Reyn knew it wasn't over. Gods, but it was going to be worse than any of them could imagine. She found Lord Ban kicking aside a pile of broken timber in frustration, and Reyn angled her run towards him. Both his mother and his mate accompanied him. His Huntress was gone, leading the formation in pursuit of the empress.

"Is sea-scented blue," Rippling Moon said as Reyn came up on them.

Reyn had little issue with how fey knew without being told she was a selkie. They were every bit as marginalized a people as she was, and the only humans who put together what they meant with sea-scented already knew of Reyn's true identity.

"Bonjour, ma belle," Reyn said, nodding to Moon as she slowed down to a halt. She had nothing but the highest esteem for Lord Ban's betrothed, and the more she learned of her, the more that esteem grew.

Moon covered her cheeks and looked away, smiling. The sweet thing was vulnerable to compliments.

Ban lit his sigils to toss aside another broken wagon as if it weighed nothing at all. "Reyn, glad you're here."

She didn't know how to deal with the notion he was being truthful about that. For whatever reason, Reyn always expected to receive cold indifference from the Karst. It bothered her that she never did. "My lord, were there any witnesses to the escape?"

"None that lived." Ban stomped down on a wagon wheel, shattering it to splinters. "Waves, this is a mess. Twenty-one dead, four dragons with the surgeons, and the empress is halfway to the equator for all I know."

Reyn looked north. They were so faint as could barely be felt, but Enfri's apotheoses were still there. "She lives, and your Huntress will bring her back presently."

"Waves see it she brings back at least one of the renegades, too. I want some answers about this." He tossed Reyn something he'd been holding. "Take a look at that. Tell me what you see."

Catching the lengths of metal, Reyn knew immediately she'd been right in her belief. Ban had tossed her a broken set of manacles, spellwrought and covered in ether-sealing runes. The sigils had been scratched through to ruin the spells.

"The renegades would not have been able to damage these sigils while bound by them," Reyn said. "This could have only been done by an arcanist."

"Aye," he agreed with a sigh.

"You know what that means."

"We have a traitor in Shan Alee." He removed his helmet and ran a gauntlet over his hair. "Here's hoping Rav confirms the skindancer came here."

"You hope it did?"

"Because if it isn't, that means one of our people's a turncoat."

Reyn shook her head. He wasn't seeing the larger picture. "It may be worse, my lord. Please, I need you to come with me."

Ban jumped down from off the prison wagon debris. "What for?"

"Garret."

His helmet went back on. "Moon, you're sitting out this one. Ma, stay close to her. I need both of you to get to a crowd of dragons and stay there. Keep each other out of trouble."

Ascania protested, but interestingly enough, Moon backed up Ban's orders. "Ban speaks unclouded. Name Thief is black slayer. Black as black gets. Our path must not go to him." She looked past Ban to Reyn. "She will keep my red unblackened?"

"You have my word, my lady."

Reyn and Ban left them behind, moving at a trot.

"We've been keeping Garret away from the dragons," Ban said as they jogged. "They rile him up even worse, but I don't know if the drovers kept their distance while on the move."

"It should not have been an issue," Reyn said. "Garret is an unstable element, but he has been as contained as it is possible to be without taking his bloodsong."

"This should've been handled long ago," Ban growled. "The pompous fop should've been a daanman as soon as he was in our custody."

"It was not possible with Brother Joshuan away, and he has been kept busy since coming back. But I agree. Krayson needs to take Garret's bloodsong immediately once he and Starra return."

Ban smirked. "We even got plans for it. Enfri's going to offer his bloodsong to Nkeoma. It'll be enough of one to make her an arcanist again but not so much she can try spirit calling on us."

Reyn raised an eyebrow. "A suitable olive branch. I am impressed. Your idea?"

Ban shrugged. "Nkeoma's not so bad. A little bratty, but a good egg when you get down to it." His eyes darkened behind his visor, and his hand touched to the haft of the oversized battle-axe strapped to his back. "But if Garret's behind this escape, I'm afraid she'll have to wait until she gets back to her father's preserver to get a bloodsong. I'll cut him in half like I should've in Ecclesia."

Not if I beat you to it, Reyn thought. Though, she found it interesting that there were few within the upper echelons of Shan Alee who didn't have their own reasons for wanting Garret dead. That he was still breathing at all was a testament to everyone's powers of restraint.

