The party throws the bloody body of Jon into the cart. Coric suddenly claims to be sick and excuses himself from the mission, with Friar Sidrach's blessing. After Valerius severely admonishes him to keep quiet, Coric leaves and everyone else departs for Haldale.

On the road, Valerius and St. James examine Jon's body and the contents of the cart. There is nothing of value on Jon, and once out of sight of Heremac the party halts long enough to bury Jon in the woods. The cart contains thirteen casks, one of which is marked with an 'X.' Valerius confirms that something magical is in the marked cask; he and St. James secretly pry it open and find straw, rocks—and an old, rusty horseshoe that radiates magic. Valerius switches the horseshoe with a charm won from the ogres of Wimm Copse, and quietly seals the barrel back up.

After a few hours on the road, the party comes across a sizable patrol of Seekers, led by Brother Coston. After a brief interview, the party moves on.

A little later the cart is overtaken by four men dressed as pilgrims, who try to make some small talk with the party. The men are moving much faster than the cart, and Friar Sidrach, suspecting something amiss, travels on ahead with these four men—and is soon far away from the rest of the party.

Shortly before dark, the party encounters another patrol, made up of militiamen from Haldale. The patrol questions the party, and the party in turn asks if the patrol has seen the friar and the pilgrims—but the patrol hasn't seen anyone matching this description. A worried party steps up the pace. Suddenly they hear galloping from behind, and an unearthly wailing. A horse bursts down the trail, and clinging to the horse is Coric.

Mendelor collars the horse, and an exhausted Coric explains that after he left the group, he had cased about Heremac, uncovering new information. It turns out that Tim had been robbed of something valuable a few weeks ago, and he was very angry about this loss. Also, Tim had sent four men out from Heremac early this morning—probably the same four with whom Friar Sidrach had disappeared.

At Haldale, the party questions the watchmen at the gate, but they haven't seen the friar or the pilgrims either. The party takes lodging at a humble house maintained by the Bergenian Order and overseen by a monk, Brother Grover. As the party settles in, they are approached by a tall, thin man claiming to be their contact, Wilson. He has two pounds of silver, and tells the party that there has been a change of plans—they are to leave the cart and goods with him, and that the rest of their reward will be paid back in Heremac.

Valerius immediately senses something awry, and after careful questioning, the man cannot name Roger. The party begins intimidating the man with threats of death and dismemberment; he soon caves and offers that his real name is Kit Dunn, he works for Tim, and that a bunch of Tim's men are camped in the woods nearby. The man further tells that the "pilgrims" had beaten Friar Sidrach senseless a few miles before Haldale and left him unconscious with his donkey, off in the woods. Tim's men had also gotten to the real Wilson, and had taken him to their camp. The party forces Kit to lead them to the friar, who they eventually find, dazed but otherwise all right.

The party then forces Kit to lead them to the secret camp. As they approach, they see a bonfire and hear a loud commotion—soon they see a man beating another person. Fearing that the real Wilson is being murdered, the party creeps closer, and sees Larry—the same brigand-lord who had killed their old friend, Shakerly. Larry is viciously beating one of his subordinates to death with the pommel of a dagger, and on the ground in front of him is the broken, marked barrel from the cart.

The party quietly discusses the situation—Valerius reveals that he had switched his charm for the magic horseshoe in the barrel. The party decides that confronting Larry at this point would gain them nothing—and that since Valerius has the horseshoe anyway, the best course would be to speed to Bellenore and the rendezvous. On the way, Kit admits that Larry has been working for Tim, and that Larry had recently stolen something important from some Seekers.

The next day the party makes camp in the woods shortly after midnight, and sets up a watch. However, everyone inexplicably falls asleep, and everyone experiences wondrous dreams. Many see lost loved ones or images of lovely places; soon, everyone begins to have the same dream. The party members stand together, and are approached by a gleaming, smiling, bald man, dressed in the robes of a Gerardian friar and bearing a staff. Friar Sidrach identifies the figure as none other than St. Gerard, who addresses the friar by name. The man informs the party that they have lost what they had sought—and then tells them not to be afraid; the Five have use for them, should they prove strong enough. Finally, watch for the serpent, warns the man.

The man disappears and is replaced by a vision of a bejeweled book, which opens to reveal a hissing serpent within the pages. Deny temptation, trust in the Five, says the voice of St. Gerard. The book and serpent then disappear, and another vision appears: a sword, hanging in the darkness, its blade rimmed with fire. The voice continues:

When the lost are found
And the bound unloosed,
Only the just
May stand untouched.

The sword shatters with a blinding flash. Everyone wakes up the next morning, feeling refreshed and amazed at this marvel. The prisoner, however, is gone.

The party debates the next move: Valerius urges the party to press on to Bellenore, but Friar Sidrach believes that the horseshoe is a ruse. The party decides to return to Larry's camp, which they find abandoned. Kit's bloody corpse is discovered—evidently, this is Larry's reward for failure. The party then hears a moaning and finds a badly beaten Wilson, the original contact at Haldale. Wilson reveals that the real goods were in an unmarked cask, lined with lead. Larry had forced this information out of him, and then left shortly before the party arrived. Wilson also reveals the name of the contact in Bellenore: Pennington.

The party rushes back to Haldale, finding the town in an uproar—Larry had taken the cart, after his brigands roughed up several townsmen. Larry then tore out towards Bellenore. The party follows in hot pursuit, and soon overtakes the cart. A pitched battle follows with Larry and his brigands. The party dispenses with all of Larry's men, and as Larry himself attempts to flee the battle, he is cut down by Hamral. The party finds a potion on Larry, an axe, and in the lead cask, a rusty metal helmet. The party clears much of the carnage off the road and then pushes on toward Bellenore.

They soon hear approaching horses, and hide in the woods as the Seeker patrol led by Brother Coston arrives on the scene. The Seekers appear to be searching for something—probably the helm. The party lies low, and then continues on to Bellenore.

The party reaches its destination, and is soon approached by a fat, suspicious-looking man calling himself Pennington. Four attendants accompany him. Pennington demands to see the "goods." After seeing the battered helm, he hands over a chest of 10 pounds, silver. The party holds out for additional payment and Pennington reluctantly gives two potions: one containing healing waters from the Shrine of St. Albric at Coole; the other containing blood of St. Graeme, dragon-slayer and patron saint of knights.

The next day the party begins the return trip to Heremac.