<br/><br/>For the shade, failure was of a very low likelihood. In an instant the alleyway had gone pitch black, as if the sun had taken total leave of the sky, and there was the resultant and expected screams of terror that erupted.<br/><br/>Each of the men crumpled under the blows, thudding like oversized sacks of flour and potatoes into the snow and mud of the alley, and then Twilight was off with the women...<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>*******************************<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>A bit further into the city quarter, the metal refining plant and a smithy next door were the first of several complexes. A warehouse on the periphery appeared to be unoccupied...a cursory look at the interior showed a spacious ground level with a few stacks of crates and barrels sitting quietly in the wan light from the windows. At least two stairways led up to a second floor.<br/>