his spirits were high, but one afternoon he
simply closed his eyes and joined The Lords!
74 Shining Serpent had taken over by vote of the Warlocks there. He
sent back word asking The Hawk if he wished someone else. The Hawk told
him no, the Warlocks had chosen well, and he would leave him in
command. The tragic loss of a good friend and superb Warlock at such a
terrible time hurt everyone's morale deeply.
75 The next bit of news that came a few days later was even worse! A
package arrived from Shining Serpent. It contained a strange leather
hood into which had been sown two clear lenses made of some strange
material. On the sides of the hood were fastened two round, wooden
holes over which a strange cloth was fastened. The hood was drawn tight
to the neck by draw strings. "Put this over your head," instructed the
note from Shining Serpent, "and have someone throw a handful of spice
in your face."
76 The Hawk obeyed. To his surprise a little of the spice's odor
reached him, but nothing else. His eyes didn't even water!
77 "We captured these just a few days ago," continued the note, "our
scouts have seen every Epon soldier carrying a bag similar to the ones
these were in. It appears the spice will now be useless to us."
78 "That changes our whole battle plan!" sighed The Hawk. "Everything
we've worked on is gone. We'll have to develop a whole new plan."
79 The Lady Hawk picked up the mask. "The enemy HERE doesn't have
these," she commented, "and they don't know about the spice."
80 "Good Lords!" cried The Hawk, "She's right! Send word to Bright Star
at once! Ask him to send the entire supply of spice immediately!"