Taking a deep breath, Jessamay opened the door of the shop and walked in with Scars. As the little bell at the top of the door jingled, the two of them looked around, wary.

The place was empty save for the two men behind the counter. One of them was short and balding. Red garters held up the sleeves of his sweat-stained shirt. He looked like the type who would be perpetually nervous, regardless of the circumstances. The proprietor, Jessamay reasoned.

The other man was the fellow she had seen at the fountain. He had close-cropped hair, dark eyes, and a hawk-beaked nose. Seated in a chair behind the counter, he slowly whittled a piece of wood. When he looked up at her, she could sense his innate intelligence. Of the two men, he was clearly the one to fear. He looked back down at his whittling and casually blew the freshly shaven wood chips to the floor.

As Jessamay approached the counter with Scars, she felt the familiar tingle. Clearly, each of these men possessed endowed blood. But were they trained in the craft? Using the prearranged signal to inform Scars, she touched one finger to the side of her nose. Tyranny's first mate gave her a nearly imperceptible nod.

Jessamay gathered up her nerve for her final test of the two men. If it proved what she already guessed to be true, she and Scars would have to move fast.

Leaning his great bulk up against the counter, Scars looked the proprietor in the eye.

"I need a good deer bow," he said. He jerked one thumb over his shoulder at Jessamay. "The wife and I are leaving town to go live in the country. They say there's trouble brewin' here in the city. If you were smart, you'd think about doin' the same."

"A deer bow, you say?" the proprietor asked. "That will cost you. Deer bows are the most powerful, and it takes a long time to make a good one."

"Show me," Scars said.

The proprietor came out from behind the counter. Out of the corner of her eye Jessamay kept track of the fellow in the chair. Another sure, slow stroke of his whittling knife sent more fresh shavings to the floor.

The proprietor walked to the far wall and took down a bow. Scars walked over to join him. The man handed it to him.

"This is one of the strongest I have," he said. "Few men can even pull it. Why don't you give it a try?"

"Give me a broadhead," Scars said. "Pulling a bow with an arrow in place is the only way I can tell whether I'll like it."

After giving Scars a skeptical glance, the man provided him with a broadheaded hunting arrow. Scars notched it. He then extended his bow arm and easily pulled the arrow and string back to his chin. He looked as though he could have held it that way all day.

He turned to face the rear of the shop. Acting the part of dutiful wife, Jessamay turned to admire his strength. She gave him a slight nod. Time for the second test, she thought.

She turned back to examine the other man, who continued to whittle away. Steeling herself against whatever might happen next, Jessamay dropped the spell that cloaked her blood.

The man immediately stiffened, and stopped his knife midstroke. Without looking up at her, he simply did nothing for a moment. Then he leaped to his feet.

Jessamay turned toward Scars. "Now!" she shouted.

Turning back toward the front of the shop, Scars loosed the arrow toward one of the store windows. The front of the shop exploded in shattered glass. Faegan glided his chair across the street; Tyranny and Shailiha, their swords drawn, ran as fast as they could behind him.

"You bitch!" the man behind the counter screamed. "I'll kill you where you stand!" He raised his arms.

Jessamay knew that she would not be able to summon the craft before the man behind the counter could. A split second before he loosed his azure bolts at her, she dropped to her knees.

The twin streaks of pale blue light ripped across the top of the counter. As they passed they tore at her hair, and she felt their searing heat. To her horror, they streaked straight for Scars.

At the last moment, Scars dropped the bow and grabbed the proprietor, lifted him off his feet, and held him up as a shield.

The bolts struck the man in the chest and tore him apart. Scars angrily tossed the mangled body to one side.

Jessamay crouched on the floor. Faegan, Tyranny, and Shailiha raced up the steps to the shop. Jessamay peeked up over the countertop just in time to hear the man growl another epithet before disappearing behind a worn curtain. She sprang to her feet and ran around the counter to follow him.

She didn't want to rush down the stairs, but she saw no other choice. As she set foot upon the cellar floor, the man hurried toward a door in the far wall. Just as he entered the tunnel he loosed another bolt at Jessamay. It missed, obliterating the stairway behind her. Faegan lowered his chair into the room. The man ran into the tunnel, slamming the door behind him.

Jessamay and Faegan hurried to the door. The sorceress was just about to open it when Faegan shouted at her and roughly pushed her to one side. Positioning his chair against the wall on the other side of the doorway, he called upon the craft.

As soon as the door swung open, two more azure bolts tore from the tunnel and into the cellar. Had Jessamay been standing in the doorway she would have been killed instantly. The bolts streaked across the room and struck the far wall. Much of the brick edifice came thundering down, exposing the dirt behind it. As the smoke cleared, Jessamay saw Scars' strong arms lowering first Tyranny and then Shailiha down into the room.

Turning back, Jessamay saw that Faegan had situated his chair in the doorway. She hurried to stand behind him. In the distance she could see the man running down the length of the tunnel to freedom. When Faegan didn't immediately react, she raised her arms to stop the fugitive.

No!" Faegan hollered. "I want him alive!"

Taking careful aim, the old wizard loosed twin bolts. Jessamay held her breath as she watched them speed down the length of the tunnel.

The bolts flew over the fugitive's head and stopped directly in his path, where they split into multiple strands-a glowing azure spider's web stretching from the tunnel's ceiling to its floor, and from wall to wall. Before the man could stop, he ran straight into it. Suspended within its grasp like a fly waiting helplessly for the spider, he struggled mightily to free himself-to no avail.

Jessamay turned to see Tyranny and Shailiha looking down the length of the tunnel, their expressions awestruck.

Wasting no time, Faegan raised his arms again. More azure energy streamed from his hands. It snaked around the outer edges of the web, separating it from the wall and turning it so that the trapped fugitive faced them. Then more azure came, this time creating a transparent wall that separated them from the captive. Faegan lowered his arms.

Hearing a noise, all four of them turned to see Scars hanging by his hands from the damaged shop floor above. He let go and dropped safely into the cellar. Faegan motioned for the giant to come nearer. Scars' shirt was charred and partially burned away, and his massive chest was scalded.

"Hold still," Faegan said. Narrowing his eyes, the wizard invoked a spell of accelerated healing over the burn, and another to take away the pain.

"Better?" he asked.

Nodding, Scars sighed with relief. "Much better, thank you," he answered.

Faegan looked at the others. "Is everyone all right?" he asked. They all nodded.

Shailiha pointed down the length of the tunnel. "What is the purpose of the wall?" she asked.

Faegan gave her a wink. "It will help ensure that our traitor cannot try to hurt us again," he answered. "Follow along behind me, everyone. It's high time we got some answers. But be careful-we do not know what else he is capable of."