Reyn eyed Ban's axe. "What manner of weapon is that? Do you not favor the Altieri full blade?"

"Mine reached the end of its service," he said. "Won this off Ritt in Moran Valley."

"Ritt, the ogre chieftain?"

"Most slayers cleansed wins," Ban said. "Full blades aren't easy to come by, so until I can wrangle a replacement, this'll do. Slower, heavier, and about as unsubtle a weapon as you can get, but it's sharp as anything."

Reyn couldn't settle on why, but she thought a black-armored knight wielding a giant axe fit her image of Lord Bannlyth the Karst better. All he was missing now were horns adorning his helmet and a sable cape.

"Do you know where Princess Jin is?" Reyn asked.

"With Grellin on the Wanderer. The Quartz Knights are mobilizing to follow Enfri's trail. I wasn't about to try stopping her from going with them."

"Assuming it possible."

"It'd be a stretch at best." Ban pointed them towards a second group of prison wagons.

The wagons used to transport prisoners were little more than steel boxes on wheels with just enough of a window to prevent suffocation. All of them would be empty save for the one with Garret. That one had a squad of ten armsmen surrounding it.

Ban ran up to the sergeant leading the armsmen. They were Ulthred men, teal and green tabards with a black bear emblem, and their sashes displayed the symbol of Amethyst Knight crewmen. Discipline must have been lacking among this crew, as several of them were out of uniform. Some went shirtless in the sunny weather, likely sweltering in northern temperatures. Spirits save her, one went without leggings and another was barefoot. However, as soon as they saw Ban, their salutes were as crisp as if on parade ground.

"Report on the prisoner, Sergeant," Ban said in a clipped tone.

The sergeant was a burly Altieri with arms thicker than Reyn's thighs. "Sir. The Merovech is well."

Ban let out a small breath. "Good. Any word out of him since the disturbance?"

"Lord Garret has been most accommodating, sir."

"Accommodating?" Ban barked. "The name of tides is that supposed to mean?"

"A fine man, my lord."

"Reyn, go!" Ban dropped into a combat stance, his hand reaching for the haft of his axe.

Shocked by the sudden order and disoriented by Ban realizing the danger before she even suspected, Reyn took a step back.

The Ulthred sergeant pulled his half blade from its scabbard. "For the Lord Merovech and the Red Sun!"

Ban silenced him by slamming the haft of his axe across his temple. The Lord of Rubies threw himself into the thick of the armsmen. He struck out with fists and the broadside of his blade, holding back from killing blows and forgoing using his sigils. He paid for his mercy by taking a spear thrust to his thigh and a sword slash to the left arm, breaking the bone. It did little to slow him. He swung the axe overhead one-handed to keep the dominated armsmen at bay.

"Reyn, find him!"

Spurred into action, Reyn turned on her heels and sprinted away. Four men charged to intercept her, but Ban smashed against two to bowl them over and punched another across the jaw before sweeping the legs out from under the fourth with his axe handle. As she ran, Reyn shouted for assistance, calling anyone who might hear to the First Knight's defense.

She'd never seen him fight up close before. The man was a demon.

A squad of Karst armsmen streamed past her, shouting "To the Karst" at the top of their lungs. Reyn could only hope they hadn't also received a visit from Master Deveaux.

The Ulthred soldiers' state of undress should have made it obvious what had happened. Garret must've somehow removed Starra's Dekaam spike, lured his guards one by one within reach, and dominated them with his forbidden magic. He then demanded clothing from them to disguise himself from casual notice.

Ban saw through it almost immediately. Reyn wanted to tell herself it was his hydromancy working for him, but the Karst had proven himself quick witted on his own merit. He'd likely seen it without the help of his elder magic.

She couldn't waste time scolding herself. Garret already had long enough of a head start. It had likely been him who set the renegades free, but where would he have gone after that? Whether he was dressed as an Ulthred armsman or not, he wouldn't be able to just walk away from the legion without someone demanding to know his business.

Reyn needed to be able to search a wide area. She needed a dragon.

The first one she found was Elloo the Constable. He and three men from his crew were at work performing screenings on armsmen as they marched. The Onyxes walked alongside companies, calling men out of line and giving them a small cut on the palm before sending them back into formation. Elloo and his crew were looking in the direction of the prison wagons, their attention drawn by the commotion.

