Russell, being almost 3,000 years old, moves ludicrously fast.

So before Pam knows it, she's literally deposited against the wall, freed from the chains--

her head spins and her skin feels as if barbed wire has been torn from it and her knees buckle and Eric is beside her and she reaches out to hold onto him so relieved


--and the Magister is flat on his back on the table, his flesh sizzling and smoking where a silver chain has been wrapped tight around his neck.