In Part Thir­teen of “Blood Merid­i­an,” the nar­ra­tive unfolds with the arrival of ragged mer­ce­nar­ies amidst a crowd in a town, and their dis­play of grue­some tro­phies from their recent exploits—scalps and heads promi­nent­ly show­cased. The group, led by their com­man­der Glan­ton, is wel­comed by the local author­i­ties, includ­ing the gov­er­nor’s lieu­tenant, who promis­es them a ban­quet and pay­ment in gold lat­er that evening. The rid­ers, marked by their vio­lent past, are greet­ed by local cit­i­zens who express a mix of awe and hor­ror.

The scene shifts to the pub­lic baths where the mer­ce­nar­ies cleanse them­selves, reveal­ing scars and tat­toos that sym­bol­ize their bru­tal his­to­ry. Among them is the judge, who, with a strik­ing physique lack­ing any body hair, presents a stark image as he sur­veys the murky waters. The local mer­chants soon cap­i­tal­ize on the mer­ce­nar­ies’ arrival, offer­ing goods and ser­vices that reflect their new­found for­tune after the vio­lent boun­ty they have claimed.

As night falls, the atmos­phere becomes cel­e­bra­to­ry yet grotesque, with the mer­ce­nar­ies adorned with scalps and head­ed toward a rau­cous ban­quet. The scene tran­si­tions to a lav­ish din­ner full of food and drink, where the cama­raderie is over­shad­owed by glut­tony and wild rev­el­ry. Amidst the fes­tiv­i­ties, chaos erupts; fights break out, and the air thick­ens with vio­lence. Glan­ton plays a piv­otal role as he divides the spoils of gold among his men with­out cer­e­mo­ny.

The unruly atmos­phere con­tin­ues into the night, punc­tu­at­ed by gun­fire and des­per­ate strug­gles as the Amer­i­cans sow destruc­tion, leav­ing a trail of fear and blood­shed in their wake. They slaugh­ter a peace­ful band of Tigua Indi­ans with­out remorse, an act reflect­ing their relent­less pur­suit of car­nage. The bru­tal­i­ty of their actions becomes evi­dent, as glimpses of the after­math reveal a vil­lage left dev­as­tat­ed, with corpses strewn about like for­got­ten refuse.

Seek­ing respite, they move through the region with lit­tle regard for the lives of the natives they encounter, treat­ing them as mere obsta­cles in their sav­age jour­ney. Time pass­es, and their path leads them into fur­ther vio­lence and chaos until ulti­mate­ly they arrive at the city, where their rep­u­ta­tion for sav­agery pre­cedes them. Ten­sion mounts as the gov­er­nor’s once-promised rewards turn sour, and their fate hangs pre­car­i­ous­ly in the bal­ance under the weight of their vio­lent past .