"Lord Constable," Reyn called as she neared. She was out of breath by the time she caught up to him.

"Minister," Elloo said in greeting. "What's going on?"

"Master Deveaux escaped. He dominated his guards, stole House Ulthred colors, and he may have dominated more since then."

Elloo blinked once then nodded. "Orders, ma'am."

Reyn gasped for air as she tried to catch her second wind. "Can we search him out from above?"

Elloo turned to his crew. "All hands aboard at once, and summon my Onyx."

One of the crewmen raised a whistle and blew a trilling signal Reyn hadn't heard before. It must have been a call to arms unique to this crew.

"There's no time to get equipped, Lord Constable," she said.

"No need." Elloo stepped away from the lines of armsmen to where he had enough space to assume his truest form. Once he was changed, his harness and plates of black lacquered armor were already in place. "I took the requisite effort to acclimate my polymorphy to my battle regalia. It is the responsibility of a constable to be in uniform whilst on duty."

Reyn found that to be an admirable attitude.

The Constable was an older dragon. There was talk that after the death of Trell the Watchman, Elloo could possibly be Eldest of his chroma. Though three hundred and ninety years old, he wasn't near as big or as broad as similarly aged dragons of the red, blue, or russet chromas. Black dragons were slender, almost serpentine, and their charcoal scales had a matte finish. Elloo's tail was twice as long as his neck and body, and his claws were curved and barbed like fish hooks. Two lines of spine-like horns ran down the length of his skull, and his eyes were set in a way to grant him excellent forward vision. In addition, black hearing was legendary in its ability to detect the heartbeat of anyone nearby.

From all directions, Onyx crewmen came running in groups of three or four. They leapt up to grab onto Elloo's harness and clambered up as if it were the rigging of a sailing ship. Reyn was deeply impressed by how quickly twenty men could all mount up.

"What's the call for?" Lord Rav shouted as he came with the last of the crew. "Find the shifter?"

"Worse," Elloo replied, "and slimier. Master Deveaux has escaped confinement. My hoard against a walnut, we have him to thank for the disturbances going on."

Lord Rav slowed to a standstill beneath his dragon. He glanced at Reyn then hung his head. "Stand down, my Constable."

"We can't sit this one out, love. True, finding the skindancer is a priority, but..."

"Sucé!"

Rav's single word incantation was deafening. Enhanced by the dragon bond, the force spell smashed against Elloo and threw both him and his crew away. Even as the echoes faded, Rav unslung a full blade from his back. The three crewmen accompanying Rav readied their own weapons and stood alongside the Lord of Onyxes.

"I'm sorry, love," Rav said, shaking his head, "but I can't let anyone disturb the Merovech."

Elloo righted himself, careful to stand in a way that wouldn't inadvertently crush the crewmen strapped to his harness. "He got to you?"

Rav raised his full blade and charged at Reyn.

Before he could go five steps, Elloo interposed himself between them. He breathed out dragon fire to make a curtain of flames in front of his knight.

"Go, Minister," Elloo commanded. "I'll subdue my Onyx. Find Master Deveaux. You can set Rav and his men right with your spikes once it's done."

Reyn looked around. Yora armsmen were coming to Elloo's aid, so it shouldn't take long before Rav was in custody. She could only hope he wouldn't be a costly prisoner to take alive. "Where was Lord Rav doing his screenings?" she asked.

Elloo's eyes narrowed. "The Aleesh pilgrims."

Not wasting another moment, Reyn took off at a run. Elloo directed three from his crew to follow her and keep her safe. Rav and the dominated crewmen were unable to intercept her while two full companies and Shan Alee's strongest black dragon bore down on them.

Reyn didn't slow down to let her escorts catch up. Things were already spiraling out of control. Garret was loose and dominating armsmen, knights, and Dragon Lords left and right. If a man as strong and competent as Lord Rav could fall victim to Garret's forbidden magic, anyone could belong to him.

It seemed that the dominated were being told to continue on as they would and only pulled steel when Garret was threatened. That would make it all but impossible to know who was still in control of themselves or not before they turned. Reyn couldn't chance putting her trust in anyone else.

She ran to the pilgrims' position in the column. As their wagons and livestock came into sight, Reyn saw a few details that were wrong. The pilgrims had pulled off to the side of the road. They weren't moving, and there were armsmen shouting orders at them. The soldiers weren't of any single unit. They wore tabards bearing the sigils and colors of several different houses; Thaan, Ulthred, Corwyn, Strom, Karst, and Yora.

