They were silent, each lost in thought. And Kairu suddenly almost physically felt the approach of their goal—this mysterious island somewhere far out in the ocean. A clear chain of events was forming; even if they had to make a detour, there would be no more surprises along the way.

  "Why did the expedition fall apart?" Rita asked. "Ashley said she separated from you and didn’t see how it ended, that Petros and Saelin somehow had a falling out…"

  "It was destined to fall apart," Konrad said darkly. "Absolutely everyone who was there—well, maybe except me, Ashley, and Axel—had their own agenda. Petros trusted no one, the others didn’t trust Petros and conspired behind his back. It was a powder keg bound to explode sooner or later—it was only a matter of time. But what exactly happened between them up there, on the Mountain—I don’t know. I left the game much earlier. It wasn’t until much later, when I returned to the Temple of Tornir and began to go over the memories again, that I spoke with Axel and Ashley, when I went through the process where Nubel and Saelin accused Petros in absentia of embezzling funds… Only then, step by step, did I begin to piece the mosaic together in my mind."

  "Why didn’t you tell anyone?" Rita asked anxiously.

  Konrad looked at her in alarm.

  "Because the surviving members of the expedition were still being hunted. I was being hunted. The druid who accompanied us in Regerlim. Axel—and most likely, he became another victim. Someone wanted us dead. Someone didn’t want the secret of Darius and Octarus to be preserved by us. I hid for a long time, traveled to Aktida, visited Axel in Petista and Ashley in Onklag, then returned and hid here. I saw them constantly… They followed me… Hired killers. Someone was very carefully covering their tracks in this dirty business."

  "Garamant?" Rita looked at Joanna.

  "Possibly," the Nocturn girl said reluctantly. "Garamant definitely knew about Darius and Octarus, and he wanted to find them. And I think he was also hanging around near Regerlim during the time of Petros’s expedition."

  "Garamant is dead," Kairu waved his hand. "The important thing is, the brooch, the key, and the parchment ended up with us. It doesn’t matter who betrayed whom anymore. We need to finish all of this… Konrad, where is the Shrine of Vaimos?"

  "A few miles from the ruins of the city of Ardrai. In the mountains surrounding the Duanmare Plateau. To get there, you need to go north through the Regerlim Forest."

  "To the druids…" Rita muttered.

  "There’s no other way," Konrad nodded. "Only they know the road to the shrine. And most importantly, find the exact clan we worked with. Then they’ll remember Petros, Nubel, Saelin… and Ashley. And they’ll guide you. But if you run into a smuggler clan—or worse, man-eaters—you won’t survive. Druids don’t like outsiders."

  "How did you manage to get along with them?" Kairu asked grimly.

  "Petros managed. In the north, you know, there are plenty of druids, they come into cities quite openly to trade or gather news. Anyway, Petros hired one as a guide, and this druid turned out to be an excellent expert on all the trails in Regerlim, and he led us through the forest, bypassing outposts of rival clans. But whether I can find him again—I don’t know…"

  A loud knock on the door sounded.

  "Are you finished?" It was Zaruok.

  "No!" Konrad barked.

  "Konrad, let me come in."

  The monk suddenly turned pale. He slowly got up and staggered as he looked toward the door where the abbot was approaching.

  "Sorry to interrupt your lovely conversation," Zaruok said as gently as possible, "but you, Konrad, are expected downstairs. And they also want to see Lords Kairu Kenai and Yuffilis Lainter."

  "This is my death," the old man muttered in a trembling voice.

  "No, this seems to be your new life," Zaruok shook his head. "If you choose to accept it, of course…"

  Konrad scowled. His expression was grim and withdrawn.

  "I’m going too!" Rita said in a tone that brooked no objection.

  "We’re all going," Yuf said firmly.

  As Kairu, staggering, followed Konrad and Ashley, he felt sick. His head was spinning, his thoughts far from the temple, and he barely recognized the guests standing in the hall next to Zaruok, who had gone down first. Only when Rita, behind him, cried out joyfully:

  "Dalid Eyring!" He suddenly came to and added:

  "Lord Geonar!"

  "Kairu Kenai, my boy!" the bearded general exclaimed. "The savior of Mainor! Is that really you?!"

