The city was filled with the scent of myrrh, pine, and lilies of the valley, flowers pleasing to Aktos. At the large cemetery beside the Institute of Magic, they were burying Archmage Romenford, lord of the Guild, supreme sorcerer of the Academy of Sciences, who had held this honorable post for twenty-one years, never once disgracing the pride of Aktida and carrying out his most complex duties with honor. He died a heroic and untimely death at the age of sixty-six on the battlefield of Mainor, on April 2nd, 1454. Along with him perished about a hundred young and old sorcerers of the Institute, both students just beginning their training and those already holding the titles of academicians and doctors. Thanks to their sacrifice, the gates of Mainor were held until reinforcements arrived from Petista.

  King Emerlun was the first to lay a wreath on the lavish grave of the Archmage, shed a single tear onto the stone sarcophagus, and gave a long farewell speech in which he mentioned many of Romenford’s services to the Fatherland. Elderly wizards, their gray beards twisted into braids, wept openly, kissing the pale, cold forehead of the Archmage and hastily clearing the way for the line of mourners from Mainor. The younger ones laid their bouquets with restraint and indifference, whispering among themselves, loudly discussing possible candidates for the election of a new Archmage. The Guild could not remain without leadership for long.

  At last, the body was committed to the earth, and the people slowly and gloomily flowed back through the war-scarred streets of the city, returning to their homes. As the carriage rolled back toward the palace, Emerlun leaned close to Maclevirr’s ear and murmured:

  "It’s a sin to say this, but… I couldn’t have come up with a better way to get rid of Romenford. Dying in battle was perfect for him, considering I was planning to accuse him of treason, or simply hire assassins to deal with him. But this way… to the people, he’s a hero, the Church will elevate him to the status of a great martyr, and for me, it’s the perfect cover. Praise Aktos, he won’t be interfering with us anymore…"

  "A shame," Maclevirr grumbled, lighting his pipe. The carriage jolted around a corner and clattered along the cobblestones. "I would’ve liked to look down on him just once… But you’re right, it’s a sin. Especially since Romenford truly did a lot for Aktida. Only his predecessor outdid him, that old sorcerer who officially banned necromancy."

  "I wish I could bring those days back. The happy days of my late father. And you, Siegfried?"

  The kingdom’s chief spy smiled into his thick mustache.

  "Oh, those were good days indeed. If it were only possible to turn back time…"

  A week had passed since the day Cassander’s army was defeated near Mainor. Work was underway; the city walls were being hastily rebuilt. Convoys brought steel, timber, and stone from nearby industrial towns to help restore the capital's strength. The granaries were once again filled with winter wheat harvested in the Northern Province. There was plenty of food. Shops were reopening, peddlers wandered the streets, messengers galloped through the spring mud. Factories puffed smoke into the sky from blast furnaces casting swords, shields, and armor.

  A few days before the funeral, the remaining regiments that had survived the battle were assembled by their commanders in the city’s main square, where the king and his officers personally awarded the heroes with the "Defense of Mainor" order. Geonar himself pinned the badge onto Kairu’s chest, wrapped in a brand-new gray cloak. He looked into Kairu’s eyes, cold and grim for a brief moment, pierced the fabric with the pin — and suddenly flinched, turned pale, and whispered:

  "It’s you…?"

  "Yes," Kairu said quietly.

  "And the second one…?"

  "Alive. In the next row."

  "Thank you," the general said seriously. "From me and Ringus—personally. Telerand received the letter intact and took the correct steps, the ones we were hoping for. See? I kept my word. You’re not on the gallows, but among heroes, and worthy of wearing this order. Honestly, I should give you another one — from me… but of course, the king knows nothing of your mission. And it’s better that way."

  "No doubt," Kairu nodded, and Geonar slowly moved on, drawing identical silver badges from a box.

  The king, ministers, and generals had been meeting daily for a week now, but still hadn’t reached a consensus. Lainter and Hugo fiercely bargained for a few extra days to prepare for the offensive, awaited reinforcements from Petista and Vaimar, and pushed their case, trying to dissuade the king from rushing into action, all while bracing for tough and serious talks with Geonar and Felm. On one of the warm, windy April days, when the blood-soaked field had thawed and was cleansed of filth by the risen waters of the Dellivrine, Yuf found a moment to step into the small room by the hospital where Kairu was temporarily living. The Twelfth Regiment was inactive for now. Kairu had brazenly shirked construction duties, instead gathering a pile of books in his cell and immersing himself in history, particularly the late Ancient Nocturn period. Among the thick manuscripts on his desk lay the massive doctoral dissertation of Academician Petros, written in 1422 just before the First Derelz Expedition.