They must be dominated, Reyn decided. The armsmen have no business with the pilgrims other than keeping them safe, so this must be Garret's doing. But why would he care about the Aleesh?

The only reason Reyn could think of involved Elise. If Garret could deliver several of her people to her, it very well could be enough to win her favor.

By her count, there were as many as two dozen dominated armsmen among the pilgrims. Far too many for Reyn to overpower with spellcraft, and she didn't know how effective her Voice might be against someone who was dominated. Even after suffering it herself, Reyn knew very little about how Garret's magic worked.

She theorized that domination was connecting two component imprints within the victim's mind. Specifically, the victim's connection with Garret and their personal priorities. The magic forced them to regard Garret as their highest priority, likely manipulating the component imprints further to make the association a positive one. Without that manipulation, someone who already hated Garret would surely attack him without regard for anything else.

Only a theory and one with little way to put it to the test. All Reyn could think of to do was somehow bluff her way close to one of the armsmen and get a spike in him.

A scream came from ahead, and Reyn lit a speed sigil to hurry her pace.

An Aleesh woman with short-cut hair had two young children in her arms and an older one at her side. She and her family ran for all they were worth away from the pilgrim wagons and the four Yora armsmen pursuing them. Reyn changed course to intercept.

She wasn't thinking and didn't stop to assess the situation. A part of Reyn shouted for her to slow down and think, but what more could there possibly be to think about? It was hauntingly similar to a choice she made two months earlier.

In the final days of winter along the Altieri coastline, Reyn watched as a crimson-haired young woman threw herself off the cliffs into the sea. A stranger. Nothing to Reyn. All she'd ever been taught about concealing who and what she was told her to keep walking— pretend she never saw. Without thinking, Reyn jumped into the sea after her.

This was no different.

Reyn released the ties holding her Voice in check, and she screamed.

The sound was inhuman, ear-piercing and powerful. The Yora armsmen in pursuit of the Aleesh covered their ears and cried out. The woman they chased stopped in her tracks and looked towards Reyn. Her green eyes were wide and startled.

A selkie scream could stun a man temporarily, but it wouldn't be enough to stop them. Reyn had no idea what she expected to do next against four armed men. All she could do was gesture wildly at the Aleesh woman for her to keep running.

The woman's brow furrowed, and her eyes darkened. She handed the two little ones she held to their older sibling and stalked towards the stunned armsmen.

"Run!" Reyn shouted at her. "Spirits take you, run!"

She did, but in the wrong direction. The Aleesh woman dropped to all fours and grew in size. Her short skirt and leggings faded to mist and were replaced by a thick pelt of shaggy hair. Hands swelled into massive paws, and her mouth and nose stretched forward into a thick muzzle filled with sharp fangs. The armsmen recovered from Reyn's scream just in time to see an enormous black bear charging down upon them.

Her paws slammed against one man, flinging him ten paces away. A sword slashed at her neck, but her thick hide took the hit easily. Two of the men readied spears and were about to drive them home when Reyn arrived.

Her amulet flared with sigils of strength, and her punch struck one man senseless. Reyn grappled the fourth and final man, easily holding him in place as the bear-woman returned to her human form and drove her fist into his stomach. The armsman barked as the wind was forced out of his lungs, and Reyn let him go to collapse on the ground.

Reyn produced a spike from her belt and stuck it at the nape of his neck. She found the domination spell easily. Garret's magic was all over the imprint, and it didn't take long to identify where it had its hooks in the man and sever the false connections. Reyn looked up to see the Aleesh woman had Dekaam spikes of her own and was using them to destroy the spells on the other men.

"You are a were," Reyn said.

"Aware of what, mine lady?" the woman mumbled. She refused to look at Reyn's face.

Reyn pursed her lips. She didn't appreciate puns. "You are a shifter. A were."

The woman's hands went still as she held a spike in one of the armsmen and said nothing. The Onyx crewmen Elloo sent with Reyn arrived and formed a defensive ring around the pair of them. It looked like more of the dominated soldiers were being drawn by the disturbance.

Reyn spared the woman another glance. She remembered her from when she brought her youngest daughter to be treated by the empress. Odjualla Weaver. An Aleesh and a shifter. "You are from the Reach Enclave."

