Black Barry immediately charges for the doorway, but the guard and cultists silently block him. Hooflepoof pulls up his hood, making himself invisible, and also charges, managing to get past them and out into the street. Black Barry tells them that he just wants to get out, and after looking at each other for any reason why they shouldn't, decide to let him pass. Then two of the cultists and the guard enter the house, leaving the other two cultists to guard the door.

Outside, Elfo and Nars gather Linan and her family up and protect them. Karat comes back near the back of the crowd to keep an eye on what is going on, and Elbolin also watches but doesn't yet make a move.

Gourbain, now trapped inside the house, thinks he might be able to get away by sneaking out a different door, but one of the cultists sees him almost immediately and takes a swipe with his scimitar, which fortunately misses. Gourbain aims his draconic breath toward the doorway, lashing out a torrent of fire which kills one of the cultists and injures the other cultists and the guard. Not expecting to face such a weapon, they panic and run back out the door. There they run into a short skirmish with Hooflepoof and Karat, who kill another of the cultists and the guard. The two remaining cultists run away, but Karat is close behind them this time, and manages to catch up to one, wrestle him down, and tie him up. Hooflepoof chases after and kills the other.

Some of the others, meanwhile, are scouring over the bodies of the dead for any valuable items. Black Barry, Hooflepoof, and Bilbo each take a scimitar and a cultist's costume from the carcasses, and Black Barry also takes a chain shirt and a shield, and Bilbo takes a spear.

Karat aggressively questions the captured cultist, asking them why they are trashing the town. "We're here for the loot," he says, "that will help usher in the reign of the Queen of Dragons". Asked who is this queen, he says "praise Tiamat's glory", but will offer nothing more. He reveals that their camp is less than a day's march to the southeast, that their commanders are Rezmir and Frulam Mondath, and that they number in the hundreds.