There was no sense saying it. The horses slowed down on the steep incline. They climbed up it but began to wheeze, hack and shed flakes of foam. From behind came triumphant yelling.

“Across country! Leave the road and ride across the fields!”

They turned off. But the fields weren’t fields, either. It was a mountain, apparently even steeper than the road.

The time has come, decided Reynevan, for desperate measures.

He untied from under his jerkin the string threaded through the veined stone with a spot in the shape of a human eye. Said to be Castilian, said to have been brought from Burgos, purchased in Mages’ Lane in Legnica. Costing three groschen. And probably worth as much.

“Viendo, no vean!” he screamed, gripping the talisman in his sweaty hand, as tightly as if he meant to crush it. “Viendo, no vean! Over to the side, Rixa, over there! To the trees! Ride to the trees!”

“They can see us! They’ll surround us!”

“Turn towards the trees!”

Something impossible occurred. Incredible and unbelievable.

The talisman reacted to the activating spell. And began to work.

They raced on towards the trees and cries followed them; cries of astonishment and disbelief. And then of fury. They didn’t look back. Faces pressed against the horses’ manes, they hurtled along as fast as they could. They were only slowed down when they reached the trees, the thicket, hollows and furrows. And then there was silence.

“They couldn’t see us…” said Rixa, sucking in air. “They really couldn’t see us… We became invisible to them…”

“They looked but they couldn’t see,” said Reynevan, calming his crazily beating heart with deep breaths. “This amulet… I never expected that… And if it works really well, it will confuse them even more, they’ll think they can see us… in places we’re not. And that may happen, because it was an extremely strong periapt…”

“Was?”

Wordlessly, he held up the string. Now without the stone, which had turned to dust after being activated.

“It only worked once.” Rixa sighed. “How long will the effects last?”

“Grellenort is with them,” said Reynevan, shuddering at the thought. “Let’s not allow hope to delude us too much and flee while we can. Let’s vanish into the forest.”

“We’ll change direction to confuse them further,” said Rixa, pushing her dishevelled hair under her hood. “They’ll be looking out for us on the roads leading to Bolesławiec. They’ll think we’ll circle around and return to the road. But let’s ride straight southwards, as far away as we can…”

“Without delay.”

She turned around in the saddle.

“Did you see that girl? The fair-haired one?”

“I did.”

“It was Douce of Pack, Grellenort’s lover. A Devil incarnate.”