"There anything good in that stupid book?" asked one of the men sitting on the floor of a dead end alley between two buildings. "The way that hag fought for it, there better be."
"Recipes for healing potions," said the other thug as he leafed through the book they'd stolen. "For making wood waterproof, flames of different colors. There's contraceptives. That might come useful. Most of it's useless except for heat oil."
"You poor, sorry, negligible idiots."
Before they could react to the unknown voice, both thugs were restrained by the air around them. It pressed against their whole bodies, immobilizing them as if they'd been completely tied up. Then, they were thrown to the back wall of the alley and held aloft against it.
"Rok," cursed one of the thugs.
"Worse," said Kier. "Much worse."