"How did ye do it?"

"Hammers." Juhg held up the one he'd used. "I knew hammers had to be in here." He gestured at the wooden box of tools. "There are plenty of them, and they'll be more useful than the cutlass you're carrying."

Sliding the cutlass back into his waist sash, Raisho stepped forward and seized two hammers from the box. Both of his choices were bigger than the one Juhg carried.

"All right, then," Raisho grimaced, "let's have a look at those blasted creatures, now that I'm more outfitted to take care of them."

Raisho insisted on taking the lead. Juhg didn't argue, though he did suggest that they might join up with the dwarves or the other sailors.

Outside, Juhg had to harden his heart against the sight that greeted him. Several dwellers and more than a few elves, humans, and dwarves lay dead or horribly wounded in the street.

Stepping into the fight, Raisho proved himself to be a ferocious fighter with the twin hammers. He used one to block, then brought the other around to smash in the skulls of the Boneblights that confronted him. His clothing hung in shreds and long, deep scratches decorated his body.

The dwarves worked in concert, leaving piles of bones in their wake. The elven warders and humans were no less successful in their own endeavors. Even Juhg, despite his lack of stature and strength, proved a formidable opponent against the Boneblights in tandem with Raisho.

"Hold the streets!" one of the dwarves roared. Blood masked one eye and his thick, bushy black beard. "Hold the streets an' protect yer flanks! Watch them beasties a-clingin' to them rooftops an' eaves!"

As he peered around, Juhg felt certain that there were fewer Boneblights than there had been earlier. The sky still remained thick with fog, and moisture filled the air now, making breathing harder and the cobblestones slippery and treacherous.

"The docks," Juhg gasped. "We've got to get to the docks."

"Why?" the dwarf leader asked as he brought his war hammer crashing down on the head of another Boneblight, turning the creature into a heap of broken and splintered bones. "All the fightin's here. Them creatures is tryin' to take over the town."

"No," Juhg said, bending down and picking up a small buckler from a fallen human that was large enough to serve him as a shield. "The attack here is a distraction. If you want to control a port city, you control the harbor." He knew that from the books on war that he had read, and what he had seen of goblinkin overtaking ports in the South.

The dwarf regarded Juhg suspiciously. "What are ye talkin' about, halfer?"

"He's not just a halfer," Raisho growled as he bashed another Boneblight. "He's a Librarian. First Level Librarian Juhg."

"Look out!" another dwarf cried, stepping forward and lifting his great shield.

Juhg glimpsed a brief spasm of frantic movement as the Boneblight that had glided from one of the nearest buildings tried to alter its glide path. Unfortunately, once the creatures had committed to a course of action, they lacked maneuverability.

The Boneblight crashed against the dwarf's massive shield with a ringing clang. Unable to hold against the Boneblight's weight, the dwarf staggered back. Recovering from the impact, the Boneblight tried to get to its feet, only to be met by a half-dozen dwarven war hammers that shattered it to pieces. Those pieces crunched under the dwarves' hobnailed boots as they kept moving.

"We've got to get to the docks," Juhg insisted. "That's where the next wave of the attack will come."

"What wave?" the dwarf demanded.

"This was planned," Juhg said. "The Boneblights didn't just happen here. They can't fly. They glide. They had to glide in from somewhere. They can't glide across the whole of the Blood-Soaked Sea. The only place that's possible to do that from is the-"

"The docks," the dwarven warrior said, understanding then. He rallied his men and got them moving, running pell-mell through the street.

Juhg struggled to keep up. His own exertions, the drain of the emotions he'd warred over within himself these past few days, and having to carry the buckler, which was so heavy for his size, made movement difficult.

"Look!" one of the dwarves cried as they rounded a curving street that led down from the main part of the town to the Yondering Docks. "The sun's coming through."

Juhg glanced at the round ball burning through the thick layers of fog that twisted through the air and made seeing more than fifty feet in any direction almost impossible. Then he realized the sun lay out over the harbor when it should have showed more in the direction of the mainland.

"That's not the sun," Juhg shouted. "The sun has never risen in the north." He stared at the glowing ball, realizing that in addition to glowing, the ball was also getting considerably larger.

Just a heartbeat later, Juhg saw the twisting flames fluttering across the ball's surface and knew what he was looking at.

