Loud voices filled the streets of Nethas around Joshua as the sun rose over the walls, the people coming out to the markets from their long night of sleep. Joshua wished he were that lucky. His entire night had been a battlefield of pain with only a few bells for rest.

  He was wearing a white tunic now, the only replacement Richard had for the clothes they had worn the night before. It didn’t match the clothes he had worn before, but at least it covered the claw marks on his chest. Those clothes and the masking cream on their faces and arms would have to be enough until they left Nethas.

  His chest still burned, even though Richard had already applied a salve to it. With the runes on his chest broken, his magic would be a little weak, but they would stitch themselves back in order soon enough.

  Now he was facing a more harrowing experience than a battle with a nearly invincible monster. He had to explain himself to Richard. It wasn’t the first time he had defied Richard directly. However, he wasn’t sure he could talk his way out of it this time.

  He had used the infection. He still wasn’t sure how he had done it, but he remembered it inviting him to. Even if it was like his own voice told him to, he was certain now that it wasn’t.

  The sounds from the streets fell to only a quiet rumble. Richard stopped in the middle of the alley, turning to face Joshua. There was barely room enough for them both to stand there, but it would insure that no one could eavesdrop.

  “Now would be the time to tell me what you did last night,” Richard said. “I have my suspicions, but I need you to tell me.”

  “I disobeyed your order, master,” Joshua said, raising the bronze wristband up and touching it with his other hand. “I was compelled to reach out and use it.”

  “Did you hear any whispers?” Richard asked.

  “I have been,” Joshua said. “But when it happened the voice was different. It sounded like my own.”

  “Joshua.” Richard sighed, placing a hand on Joshua’s shoulder. “This is what I was afraid of.”

  “I’m sorry, master,” Joshua said.

  “No you’re not,” Richard said, shaking his head. “You’re no sorrier than I would be at your age if I had discovered that power.”

  “What should I do then?” Joshua asked.

  “We’ll talk about that in a moment.” Richard released Joshua’s shoulder. “What did you think of that creature?”

  “It reminds me of the sample we collected. I think it might be the killer we are looking for,” Joshua said.

  “Yes,” Richard said. “What did you think of it beyond that?”

  “It was powerful,” Joshua said. “I don’t think we could have done anything against it without that man’s help.”

  “That creature was in fact a savod,” Richard said.

  “You said that would be very bad,” Joshua said.

  “It is,” Richard said. “The first mention of them is in the sylvestrian records. They were the downfall of that empire. I wouldn’t need to tell you this if you weren’t such a horrible student of history.”

  “That might be where I heard the name,” Joshua said, holding his hands up defensively.

  “That may be,” Richard said. “I talked with that man, Logan. He has a sylvestrian with him, or at least something that once was one. She said that the savod are returning and that the seal the sylvestrians made has cracked.”

  “What are we going to do about it?” Joshua asked.

  “The sylvestrian is taking Logan to renew the seal,” Richard said, crossing his arms over his chest. “I imagine he’s going to talk that woman into helping him. We’re going to split up once we leave Nethas.”

  “Why?” Joshua asked.

  “I want you to go with them,” Richard said. “I want you to keep track of where they go and what they find. I’m going back to the Tower. We need to prepare for this, in case the seal fails.”

  “Shouldn’t I go with you then?” Joshua asked, touching his wrist again. “I’m no use fighting those savod unless I…”

  “I’m not asking you to fight them.” Richard sighed, a frown creasing his face. “But you cannot go back to the Tower now. Just that one use of the chaotic magic has changed you. I can feel it even now. If you went back to the Tower, Olson would strike you down on the spot.”

  “I can never go back?” Joshua’s voice trembled.

  A spark started in Joshua’s heart. It was just a small one, a tiny flame illuminating the dark. It ebbed and flowed with his heartbeat, rising and falling with each moment. It struggled to rage out of control.

