As the convoy reaches a shabby fortified inn in heavy rain, Jakob of Thorn immediately takes command of the defense. Old, injured, and painfully aware of how often such last stands end badly, Jakob still forces order onto the chaos: he has the gates barred, the wounded seen to, horses tethered, and archers sent to the walls. Baptiste confirms that the pursuers are numerous and may not be human, while Sunny vanishes into concealment to do what she can. Jakob encourages Alexia to find courage, tells Duke Michael to protect her, and prepares himself for another desperate fight.

The attack begins at once. Alex, already shocked by the panic in the yard and by the sight of a guard bleeding from an arrow wound, realizes an arrow nearly struck her as well. Then one of the attackers drops from the wall onto a guard and kills him with a spear. Alex sees that the raider is not a man but a fox-like creature armed with a sword. When it lunges at her, Duke Michael knocks Alex aside, parries the blow, and kills the creature with a thrust. Knowing Alex is now a direct target, Duke Michael orders guards to accompany them and hustles Alex into the inn.

Inside the common room, Duke Michael identifies the attackers as one of Eudoxia's "cursed experiments." He demands the way to the back door, gives Alex a jeweled dagger, and prepares to flee with her through the rear exit while Eusebius checks the way. Before they can escape, the situation turns worse: the fire suddenly flares, the back door blasts off its hinges, and a tall sorceress enters through the scorched frame. With casual ease, the sorceress hurls burning force through the room, throwing Duke Michael aside and setting guards and bystanders ablaze. Alex, overwhelmed by terror and the smell of burning flesh, can only retreat helplessly as the sorceress fixes her attention on her.

Outside, Brother Diaz drops to his knees and prays with a sincerity he has never reached before. In the middle of the assault, Diaz realizes that his earlier prayers were often spoken from habit or ambition, but mortal fear has now made his faith real. As he clutches his holy symbols, he watches more monstrous enemies appear: a horned giant in spiked armor hewing guards from the parapet, arrows striking defenders, and a female archer with rabbit-like legs leaping onto the wall. The inn's poor defenses and crumbling walls prove wholly inadequate against these unnatural attackers.

The pressure on the gates keeps building under repeated blows from outside. Jakob remains at the breach, barking for steadiness and holding himself upright through pain, oath, and sheer will. At last the gate-bar tears free, the broken gates crash inward, and the defenders' situation becomes critical. Framed in the opening, Jakob faces the largest attacker yet: a towering goat-headed, goat-legged brute in rusty mail, armed with a massive studded club, which bellows into the yard as the enemy finally breaks through.