"Catapult!" he yelled in warning. "Take cov-"

He didn't get to finish his warning because by that time Raisho had recognized what they were staring at too and was already in motion, taking time to seize Juhg and shove him toward the nearest alley.

The flaming catapult load of pitchblende and rock slammed into the pottery shop on the other side of the street and farther down the hill. The rocks smashed through the shop's shuttered windows, the door, and the canopy. Fiery pitchblende clung to the walls and roof, igniting fires that sent up thick black smoke to mix in with the skirling fog.

Even twenty feet away, Juhg felt the heat from the pitchblende. Then he heard the screams of dwellers who had been trailing the dwarves who got caught by the spatters of the catapult loads.

He pushed free of Raisho's protective stance and stared in shocked horror back at the individuals who had been caught in the attack. The stench of burning hair and flesh filled the air, so thick breathing was almost impossible and even then was the stuff that summoned nightmares in the stillness of night.

The dwarves gave anguished cries and started forward, but Juhg knew the only thing the brave warriors could have done was provide a brief release from the burning agony that befell the unfortunates who got caught in the catapult shot. He stared in open-mouthed horror, the buckler and hammer heavy in his arms.

In only a few heartbeats, the terrible event ran its course and the flaming things who had once been living flesh and blood dropped in their tracks and burned where they lay. The fog swirled over the still forms, yielding and making pockets as concession to the great heat.

Then the suspension of the moment was broken as a half-dozen other catapult loads filled the air, arcing high from out in the fog-swaddled harbor.

"'Ware!" one of the dwarves shouted hoarsely. "There's more of 'em comin'!"

The dwarven leader called his warriors to order and led them deeper into the safety of the alley. Glancing back, Juhg saw three of the pitchblende-and-rock catapult loads smash against other homes and shops. Before he'd drawn a breath, more catapult loads arced by high overhead. He felt the impact of the catapult loads striking their targets and the ground. Black smoke curled up, twisting and threading through the fog, turning the moving mass of low-lying clouds murky.

Juhg ran, following Raisho, who followed the dwarves. They reached the end of the alley and turned again toward the harbor.

A catapult load dropped onto a wagon full of dwellers as it careened across the street. Two Boneblights savaged the group of dwellers in the wagon bed, their great tusks and claws and scythes bright with blood. Then the horrifying sight disappeared before Juhg's eyes as the pitchblende load dropped squarely onto the wagon and turned it into a fiery wreath of flames.

Pitchblende spattered across the rumps of the horses, setting their tails alight and causing them to panic. The driver tried in vain to control the rampaging animals, but he was covered in flames himself and fell from the seat.

At the end of the street, the horses tried to take the corner too fast. The wagon came up on two wheels, then twisted and fell all the way over, spilling pitchblende and rock, as well as flaming dwellers and Boneblights, across the cobblestone street.

The dwarves Juhg was following ran through the street intersection, stepping around the dying victims. Clad in flames, one of the Boneblights stood up suddenly and drew back its scythe.

The dwarven leader blocked the scythe with the long hilt of his war hammer, then swept the Boneblight's legs from beneath it. By the time the creature landed on its back, the dwarf reversed the hammer and smashed its skull to a thousand pieces. The bones spasmed, then relaxed.

Skirting the pile of splintered ivory that had once been a Boneblight, Juhg again followed the dwarves. The other flaming Boneblight snapped a hand out and caught hold of his foot. He fell, sprawled out across the buckler, and began kicking to free himself.

A shape flew from the sky, descending with the speed of a crossbow quarrel. The falcon flew straight and true, then slammed its talons into the Boneblight's face. The talons probably would not have harmed the creature, but it provided enough of a distraction that the Boneblight reeled backward and released Juhg's ankle.

Raisho reached back and helped Juhg to his feet, pausing only long enough to smash the Boneblight's skull as the falcon flew away.

Gazing across the street, Juhg noticed an elven warder carrying two small dweller children from a burning building. Juhg waved to thank him. The warder nodded and hurried along, favoring an injured leg.

Closer to the harbor now, the street turned more steep. With the light mist covering the cobblestones, the street grew slick. Juhg fell twice, nearly bringing Raisho down one of those times.

Catapult loads continued to smash against the town. Much of Greydawn Moors was already burning. Smoke warred with the fog, which was now beginning to lift, whether because the magick that had bound it no longer worked as well or because of the heat of the burning buildings and homes, Juhg wasn't certain.