  "Hello," Yuf said quietly, gently closing the door behind him. Kairu looked up from his papers, sighed deeply, and leaned back in his chair. "I’ve been meaning to talk to you for a while…"

  "Oddly enough, me too," Kairu muttered.

  "I won’t bore you with politics. Dalid has already explained much. You stated your position, and I hope it was a well-considered one."

  "Of course. I’ve thought a lot about your and Petros’s ideas. I think there’s a grain of truth in them. But I feel it’s more important now to follow Petros’s advice, and try to take the Lake of Aktida from Saelin."

  "You’ve changed your mind quickly," Yuf noted. "A few months ago, you were accusing me of not defending Mainor with you, and now you’re thinking of deserting yourself?"

  "Circumstances have changed."

  "You saw the future again?"

  "Something like that. At the very end of the Battle for Mainor. Or maybe… I don’t even know what I saw. Whether it was the future, the past, or maybe even a present that never happened. I don’t fully understand it yet. But I feel that Ashley Nielder really might give me answers."

  "What are you planning to do?" Yuf asked directly, looking him in the eyes. "You're not going to the Eastern Province with the army, as I understand?"

  "No, I’m not. The king is delaying the counteroffensive anyway. We need to move as early as possible."

  "The king will keep delaying the counteroffensive as long as Hugo and I keep pressuring him," Yuf said calmly. "The absolute latest will probably be early June—after that, I doubt I'll be able to hold him back. In the meetings, we're trying to get him to make concessions to Vaimar in exchange for military support from the nobility, to boost exports, at least through the mouth of the Ilvion and northern ports, to sway the Nocturns to our side, share some land with them. He's resisting as hard as he can. I fear that one night Maclevirr might send assassins on the king's orders to slit my throat in my sleep. You understand? We need to think quickly."

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  "Keep pressing him," Kairu nodded. "I'm fully on board. In the meantime, it's time to pack up, saddle the Hellsteeds, and desert off to the Eastern Province. The only thing that’s bothering me is who I should take with me."

  "So… what are you thinking?"

  "I'm thinking I'll take everyone," Kairu said reluctantly. "Originally, I only wanted to take Woody and Rita. Joanna—I still don’t understand who she is or what game she’s playing, but she helped Rita get the chest from the Garamant’s mansion, and now she wants to help me, apparently. Norton… I’d rather not take him, but he’ll follow me no matter the cost. Better to have him nearby so I can keep an eye on him. Viggo and Remiz… At first, I wanted to leave them here, I admit. But I have a feeling they simply won’t let me leave without them. You can’t just break off old friendships like that. That’s how I see it."

  "I understand. Of course, you're stealing my best fighters."

  "Yuf, do I really have a choice? I don’t want this. It’s just the way it’s turned out. And another thing… If I die, it won’t be that big of a loss. More like another failure for Saelin, who let the Seer slip away. But I’m scared to drag into this Viggo and Remiz, who’ve been through so much with me. It’s certain death, and besides, the path ahead of me is unclear. Where I’ll go after Onklag, is it the north, south, or east—I wish I knew. I’m guided only by intuition and the threads that lead to the secrets of Petros, Saelin, and the Lake of Aktida. And I’m giving everyone a choice—come with me or not. I'm not forcing anyone."

  "I'm glad you've managed to make at least one decision," Yuf said with a half-smile. "Listen, I don’t have much time. I just wanted to stop by and hear your plans... I’ll stay in Mainor for about another month, until Hugo gets settled in and we sort things out with Vaimar. Then I’ll appoint Dalid as my trusted agent. He’s an amazing and incredibly useful person. Together with Hugo, they’ll manage and complete the underground network. As for me… I think I’ll come join you. If you’ll have me on the team."

  "What?!" Kairu looked at him in surprise. "I mean—of course I’m glad! But I don’t understand. How can you leave the cause you’ve nurtured for so long?"

  "The diamond—what, you think I didn’t nurture that too? I can still help. I know the Eastern Province well. I’ve got a lot more experience than you or Rita. That’s one. Two—I want to meet old Ashley and her husband Roger, chat about life."

  "Wait, do you know her?"

  "A bit. I’ll explain later. But I do think that it’s a great idea, that you meet her. And there is three…” Yuf stumbled for a moment, then sighed and looked defiantly into Kairu’s eyes:

  "I think I owe you. For not telling you the truth about the expedition, when I arrived to the village two years ago. I put you into a terrible danger, and I am sorry for that. My only excuse is that I also did not fully know the truth about Petros’ plans. But now… I’d like to make it up to you."

  "Okay, then… Should we wait for you in Onklag?" Kairu said, utterly confused.

  " I think I’ll get there in about two weeks if I ride a Hellsteed hard. Wait that long. Set yourselves a firm deadline, then go wherever you’ve planned. I’ll catch up and find you eventually, no matter what. But wait two weeks, that won’t hurt anyone."