  "So this is how you made history!" Dalid laughed, hugging him. "Now the most important man in the Aktida army—or what’s left of it—calls you the savior of Mainor. And to think you were one step from the gallows!"

  "And I got out largely thanks to you," Kairu murmured. "Dalid, I’m so glad to see you!"

  "And I you! It’s been half a year—no, more—since you left for your Eastern province. And I must admit, when you proposed that idea—to storm Saelin’s Citadel—I honestly thought I’d never see any of you alive again… But it turned out all right—praise Aktos…"

  "Are you insane?!"

  Kairu and Dalid turned at the same time. The portly abbot Zaruok had resolutely stepped between the hunched Konrad and Geonar. He began to speak, stumbling and agitated, but determined:

  "What rebel army! What mountain fortress! Just look at him! He’s old and weak. In your fortress, among smoking factories, on those construction sites—it’ll be a death sentence! You’ll kill him!"

  "Listen, Abbot," Geonar said slowly as the smile faded from his face. "For Aktos’ sake, stay out of what doesn’t concern you! There’s plenty Konrad can do, having completed the full fencing course in the temple school. The Fortress lacks professional instructors. No one’s forcing him to join our ranks when the war starts…"

  "Wake up! Half of Aktida and Vaimar already know where all the bricks and coal are being shipped from all corners of the country!" Zaruok cried in anguish. "We send you food, we maintain your communications, you’ve recruited half of our mages and fighters, forming elite squads… of suicides! Who needs this?! Your whole revolution and liberation venture is doomed from the start! I’ve been patient! But I won’t let you take Konrad too!"

  "Be at peace, dear Father," Konrad interjected firmly, causing Geonar to fall silent again. "Lord Geonar, Lord Eyring, I’m grateful for your trust, but I’m not going anywhere. I want to meet my approaching death within these temple walls, in peace and quiet, and your offer promises me no such end. I’ll die before we’re even a hundred yards from the temple! I’m being hunted, don’t you understand? I can’t live there—I’m scared. I feel safe only here…"

  "Don’t make any rash decisions, Konrad," Dalid said quietly. "There’s another reason. Look around you—look at the walls you’ve chosen as your refuge. This is a temple. These days, neither bandits nor pirates hesitate to burn temples and kill monks. And we know you’ve already been hunted before. Everything we’re doing is for your safety."

  Zaruok turned pale. Konrad remained motionless.

  Stolen story; please report.

  "Is this an arrest?"

  "You're a fool, Konrad," Ashley sighed wearily. "To Saelin, you're a potential witness to his crimes, and also the key to Octarus. Vergilius is dead, and you're the only one who knows where the second component of the time machine is kept... I also think it might be safer for you under the protection of these gentlemen."

  "I don’t want to go anywhere!" the monk said hoarsely.

  "We’re not rushing you," Dalid said politely.

  "You have until tomorrow morning," Geonar grumbled grimly. "And we strongly ask you not to do anything foolish. Believe us, we only wish you well."

  "Kairu, Rita, go to bed," said Ashley. "Zaruok, do a good deed, show them their rooms, and order your people to bring them some food. Konrad, I’d like to speak with you alone. About those times when we had to pull the same load in that expedition. The library is the best place for a private conversation."

  Outside, autumn twilight thickened. While waiting for the abbot, Dalid paced nervously back and forth in the hall. Geonar sat on a stool by the wall, staring thoughtfully at the clock. They were alone in the hall.

  Finally, Zaruok appeared.

  "You would like... to see the rooms?" he asked in a trembling voice.

  "Yes, that too," Dalid nodded. "But first... I have a mission from King Emerlun Winver of Aktida. A mission that is to be fulfilled even after the monarch’s death."

  "Ah. I know," Zaruok muttered. "You want to see the boy."

  "Prince Elliar," Dalid corrected.

  "As long as he’s in the monastery, he’s no prince!" Zaruok snapped. "And mind you, Konrad can account for his own actions, but the child, not even a year old and still nursing—him I won’t give to you!"

  "We don’t need him," Dalid answered calmly. "Not him, nor Lady Valena. I just want to make sure they both are all right. But mark my words: when the time comes, we will take him. Not in a year, not in two, only when he is old enough..."

