His master's office was placed in the attic of the tavern. It was large, split into two rooms, one was a waiting room and the other his office itself. Argo moved through the waiting room to a door on the other end, he fiddled with the doorknob but found it locked. “Master?” He called out.

“Try again kid.” He twisted the doorknob again and found it unlocked. He pushed through the door and entered the dimly lit room. His master sat on a chair, hunched over a stack of papers on the desk in front of him. A dark green cloak, similar to the one Argo wore, was strewn over his chair. “How was the trip back home.”

“How do you think?”

“Fair enough kid.” He slowly massaged his temples before flipping over a sheet of paper on his desk. “Come, take a seat.” Argo did as he was told. His master was a kind man, but his temper was firm. He had learned that first hand from his training. “So, what did you find out?”

“The man who killed my parents is a changer.”

“Assumed as much, it seems you found quite a dangerous target though. Anything else?”

“No. His trail went dead at my home, trailed into the forest before cutting off entirely.”

“And anything else of note on your trip?”

“Yeah. A group of bandits acting under a man going by Knowledge went after a companion of mine.” Argo took note as his master's brows furrowed at the mention of the man. “They were after a book he found at some ruins a few days from Galad.”

“Knowledge? Any idea what the book was about?”

“Yeah, music. No clue why they tried so hard to get it though.”

“There isn’t a reason behind its actions, it just moves in search of more knowledge. So long as you avoid it you should be fine. Something else has its attention right now, it has definitely forgotten the book. Make sure you don’tt remind it.”

“You know the man?”

“Yeah, though you’d be hard pressed to call it a man.” His master lightly shook his head. “It’s actually the reason I called you here.” He paused for a moment as he flipped through the sheets of papers which littered his desk. He lifted one, scanned the first few words and passed it off to Argo. “On my last job, I went past the Central province.” Argo took the sheet and began to read it as his master spoke.

“Wait this is-”

“A replica of the order that the bandits who attacked your village received.” He pushed back from the chair and walked across the room towards a cupboard whilst Argo continued to scan the documents. It named the council members, Gen, Kazar and Finton. He had seen this exact page before.

“How did they get it from you? You said you had it safely stored!” Argo lifted his gaze as his master returned with a sealed bottle.

“They didn’t. I’ve held onto it here ever since you returned.”

“Then how…” Argo trailed off as he took the sealed bottle and cracked off the wax. He unfurled the paper within. It matched the sheet that he had been reading exactly, the handwriting itself was the same. “Where did you get this.”

“From Knowledge, or rather a servant of it.” Argo’s eyes widened as he stilled. “Kid, it isn’t some petty thug. If it’s involved then you need to steer clear. Wait for more information before you make a move.”

“I already knew this would be dangerous. The man’s a changer, it was always going to be.” Argo bit his lip for a moment. “I need to speak with Knowledge, as soon as possible. Where can I meet him?”

“The Central province.” He shook his head and went back to his chair. “Damn, I shouldn’t have said that. Kid, don't make a move, not right now.” He bit his lip and glanced back toward Argo. “Maybe… if you had a more adept group. No, not even then, even with Galli and Ginny this would be too dangerous, and who are you travelling with? A random knower who is already on Knowledge's wrong side and some freshly initiated guild member?”

“The group I’m with changes nothing, and both of them are plenty skilled. Still, I’d go alone if need be. Unless of course, you are offering to come with me.” His master shook his head lightly.

“You know I can’t.”

“Then I’m going. These plans were the one piece of evidence we had found till now about the attack on my parents. Whoever commanded the bandits also commanded the man who killed them. If Knowledge somehow got a copy I need to find out where from.”

“Gods!” His master threw his hands into the air, the room itself seemed to tremble. If this had been for any other matter Argo would have dropped his complaints right then. His master's anger wasn’t worth being on the wrong side of. “Kid, get it through your head that I’m just trying to help you.”

“No, you aren’t Tor!” Argo screamed. His emotions escaping from his control at a rate far too fast for him to reign in. Tears began to brew in the corners of his eyes. “If you were then you would have been there to stop Cinn. He would still be here!” The sentiment had been brewing in Argo’s mind for years by this point, still, he knew the truth. Cinn’s death wasn’t his master's fault, it was his. He would never escape the darkness of that day, not so long as those who killed his parents lived.