  “He won’t suffer someone with a wizard’s power to live,” Richard said. “I’m sorry.”

  “Where does that leave me then?” Joshua yelled as the flame burst through.

  “There are other ways to study magic,” Richard said, motioning his hands down. “There are still tomes in the world to be read. There are still new runes to discover. Olson will not be Archmage forever. You can return to the fold once he is gone.”

  “So long as I don’t use it anymore,” Joshua said.

  “Yes,” Richard said, tears brimming in his eyes. “You are my apprentice Joshua. I could not bear to see you die because of one mistake. If you do as I ask, I will make sure that the council knows the truth. I will make sure that our brothers know that you still worked for their safety.”

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  “I don’t have much choice in this, do I?” Joshua sighed, grimacing.

  “You always have a choice,” Richard said.

  It wasn’t a free choice. There was only one way he could stay in the Tower. If he did anything wrong, then he had no hope. He rubbed the wristband absently. The runes were cold beneath fingers.

  “I’ll do it,” Joshua said.

  “You’ll need this.” Richard took out a small metal cube, each side marked with a modified rune for air. “I’ve tuned it to my own so that you can keep in contact.”

  “Thank you.” Joshua took it in his hands.

  It was a device to communicate between mages. The modified runes could carry a mage’s voice across any distance. They weren’t given away lightly, mainly because the Tower didn’t want to lose track of any.

  “Remember,” Richard said. “No matter what happens, do not use that magic again.”

  Joshua wasn’t sure he could keep to that.

  They left after that, going back into the market to gather supplies. Richard was incredibly quiet as they bought everything, barely even acknowledging that Joshua was there. A chill ran through Joshua, the silence was unnerving.

  They returned to the safe house where they had hidden the night before. It wasn’t visible on the walls, but just beneath the stone, there was a second layer covered in wards. It blocked all magical energies from the outside, and a few of the runes even deterred those who came too close.

  The man, Logan, was in the main room, sitting on the bed with his hands clasped in front of him. The woman, Joshua still didn’t know her name, sat across from him. They looked like they had been talking, but they stopped when the mages entered the room.

  They all exchanged introductions, each in turn. Logan only nodded at him. The woman from the Order, Elaine, seemed to glare at both he and Richard. The distrust was mutual then. Joshua wasn’t surprised.

  “Wait,” Joshua said as their talk moved on. “What about the sylvestrian?”

  She rose out of Logan’s shadow at the question, forming from the darkness. Her green eyes glared at Joshua. Joshua returned it unflinchingly, taking the time to take in the creature’s features.

  She wasn’t what he had expected. Sylvestrians were beings of light, graceful and pure creatures of legend. The annoyance that marked her face belied that description. Her feral gaze didn’t reveal any hint of nobility.

  “That was Talan,” Logan said as Talan melted back into his shadow. “She can be a little shy.”

  “When we were talking earlier, you said you needed an old map,” Richard said.

  “A sylvestrian map,” Logan said. “Talan can find where the seal is using it.”

  “That’s why you were on the Order’s grounds then?” Joshua asked.

  “It was either there or the Tower,” Logan said. “Those are the only places I can think of that have things that old.”

  “I don’t think we can get back onto the Order’s grounds anytime soon,” Elaine said. “They won’t let their guard down again after last night.”

  “The Tower would be a bad idea as well,” Richard said. “The magic you use taints the air around you. If you entered their domain, you wouldn’t leave alive.”

  “Then what should I do?” Logan sighed, standing up from the bed. “All I know now is that we are at Frenal.”

  “Frenal?” Richard said, reaching up and stroking his beard. “The fortress on the lake.”

  “You know of it?” Logan asked, his eyes widening.

  “I’ve seen it before in my studies,” Richard said. “I always preferred the histories to anything else.”

  He walked over to the wall, a bright white flame rising to his finger. Joshua smiled, remembering the trick that Richard was about to use. It was something that he learned early on, something that all of his teachers favored for lectures.

