The cry of gulls mingled with the salty scent of the ocean. Bright sun shone down on Lon as he sat in the outdoor cafe which was to serve as the third potential ambush location. He loved it down by the ocean. The water kept the temperature more comfortable. He’d found a good spot. From his corner table Lon could keep watch for long distances in both directions.

Right now all he saw were shoppers hauling baskets of fish or vegetables or whatever they’d bought that morning. None of them looked remotely threatening. He hadn’t seen a warlord or sorcerer that didn’t work for him at any of the ambush points.

He smiled. The Crimson Legionnaires probably wouldn’t appreciate the implication that they were working for him. Speaking of which, here came one of them now. A stunning blond strode toward him, wearing a blue sundress that flapped in the breeze. She was assigned to play the part of his contact on the assumption that whoever was targeting them would be less intimidated by a woman than a man.

Anyone stupid enough to think that deserved to die. She might have been smiling and waving at him like an old friend, but up close her blue eyes were as cold and emotionless as any killer Lon had ever met. When Alden, the lead sorcerer, had introduced him to Imogen Newall, one look at her hard features and flat eyes had made Lon very happy to have her on his side in the coming battle.

They embraced like old friends and she sat across from him. A serving girl took their order and left them alone.

“Anything?” Lon asked.

Imogen shook her head. “Do you think this one will be a bust as well?”

Lon shrugged. There was no way to tell what might happen. Alden and Chun had hidden themselves on opposite sides of the street and a squad of guardsmen were waiting a block over in case any soul force eaters showed up. If anything happened they were as ready as they could be.

Lon and Imogen chatted about nothing in particular and sipped tea for an hour. They watched the pedestrians, the other guests, even the sky drew an occasional glance. There was simply nothing around.

“I think we can call this a bust,” Lon said.

“Agreed.” Imogen stood up and Lon joined her.

He kissed her cheek and tossed a silver coin on the table to cover their drinks. They parted ways, Imogen heading toward the docks and Lon deeper into the city. He’d go to the next site and a little later she’d show up and do her performance again in a different dress with a different hairstyle. Lon was torn as he walked down the street toward a park a quarter mile away.

Part of him was glad the first three sorcerers were honest, but another part wished the attack would just happen. He was getting worn down by the tension. This was why he’d never wanted to join the inquisitors. The constant stress was too much for him.

He hadn’t gone more than a hundred yards down the street when he sensed power gathering ahead of him. He raised a shield an instant before a ball of soul force detonated five feet from him.

Lon went flying to his left. Pieces of shoppers went every which way. He skidded to a stop against the wall of a dry goods store. Some poor woman’s torso landed beside him.

Standing on a rooftop across the street was a burly man. Black veins crisscrossed his arms and power crackled around his fingers. His core was nothing extraordinary, but rings on both middle fingers seethed with demonic energy.

He raised his hands and Lon sprang into the air ahead of another blast that sent cobblestones flying toward the fleeing shoppers. When Thomas had come up with this plan, Lon doubted this was how he pictured it going.

A golden blast struck the stranger in the back, staggering him half a step closer to the edge of the roof. Alden shimmered into view. More power gathered in the air around him.

Before he could renew his offensive, black flames roared down at him. Alden dodged with a hair’s breadth to spare, his attack ruined. A second enemy appeared in the sky above, a pale, dark-haired woman with black pits for eyes. She carried a scythe wreathed in black flames and sat on a pale horse with flames dancing around its hooves.

The sorcerers circled the corrupted humans. Both sides knew whoever attacked first would leave themselves open to a counterattack. It was a standoff which worked to Lon and Alden’s advantage since they had reinforcements coming.

Hopefully the strangers didn’t.

More sorcerers approached from the east and south. He sensed no corruption so it had to be Chun and Imogen. Below him the people had fled the immediate area, thank heaven. At least they wouldn’t have to worry about any more noncombatants getting hurt.

Imogen drifted to a stop beside him. She hadn’t had time to change out of her blue dress. “I thought we were expecting monsters of some sort.”

“You don’t feel those two qualify?”

“Good point.”

The other power source was close. Lon scanned the sky. His breath caught.

She had curly copper hair and went barefoot, just like he remembered. After their first encounter Lon had done his best to find a mention of a sorcerer fitting her description in The Tower archives, but he’d come up blank. Either she’d changed her appearance or she’d come from beyond the kingdom. In her right fist she clutched Chun’s long black hair. His severed head dripped blood on the stones below.

The female sorcerer looked at Lon and grinned. “We meet again.”

“You won’t escape this time, witch.”

She shook her head. “That’s not how I remember it happening before. And this time I brought two friends along to play.”

“As did I. Let’s see how you do in a fair fight.

The redhead tossed Chun’s head to the street where it splattered like a melon. “Let’s hope they’re stronger than this one.”

She sent a blast of lightning at Lon. He spun out of the way and the battle was on. Lon chased his opponent through the sky, dodging blasts and sending an occasional counter her way. She was as fast and strong as he remembered. Despite his boasting, Lon wasn’t certain he could beat her.

Explosions rattled the buildings as his companions fought their own battles. The Crimson Legion was known to be a close-knit group. Seeing their comrade killed had probably put the others in the mood for a fight. They were lucky in one regard: the two corrupted humans together weren’t as powerful as the black knight that had faced Lon on his previous visit.

A blast broke on his shield, forcing Lon’s full attention back to the redhead. He conjured a pair of griffins and sent them in to engage her. His opponent raised a shield in time to stop their initial rush. The constructs scraped their claws and beaks against the golden bubble to no effect.

She poured a ton of energy into her barrier, more than she needed to stop his constructs. He discovered why when a pair of giant arms shot out of her shield and grabbed his griffins by their necks. Lances of power shot out from the shield, piercing his griffins and tearing them apart.

As he watched, her shield shifted from a sphere to a ten-foot-tall humanoid figure that wrapped around her. He could just make out the woman at the center of the construct, tendrils of energy connecting her to it. It contained a lot of soul force and he doubted she had enough power to maintain it for very long.

If he kept out of her reach and wore her down Lon might have a chance. He circled the construct, trying to read its structure. The woman had skill. He found no weak spots.

With no better options Lon conjured a spear and hurled it at the construct’s left knee. It struck and shattered into splinters, doing almost no damage.

She pointed the construct’s hand at him and golden arrows streaked toward him. He dodged, flying in a circle around her. His opponent spun with him, just a fraction too slow to catch him in the barrage.

Lon almost flew into a second hail of arrows when she pointed the left arm in his direction. He dove at the last second. Two arrows clattered off his personal shield and then he was past.

He hardly had time to take a breath before she shifted her aim again. Arrows smashed the buildings under him to rubble as he flew on. He needed to end this fast before they leveled the neighborhood.

He conjured another pair of griffins, one on either side of her. They bit her construct’s arms and yanked them to the side. Lon raced into the gap, conjuring a sword with most of his remaining power.

The blade struck her construct’s chest and pierced through. She fled out the back an instant before his sword would have pierced her chest. The golden giant vanished.

The redhead hung in the air, gasping for breath.

Lon leveled his sword at her. “Surrender, tell us everything you know about Connor Blackman’s plans, and you’ll be spared.”

“As if I value my life more than my loyalty to Connor.”

She pointed at a damaged building and a ball of energy streaked toward it.

Lon hurled his sword, changing its shape as it flew. His power wrapped around hers. When it detonated his shield blew apart, but the building survived.

He spun back, but the redhead was gone.