The party is in Deal for only a few moments when Renton is surprised and overpowered by a large, ugly man, who holds a knife to Renton's throat. The man demands that the rest of the party back away and drop their weapons. Friar Sidrach boldly steps forward and, calling upon the Five, casts the man into a stupor—long enough for the rest of the group to pounce and hog-tie the man, who is assumed to be Tuck. When the man recovers, he is wroth and violently curses his captors. The party soon locates a house in Deal where the man has been staying, and they move the captive there to interrogate him in private.

The man proves a difficult nut to crack: he lies, threatens, swears, and pleads for release. Friar Sidrach eventually harangues the man into admitting that he is Tuck. The friar then returns all of the goods Tuck had stolen from the villagers of Deal.

Valerius takes over the interrogation. Every time Tuck acts surly, Valerius, with a snap of his fingers, somehow makes the binds cinch tighter, strangling Tuck. After a few constrictions, Tuck offers to give the party coin in return for his freedom—but the party assumes that Tuck must know something that has made Tim so eager for his capture. Something worth more than a few coins. Tuck claims not to know anything about the Seeker's helm, Godwin, Larry, or other magical treasure. St. James advocates just killing Tuck and being done with it, but others suggest that Tim, or maybe even the Seekers, might provide meet justice for Tuck.

The party decides to bring Tuck directly to Tim without delay. They lash the bound and gagged Tuck upon Bear's back, and set off after dark for Heremac. Friar Sidrach preaches a lively sermon as he travels, infuriating the captive.

Meanwhile, Mendelor, scouting ahead, is stopped in his tracks by a weird fire which suddenly erupts in front of him. As the flames recede, Mendelor finds a wax tablet which says only "Leave Tuck here and continue on your way." Arrows begin falling into the party's ranks. Wyk, at Valerius's command, beats Tuck senseless—ostensibly, to prevent any escape attempts. The party dashes off the trail and heads for the woods with arrows raining down. The unseen opponents seem able to see the party quite well in the dark.

Suddenly, several members of the party, including Coric, St. James, and Valerius, are frozen fast and cannot move. The party attempts to drag their friends through the snowy woods in the dark, while arrows continue to pour down. Suddenly Bear collapses, asleep—nearly crushing Tuck. And then a terrible, hissing worm, nearly thirty feet long, appears out of the dark woods, biting and stinging with its wickedly barbed tail. Mot is hurt, even though the friar swears that the worm is really only shadows and vapor. Once again, the friar acts boldly: at his entreaty, the Five dismiss much of this evil magic, restoring St. James to his faculties and sending the worm back to the Pit.

A familiar voice sounds from the dark, calling on the party to surrender Tuck and continue on. Friar Sidrach steps forward to parlay with the unseen maker of demands. The voice, however, claims to have such a superior position that he is not interested in negotiating. He only repeats his demand, and the Friar concedes. He brings Tuck out into the open, and a couple of Gory-Moon rucks slink forward to drag Tuck into the dark.

The party guesses that the mysterious Godwin is undoubtedly behind all of this. After a vote the group makes for Godwin's complex near Deal, suspecting that the old hideout has been reinhabited. Instead, the complex is still empty and the party decides to make camp there. Friar Sidrach consults the Five about pursuing Tuck, and receives the foreboding answer that "Ashes and Sorrow Await."

The next morning the party returns to the scene of last night's ambush, and Mendelor quickly picks up the tracks of nearly a score of ruck-men and one human heading toward the Ruckish Hills. This group is clearly bearing some sort of heavy burden—probably Tuck. After following the trail for a while, the party comes across a scene of carnage: four ruck-men bodies, two stabbed in the back and two with their throats slit. This was likely the scene of Tuck's escape. Mendelor finds tracks, indicating that the rest of the ruck-men and Godwin took off from this point in pursuit of Tuck.

The party soon catches up with the ruck-man band. The ruck-men squint, sulk, and whine in the sunlight, allowing the party to creep close enough for a surprise attack, which commences when Valerius somehow launches a great, flaming bolt hurtling into Godwin. This marvel is followed quickly by the Friar, who causes the area around Godwin to suddenly become as quiet and still as an empty choir loft. The rest of the consortes fire a barrage of arrows and sling stones, and Gory-Moon rucks begin dropping like flies. The party advances, keeping up the assault. A swarm of biting gnats covers the smoldering Godwin, who screams and rolls around on the ground, and is soon still. The rest of the ruck-men are quickly killed, and party picks up Tuck's trail, headed south. Valerius searches Godwin's charred remains and finds a ring, a packet of some curious dust, and a very strange, egg-like object.

Following Tuck's trail, the party hears a great commotion ahead and smells acrid smoke. Horns blare in the distance. Rounding a corner, the party beholds a sight so horrible as to instantly displace any thought of pursuing Tuck. The village of New Hull is falling before an army of Black-blade rucks: hundreds of the heavily armed and armored monsters are in the process of butchering the town levy, while screaming, terrified villagers flee south towards Heremac. The party falls in with the diaspora, a miserable scene of confusion and sorrow: children separated from their parents, old villagers unable to keep up, stunned men and women stumbling south in shock. The Friar and the rest of the party offer what little comfort they can to the refuges. They soon come upon a company of Black-blades blocking the path, trying to herd up the villagers.

At Sidrach's urging, the party attacks. The rucks number almost a dozen regular Black-blades and half as many officers. In a hard and bloody fight, almost everyone is badly hurt. Mendelor is cut down, and only Friar Sidrach's ministrations bring him back from the brink of death. The ruck-men defeated, the party bears the limp Mendelor south and unto the gates of Heremac.

The town is in chaos. Rumors fly fast and furious about the ruckish invasion: the Seekers at the siege have been wiped out; Kirke has fallen; Heremac stands alone.