"To you, I'm but a dream in the night. To those who do wrong by my people, and harm others through deceit, I'm a nightmare!" Gryphon O'Conner wondered why the sorceress's latest summons contained the unusual words, 'Come without delay...no time for explanation'. Her instructions usually included dates, times, and places for his next assignment, but she never used language indicating such urgency. Every instinct told him he should have left already, but the sorceress could damned well wait. Any mission she had in mind required preparing his body and spirit. That preparation could only be accomplished by cleansing at leisure, in an enchanted pool. Besides, what was she going to do if he didn't jump at her command as he'd always done? Would she turn him into a creature everyone in the Order feared? Well, it was too bloody late for that!