‘Do you believe them? Do they mean to go north?’ Etanna asked right as the wizards had been dragged out of the room to get a meal.

‘I do,’ the commissioner said, ‘they have both hurt. There is no place for them in the known world anymore. That is all they can do.’

‘But they will die, will they not? No one ever goes into Waai.’

‘Maybe. Perhaps they will meet their equals there. Either way, they are not our concern once they are out of the hills. Take them off your mind, they will be gone soon.’

‘I know. Still, I cannot help but find their road tragic.’ Etanna looked out the door of the office, at the two wizards being escorted through a long hallway.

‘What do you want to do, then? Keep them here?’

‘Yorell did our people a great service. Should he not be regarded a hero by us? Should we not take care of him and his companion?’ 

The commissioner smiled. ‘Yorell is not with us, Etanna. He is not concerned with our interests; he killed for himself. He is not welcome here, and neither is anyone that comes with him.’ The commissioner had made up their mind, and had decided to trust their senses. 

Yorell and Ma’an carried a darkness that did not need to be spoken about, but which would chase them in these lands forever. They wished the two gone, out of both hate and pity.

‘That may be so, but are his intentions not negligible compared to his deeds? I suppose he still took lives…’

‘Exactly. He took lives and ran. Keeping him here will only cause Kosoci to be provoked. Their scouts are already in the lands nearby. I do not want to give them over to Kosoci, so all we need to do is get them out of here, then we cannot be held accountable for whatever happens to them.’

‘Right. I will make sure they will leave before dawn tomorrow. They will be escorted past Rhuys, and brought to the Forest Road, from whence they came,’ Etanna said.

・・・

Yorell and Ma’an were given a meal and new, warmer clothes before they were returned to a cell and left for the night. 

Both had not said a word. 

They had beds and blankets, but little heating, though the walls were thick enough to keep the real cold out. They would have to wait for the sun to get their possessions back. Luckily, the two were still in such a state of shock that they did not think about it. 

Ma’an sat wrapped in a blanket on one of the beds while Yorell slowly paced along the outer wall. 

'...!' He stopped in his tracks when he heard Ma’an sob quietly, and rushed over to sit next to him. 

Ma’an was crying. He squeezed his palms between his knees. 

Yorell held him and spoke: ‘What’s the matter? Are you hurt?’ 

It took a moment before Ma’an found a voice to speak with.

‘I don’t understand…’ he muttered between shaky breaths, ‘I feel so bad…’ He spoke with words Yorell could not reproduce, so he assumed he fell back into the ancient language. 

Hearing Ma’an like that made his eyes water as well. ‘I know…’ he whispered, ‘but you’re going to be okay, dear.’

‘No…! I want to leave… I want it to be tomorrow,’ Ma’an said. He looked up at the ceiling in an attempt to stop the tears.

‘Of course, so do I… They will let us go, don’t worry.’

‘I was so scared, when I woke up…’ he whispered.

‘Me too, me too… But we can do this together, okay? We are capable of many things.’ 

Those last words were barely more than a breath on Ma’an’s cheek, but he knew what was meant. 

While there were great limits to their powers right now, if they spared their energy and focus, they could probably overpower their captors. 

For now, however, Ma’an was still too affected by the narcotics and far too overwhelmed by emotion to control his breathing or steady his movements to use any keiïa.

‘Come, let’s sleep. Tomorrow we’ll just continue our journey, okay?’ Yorell said, and he gently helped Ma’an onto his back on the bed. 

He kept sitting by him, thinking of tomorrow. His hand stayed on Ma’an’s side, just to feel his breathing, and eventually both fell asleep.

・・・

The next morning, they were awoken abruptly and taken outside. 

They had been locked in a large, stone building, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, for only a handful of smaller buildings were near. 

They were brought to stables, where they were given back their luggage and clothing. 

The weather was drowsy, but rain and snow were still far away. 

Etmeyn rangers were roaming around the place with food, equipment, gear, clothing, and tools. They were in an outpost, still rather far from the centre of Etmeyn power, but well within its domain. The escort would consist of about twenty rangers, including Etanna. 

When they had quickly eaten and dressed for the journey, the commissioner bade them farewell, and Ma’an and Yorell left the outpost. 

Ma’an sat behind Etanna on horseback, while Yorell had been given a horse to himself for he was too tall to share it with a ranger. 

They departed from the outpost about an hour before sunrise. 

In complete silence, they rode along a narrow road in single file. The two wizards had slept horribly, and now they held their heads down, dreading the long way ahead. 

Their horses walked in the middle of the group, it was clear they were not yet free. 

Every now and then a scout from the front would come to Etanna and speak to them. Ma’an did not pay any attention to it and did not attempt to understand. He was incredibly tired, and the warmth from the new clothes created a warm cocoon to doze off in. 

