************************************

Perilous Jack enters the grove of TowaShrooms, immediately leaping to the highest he can find in an effort to gain the element of surprise.

However, the Ogres have already seen him. As he runs to catch up with the fast-moving Ogre Mage, he finds his way blocked by an Ogre and a mixed group of Wolves and Worgs. The Ogre bellows his fury, shaking a massive club studded with iron spikes, and the wolf pack leaps at the warrior.

As the Wolves and Worgs leap from their perches, Jack picks them off one at a time with deft throws of the Dancing Dagger. The wizard-thief Elzbeth Danzibar was no lover of the bow or sling; she preferred the swift and silent flick of the wrist and a dagger that would return to her hand.

The last of the Worgs falls just as the Ogre reaches him.

Turn to 29.