| abstract | - The Battle of Barrow, or The Fall, was the final battle to occur during the Chain of Dogs. At the end of the fighting near the Sanimon tel, Fist Coltaine made the decision to divide his forces. The thirty thousand Malazan refugees were put under the command of Imperial Historian Duiker and sent south. He was accompanied by the last of the Wickan warlocks Nil and Nether as well as an escort of thirty Wickan youths. The remainder of Coltaine's approximately five thousand troops served as a rearguard to delay Korbolo Dom's army of the Apocalypse. The 7th Army fought a running series of devastating battles at Tathimon, Dojal Spring, Balahn, and Ramp against an opponent that far outnumbered them. Spoiler warning: The following section contains significant plot details about Battle of Barrow. By the time Duiker's refugees arrived safely in Aren, Coltaine and Dom's armies were only a third of a league behind them. From the city's walls High Fist Pormqual, Commander Blistig of the Aren Guard, Mallick Rel, and ten thousand of the city's soldiers watched as Coltaine's final four hundred soldiers fought their way to the top of the large burial mound outside the city's north gates. The fearful Pormqual refused to send his own troops to assist against the overwhelming horde that quickly surrounded the barrow. Duiker recognized Coltaine, Bult, List, Lull's Sialk Marines, and Mincer's sappers among the last still standing. The Crow and Weasel Clans were no more and only a score of Foolish Dog riders remained as well as a handful of Wickan cattle-dogs. Soon all were cut down by arrow, lance, and blade until only Coltaine remained. Dom had the captured Fist crucified atop the barrow while High Mage Kamist Reloe held back the black sea of crows that attempted to claim the dying Wickan's soul. Blistig ended the torture by summoning the archer Squint to fire a five hundred pace shot into Coltaine's forehead. The crows descended upon the dead Fist, covering the cross, and when they flew off again he was gone. The Chain of Dogs was at an end. Significant plot details end here.
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