Her nod was almost too slight to be seen, but it was there. "What I told the empress was true. Mine home was on the Fork in Vayl, but... mine family came there from Melcia as ndopu uche."

Reyn didn't know the term. Her understanding of northern dialects was rudimentary at best. Whatever Odjualla's reasons for leaving the enclave, Reyn now saw a way to survive the next few moments. A hope, perhaps small but present.

"Minister," one of the Onyx crewmen called. "More of them are coming."

She saw that his eyes traced over her face, unable to decide what to think.

Oh, gods...

Her face. When she screamed with her full, unbridled Voice, she'd lost control of her ability to conceal her true countenance. The Onyx crewmen might have come too late to see what Odjualla was, but they saw Reyn.

Her cheekbones and jawline were too sharp and angular to be human. Flesh closer to gray than fair and textured like leather. Reyn's ears were pointed, and her teeth were sharp. At the least, her legs hadn't become a tail with flippers.

What would Starra do?

The answer came to Reyn easily. Starra would act as if there was nothing to be ashamed of, because there was nothing to be ashamed of. She resisted the urge to hide behind her human face and remained as she was.

"Guard the goodwoman and her children," she commanded. "And try to rouse these men. We've taken Garret's domination off of them, so they'll be on our side now."

Yes, remind them we're still on the same side.

The Onyx crew exchanged looks. "Now, hold on a tick," one of them said, shaking his head. "Since when was the first minister a shifter?"

"Waves take me if I know," another answered, "but all this domination and dragon bond business, who can say what's normal anymore."

"Try not to think too much on it, lads," said the third. "Minister Reyn gave us an order, and I'll be damned if I'm gonna tell the Constable I disobeyed the acting empress. Pull steel and use your flats to smack the sense back into our comrades." He looked back at Reyn as he and the others formed a defensive line. "The empress does know about..." He nodded towards her. "...this, doesn't she?"

"Her Majesty is well aware I am a selkie, I assure you." Reyn looked to Odjualla. "How many among the pilgrims are shifters? Are there others?"

Odjualla chewed her lower lip and wrung her hands.

Reyn's Voice stole away Odjualla's fear and discretion. "The Dragon Empress protects Aleesh, and I protect shifters. You are as much my people as you are hers. We will both see you safe, so answer my question."

Odjualla held her head in her hands and clamped her eyes shut as she shouted at the top of her lungs. "Ndopu uche! Na-ekpughe onwe unu! Egbula ha!"

Five seconds passed before a startled cry tore from the throat of a dominated armsman among the wagons. The men running towards Reyn and Odjualla's family halted and turned to look behind them. They backed away as a gigantic hunting cat with saber-like fangs leapt onto a wagon to roar at them.

The fangblade was orange with black stripes, a Teulite breed and only marginally smaller than their white Altieri cousins. Behind the fangblade rose a bear on its hind legs, this one brown and even larger than Odjualla's bear form. A small pack of wolves howled. Further into the wagons, a nest of seven serpentine heads on long necks swayed to and fro as they emitted deafening shrieks. It seemed one of the pilgrims was able to take the form of a hydra.

One of the Onyx crewmen gasped. "Werebeasts!"

"Weres, Crewman," Reyn corrected. "Werebeast is something of a slur."

"Oh, ah... Apologies. No harm meant. Weres. I'll remember that."

Reyn smiled for him and turned again to Odjualla. "Come. The men they fight are under a spell and are not themselves. You must tell your people not to harm them."

Odjualla had fallen to her knees and was shaking. Thin whimpers came out of her as she struggled with what she'd revealed. "I already did," she whispered. "Egbula ha. It means 'nay kill them'."

Reyn felt ashamed. She'd used her Voice to force Odjualla's compliance. Pushing those feelings of guilt aside, she pointed at one of the crewmen. "Stay with her and her children. You two, we must find Garret. He cannot be far."

She ran for the wagons. The armsmen coming after her and Odjualla had already been chased off by the fangblade and bear. Further ahead, the rest of Garret's thralls were being overpowered and routed handily by the unexpected arrival of shifters.

It quickly became clear that most of the Aleesh were just as surprised as the dominated armsmen to have upwards of twenty weres appear in their midst. Goodfolk pushed their children under wagons and tried to hide as fearsome beasts leapt about.

