We can’t let the Shrike assassinate the Preceptor,” Natalie agreed. “He will likely kill Renee too, after her father dies, then hide both bodies until their souls release. We have to act first.”

“Right,” Glenn said. “And we also need to act fast, because the Preceptor could already be on his way here, with the Shadower the Shrike sent to retrieve him and the recipe.” He looked to Zack. “Tell me you can do this. Tell me with the confidence I’d expected from Zack Silverstone.”

“I can do it,” Zack said without hesitation. “And I have to do it, apparently, now.”

“Then let’s move,” Glenn said. “Same plan, except now we know we can’t do business.”

Natalie fell into step beside him. “This is risky, but I see no other choice.” She glanced his way. “It’s a good plan, for what it’s worth. Thank you for helping us.”

“It’s my job,” Glenn assured her, yet he could tell that didn’t satisfy her. “And even if it wasn’t, I’d never let a man like the Shrike hurt anyone.”

Natalie smiled. He appreciated that. He led the way back to the camp.

Once they were close, Natalie used [-Mask Self-] and [-Mask Other-] to conceal herself and Zack before they reached the tree line. Glenn emerged from the edge of the Deepscorn Woods alone. He walked confidently toward the clifftop camp, and no Shadower intercepted him.

When he arrived, only the single Shadower and the two casters were present. All looked at him with wide eyes. They obviously hadn’t expected him back yet.

“Where’s your boss?” Glenn asked.

The three looked between themselves. So the Shrike wasn’t here. Had he gone off to meet Preceptor Fallowpeak in person? That seemed like something the man might have done, given he now knew a Town Guard had found his camp. He couldn’t easily move the cage, after all.

“So he’s not here,” Glenn said. “Right.” This might make this part of the plan easier.

Glenn walked right toward the cage where Renee slumbered, and the horde of Cliff Spiders around her. These beady-eyed little Monsters made his skin crawl. Yet he couldn’t let his own fear of spiders get in the way of saving this girl’s life.

The female caster stepped into his way. “Hey, back off!”

Glenn walked right into her. She stumbled when he touched her, and he shrugged off her attempt to grab his arm. When he looked at her, she instinctively leapt back.

“What do we do?” the male caster demanded, sounding panicked. “That’s a Town Guard. No one said anything about fighting a Town Guard!”

“Shut up and let me think!” the woman ordered.

Glenn walked around to the far side of the cage, to the side away from the single door and its single lock. He peered inside. He could just make out Renee behind the spiders, and verified both cage doors, the inner and the outer, faced away from his current position. He looked up.

“Who’d like to be arrested first?” Glenn asked.

The three looked between each other. Then the Shadower from before stepped forward, the man who found it hilarious to lob rotten tomatoes. “He’ll be back.”

“Not in time,” Glenn said. “You know the Shrike doesn’t honor his deals, don’t you? Chances are he’s going to take care of you three as well. I doubt he’ll want witnesses to the murders he plans to commit today. A Preceptor Alchemist and his daughter? That’s a life sentence.”

The almost imperceptible click of a lock was Glenn’s signal. “[-Fight Me!]” he thought silently, activating the Town Guard Skill that angered all Monsters in fifty paces.

Visibly, nothing happened. The Cliff Spiders kept milling, and Renee kept sleeping. And Glenn stayed where he was, on the far side of both cage doors. He didn’t dare imagine what was actually happening inside that cage. It would likely give him nightmares.

“He doesn’t plan to kill anyone,” the male caster said stubbornly. “This is just about the recipe.”

“Which is?” Glenn asked.

Silence followed. Another click told Glenn Zack was on the second lock. When no one offered the explanation Natalie had given, Glenn shrugged visibly in his armor. “So you don’t know.”

“We’re paid for the job, not to ask questions,” the Shadower said evenly.

