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That was the easy part

He’don the weathered stones despite his spiked cli boots He’d had to slide between the sentries posted by the Roses on the surrounding hills The Wizard Houses of the Red and the White Rose had laid siege to Raven’s Ghyll after the lord of the ghyll, Claude D’Orsay, betrayed theood shape, better than he’d ever been Most wizards were soft, since they usedJason, on the other hand, had been training under the tender hand of Leander Hastings, who favored five-mile runs before breakfast Jason was only seventeen and Hastings had been around for more than a century, but it still wasn’t easy to keep up with the lean wizard

Turning his back to the wind, creating a ss was always on hi But the risk seee of the abyss

He’d be lucky to ood chance Hastings would kill him when he found out what he’d been up to

Soade wizard and holder of the fraudulent Covenant signed at Second Sister--the document that threatened to enslave the Jason was not: he was a cake-eater, born to privilege, former Master of the Game, heir of an aristocratic Wizard House Jason was an underpowered street punk, a e

Hopefully D’Orsay had no idea that bad neas co down the hill toward hiht like this Hopefully he could locate the Covenant and be aith it before anyone kneas there

If he couldn’t find the Covenant, he’d look for D’Orsay’s legendary hoard of weapons--the last legacy of Old Magic That ru the Roses at bay

At the very least, he’d scope out D’Orsay’s fortifications and find out how hyll If he could succeed at any one of those things, Hastingsso out in London, watching and waiting for so than watching the Roses watch D’Orsay

When Jason finished his cigarette, he shrugged into his backpack and began the painfully slow descent to the floor of the ghyll To call it a trail was a stretch--he’d chosen it for its obscurity D’Orsay couldn’t possiblypath that led into the ghyll

Jason had hoped the weather would let up once he got below the shoulder of the peak, but the biting wind still slaed at his extre to rip him off the mountain

Ahead, a yellowish e for the weather and time of day An odd color for any season Jason eyed it warily, extended his gloved hand, and spoke a char He didn’t know if the problem was in the charm or in himself Wasn’t that Shakespeare?

He tried a couple ly yielded to histo shreds that the wind carried away

By noas dark in the ghyll below, the peaks around hiht Lamps kindled in Raven’s Ghyll Castle, at the far end of the valley The dark shape of it bulked through the swirls of flakes and blowing snow

He was able to reater speed as he neared the bottoradual switchbacks Until he rounded a corner and blundered into a iant cobweb made of thick, translucent cords--nearly invisible in the failing light

It was a Weirnet, a ifted He tried to back out of it, but it was incredibly sticky, and every move embedded him further

So much for a surprise attack Jason forced hiht ar the hilt, he pulled it free and sliced carefully at the tendrils within reach The net parted reluctantly It was designed to resistht streaked across the sky like a cohyll with phosphorescent light

Now the fun begins, Jason thought

It took ten preciouswas just broad enough to slide through