Ma’an was a shaky mess sitting on the bed in their room. 

He had his face in his hands and was completely silent, barely breathing. 

Yorell closed the curtains and sat by him. ‘Tell me about them, Ma’an. I want to know what we are afraid of,’ he said softly.

‘They are afraid of me, that’s why they are after me. I know things. They're afraid I’ll come back and tell everyone about it. That wizard we saw was Yiü, she was my colleague. She saw me kill someone. She’ll want me dead.’ His voice was tremulous.

‘But she fled from you back then, did she not? Why did she not kill you immediately?’

‘They need permission to kill people. And obviously they’ve gotten that, otherwise she wouldn’t be here. But… I suppose she was also scared.’

‘What I mean to ask is… can you win a fight against her?’

‘I don’t want to—‘

‘Of course not, but in case it happens; what can I expect?’

‘If it’s just Yiü, I could render her harmless… but she’s not alone. There are more Stargazers here.’

‘Alright, that’s all I need to know. We’re just going to the station tonight, in disguise, and we’ll get away from them, alright?’ Yorell put his arm around him. 

A couple tears rolled over Ma’an’s cheeks.

‘Hey, look at me,’ Yorell whispered, ‘you’re going to be okay, dear. I promise.’ He held Ma’an’s face and smiled. 

Ma’an smiled back, his eyes twinkling slightly.

‘Are we going to do this?’ Yorell asked. 

He nodded. ‘Yes, we are. I don’t know how, but we will.’ 

They decided to take a nap now so they would be well rested at night, when they would set out to the train. 

・・・

But things did not quite go that way, for when they had been asleep for a couple hours, the sun had set and Daumat was dark…

The window of the hotel room started to break. 

It started carefully, with a small crack in the corner of the pane. The crack slithered up like a worm in ice. Then it split up and other worms went their own ways. 

Until it popped, and the window broke into a thousand pieces which flew into the room. 

'...!' Ma’an and Yorell awoke instantly.

‘Time to go,’ Ma’an said, and the two – who had strategically kept on their outside clothing – grabbed their luggage and left the room. 

They were quick and quiet, but so were their pursuers. 

Yorell left an envelope with money on the receptionist’s counter before they broke out through a small window in the bathing section downstairs. 

It brought them to the small street at the back of the building. It was clammy, deserted, and dark. 

Two hours until the train would leave, approximately forty minutes of walking to get there. They had to leave this very moment if they wanted to make up for the delays that would surely come. 

They rushed through the street, trying not to trip on boxes, bottles, cans, and whatever people had left behind or stored there. 

The moonlight and faint lamps illuminated their way somewhat, but also gave them shadows, which could be easily seen by people on the rooftops. 

They tried hard not to mind the footsteps above them on the roof tiles and copper pipes, but it was hard, and their hearts hurt from beating too fast.

The night had grown cold, and they started to feel it in their feet as they uncomfortably hit the uneven stones of the road. They now quietly ran, making turns when they could, but not losing their general course to the east. 

They went around the corners of street blocks a couple times, and then everything went quiet. 

There was only darkness, and they slowed down until they came to a standstill. 

Only breathing was heard. Footsteps had ceased. 

They squeezed each other’s hand as they caught their breath. 

They did not move for a few moments, then Yorell whispered: ‘Did we— ‘

‘Shh!’ 

They both listened carefully. 

At first they thought it had really become quiet, but soon they heard something. 

A vague clinking, as if random notes of a small harp were being played. It became steadily louder. It seemed to come from every direction, circling the wizards threateningly. 

They did not dare to move. 

A faint blue twinkling accompanied the sound, as if the air around them clashed and lightened, but the sound remained soft. 

Yorell and Ma’an frantically looked around at the lights and tried to back away from it, until their backs hit a brick wall with a thud and they clenched onto each other. 

Ma’an had enough of it and put his hand out into the darkness. 

Above them, a light appeared, and all was visible. 

The twinkling and clinking instantly vanished. 

Their eyes had to adjust for a moment, but then out of the brightness someone emerged standing across the alley from them. 

It was Yiü, dressed in a dark cloak and a mask much like Ma’an’s when Yorell had first met him, but this one had a different sort of star on the forehead. A brighter star.

‘Qi vinaï aüq, Maän?’ she spoke. 

Ma’an did not respond, yet looked at her intently. He did not lower his hand as to keep the light on, wanting to see her. He would not even blink. With his other hand, he held onto Yorell’s sleeve. 

It had been years since Ma’an had heard a voice utter a Qull’lië phrase.

‘Hiä echuïq e?’ Yiü asked. She asked how he had been.

‘Eë,’ Ma’an said, ‘hiäün?’ 

Yiü chuckled, startling Yorell, who still stood stiff against the wall and attentively followed Ma’an’s every action.

‘Iäti,’ Yiü said. She was doing bad. 

Many words followed, ones that Yorell could not follow, but Ma’an seemed to listen attentively, keeping the light on. 

Yiü’s voice grew louder and harsher as her sentences progressed. 

Until she fell quiet again.

‘That’s unfortunate,’ Ma’an said in the Ancient Tongue, which he had grown more comfortable with in the past years. 