  "He’s asleep," Zaruok said. "Sleeping peacefully in his crib. Downstairs. Would you like to see?" The last question was filled with barely concealed fury.

  "Yes," Dalid replied coolly. "We’ll come... from time to time. To check. To make sure he’s well. As always, Zaruok. Come on, don’t pretend you’re surprised. This isn’t the first time we’ve come here for this."

  Swallowing hard, Zaruok made an inviting gesture and entered the boys’ training hall. A staircase led downward, and the visitors descended into a large room divided into three sections by partitions. In the first, twenty tiny beds held peacefully sleeping children aged three to seven. Zaruok paused only briefly here, glancing quickly at the sleeping faces; the same occurred in the next two sections, where the middle and older groups rested. But the passage continued on, into a secluded cell with a small window near the ceiling. The room had minimal furniture—a stool, a table, and a rough wooden bed, and on it, wrapped in blankets, a woman slept—gaunt, pale, but not entirely stripped of the beauty once noted by King Emerlun himself. Beside her, pressed close, the infant prince dozed quietly, a pacifier in his mouth.

  "There he is," the abbot whispered, barely moving his lips, pointing to the boy.

  For a moment, Dalid stood in the doorway, gazing at Elliar’s face from a distance, then gave a short nod and left with Geonar. Zaruok lingered for a moment, looking with pain at Valena. Then he turned away, left, caught up with the guests, and led them upstairs, bypassing the library.

  ***

  "What did you tell them?"

  "Nothing important. I didn’t even tell them everything I know. And I don’t know much."

  "You know a lot more than we all thought... even back then," Konrad rasped. "You, damn it, were the only one who didn’t understand what was going on. That’s why they trusted you with many secrets. Maybe you’ll tell me something now that I never figured out while sitting here?"

  "Konrad," Ashley said calmly. "There’s no need to suspect me of anything. I survived the people who were desperate to get information about this dirty affair only because I retreated to my tower while the assassins were hunting you and Axel. And also, if you must know... I didn’t tell the children who betrayed us or how it all started. I told them I didn’t know. And I want you to keep quiet too. Do you know why?"

  "Why?" Konrad asked after a long pause.

  "Some things are better left underwater. Better not to rise to the surface. You and I are the last ones—well, except Saelin—who still remember those events. But as for me... I’d rather forget them. That’s why I agreed to come here, Konrad, and meet with you again."

  Konrad gave a crooked smile.

  "War is, of course, a tragedy," he said unexpectedly, "but it has one upside... It instantly makes you forget everything that came before. Our little troubles and quarrels stop mattering in the face of such global catastrophes. And it suddenly feels natural to extend a hand to someone you once hated. Am I right? Is that what you wanted to talk about?"

  "Exactly."

  ***

  The window in the belvedere stretched from floor to ceiling, and through the translucent curtains, Derelzfjord was visible in all its grim, icy majesty. The sun had nearly sunk below the ocean’s horizon, the reddish cliffs and snow-covered mountain slopes had descended into a deep blue dusk, where individual silhouettes were already hard to distinguish. But Yuf stood by the window, still staring at the pass they had come through, as if he might still see something there that could warn him.

  "I think we need to take him with us," Kairu said quietly, carefully slipping into the room and closing the door behind him. Yuf didn’t move.

  "Who? Konrad?"

  "Yes. Yuf, listen, we’ll have to go to Regerlim."

  "Are you insane? Sure, we’ve always discussed that route, though I secretly held onto a faint hope you wouldn’t be foolish enough to take it and would lead us to winter in Harkon, dear, warm Harkon… I’m ready for a journey to that damned place. But Kairu, you’re planning to drag along an old man who can barely get up from a chair to hug his own granddaughter!"

  "Yuf, we have no choice." Kairu came up next to him and followed his gaze. "Only he can guide us and help find the right druid clan, where he has connections. Understand? Without him, we’ll get lost and die out there! This isn’t the Tepei-Kuon jungle, where Atgard led us. This is much worse."