  "Of course. Well then, take care, friend," Kairu said, firmly shaking his hand and once again looking closely into his dark, endlessly tired eyes on the scarred, wrinkled face. "You’ve been through a lot since that night at Nubel’s mansion..."

  "What did you expect? In a year, I’ve traveled half the world. Not a moment without fear, adrenaline, fury… May Aktos spare you that kind of life."

  "Do you remember what I told you back in the tavern?" Kairu said grimly. "I don’t discount your merits. But facts are facts."

  Yuf only darkened, released his grip, pressed his lips together, turned away, and left without saying another word.

  ***

  They gathered, as always, quickly. Yuf didn’t visit them again, he stayed constantly at the embassy, or the Palace, or in secret meetings with the Cassians, whom he and Hugo, with the help of Dalid, Jeremy, and many other guys from the Twelfth Regiment, had managed to recruit. Dalid brought news and often visited with them in Viggo’s ward, who was lying there with broken bones. But just two weeks after the battle, the bones had more or less set, and the healers began magical procedures. Another week passed while Viggo lay there waiting for the potions and spells to finish working, then he got up and made it on his own to the new room he was assigned to share with Remiz. Rita helped as much as she could, pleading with doctors for better rooms, and in the end, managed to arrange accommodation for everyone in the hospital’s apartments, where they prepared for the upcoming departure.

  Their goal became clear one evening at the end of April. Within a couple of hours, they discussed what they believed were all aspects of the mission, calculated the amount of provisions needed, the things they had to take with them, and the very next day, they packed up everything necessary. Then Kairu, Rita, Remiz, and Viggo left through the city gates, walked a little farther out, and stopped on the riverbank near a new bridge being hastily built at the narrowest part of the river. Standing there, they whistled loudly, all at once.

  They weren’t sure the result would be what they hoped for, but what was meant to happen did. On the far side of the river, four massive steeds appeared at once. White, chestnut, black, and bay.

  Kairu held his breath, as always when he saw these magnificent animals from afar. They simultaneously galloped onto the bridge, arched through the air in graceful arcs, sped across the creaking, fragile planks faster than the wind, scattering the workers, and stopped short in front of their masters with a deafening neigh. That sound was heard even in Mainor, and far away, another black steed answered, who was grazing on the other side of the Dellivrine, at the edge of the Enchanted Forest. That’s where Yuf Lainter had left him.

  "Well, that’s good," Kairu muttered. "They’re here, they’re alive, and that means we can ride out tomorrow. No point wasting time."

  "Exactly," Rita agreed, mounting her Steed. "No reason to delay. We have to go as soon as possible…"

  Officially, the arrival of additional forces from Vaimar was expected on May 10th. According to Dalid, who stopped by the hospital one last time that evening, on May 15th or 16th the king intended to march. Yuf and Hugo were already fighting for every extra day, planning some kind of operation to delay the troops, but persuading Emerlun to change his decision was extremely difficult.

  There was good news as well. Telorand, Geonar, and Felm had almost unconditionally supported Yuf and Hugo, after which the generals and underground leaders signed a mutual assistance agreement in case the crisis erupted ahead of schedule. In any case, they could count on support from the commanders, and Yuf was immensely relieved by that.

  "You should hurry," Dalid advised with a sigh. It was already dark outside, the city had quieted, blinking sleepily with the lights of candles and lanterns in the windows. "Yuf asked me to tell you that he won’t be able to see you off tomorrow and that you should head south along the main road as soon as possible. The army will move much slower than you, but if you get delayed in Onklag before departure, they might be able to reach Boreain by then, igniting the entire Eastern Province like a massive dry haystack. Surviving in such conditions will be extremely difficult. Better to deal with everything quickly and get out of there, doesn’t matter in which direction. By the way, why are you so sure you’ll find Ashley Nielder at home?"

  "Well, she’s definitely not in Asternia or in Mainor, we checked," said Woody. "In fact, she hasn’t left her home for several years, and it’s unlikely she’d do so during a war. Her magical sphere is turned off for some reason, she doesn’t want to connect with the outside world…"

  "Well, she used to have all her food and supplies delivered by special order from Boreain," added Rita, "and now, most likely, her estate is being maintained by peasants on subsistence farms in Onklag itself. They could easily support her not-so-large family. So I doubt the war has affected her much. We bought maps, and finding her house after we leave the main eastern road and turn onto the Onklag path won’t be too hard… Well, at least not for me, I know my way around maps."

  "Let’s hope you know what you’re doing," Dalid shook his head. "Honestly, I’m glad I’m staying here. Of course, as an active member of the organization, it’s dangerous for me to remain in the city now—but the place you’re going is a thousand times more dangerous."