Anisa and the others travel back from the Akwavi-Kin Mangrove, going back to Piksil's inn. There, they find that some strangers have taken hostages in the inn. Anisa decides to act, and attacks with the help of her friends. They have a bit of a stand-off, until the villains try to escape with one of the hostages, Janice. Anisa attacks again, and though a couple of the villains escape, two are slain, and Janice is saved. One of the felled villains, a caiman Shiga, kills himself with a device set in his neck which releases an acidic toxin that dissolves his body in seconds. Anisa reaches the second stranger before he can do the same, but he expires anyway.