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Neither was armed with any physical weapon. "Will you spare my life and that of my son if I do?" the Sorcerer called.
     
    The leader seemed to consider. "Funny you should ask that." Then he gestured to his men. "Take them."
     
    The soldiers came toward the two, their bills poised. They looked grim.
     
    "Do I have your word you will not harm us if we submit?" the Sorcerer asked.
     
    The leader did not answer. The soldiers closed in. That was answer enough.
     
    "That's what I thought," the Sorcerer said. He flung out his right hand, throwing powder. It glinted in the sunlight, forming the shape of a dragon that glowered at the soldiers.
     
    The men backed hastily away, their fear of the Sorcerer becoming justified.
     
    "Don't be fooled by his tricks!" the sergeant cried. "It's illusion! It has no substance! Just march right through it and cut him down!"
     
    The men hesitated, but then, at the continued urging of their leader, they braved the dragon and found it was true. It was only a specter fashioned from the powder, having no more substance than that powder. It was theoretically possible to conjure real animals, but this was well beyond the Sorcerer's ability, while illusion was cheap.
     
    But the delay had allowed Parry and the Sorcerer to retreat into the house. Stage One had been negotiated: the soldiers now had no doubt of the Sorcerer's presence and nature.
     
    "Surround the house," the sergeant commanded. "Don't let them escape."
     
    Parry watched from the windows as the men spread out. They remained wary, though they had overcome the illusion of the dragon.
     
    "Now torch it," the sergeant said. "And kill them as they come out."
     
    "But what about spoils?" a soldier demanded. "There must be good stuff in there!"
     
    "Our orders are to kill the Sorcerer and destroy his house," the sergeant said firmly. "No spoils here. Anything you took could be enchanted to kill you in your sleep. That's how they operate."
     
    The soldier was silent. His fear of the supernatural overrode his greed. That was just as well, for the Sorcerer would have had to kill any men who entered the house, lest they interfere with the escape.
     
    They hauled brush and straw to the walls of the house, half the men working while the others guarded them with their bills. When they had a fair pile of dry material, they brought a torch and started the fire. It blazed up vigorously, sending clouds of smoke aloft.
     
    The Sorcerer turned to Parry and nodded. This was exactly what he had planned for. They had navigated the situation without a hitch.
     
    They waited until the fire was raging all around the house. Then they climbed to the loft, where the Sorcerer opened a panel he had prepared. They had an avenue to the outside, now concealed by the billowing smoke.
     
    The Sorcerer changed form, becoming a hawk. He spread his wings and flew up into the swirl. Parry became a crow, and followed. Changing shape was relatively easy, once the appropriate level had been achieved; it was the change of mass that was difficult, and the mastering of the ability to use the altered body to fly. As far as Parry knew, they were the only two human beings in France who could do this. In time Jolie, too, might accomplish it.
     
    "There they go!" a soldier cried.
     
    "I got the hawk," the sergeant snapped. "You take the crow."
     
    Parry saw to his dismay that they had two crossbows, and seemed competent in their use. The sergeant let fly his shaft, and it transfixed the hawk. Parry swerved-and the shaft intended for him missed, brushing his right wingtip.
     
    The Sorcerer fell. Parry could not help him, for he was defenseless against the deadly shafts of the crossbow. He winged strongly toward the trees, losing himself among their branches before the soldiers could reload.
     
    The soldiers had known what to expect! They had come prepared for the form-changing. This had been a more competent trap than the Sorcerer had realized. Their accuracy of