a fanged monkey’s maw on his chest.

“I’m your wrangler!” he announces in a voice that sounds as though he’s speaking through a mouth full of wet seaweed. “My name is Erazo. You call me ‘Tasker’ or ‘Freemaster,’ and nothing else! You don’t have a name anymore. D’you hear? From right now until you die bloody fighting the enemies of Crache, your name… is Savage.”

Erazo emphasizes that final statement by pointing the butt of the short club in his hand at Taru and then sweeping it back and forth across the line.

The full impact of what’s happening bats the retainer upside their head in that moment.

Savage.

Taru has been conscripted into the Savage Legion. Did Brio stand in this very spot, listening to this man strip away his identity? Did Ashana experience the same thing in her drunkard persona of Evie?

“Look to the spires of this field…”

Erazo continues his cruel welcome speech, but Taru ceases to listen to the man’s garbled voice. The space between the retainer’s temples is burning. Taru’s only thought for the past several days has been escape, returning to Lexi’s side to guard her from their enemies. Every moment that thought has become more dire and desperate and painful within the retainer’s mind.

Now, however, Taru knows there will be no escape. Taru has the chance to follow the path of those they’ve lost, Brio and Ashana, and bolstered by the message Spud-Bar delivered, Taru has to believe they are still out there somewhere, awaiting their opportunity for freedom while fighting to stay alive. Taru must find them and aid them in both of those things.

Taru is no less concerned for Lexi, but that concern cannot magically change the world. The retainer is here and Lexi is back in the Capitol. Besides, there’s Daian. If the Aegin recovers he can protect Lexi, and Taru knows he will. It’s obvious that affection has grown between them. Taru saw that immediate connection the first time they met. While the retainer doesn’t believe Lexi would ever betray Brio’s heart or his trust, that affection could save her life in Taru’s absence.