54. An Ancient Singer’s Name

Moash encounters Lady Leshwi, a Fused commander, high above a conquered town. She reveals that Moash killed her in a previous incarnation and now offers him freedom. After learning about the Fused's philosophy of sacrifice and conquest, Moash returns to the lumberyard and begins training the condemned parshmen workers as soldiers for the coming assault on Kholinar.

Moash works in a Fused-controlled lumberyard with parshmen and human slaves preparing siege equipment. Khen and Sah express despair over being enslaved by their own people, the Fused, and being set up to die in the assault on Kholinar. Frustrated by inaction and the workers' hopelessness, Moash seeks out a Fused commander. A flying Fused locates him and transports him high into the sky, where he meets Lady Leshwi. She reveals she is the Fused he killed months ago, now in a new body. Despite this, she does not punish him, explaining that his passion impressed her and that she watched him help the enslaved parshmen during their journey. When Moash questions why the Fused treat their own people poorly, Leshwi justifies it as necessary sacrifice for building an empire. She questions what angers him, and Moash admits his burning desire for vengeance. Leshwi then discusses the Fused's thousand-year cycle of rebirth and their determination. After returning him to ground level, she grants him freedom to leave or join the refugees heading to Kholinar. Instead of fleeing, Moash returns to the lumberyard and begins training Khen, Sah, and the other condemned parshmen workers as soldiers using wooden rods as makeshift spears, knowing they will likely die in the assault but choosing to give them a fighting chance.