Perhaps it was the thought of Stranghold that had summoned the little man, or maybe there was some sort of spell that alerted him, because the next thing Joachim heard was the soft, perfectly-regimented sound of hands clapping, then there he was, in the flesh, the new leader of the Black Sun. He was the same size as many of the children, so he was able to get pretty close to where Joachim was standing before being spotted. He stopped clapping suddenly. It was strange, because he stood there with his hands in mid-clap position, as if he was carrying a small invisible box that was so precious he mustn’t make another movement lest it break. Joachim locked eyes with him. What he saw answered his question unequivocally. He turned, and ran as fast as he could.
In the blink of an eye all hell br
