Dancer had been quiet all through this, but now he shook his head. “You two go ahead. I’m going back. I can’t just leave it there.”

“Leave…oh. Your amulet.” Han put his hand on Dancer’s shoulder, and Dancer twitched irritably, as if he already knew what Han would say. “You can’t go back,” Han said. “They’ll kill you.”

“I can be in and out of their camp before they know I’m there,” Dancer persisted. “I’ll meet you back at the inn. If I don’t come, you two go on without me.”

“Don’t you think they’ve locked it up again?” Han said. “Don’t you think they’d expect you to come back after it? We got no idea how many soldiers are with them. Do you want to end up fighting in the Ardenine war?”

“What am I supposed to do at Oden’s Ford without an amulet?” Dancer raised his hands, palms up. “Carry water and build fires? Clean the latrine?”

Han felt guilty having two amulets when Dancer had none. The Lone Hunter amulet was made for me, he thought. I should give Dancer the Waterlow piece.

But he didn’t want to. The Waterlow amulet seethed with power—he’d been packing it full for weeks. The Lone Hunter flashpiece seemed dark and empty in comparison—like an unconsecrated temple.

But since he hadn’t connected with it, perhaps it would bond with Dancer instead.

Besides, whenever anyone else tried to touch the serpent flash, they got burnt.

Han lifted the Hunter amulet from around his neck and dangled it in front of Dancer. “Try this. I’ve not used it. Most wizards aren’t matched with custom amulets. They’re lucky to get one at all.”

Dancer stared at the spinning amulet, scowling like a trader confronted with a paste diamond in a setting of gilded tin. He extended a cautious finger and touched it. It flared up in greeting as power rippled between them.

Dancer sighed, shaking his head. “I’ll have to start over,” he said. But he took the Hunter amulet from Han, dropped the chain over his head, and tucked the jinxpiece under his shirt. Immediately, his aura dimmed as the amulet began taking in power.

Would Karn be able to make use of the Fire Dancer flash? I hope they burn themselves up, Han thought.

He climbed a tree to get a better view. The lights of Ardenscourt faded against the rising sun to the east. He guessed they were a few miles west of the city.

He climbed back down. “It’ll take them a while to sort things out back there. We can be back to the inn by breakfast time,” he said. “Once we’re in the city, they won’t dare come after us in daylight. Let’s go.”

C H A P T E R  E I G H T

ODEN’S
FORD

It took more than a week for the Gray Wolves to reach the border of the Kingdom of Tamron. The spiderwebbing waterways of the Fens eventually coalesced into the broad and lazy Tamron River. It meandered south, wrapping around islands and sandbars as if it didn’t really care where it was going.