His hands clenched down hard, a crack rang out from the bottle in his right hand as the glass splintered. He relented slightly and stashed it in a belt strap. His master looked at him with wide eyes, he had gone too far and he knew it. “I’m sorry. That was too far, I shouldn’t have-” 

The wind in Argo’s lungs fled almost immediately. He collapsed to the ground. “No, you shouldn’t have.” Tears began to form at the edge of Argo’s eyes, forming into ice as they carved lines down his face. The room’s temperature dropped tremendously. Cold that Argo hadn’t felt since the day of his initiation penetrated his bones. The air of his that had been stolen turned to steam in the ice cold air. Blood began to seep from the cuts the tears had made in his face, it froze quickly. “I won’t have you disrespecting me Argo. You know exactly why I couldn’t help you and Cinn that night. My presence would not have made a single difference.”

“I-” Argo began, but the air was too thin, he couldn’t speak.

“Kid, I’m doing this for your own good.” Tor walked towards him, a stream of wind carved towards Argo, feeding him the oxygen needed to stay conscious, yet not enough to stop the immense pain hammering away inside his empty lungs. “When I say that these people are dangerous I mean it. If it was just some random changer you were up against then maybe you could handle it. But if Knowledge is involved then that’s highly unlikely. I wouldn’t move against him… it. He is too strong. And if he’s too strong for me then you don’t stand a chance.”

“That's… not true,” Argo spoke in the moments he could. His lungs were screaming out, his hands had gone numb from the cold and his eyes were growing weaker by the moment.

“Find some other approach to find him.” He turned to Argo with cold eyes, eyes he had seen far too often. “If you can’t stand against me then you are not going to the Central province.” 

“I am,” Argo screamed out, his words came out quieter than a whisper. Tor turned to look at him, his eyebrows furrowed down and as they did he felt the wind, with the weight of a carriage crash down into his back. His brain ran rampant, he needed to do this, what his master thought was irrelevant. Pain wracked his body, the strike had broken several of his ribs. He pushed his hand in front of him, raising him slightly off of the ground.

“I thought I taught you better than to fight a losing battle.” Argo collapsed to the floor, every inch of his body felt as if it was being weighed down. Each piece of fabric attached to him clung to the floor with a force he couldn’t fight against. He fought anyway, his eyes grit shut with all his might as he forced himself onto his knees. “Lie down.” He slowly opened his eyes, his clothes were ripping from his body in their race to the floor. His master was the most skilled knower he had ever met. He knew he wouldn’t win this, it didn’t matter.

“I won't.” His lungs were hollow, empty of all air. Almost like strands he could see the wind in front of him, he reached forward, his cloak falling from his back and relieving him of its amplified weight. His vision blurred, but still, the air in front of him moved. He needed it. He stole the air from his master's control, taking in a sharp, painful breath. “I am going.”

Tor looked forward, confusion in his expression. Argo stood, broken, wind rampaged around him, yet it failed to make contact. He strained his expression slightly and the wind shifted, it fell towards him like a whip and yet it fell out of his control just before it made contact, dispersing into the air. Argo walked forward, his pain blinding him from recognising what was happening. 

“Tell me everything you know about Knowledge.” His eyes burned and his pain receded from his mind. Step by step he walked, the very clothes he wore trying to stop him, the cold trying to attack him and the air trying to escape him. And step by step those issues faded. Air returned to his lungs, the frost which had coated the edges of his face melted and his clothes became lighter. He walked unimpeded towards his master. Seeing him march, Tor’s expression widened and he stumbled slightly back, catching himself on his desk chair. A look of realisation slowly fell over his face.

“So that’s what's happening.” Tor ceased action. The wind spread back across the room like a blanket. The cold which had penetrated every inch of the top floor of the attic returned to normal, the frost which had begun to cling to his own clothing dissipating into dampness. The clothes on Argo’s body ceased in their desperate action to fall to the ground, returning to a normal weight. And Tor sat back down. “Fine then, take a seat.”

“Wait what?” His eyes widened, confused.