Out in the harbor where the fog grew thinner, the massive bulk of ships appeared. From his position along the docks, Juhg clearly saw the goblinkin ships and the fierce warriors aboard them.

The goblinkin had come to Greydawn Moors.

The sight nearly knocked Juhg from his feet. The unthinkable had truly happened. Cold fear filled his body from head to toe.

"There!" one of the dwarves called. "They're rallying in the harbor!"

Following the dwarf's outflung arm, Juhg saw that dwarven groups had joined together to make a formidable force. Human sailors and elven warders raced to add to their numbers.

But the effort appeared to be too little, too late. The sheer numbers of the goblinkin in a short time would overrun the island's defenders after the enemy ships reached the harbor. As it was, the large mass of warriors drew fire from the catapults aboard the goblinkin ships.

Then a bolt of green energy sizzled through the sky, splitting into five forks that destroyed five pitchblende-and-rock loads in midair. Cherry-red rocks dropped into the harbor and threw up great clouds of steam.

"Craugh," Raisho yelled in triumph.

A ragged cheer broke from the dwarves as they raced along the harbor.

Bouncing on his toes, straining for height and throwing himself up to peer over the shoulders of the dwarves, Juhg spotted the wizard's pointed hat advancing rapidly to meet the goblinkin ships at the shoreline.

Frustrated with not being able to see properly, Juhg took his leave of the dwarves and raced to the nearest warehouse. Flames wreathed the top of the building and pitchblende still oozed from the eaves, where a direct strike had set the roof on fire.

Breathing rapidly, lungs burning from the smoke that eddied in the salt air, Juhg watched in disbelief as Craugh walked rapidly to the shoreline. Grandmagister Lamplighter hurried along at the tall wizard's side.

Arrows struck the boxes of cargo and the wooden docks around Craugh and the Grandmagister. But the goblinkin archers didn't fire with complete impunity. Elven archers took positions along the shore and on ships sitting at anchor. Although drastically outnumbered, the elven archers still proved steadier and truer than their goblinkin counterparts. Also, the elven longbow shot farther and more powerfully than the short bows used by the goblinkin.

Brightly fletched elven arrows sped across the harbor water and found target after target. Goblins staggered back with arrows piercing their flesh or tumbled over the ships' sides as the vessels fought the outgoing tide to reach the shore.

Timber cracked.

Juhg flung himself from the warehouse, just before the roof gave way and the structure came crashing down. Smoke and cinders billowed out, chasing him as he raced toward the Grandmagister and the wizard.

Craugh stopped at a high point between two of the main wooden docks. He spoke and gestured, and Juhg could feel the power of the spell building. Judging from the amount of the mystical force and how quickly it worked, Juhg knew the wizard wasn't so much summoning magic as he was releasing it.

A sapphire-blue nimbus suddenly rose from the ground in front of the wizard. Rock and hard-packed earth split asunder in front of the wizard and the Grandmagister, then an amethyst tower thrust forty feet into the air. The base of the tower straddled the land and the harbor water.

The Tower of Shrikra's Calling, Juhg thought, recognizing the structure of the thing. Amazement swept through him. The Tower of Shrikra's Calling was one of Greydawn Moors' defensive spells. But since the island had been summoned from the sea and inhabited, no one had ever seen it. When people talked of it, which they seldom did, it was only thought to be a legend, a myth.

But it wasn't.

Juhg glanced up the gleaming amethyst sides of the Tower to the golden horn that sat at the very top. According to the legend, the Grandmagister could use the horn to summon the monsters that lived in the Blood-Soaked Sea.

Even knowing the legends were true now, and possibly even the part about being able to summon the monsters that gave the sea its name, Juhg didn't hold out much hope. The creatures hadn't ever been seen in the harbor waters. And wherever they were, it was going to take too long to get to the island to be of much good.

Still, Craugh and the Grandmagister started running up the circular stairs.

Several of the goblinkin ships had reached shore, but they had suffered tremendous losses. Dead littered the decks, all of them jutting elven arrows that offered mute testimony to the warcraft of the warders.

The goblinkin crews swarmed from the ships, obviously eager to plunder and pillage. Many of them headed for the Tower of Shrikra's Calling but were met by the dwarves, humans, and elves who intercepted them. Blades and axes rasped against each other. Goblins and island defenders were cut down in droves. Fresh blood spilled into the harbor water, turning it a different color than normal.

