Ch. 2, Page 27

Gronan had turned quickly and kept most of the sand away from his eyes. It had given Tenser a moment when Gronan was vulnerable, a moment in which Tenser could have slipped his dagger into some vulnerable spot and seriously wounded his foe. But Tenser had a bolder idea in mind, and it required a tall bluff.

Tenser stepped back out of combat. "Stop!" Tenser said as forcefully as he could muster. "That magic sand carries with a curse. A creeping paralysis will soon overtake you...and can only be undone by swallowing a glowworm whole. I have a glowworm in my hand," and it was true; Tenser had just produced it from another hidden pocket. "Come at me again and I'll crush this glowworm faster than you can touch me."

Tenser stared hard at Gronan, waiting to see if his bluff would be called. For now, Gronan just stared back, as if pondering how plausible this all was.

In the silence of their standoff, they could hear the clanging of swords from the desperate struggle of Robilar and Terik to take down Captain Drake.  And, through teamwork, it was slowly working.

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