“And you don’t know if you’re getting paid either,” Glenn pointed out. “Do you know the Shrike was kicked out of the Shadowers Guild for not honoring a deal? Also, he’s likely well versed in slow-acting poisons, all but undetectable. I don’t suppose any of you shared a meal or drink with him this morning? Something you consented to drink or eat?”

The way the male caster flinched visibly told Glenn he’d struck a nerve. The man was now worried he’d been poisoned. Even the Shadower’s body language now looked troubled.

Yet the woman was all business. She stepped forward and glared. “I’m not dropping this contract. We need it. So step away, Town Guard.” She reached into the pack at her waste and pulled out a small gem. “If I use this, the inner cage collapses. The girl gets eaten.”

“What leverage will you then have to stop me from arresting you for murder?” Glenn asked. “Remember, I can attack and arrest you without your Consent, now that you’ve broken the law.”

One door quietly closed. Followed by another. Still the Cliff Spiders in the cage seemed to wander as they had, and still Renee slumbered ... or so it appeared to all in the camp.

Glenn mentally shook his head at the considerable Prowess involved. Well done, Natalie.

The female caster hesitated. He’d called her bluff. Yet she grimaced and stepped forward. “He’s almost back anyway. All we had to do was keep you talking.”

“I appreciate the update on the Shrike’s return,” Glenn agreed. “Now, you have two choices. If you turn yourself into the Town Guards in Wolfpine, I’ll ensure our Spiritualist, Richard Deepscar, casts [-Cleanse Body-] on each of you. That should stop whatever slow-acting poison you’ve ingested. Or you can flee, and take your chances you won’t drop dead tomorrow.”

“You’re forgetting something,” the Shadower said. “We still have the girl.”

“Do you?” Glenn asked. “Check again.” He glanced casually at the cage.

Natalie was as much a master of the dramatic as he’d hoped. In an eyeblink, Renee vanished from the cage, and the previously wandering Cliff Spiders turned into a mass of writhing rage. The entire horde now crushed themselves against the cage wall nearest Glenn. Each poked legs and fangs through the crossed wooden bars, toward him, with desperate ferocity.

Those spiders couldn’t escape the cage. They wanted to get to Glenn desperately, by the most direct route possible, which is why Zack had been able to pick both locks from [-Shadow Walk-], sneak into the cage without being attacked by a single Cliff Spider, and sneak out with Renee.

Every last Cliff Spider had pressed itself desperately against whatever cage wall was closest to Glenn, overcome by a monstrous lust for his blood. They’d completely ignored everyone else, including the Shadower in [-Shadow Walk-] who’d expertly picked both locks, picked up Renee, and closed the cage again while the Cliff Spiders were all piled up on the far side.

All while Natalie Runefall’s clever Illusion magic stopped any of the from seeing any of it.

“What?” the woman whispered.

“What’s going on here?” a booming voice demanded.

The Shadower turned, as did the casters.

“Last chance,” Glenn said. “I actually don’t need to arrest you myself, since all three of you will likely soon drop dead from poison. Yet if you do decide to turn yourselves in, tell them Town Guard Redwood sent you to be arrested. And tell them you need a [-Cleanse Body-].”

This next part of the plan was the part they hadn’t actually planned for, because they couldn’t have known the Shrike would leave the camp or return so quickly. Yet Renee was already out of the cage. Zack would be sprinting to Wolfpine even now, as Natalie had [-Mask-]ed all three of them.

Zack hadn’t liked this part of Glenn’s plan. Natalie hadn’t liked it either. Yet Glenn had talked them through it until they both agreed that leaving him behind to get Renee safely within Wolfpine’s walls, and to call out the rest of the Town Guard, was more important than anything else.

Glenn, after all, wore [-God Armor-]. It was supposed to be impenetrable to every weapon in Balarel. And even if the three of them were able to take down the Shrike, none of them could accept the risk that the ruthless man hadn’t prepared some other trap to kill Renee.

Now, Glenn supposed, he’d test just how tough [God Armor] actually was.