Catapults fired again and again, pelting the Tower with pitchblende and rock. Flaming pools clung to the amethyst surfaces of the Tower and the circular steps.

Juhg gained the steps and hurried up them. He threw the buckler away, fearful that something would happen to the Grandmagister, despite the fact that Craugh was with him. He was rounding to the seaside again when he noticed that the goblinkin had pressed the island defenders nearly to the base of the Tower.

But the combined defensive forces of Greydawn Moors held the invaders there. Juhg kept running, feeling his breath wheeze through him now and a painful stitch start in his side.

Glancing up, he saw that the Grandmagister and Craugh were almost at the top of the Tower. A pile of flaming pitchblende nearby reflected in the gold finish of the horn. He pushed himself on, glancing at the dizzying panorama below as the harbor battle swung below him.

Movement out to sea drew his attention. At first, he thought it was the billowing sails of the ships locked in battle. Several of the goblinkin ships were now embroiled in deck-to-deck skirmishes with human and dwarven pirate crews.

But the movement belonged to a trio of dragonets. Much smaller than their massive cousins, the true dragons, the dragonets remained rare and surly creatures. Bereft of the true intelligence of the dragon race, the dragonets were driven by cruel and constant hunger.

Twenty-five feet long from snout to tail, with a thirty-five-foot wingspan, the dragonets possessed hatchet-shaped heads, long beaks filled with serrated teeth, and a whiplike prehensile tail they could use to hang from or grasp prey with. They had powerful hind legs and tiny gripping hands at the forward edges of their wings. Dulled brown and green scales covered the tops of their bodies, and light blue and white patches adorned their underside, making it more difficult to see them in the air. At least, they were more difficult to see when they were directly overhead.

Each of the dragonets carried two riders on special saddles. All six of those riders were human. The ones in front guided the beasts with a harness, and the ones in back carried bows.

As Juhg ran, the dragonets circled the Tower of Shrikra's Calling. Their leathery wings actually touched the stairs on occasion. He dodged back, narrowly avoiding an arrow one of the archers sent speeding at him.

He reached the final leg of the stairway, just as the Grandmagister ran to the horn and blew.

The force of the magic knocked Juhg from his feet, sending him sprawling back dangerously close to the railing. He hit hard enough to have the breath knocked out of him. Dazed and trembling, he forced himself to his feet, ready to go to the Grandmagister's aid.

One of the dragonets perched on the railing, holding the amethyst bars in its two cruel hind feet. The lead rider was a lean human of middle years. He wore short-cropped brown hair and a short chin beard and mustache that made him look handsome and dangerous at the same time. He wore riding leathers and a hood. A sword gleamed at his side.

The man stared at the Grandmagister with a mocking smile. "Well, Lamplighter, you see, I've found your little hiding place after all. I told you all those years ago that you couldn't keep this place from me forever." He made a point of glancing south, across Greydawn Moors and up the Knucklebones Mountains, where the Vault of All Known Knowledge stood in shambles. "If you'd only capitulated, perhaps you could have prevented the deaths of so many of your followers."

The Grandmagister stood firm, even in the face of the dragonet. "Not true. Don't go putting their blood on my hands, Aldhran Khempus."

Juhg seized the man's name and memorized it, searching through the years to see if he had ever heard of him. There was nothing, and that was surprising because he had a very good and very orderly mind for remembering things.

But the Grandmagister seemed to know the man quite well.

"This Tower is fascinating as well," Aldhran said. "I find it somehow soothing that it does exist. With all the stories I've chased down over the years trying to find this place, I didn't know if it would be."

"The Tower is real," Craugh said in his strong voice. "So is the power of the horn."

"You mean, to call up the monsters that supposedly lurk in the sea around the island to protect this place?" Aldhran grinned as if he was a boy and the wizard had told him a good joke.

"Yes," Craugh said.

Aldhran eyed the wizard in open speculation. "You are Craugh."

Craugh said nothing.

"Over the years, we have crossed paths many more times than I have crossed paths with the Grandmagister."

"Pity you weren't more forthcoming," Craugh said. "Else you'd have been dead by now and of no bother to us at this moment."

Aldhran laughed, and the sound was strange when mixed with the noise of the battle below and the wind that whistled through the Tower and made the horn echo. "You do have your confidence, don't you, old man?"