Veblen(disguised as Crystal) , who is firmly in the grasp of the red dragon, is carried to Lancington along with Wynter and Fathan. Luthien follows along as well with his new companion, Cuddles the dwarf and the inker gnomes aboard their flying ship.
Shortly the ship comes across a traveling band of orcs led by none other than Tar-nok. They meet and discuss what has happened, and Luthien fills Tar-nok in on what Darkstorm intends to do with her daughter and that her real daughter is in fact on board the gnomes’ ship. The two are reunited and the orcs head toward Lancington to set things straight. It is at about this point that the White Lady joins the group.
In the meantime Veblen uses his telepathic link to his wife, Miranda (who is also with Luthien aboard the gnomish ship) to inform her as to where the party has been taken and what Darkstorm intends to do. Armed with that information the group formulates a plan.
When Lancington is reached Tar-nok brings her forces into the city and then goes to see Darkstorm with her elite troops. Within minutes combat ensues with Darkstorm’s men caught completely off guard. A battle takes place and Veblen manages to capture Darkstorm and takes him to a balcony outside and attempted to dump him over as the Fey Queen (or her dragon) sends a fire ball in his direction. Whether the shot was intended to kill Veblen, Darkstorm, or both remains unclear. In either case Darkstorm took the opportunity to teleport away, and the frustrated Queen soon followed suit.
The group is reunited and Veblen is given back his natural form. Fathan discovers the price of using his newfound powers as his age increases dramatically. It would seem that the more power he draws upon the older he gets.
With the battle over the group prepares to retire for the evening, and Fathan in particular is ready for a good night’s sleep.