And there his words ran out. He had nothing to tell her. She was angry, and clearly still hurt. 

She had been sent to Miranitia to find him, and kill him. Ma’an couldn’t help her with that. 

She spat at him not to speak in that language to her, but he did not really mind. When she took a step forward– 

He let the light go out.

It was a risky move, for the darkness gave Yiü room to move, but Ma’an felt completely trapped, stunned by the encounter he had awaited so long and yet had never truly expected. 

On top of that, he was confused by the time she took to approach him. 

She was still scared, which made Ma’an wonder what she had seen back in the Illic Woods. 

Perhaps she still thought about it often. 

What kind of memory was it? 

Would she still have dreams about it? 

Would Ma’an be like a monster to her? 

Or nothing but a pathetic traitor that just deserved a painful death? 

Whatever she was thinking about him, he jumped up and firmly planted his feet back on the stones, making the stones shoot up out of the ground around him. 

He held Yorell close, and before he had heard the sound of Yiü falling, they were already gone, running out of the street.

‘Was that her?’ Yorell asked.

‘Yes. You have to be prepared to fight, Yorell. Can you do that?’

‘Do you think I stand a chance?’

‘You do. Do whatever you can to save yourself. I’ll stay close, don’t worry, but I feel like we’ll have enough on our plate in a minute.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘She’s not alone.’ 

As Ma’an said that, footsteps were heard on the rooftops again. Multiple, just following.

‘We need to find lights. They have an advantage in the dark,’ he said. 

They moved out of the alleyways and into a larger street. There were barely any people as it was now at the dead of night, but street lanterns were on.

‘And now?’ Yorell asked.

‘We just keep walking. They won’t attack without a warning.’

‘I think we’ve had enough warnings…’ 

They walked at a quick pace and kept close to the buildings. This way they made quite some distance and it was not until they arrived at the station that they were disturbed again. 

The whole walk, adrenaline rushed through them and they barely spoke, focusing on the strange sounds they heard above and behind. 

But none made them turn around, and they steadily kept walking. 

Neither of them understood why they would wait so long to attack. It was clear that they were after them, so why not kill them on the spot? 

Perhaps they wanted to remain out of sight, perhaps they wished to observe him first.

The train station of Daumat was near the harbour of the city. 

The street lights illuminated some of the large sailing ships that rested there. In the darkness beyond lay dozens more, waiting quietly for morning. 

Yorell and Ma’an were not the only ones coming to the station that night. The train only departed once every few days, so every time many pilgrims took it. 

A sacred road north, to the edge of the world, for many. People with large suitcases and bags were walking along the boulevard. They still had about an hour left and the building was already in sight. 

Before they could set foot on the boulevard, however, they were finally halted.

‘So you just ignore us?’ someone behind them said in Qull’lië. 

Four people jumped off the roofs into the light. All masked like Yiü, who was one of them.

They surrounded the two fugitives. 

Ma’an and Yorell instantly planted their feet to the ground and made themselves ready to do what had to be done.

‘We have places to be,’ Ma’an responded to the person, who he recognised was Liëll, another one of his former colleagues. 

But Liëll had not been there in the Illic Woods. He must have heard all that he knew from Yiü.

‘Places to be, huh? What’s left for you, then? There’s not so many places for a murderer,’ Liëll said, ‘well, I suppose you found a companion, at least, but it’s one even worse than you.’ 

Ma’an and him looked at each other, but Ma’an was obviously left more vulnerable, so maskless.

‘Get to the point, Liëll. What have you been ordered to do?’ he said.

‘The Azure Caïch has personally commanded us to execute you. Yahre will not be spared either, for we have been informed he is wanted as well, and Kosoci does not care for his life anymore,’ he replied. 

With that, Liëll found he had explained himself enough, and raised his hand. 

Ma’an had not expected him to be the leader of this company. He was the brother of Ipa, the one he had killed. But it also did not surprise him that he took this as an opportunity for a legal vendetta. 

As soon as Liëll started moving his fingers ever so slightly, Ma’an returned to himself. 

Liëll tried to break his neck. 

An easy way to get the job done, but not so effective on a prepared wizard. Ma’an’s focus shifted into his bones before they could move or crack, and he kept them in place. 

But there were six more hands to be wary of, and a whole other body to protect – namely Yorell’s. 

Ma’an’s efforts rendered Liëll’s first move ineffective. To make a new one, he had to rely on someone else to jump in, or he had to switch to a different spell. Either way, he created a pause in which Ma’an could do something. 

And Ma’an decided that the most important thing was now to get Yorell out of the circle.

‘Follow,’ he said in Dokian, and he shifted the stones of the road so that all positions had changed. 

Yorell was still right next to him, but they now stood behind Liëll. 

Yiü and the other two a little further away, yet within good sight of Ma’an. 

While targeting Ma’an internally was the most potent attack, it was also the least accessible, for Ma’an felt himself the best and would always be one step ahead, constantly keeping his own body in place. Thus, they had to resort to external tools. 

Ma’an could not predict or control all his surroundings. 

Luckily Liëll was not alone, and the three behind him repositioned to seek for openings in Ma’an’s stance.