Unkempt and wearing tattered clothes, the men kept their weapons pointed at Leif and Ulrick. The rain left clean streaks on the men’s dirty faces.

My captor released me, pushing me toward my friends. I stumbled.

“Take off your cloak.” He gestured with his knife. A long thin blade with my blood on its tip.

Confused and alarmed, I shrugged off the sodden garment, letting it plop to the ground.

“Search her,” the leader ordered.

The man who had signaled the all clear checked me for weapons. I recoiled at his rough touch, but he was fast. Declaring me clean, he pushed me down on my knees next to Leif. He didn’t miss anything. Everything I could use in my defense was in my cloak. If I was ever given a second chance, I wouldn’t be so stupid again.

“See what goodies you can find,” the leader said.

While two men kept guard, the others searched through our belongings. It finally dawned on me they might be robbers, and I actually began to hope they would take what they wanted and leave.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have much besides coins and weapons. Piling the goods in front of us, they puzzled over the glass orbs and spilled my glass spiders and bees on the floor. TheglasstreeleopardLeifusedtocommunicatewithothermagiciansdrewlaughsofderisionoverwhattheythoughtwasatoy.

The leader picked up one of the bees and examined it in the firelight. “What’s this?” he asked me.

“Don’t tell him,” Leif said.

I glanced at Leif. He looked worried. Too worried. He wanted the leader to think they were significant. I caught on.

“It’s gotta be important, boss. They don’t have anything else with them,” the Signal Man said.

The leader grabbed my hair, yanking me to my feet. He jabbed me with his knife’s point in the exact same spot as before. Pain blazed. “What is it?”

“Glass…decorations…worthless.” I held still.

“You want to die over a few trinkets?” He twisted the knife.

I cried out as fire ringed my throat.

“Stop,” Ulrick yelled. “Tell him.”

“Hurry up or I’m going to carve my initials deep into your smooth skin.”

“There are jewels…hidden inside.” I relaxed a bit as he pulled his knife away. Warm wetness flowed down my neck.

“The spiders?” he asked.

“Topaz,” I said.

“The bees?”

“Emeralds and onyx.”

“How do we get to them?”

“Don’t—” Leif tried, but a guard kicked him in the stomach.

The leader dragged his blade along my cheek, leaving a trail of pain.

“Break it,” I said as if he had forced it from me. I hoped this was what Leif wanted.

With greedy glints in their eyes, the leader and three of his men tried to snap the glass items in half.

“Only I can break them open,” I said.

The leader thrust them in my hand. “Do it.”

The resultant whoosh and flash distracted the men long enough for Leif and Ulrick to jump to their feet and snatch their weapons from the pile.

I broke all the glass. “Attack them,” I yelled to the three spiders and one bee that had been released, keeping the image of our ambushers in my mind.

The leader backed away as the bee flew toward him. Cries and yells sounded as chaos descended. Ulrick fought with his sword and Leif hacked with his machete. I dived for my cloak and pulled more spiders from a pocket. Breaking them open, I sent each one into the fight to add to the robbers’ confusion. A spider’s bite hurts, but doesn’t kill.

I pulled my sais, and checked where the leader had gone. Unfortunately, the Greenblade bee had stung him. His body convulsed on the floor as he died. I pushed the horrible image from my mind and engaged in the battle.

Swinging my sais, I knocked one man unconscious and trapped another’s sword long enough for Ulrick to disarm him. Within minutes the fight was over. The attackers surrendered.

Ulrick, Leif and I stood and stared at each other for a long moment.

Then Leif laughed. “Damn. For just a second, I thought you weren’t going to tell them about the spiders and had missed my hint. My heart actually ceased to beat.”

“I’m sorry for letting them through,” I said.

Leif waved the apology away. “You didn’t stand a chance. It was six against one, during a storm. I must have been tired to sleep through the rain. If I had known, I would have joined you. Here, hold this.” He handed me his machete. “Chop anyone that moves, I’ll contact the authorities.” Picking up his tree leopard, Leif stared into the glowing depths of the glass, sending out a message.

I moved closer to Ulrick. Two men had been knocked out, and three robbers huddled together and nursed the bleeding gashes and bite marks turning into red welts on their skin.

He glanced at me before returning his attention to the men. “Are you all right?”

I probed the wound on my neck with a finger. It throbbed. “I’ll live, but I wish Leif had healing powers.”

“Leif’s magic—”

“Useless in this case,” Leif said. “I could smell the foul things they’ve done, know they had no remorse for their actions, but couldn’t do a damn thing about it.” He rummaged in his saddlebags. “Ah, I do have one.” Firelight glinted off a vial of liquid. Leif dipped metal darts into the substance.

“Curare?” I asked.

“Yep. The closest town is Owl’s Hill. They’re sending guards, but it’ll be a while until they get here. I don’t want these guys following us.” He jabbed each one. “The town’s been getting reports about a gang of men robbing travelers. Called them the Storm Thieves.”