  Richard started with a large square, drawing it quickly on the stone. The line glowed for a moment against it before turning a dark black. He then started within it, drawing a quick group of lines up and down it.

  In mere moments it was finished, a rough map of the Eastland. The five kingdoms rested at the bottom, each one touching the sea. Above them were the Moav Plains, to the east was the Taushung Forest, and even further north were the Akron Mountains.

  “If Frenal is Nethas, we are here,” Richard said. “Does she know the name of anything near where the seal is?”

  If she is really a sylvestrian, Joshua thought.

  “It’s a cold place in the north,” Logan said. “The nearest place to it is Kriln, but that’s far to the east.”

  “That’s not good,” Richard said.

  His finger heated up again, and he continued the drawing to the west. He drew a ragged outline of a small outcropping, just out to sea northwest of the Moav plains. He wrote its name at its center, Abfall.

  “The fallen kingdom,” Richard said. “Do any of you know about it?”

  “The kingdom of Abfall was founded in the cold wastes by Renault, the mad king,” Elaine said. “He made an empire of ice and used magic to warm the land and grow his power. He created something truly amazing there.”

  “Good things never last forever,” Richard said.

  “Soon after the king’s son was born he began to hear whispers,” Elaine said, her voice trembling. “They drove him to kill his entire family.”

  “How do you know so much about this?” Joshua asked, not able to conceal his surprise.

  “The Order of Astor was formed from the remnants of people fleeing from Abfall,” Elaine said. “Astor led them south, away from the madness. Astor led them to the land promised in his visions.”

  “The land that was cleared by Renault has since frozen over,” Richard said. “Only abominations created by his misuse of magic walk the wastes now.”

  “So you want us to cross the plains, through the armies of the five kingdoms. Then we have to go into the frozen north, all the while fighting these monsters?” Joshua asked, frowning.

  “It’ll be hard,” Logan said. “But it’s the only way to end this.”

  Joshua pushed the whisper out of his mind. He wanted nothing more to give up then, to walk away from the Tower, from the stupidity of the plan. He could give it all up. He could leave and live a long life.

  “We’ll leave Nethas tonight then,” Logan said. “Gather what you can and we’ll leave just before the gates close.”

  They all broke away after that, each one preparing in their own way. Richard still avoided Joshua. He would not even look Joshua in the eye. Joshua tried not to focus on it, but the thought haunted him as day turned to dusk.

  Elise marched her knights through the dark streets. She had five under her own command and there were groups of five patrolling every street in Nethas. At each gate, there were knights waiting for the traitor to show her face. Neither Elaine nor her accomplices would escape justice.

  She cursed the trickery that Elaine had employed. The dark creature was impossible. Its claws had been impossibly strong, and it had been able to throw her through the air so easily. Not even sarpans matched its strength.

  Had Elaine made a pact with a dark spirit?

  It wasn’t unheard of. Some of the darker gods would make deals with mortals at times. It was an abomination to allow that. It would taint Elaine’s soul, but Elise was sure that the lowborn traitor would not care.

  The Word recorded Greggory the Mad as the first to make such a pact. He gave himself over to the darkness and used it to murder his fellow knights. Elaine was just another mad knight as well.

  “Nell,” she said, calling her new lieutenant.

  The woman stepped up beside Elise, removing her helm to reveal her long blond hair before saluting with her fist over her heart. She looked beyond Elise in an impossible grey stare. It was as if Nell was watching something far away.

  But, that was to be expected. Nell was a seer.

  “What do you see?” Elise asked.

  Nell searched around them, her eyes roving over the buildings and down the streets. Finally, she rested her gaze to the west. Nell blinked and squinted. She gasped and shuddered, taking two steps back.

  “The west gate, that is where we must be,” Nell said with a hollow voice.

  “To the west gate!” Elise ordered, running as fast as she could down the streets.