She nodded and ran after Damner, keeping him in range.

"I made Damner so scared he knocked himself out against a wall.

Damner fled down the hall, heedless of the fighting animals.

Damner's will was on him again, forcing him to relax.

He shoved past Damner, still heedless of all opposition other than hay.

Damner leaned against the wall, gathering his will.

She concentrated-and suddenly Damner was in terror.

Damner made a visible effort-and Finesse stiffened, as Knot was released again.

Then Damner was gone.

Then Damner screamed.

To minimize waste, the builder, Nick Damner, works exclusively with eight-foot units of plywood, glass and wallboard.

Knot dropped the bale, backed away, banged into a wall of hay, recoiled in horror, charged forward, saw the bale on which the holograph image stood, froze in panic, would have fallen except that there was hay littering the floor, and realized that his only real escape lay outside this chamber, beyond Damner.