Old Mortality, Volume 2.

A battered shepherd’s hut becomes the unlikely meeting place for a restless presbyterian army, where the clamor of voices rivals any battlefield. Newcomer Morton follows the stern Burley into a dimly lit room thick with smoke, only to find the council already choked with a chaotic chorus of men—farmers, clergymen, and restless youths—each demanding a say in a cause that has already split families and villages.

Within those cramped walls, two fiery preachers launch a verbal duel that crackles like a sword‑play, each brandishing scripture and rhetoric to defend their own doctrine. Their shouts echo through the smoky air, revealing a deeper rift between those who would argue for spiritual purity and those whose hearts pulse with the practical hunger for liberty. As the debate swells, listeners sense the fragile balance between zeal and fear, hinting at the tumultuous path that lies ahead for the rebels and the land they seek to defend.