Carcer is willing to do anything to find the sword for Gawain; the Watch is close on his tail, following him to Twilight Canyons, a place where the elderly residents await death; death patiently waits for them to draw their last breaths.

In the race to obtain the second artifact, Cheery, Angua and Carrot venture into the Mines of Tak, where Cheery must confront the darkness in her past; meanwhile, Vimes and Sybil defend the Watch House from Doctor Cruces and her Assassins.