  "And what if he just drops dead on the way?" Yuf turned to him with a piercing stare. "Did that occur to you? He could catch a fever or pneumonia right in the middle of the road, and it wouldn’t take much! Or what if the druids fire a single stray arrow and we’re left in the forest without a guide, tormented by guilt for taking him in the first place? Kairu, he won’t survive where we—strong, hardened men—can manage. I don’t even want to bring Ashley, but at least she’s still holding up, and she’s tough, frost doesn’t bother her. Kairu, anything—have him draw a map, explain everything in detail, but don’t take him with us! Don’t!"

  "Alright," Kairu said sullenly, glancing around. There were four beds in the room; the ladies were sleeping next door. "Tomorrow we’ll hold a meeting about this and ask Konrad what he thinks. I won’t drag him by force. But we will need him, one way or another. He’s the only one who knows where that damned Octarus is hidden. Without him, this whole journey is pointless."

  "Find a way out of it," Yuf sighed. "Think about Rita, for heaven’s sake. That’s her grandfather, the last family she has left…"

  "She never knew him. And don’t try to guilt-trip me through her, for Aktos’s sake! Listen, everyone has the same chance of dying on the road, and I can’t vouch for anyone, not even for us or for Viggo and Remiz! Because a stray arrow is just as much a lottery as the frost, snowfalls, and so on. They want to take Konrad to the Mountain Fortress—do you think he’ll be better off there? Consider those arguments, Yuf."

  "There’s little time," Yuf replied suddenly, quietly, and wearily.

  "What?" Kairu asked, caught off guard.

  "There’s little time. At most until dawn tomorrow. After that, we’ll have to decide and get out of here."

  "Why?"

  Yuf looked at him again.

  "Didn’t you notice anything along the way? When we were coming through the taiga?"

  Kairu shook his head. A vague chill of unease crept into his chest.

  "Goblins," Yuf explained very quietly. "They were following us, I’m sure of it. They avoided attacking right away because they weren’t familiar with the terrain and were waiting for reinforcements—there weren’t many of them. But I felt them, and at times I thought I saw them. And now… they’re out there," he said, pointing toward the silent mountains shrouded in the night.

  "You mean the search party from Vairad didn’t manage to stop them?" Kairu strained his eyes but still saw nothing.

  "I don’t know. Maybe they split up to confuse the pursuers. Some stayed with the prisoners, the rest followed us… My instincts rarely fail. These are professional killers, and nothing will stop them once they decide to strike. And that’s another reason not to take old people with us. They’ll be a burden, Kairu, and you know it."

  Kairu was silent, digesting what he had heard.

  "But what do we do?" he asked involuntarily, and then quickly waved it off when he saw the familiar smirk spreading across Lainter’s smug face. "Yuf, damn it, I’m serious! This is important, we can’t turn this into another tired running gag! Yuf, I honestly don’t know what to do! I really need your advice!"

  "Alright." Lainter’s face instantly turned serious. "Looks like I’ll have to accept that this ragtag bunch of adventurers also relies on me," he couldn’t resist a jab.

  "Okay, listen. We need Ashley—without her, we’re helpless. And she knows those druids, even if she doesn’t know exactly where to find them. Tomorrow, before dawn, we’ll hold a meeting—right here, so no one can eavesdrop. And we need to leave the temple at first cockcrow, before the sun rises over the mountains. By the time it lights up the bay, we must already be across and hiding in the northern cliffs. We’ll have to move slowly and stay quiet, only then do we have a chance to slip away unnoticed. That’ll give us a head start—maybe two or three days; enough for them to lose our trail.

  "Then we’ll try to follow the forest’s edge, get to Steiling, and find the clan we need. Of course, it won’t be easy, but still," here Yuf allowed himself a smirk, "Kairu, believe me, wandering the forest with man-eating druids is a lot safer than sneaking into Saelin’s lair alone to steal precious diamonds. And you’re an expert at that. So don’t clutter your head with the things Ashley, Konrad, and Natall use to scare us with: you’ve been through things much scarier than a hike to Regerlim. Approach it with the right calm, remember you’re used to hardship, you’re not one to fall apart—and this journey is as good as done. Deal, brother?"

  Kairu only nodded slowly.

  Yuf’s words sounded calm and confident. But Kairu still could not get rid of the fear scratching his heart with its cold claws.