To the (Un)Death!

The Five-Minute Witchy War, Part 5

Picking up where we left off: our main characters are all gathered in New Orleans. The chevalier of the Big Easy just rescued Bad Bill from prison and hired him to kill Bishop Ukwu, a local ecclesiastical leader. Sarah and her team—along with two beastkind—are simultaneously trying to find Bad Bill and evade the Lazars, a pair of necromancers who are closing in on her.

Chapter 16

Sarah gets into a scuffle with the forces of the local vodun priest, and she realizes she still has a lot to learn if she’s going to fight in the realm of the supernatural. She does get her hands on one of Bad Bill’s possessions but she’s unable to use it to pin down his location.

Bad Bill, for his part, goes to collect his debt from Don Sandoval—the man who hired him back in chapter 2, and double-crossed him a few chapters later. He also meets up again with Jacob Hop, the faux-mute Dutchman who helped him when he was imprisoned.

This chapter ends with Sarah deciding to stay one more day in New Orleans, hoping to find Bill before the Lazars show up.

Chapter 17

Bad Bill and Jacob Hop infiltrate the cathedral in New Orleans and lie in wait for Bishop Ukwu. They have some discussions about the symbols in the church and the magic/religious things that happen there.

Meanwhile Sarah recovers Bad Bill’s pistols, which he pawned earlier in the book, and uses them for a location spell. It works this time. Thalanes and Calvin head off in search of Bill while Sarah goes to Lady Cathy’s place to change her clothes.

Angleton continues his search for Sarah, but he’s abandoned by Captain Berkeley of the dragoons, whose Tarock cards have sent him on an assassination mission against the priest of New Orleans. Obadiah Dogsbody also breaks ranks with Angleton and finds Sarah at Lady Cathy’s place.

Chapter 18

Despite being hired by the chevalier, to whom he owes a debt, Bad Bill struggles to complete his mission to kill the bishop of New Orleans. It clashes with his personal creeds and honor. As he deliberates, Calvin Calhoun arrives, using Bad Bill’s pistols as homing devices to find him. Captain Berkeley also interrupts the service and kills the bishop, then gets in a duel with Bad Bill. Berkeley only escapes by taking a nun hostage.

Meanwhile, the Lazars have finally landed in New Orleans and are hunting Sarah. They encounter Grungle and Picaw—the two beastkind—who fail to impede them, and wind up killed for their trouble. Sarah and Cathy escape Obadiah Dogsbody and head to the cathedral, where Sarah’s magical sight reveals that Jacob Hop is an agent in service to a mysterious titan.

The chapter ends with the Lazars following Sarah to the cathedral.

Chapter 19

Massive frantic combat chapter. This whole scene is Sarah and Bill’s team trying to gain the upper hand over the Lazars with silver weapons, while Berkeley finds Angleton and reports to him that Sarah is at the cathedral. Just as they are able to subdue the Lazars, Berkeley and the dragoons bust into the building. Sarah and Thalanes are pretty much drained of magic after fighting the necromancers. Sarah gains clarity in her vision of Jacob Hop and realizes that he is a manifestation of “Simon Sword,” and a herald of the Heron King. He can save her if she agrees to a marriage contract with the Heron King right on the spot.

Chapter 20

Things escalate here as the fight with the Lazars continues. More traipsing around the cathedral, firing off silver, etc. The action is linear in this chapter so I’ll avoid summarizing it beat by beat, you just need to know there’s a grapple going on between Sarah’s forces on one side and Angleton’s on the other. The major development has to do with Thalanes, who’s getting his soul sucked out by one of the necromancers, and Sarah has to kill him in order to save him from a worse fate. His sacrifice provides for her escape.

Conclusion

Sarah secures Bad Bill at the cost of Thalanes, and now Obadiah Dogsbody is on her side, while Angleton continues to pursue her. She also has a choice to make with regard to the Heron King’s marriage offer.

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