They had received thick coats of dark red fabric. Over it, they wore a cloak with a hood. It was all too big on Ma’an, but he could get around fine in it. 

His eyes wandered slowly across the passing landscape. The group was sheltered by bushes and boulders on either side of the unpaved road. The land had become much more hilly further away from the Barlmay River, and through the bare trees, the Taut hill was visible to their right. It was a dark mass in the twilight, covered by mostly grass and little specks of trees. 

Some of the rangers bore short arrows and crossbows. Ma’an felt nauseous at the idea that one of those may have shot him, and his neck hurt. It had taken a while before Yorell had mentioned the bandage on his nape to him and Yorell had realised he had the same one. 

Etanna had then explained they had been marked, but the bandage was not to be taken off for three more days. It signified their criminality, and would prevent them from ever finding shelter in the west of Doku. 

The marking seemed to be stuck to the vertebra in his neck, and sent a pain deep into his spine.

‘I need to throw up,’ Ma’an said to Etanna, clutching onto their arm. 

Etanna looked over their shoulder in surprise, but did not quite seem bothered yet. They halted, dismounted their horse, and lifted Ma’an off to bring him to the side of the road. 

Confused rangers passed them, and Etanna told them to keep moving. But Yorell stopped. Etanna wanted to send him off too, but his concerned expression wouldn’t let them.

‘What’s wrong, Ma’an?’ Yorell asked, and he too dismounted.

‘Stay there,’ Etanna commanded, and Yorell reluctantly stayed. Ma’an became sick and threw up in the dead grass.

‘J-Just… hurt… It’s fine,’ he muttered, and he wiped his mouth with his sleeve. 

Etanna kneeled by him and looked with big, curious eyes. ‘Have you fallen ill, mister Tsueih?’ they asked calmly.

‘No, just the circumstances…’ Ma’an responded. He got up, rubbed his eyes, and went back to the horse, laying his gloved hand on his forehead to warm it a little.

‘It is probably the aftereffects of the anaesthetics. Nothing to worry about, but we should get going,’ Etanna said.

Yorell stared at Etanna. ‘...You should have been more careful with him. The dosage must have been too high for someone like him–’

‘I was not there, so I cannot say anything about that.’ They cut him off. 

At that moment, someone came up from the road behind them, a scout that was to scan for dangers coming up. Their horse galloped at incredible speed and stopped abruptly when they saw Etanna.

‘Kosocians are approaching!’ they yelled, ‘the Imperial Troops, at least thirty, all on horseback.’ 

Everyone was instantly alarmed, and without words, they mounted the horses again and started moving. The three horses galloped. Etanna spoke fierce words with the scout. 

Ma’an already picked up the sound of hooves far behind. They soon caught up to the rest of the group again. 

Etanna yelled at them, and in seconds the whole company was galloping. They went on like that for only mere minutes until the bushes on the sides of the roads disappeared and Etanna gave another command.

‘To the right, Yorell!’ they yelled in Dokian, and the group turned right, off the road and into the fields. 

Ma’an held on tightly to the Etmeyn before him, but his eyes were locked on the horses suddenly appearing in the distance. They were still small, but they were fast. Their horses had long legs and made swift turns around the boulders, crevices, and bushes. 

But the Etmeyn were more familiar with the environment, and knew every little pass in these haunted hills. They took several quick turns, went down and up slopes, and eventually the company bent to the north again. 

And to his surprise, Ma’an now saw the Taut hill incredibly close. It was an enormous hill, several kilometres wide. 

Despite the coordinated movements of the Etmeyn, all directed carefully by Etanna, the Kosocians came ever closer. They were now clearly in sight, and followed their every turn. 

Fortunately, they were not known to shoot well on horseback, and so they would not use their firearms until within about ten metres of their opponents.

‘Yorell, whatever you do, stay with me!’ Etanna said.

‘Understood,’ Yorell replied. 

Etanna then yelled something, and the group split up into three. Horses flew in every direction. Yorell stayed close behind Etanna and went to the right, towards the hill. 

Ma’an stopped looking back and instead pressed his face against Etanna’s back, only occasionally checking if Yorell was still there. 

Two others rode beside them, the rest had gone in different directions. Several of the Kosocians had gone after them, but had trouble following through the narrow pass they had entered. It was littered with fallen trees and uneven rocks. The Etmeyn horses were used to it and knew how to keep their balance, while the Kosocians inevitably slowed down. 

They were steadfast, however, and instead resorted to their firearms. 

Shots echoed in the hills. Ma’an squeezed his eyes shut. 

Etanna gave the command to open fire as well, and the rangers shot their arrows. 

More than a minute passed like that, and then there was an uneasy quiet. 

Only a single horse was heard. 

The Kosocians had fallen.

So had the two rangers. 

And Yorell was gone.