This time he gets a lucky angle, and his teeth fasten in Anders's ear, resulting in a bellow so close to his own ear that it makes his head ring. Anders flails, thrusting out a hand at him with threads of lightning crackling around it, but his blow lacks force and only shoves ineffectively at his shoulder.

The second blow, from behind, lands on the chain binding his wings and tightens in a punishing grip.

"Now you can open your teeth and turn loose, old boy," says Stonefell, in a tone that would sound wholly kind and reasonable if it weren't for the ugly undertone of amusement, "or I can pull just as hard as I can on this chain, and we can all find out whether your wings or Anders's ear gives way first. What d'you say?"