CHAPTER XXXIX
in which the Silver Foxes are ambushed ...
You're Not Going to Like How This Ends Part I
With LeShrac taken down, Haas arranges a ceasefire and begins to treat with Grevis, who is the Sentinel of Equinos and LeShrac's other son. They're also joined by Thorn, LeShrac's other son.While Grevis seems open to considering Ricotta's negotiations and making sense of all the recent strangeness, Thorn tries to provoke continued hostilities. Mouse tries to push this emotional trigger with his mental abilities, only to be rebuffed by an amused Thorn who warns that they "won't like how this ends." Thorn walks towards the crater, with Glad looking after, wherein he preforms some unknown magic.
Suddenly, all of the Silver Foxes find themselves surrounded by darkness and feel as though they've been pulled elsewhere. Glad takes a polearm across the chest and retaliates with a massive surge of electricity that fries his unseen assailant and catches Eierryn and Ra'jira in friendly fire. The attack briefly lights up their location revealing a cave setting and a circle of Tuskers surrounding them. They quickly get to providing a light source and pouncing on their ambushers. Haas begins clawing and biting into a tusker. Mouse engages another. Glad blinks behind one and slits its throat. When Ra'jira recovers, he begins an archery assault, extending himself beyond the limits of exhaustion by sheer force of will. Eierryn takes a polearm to the torso and uses mental confusion on a nearby Tusker. As the gang fends off their attackers and slowly recovers from wounds through potion, they notice a suspicious presence in the shadows...the likely source of increasingly strong suppressive effects.
Glad goes invisible, blinks behind the odd presence, and begins burning it with a continuous stream of fire. Haas jumps onto the centaur outline and bites in, immune to the flamethrower thanks to Veckra's blessing. When Glad gets knocked back, he stabs into the centaur with his hidden obsidian daggers, until the centaur teleports away unseen, leaving the gang with one last Tusker who had been watching the battle passively from his post. He attempts to flee but Ra'jira brings him down. They learn through him that Thorn hired the Tuskers, but this particular Tusker wasn't overly fond of Thorn or interested in attacking the Foxes' party. They let him flee in return.
You're Not Going to Like How This Ends Part II
Sovelus sends Zojak to the Silver Foxes location to provide them escape. When they return to the surface, Haas continues negotiations with Grevis. He agrees to consider Ricotta's terms and requests two hours to think over his decision. Afterwards, the Brenthian troops withdraw into their walls. Inside, Ricotta shows them an imprisoned Thorn who was picked up by her elite soldiers while fleeing his battle with the Silver Foxes. They are unable to get definitive answers from him, but Mouse and Glad use the opportunity to gloat about Thorn's failure. The gang splits up and reconvenes back outside when its time to continue negotiations.