The weres tackled soldiers to the ground while others held them pinned. Reyn even saw two or three people with spikes in their hands as they went between the dominated armsmen. Once they were through, the soldiers looked around with dazed expressions.

I should have realized sooner, Reyn thought. The Aleesh have Dekaam traditions, too. If some of them are also shifters, then it's twice as likely there are mage slayers among them.

She could take solace in the fact that Garret's plans for the Aleesh had been thwarted, but that did little in stopping the man himself. Reyn frantically searched the area, seeking out any sign of him. She had to locate him soon. Otherwise, there was nothing stopping him from dominating more people. He might even make an attempt at dominating a dragon. Reyn had no idea if that was even possible, but she'd rather not have to find out.

Reyn went around a wagon. She had to find him. Her blood boiled with the need to spill his.

A man in Ulthred colors jumped out in front of her. Before Reyn could react, a finger pressed against her collarbone, and...

"Master Deveaux," Reyn gasped. Her heart swelled at the sight of him. She'd found him at last, and she would rather die than be separated from him again.

Garret peered at her from under his pilfered helmet. His dark eyes narrowed as they traced over her face. "I must say, pet, I much preferred your previous look."

Reyn was aghast with horror. If Garret found her appearance displeasing, than she had no choice but to conform to his wishes. She quickly shifted her face back to its human shape.

"Now that's unexpected," Garret chuckled. "A selkie, of all the things. Quite the menagerie the sweetling has gathered, wouldn't you agree, pet?"

Reyn started to nod. Anything Garret said would have to be true.

The two Onyx crewmen caught up with Reyn and brandished their weapons. "Get away from her, filth!"

Reyn was absolutely scandalized. Didn't they know who they were talking to? This was Garret the Merovech! She had half a mind to give them a lecture regarding the proper etiquette for addressing such a distinguished guest.

"Kill them, pet," Garret said with a disaffected sigh.

Reyn would prefer not to, but if Garret wished it, their deaths must've been absolutely necessary. "As you wish, Master Deveaux."

She pulled her amulet off from around her neck and held it forward. The crewmen stepped back, but there was nowhere to run from Reyn's spellcraft. Etherlight flared from the amulet.

Before Reyn could conjure a blast of spellfire to incinerate the two crewmen, a staff struck against her hand. The amulet fell from her stunned fingers, and its etherlight died out. Reyn shouted in surprise and pain. In the next second, the staff struck again against the back of her knee, dropping her to all fours.

Garret cursed, and it turned into a squawk of pain before the word could fully leave his lips. Reyn turned to see if he was alright and saw a man standing over her master.

The man held the end of a walking staff pressed to Garret's throat. He was dressed in white priest-like robes, his black hair was tangled and unkempt, and his eyes were covered by a blindfold.

"Unlock the spells," Kai rasped. His deep voice felt like a grindstone within a cavern in Reyn's ears. "Free them, or I will."

"It can't be," Garret gurgled. "It can't be!"

"Last chance," Kai warned.

"No, you're dead. I saw her kill you. You can't be here. You're dead!"

"So be it."

Garret threw his arms over his face as a multitude of spell echoes resonated out from him. "Wait! Alright. They're unlocked. All of them!"

Kai turned his head towards Reyn. Why look at her if he was blind?

And then Reyn realized what had been done to her. She lunged for the amulet and prepared every sigil for spellfire she knew. No, that was too good for Garret. Shoveth burned itself into the fractal imprint. Hellfire was what this monster deserved.

Kai deftly plucked the amulet from her fingers. Reyn tried to snatch it back, but all she accomplished with her flailing was tearing off Kai's blindfold. Underneath were scarlet eyes with slit pupils.

The two crewmen came forward to take Reyn's arms. She was grateful for it, because she thought she'd have fallen to her backside if left to her own devices. Reyn was so shocked she almost forgot all about Garret.

"Your... Your Highness?"

Crown Prince Dashar sighed as he handed Reyn back her amulet. He drew his mouth into a line and nodded.

"Skindancer," Reyn hissed.

He sighed again then held forth his left hand. There was a bandage tied around the palm, and it was stained red.

"Lord Rav must've screened him," one of the crewmen said softly. "Waves take me."

Before anything else could be said, Dashar struck the end of his staff against Garret's forehead. He didn't so much as break eye contact with Reyn as he knocked Master Deveaux out cold.

"Let's talk," Dashar said.