Shes back, somebody said. Wheres the other one?

I did not see a Widowmaker right away.

Panic swept the plain. The apparition had taken the scattered Shadowlander camps unawares. Sergeants shrieked orders. Messengers galloped around. Soldiers stumbled into one another.

There he is! Bucket yelled.

There who is?

Widowmaker. He pointed. The Old Man. The Widowmaker figure shimmered back in the hills, larger than life.

Goblin grabbed my arm. I dont know where he came from. Look over there. He indicated the Shadowlander main camp. We could not see the camp itself but a pale, gangrenous glow rose from its approximate location. The light intensified steadily.

Spinner wants to play, I observed.

Yeah. Hes sending a big one.

A big what? Do we need to get our heads down?

Wait and see.

I waited. And I saw. A nasty ball of green fire streaked toward the hills. It hit near where Lifetaker first showed herself. Earth flew. Stone burned. All to no avail. Lifetaker was long gone.

He missed.

What an eye!

Lifetaker didnt play fair. She didnt stand still.

He made a stupid choice of tools, One-Eye sneered. You cant expect somebody to just hang around and wait for you.

Maybe that was his best go. He hasnt been healthy.

I sidled away. In a few minutes Goblin and One-Eye would start bickering.

The confusion on the plain worsened. The southerners were more rattled than seemed reasonable. What I could get from their chatter suggested that they had been caught just starting something big of their own and their disarray left them virtually unable to defend themselves. In hushed tones, too, I heard Kina mentioned.

Lifetaker, who resembled that goddess of corruption, vanished. Maybe she lost interest. She did not reappear. Shadowspinner pasted the hills with any sorcery he could slap together. Other than starting a few brush fires he had no obvious impact.

The fox was in the henyard. Southerners scooted all over, their panic feeding on the panic of others. When one got close my guys took turns sniping. Goblin said, They keep cussing about their feet getting wet. I heard that, too. It made no sense.

Holy shit!

I dont know who said it but I could not have agreed more.

Scores of brilliant white fireballs erupted straight up above the Shadowlander main camp. They obliterated the darkness completely. They seemed a tool of more use to a Shadowmasters enemies than to the villain himself.

A huge uproar followed.

Uncle Doj vanished. One moment he was beside me, the next a shadow running through the street below, then gone.

One-Eye told me, This time Im sure its Lady.

His tone alerted me. But what?

But the other one aint the Captain.

Widowmaker had been visible for less than one minute. Tell me it aint so, I muttered.

What?

That we got two sets. Each one only half the real thing.

A crow nearby cackled.