Okay, since I didn't manage to get around to reviewing your chapter 3, I'll make up for it here:
Off the bat, I'm a little confused by how much time has passed between the end of the last chapter and this one. Perhaps it isn't too relevant, but you have a lot of jumps already in the first three chapters, so I've already lost my temporal bearings a couple of times. He notes that he's gotten better "over the years", which could be the past two that they've lived out there, or it could be longer.
I'm getting a little info dump here about how to hunt. I'm not sure it's entirely a bad thing. Generally, you will be concentrating on things like avoiding the twigs (and he does that, which is good), but you won't reminisce about how you've gotten better. You're too busy concentrating on your steps and your quarry.
Ooh, a hound. And Baltier's not dead how? If a doe could hear him nock and draw an arrow, there's no way the hound wouldn't hear him from 25 paces. These things are pure killing machines, and as such, I'd imagine their senses are pretty keen. Also, that doe is pretty flighty, so why didn't it hear the hound's clicking dew claws, or the rustling that Baltier heard, and bolt?
Your description here is pretty good (if a bit gory), and I don't have any problem with visualizing it.
When he meets the knight, I find it a little odd that Baltier is too slow to move out of the way of the charging horse, considering he had "but a moment to notice" the horse's condition. He would probably also notice that it was on a collision course with him. Of course, if he didn't notice such in time, he'd likely get trampled, and be dead again. Poor Baltier.
And that poor horse. If the knight has been riding it hard enough to get bloody foam, the horse has either been fighting the bit (and it's chewing up its gums), or it should have dropped long ago. The fact that he's gashing it with spurs doesn't help. Horses foam normally when they're riding, but it's spittle. It's actually good when they do, because it keeps the mouth moist and the bit from rubbing harshly. The lathered sweat is good, though. Shows it's been ridden hard (which is what I think you're going for).
A knight was sworn to give aid when you ring the bell. He had to help. They had helped before.
You? This little bit feels a lot like you're telling the reader how things work. A lot of places where you give out information in the narration does this to some extent, but this one was big enough that I decided to point it out. I think we all know that info-dumping is bad, but we all do it anyway.
I'd either flow it into the story better, or nix it entirely and let the fact that he's so anxious to get to the bell indirectly clue the reader in that they're supposed to help. After all, just last chapter you had the one knight telling them about the bells anyway, so it should already be known.
When the horse lunges forward with Baltier holding the reins, that would be a sure-fire way to turn the horse. They do not ignore the bit. They certainly aren't going to ignore it with a full man's weight tugging on it from one side. The more experienced the rider, the lighter the bit generally is, which means that any strong pull will bite a lot more.
So, after the knight dazes him, he suddenly doesn't have to move fast anymore? Why wouldn't he be racing off again? It didn't seem clear that he cared a whit for his horse, so it's not likely that he suddenly grew a conscience and decided to let it rest.
Okay, gore-fest! I don't really have much problem with this. It's very vivid, which I know will turn off a lot of readers, but I've read worse, so it doesn't bother me. The only thing I really had a problem with was the description of Mariana's torso, which you say is "thrown against the wall", but later you turn it over and find the corpse underneath it. That implies that it's on the floor, rather than against the wall (to me, anyway). Other than that, it builds a lot of hatred for the hounds, and for the knight who didn't help. Good.
Something I keep noticing is that Baltier's thoughts don't really fit the mood. We just got done seeing his wife ripped to pieces, and now he has a sword sticking out of his side, and when he grips it, he thinks to himself
Silly of me... I keep thinking of a cartoon with a character saying in a British accent "By Jove, I think we've bit it!" Baltier's internal thoughts need to be a lot darker.
About that wound.... If the sword went through his kidney, he has about a minute to live. Your kidney is what filters your blood, so slicing and dicing it makes you bleed like a stuck pig. Now granted, the hound gnawing on his shoulder probably isn't improving his living chances, but yeah. It also tends to induce immediate shock, which means no yelling, no grabbing his intestines... just paralyzing and dying. Really poor Baltier.
Okay, a lot of those were really nitpicky things I noticed while I was reading. Now, I'll get to the deep thoughts.
First: after reading chapter 1-4, I'm finding that a lot of the earlier stuff is mostly irrelevant. Chapter 1 and the first part of chapter 3 show a brief point in time when he's released from prison. This builds a lot of Baltier's character, but doesn't really progress any story. He meets Mariana, and that's good, but you don't get a sense the he really cares until the second half of chapter 3 and then *a lot* in chapter 4. It's a little jarring, how much he suddenly cares. Chapter 2 is a flashback, and that could easily be placed anywhere where it was relevant, such as a time when Baltier is regretting his past actions and trying to change them. The first time I really see any driving force for Baltier is in this chapter. The driving force is good, but now I'm 5 chapters into the book. Personally, I think this should be what introduces Baltier. You get an *immediate* sense of purpose for Baltier. Chapter 1 is just meandering compared to this.
Second: Well, I *know* Baltier isn't dead, because you don't spend 3 chapters on a POV just to kill him off, without having anyone to take his place. However, I don't see any way he could have lived through a kidney shot and hound gnawing. Yeah, you can tell me to RAFO, but at this point, I'm thinking he should be ultra-dead, and anything that brings him back is "Hand of God" type stuff. I guess that wouldn't be all bad if it *was* Asharia that brought him back, but then I'll need a really good reason *why*.
Third: You tend to use some colloquialisms in your writing. This generally isn't good. There was at least one in chapter 4, and I know I saw others, I just can't find them right off-hand.
Fourth: For Pete's sake, choose a method to convey thoughts! Either italics or underlining is fine (I generally prefer italics), but quit switching, please! I get all confuzzled.
At any rate, I like this chapter better, but I think its placement is wrong. Perhaps your later chapters will convince me otherwise, but I still think it should be moved up closer to the beginning, to give readers a really good reason for wanting to read on to find out (although, you might want to make his injuries a little less grave so it doesn't appear to the reader as though you killed off your MC, but again, that's my opinion; you're free to disagree and write a compelling story that shows otherwise). Keep 'em coming!
