He hurried toward the only feature inside the ring that offered any invitation, a small building of some sort, with a single door and no windows. As he hurried to reach the door, a voice from nearby hissed, “Pug!”

It was only by the scantest margins Pug didn’t incinerate Jim Dasher where he stood. “You have no idea,” Pug whispered. “Where are the others?”

“In there,” Jim pointed to the door. “There’s a stair leading down to an underground chamber.”

Pug said, “I have one minute before I must start back to where Amirantha and the others wait.” He pointed toward the unguarded entrance.

“Magnus, Sandreena, and Kaspar were taken.”

“What?”

Jim motioned for him to remain silent. “A trap. I think they knew we were coming.” Before Pug could ask how, he continued. “I used my cloak and Laromendis his conjuring skills to stay hidden. He’s heading around after you and if he hasn’t overtaken his brother and the others by now, he will by the time you get back.”

“Me?” said Pug. “My son is down there.”

“And I’m better able to slip in and out than you. Your seeming is good. I had to look at you long and hard for almost a half minute before I realized I was looking at you, but I did recognize you, and if you’re coming down stairs, even if those at the bottom think you’re someone they should ignore, you’ll be somewhere they can’t go, so let me go and I’ll meet you by the gates in five more minutes.”

“If you’re not back by then, I’ll come after you,” said Pug.

“What about the plan?” hissed Jim.

“Everyone is in place, and I’ll send Brandos with instructions if I must. I’ve lost too much to not go after Magnus.”

“Understood,” said Jim. “Now, let me go down there and I’ll find you.”

Pug hesitated, hating to leave this in another’s hands, but one complaint he had always had about his wife Miranda was her seeming inability to delegate important tasks to others. Feeling a rush of bitterness thinking of her, he nodded and turned away.

Jim Dasher knew it had been difficult for Pug to let him go. The recent loss of his wife and other son made him that much more protective of Magnus. Still, Jim knew from experience that this was exactly the situation where emotion would only get you killed.

There was a plan established, and it was the third option that only he, Pug, Kaspar, and Magnus knew of. Three companies of soldiers were assembled and ready to attack at a moment’s notice.

Each was under the command of men who Pug trusted implicitly—his adopted grandsons, Tad, Zane, and Jommy. Jommy waited in a nice quiet estate on the island of Roldem, with three hundred Roldem Royal Marines under his command.