Chapter 49

In a flashback set twenty-six years before the present narrative, young Szeth discovers Shin soldiers slaughtering his family's prized sheep Molli near the family homestead. When one of the drunken soldiers attacks him, Szeth kills the man in self-defense using a stone, marking his first act of taking a life and drawing the attention of an unknown voice in his mind.

The chapter opens with young Szeth approaching his family's homestead at night, searching for Molli, their sheep. He discovers three Shin soldiers sitting on the family's stone monument around a fire, drinking his father's wine. Initially relieved they are fellow Shin and not raiders, Szeth's relief turns to horror when he realizes the soldiers are cooking Molli. When Szeth demands they leave, the soldier with sunken eyes confronts him philosophically about the nature of subtraction—the act of killing—arguing that Szeth's people benefit from the violence soldiers commit on their behalf and are therefore complicit. Szeth rejects this reasoning, declaring the world would be better without such people. The soldiers eventually depart, but Szeth discovers Molli's pelt in the grass and is overwhelmed with rage. He finds a stone and moves toward the departing soldier with intent to harm, but consciously chooses not to strike, recognizing his own agency rather than attributing the action to divine will. However, the soldier suddenly turns and attacks Szeth, grabbing him by the throat. The soldier's eyes glow red as he chokes the boy, but Szeth manages to grasp the stone again and strikes repeatedly until the soldier dies. As Szeth stands over the corpse, a soft voice speaks in his mind, asking "Here now, what are you?" The chapter ends with Szeth found the next morning sitting with Molli's pelt, beside the dead soldier's body.