Alptraum is whisked from Rephidim to the Xenean capitol, Safar, where he is kept in a secret room in an inn, possibly made for the smuggling of slaves. Once Rephidim passes away from Safar, Alptraum is allowed to leave, and he meets up with Nekara once more. Alptraum goes to the markets to look for Autumn-Storm, rather than waiting for her to look for him back at the inn where he was staying, but spots another Savanite lady who leads him into an alleyway, only to ambush him there, revealing herself to be a sorceress of "Dusk-Hand," dark goddess of the Savanites. Alptraum, while distracted by the sorceress, is surrounded by several cultists, and overpowered.

Many days later, Alptraum recovers his senses from a drug-induced stupor, to find himself on a sacrificial altar in a basement "temple" devoted to the cult of Dusk-Hand. He witnesses a poodle being sacrificed by means of a horrible crystal "glove" that saps out his life force, turning it into a liquid form that is vampirically devoured by the cultists. The sorceress offers Alptraum a chance to live, if he will drink, too, and join them, but he refuses. When the sorceress goes back to the pedestal to retrieve the glove to sacrifice Alptraum, she finds that the glove is gone … and that one of the "cultists" was actually Autumn-Storm, who then slugs the sorceress with it, and signs for Alptraum to run.

Alptraum needs no further encouraging, and flees, then regroups with Autumn-Storm back outside. They return to the Running River Inn, and meet up with Nekara, who makes plans to get them out of Safar quickly on a ship that will be heading across the ocean to the Gigi Coast.