The first of the Seven was a man from Asatori itself, the very birthplace of the usage of the Talents. He would become the first emperor of the Asatori Empire and conquer nearly all of North Titrith. Many a dynasty that once ruled the Empire after him claim to be direct descendants, but there is no way of verifying this and on a personal note I highly doubt any of them have the right of claim.

Excerpt from Rise and Fall of the Seven by Maïz the Wise.

“Leaving?”

Eder’s voice was a mixture of surprise and disappointment, he had reacted much like Samos had expected. Faye on the other hand was silent, her eyes looking at nothing in particular while she reminisced on the news of their decision.

“What makes you trust this Asmund so much that you’re willing to leave chasing a mere theory?”

Samos shook his head. “It’s not just a theory, Eder. It’s real, I can feel it. Yara can feel it. There are others like us and I want to find out what is going on with us, with the voices we hear and this pull we get towards each other.”

They had come clean to Eder and Faye, telling them about the voices and Samos’ manifestation of Healing. Eder had only laughed and said he had not expected anything less, Faye hadn’t said a thing. She seemed lost in thought a lot these past few days.

“So where is it you plan on going?”

“Asmund means to go west first as he feels it’s the closer of the two.”

“West…” Eder was lost in thought for a second. “That’s towards the Archipelago. Not the safest of places.”

Samos shrugged. “We’re not exactly easy bait either.”

Eder grinned in agreement. “So when are we leaving?”

“Two days in the morning, we’ll be… What do you mean we?”

“You think I’m staying behind while the two of you go out adventuring with some weird unarmed combat expert from the Ice Fields? Not a chance, Samos, I’m coming with.”

“I’m staying,” Faye whispered, speaking for the first in what must have been an hour.

Eder gave a slightly anxious look. “Staying, Faye? Are you sure?”

She gave a slight nod and looked him in the eyes. “I’m finally somewhere where I feel I belong. There is knowledge here, vast amounts of books and records that haven’t been studied by someone from outside of Dadendam for centuries.” She looked at the three of them. “I want to help you in whatever it is that is going on, I really do. But I feel like the best way for me to do that is by staying here and learn what I can.”

Eder started tapping his finger against his thighs, his eyes darting between the ceiling, Faye and the floor. “I…” he hesitated only a second. “Then I’m staying as well.” The words seemed to come difficult to him, torn as he was between going out for adventure and his love for Faye. Because he did love her, Samos had come to realize these last few days. Faye’s warm smile at Eder’s words made it clear the feeling was mutual.

“Who else knows?” Faye asked.

“Only the four of us and Asmund,” Yara answered, “and we think it would be better to leave it that way. Aram told us we choose our own paths and are free to go when we want, but we can never be cautious enough.”

“You don’t think they might know something that could help understand all of this?”

“I don’t think so, Eder,” Faye responded. “From what we were told of the meeting with Asmund and the Conclave, it seemed they were stunned by the fact someone with four Talents even existed. Doesn’t seem like they’d know anything useful to me.”

“So we do it on our own,” Eder smiled confidently. “The two of us do research here in Dadendam and the two of you go out adventuring with Asmund to find the others.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Samos laughed. “Let’s hope this trip goes smoother than the last one.”

The sun had yet to rise when Samos found himself looking out over the dunes of the Calm Waste, the darkness of the night eluding the majority of the view from sight. Behind him to the east the sky was slowly turning several shades of red and purple, it wouldn’t be long now before the sun would show its face above the horizon. This was supposed to be the coldest part of the night, but the lines of power surrounding the city kept the temperature pleasant as always. A luxury they would soon forfeit.

Yara, Eder and Faye stood next to him, all silent and lost in thought and anticipation. They had spent their free time yesterday planning their travel routes with Asmund and going over the topics Faye and Eder would be researching while they were away. With each passing minute Samos had grown more and more restless, he was eager to go out exploring again.

The shuffling of feet alerted them of Asmund approaching. He seemed pleased to see them standing ready. “Looks like you’re all ready,” he smiled. “Let’s get going then.”

They walked north for a bit along the edge of the city towards the elivet closest to them. The guards there gave them strange looks, but did not object when they boarded the platform and were let down. By the time they reached the bottom, the first rays of sunlight found their way over the hills surrounding the city. The taen rock holding up the city glowed as the light reflected on its surface, illuminating the area under the city in a purple glow. Scattered on the ground, tiny fragments of taen reflected the light back again mimicking the night sky if stars were purple.

None of them spoke a single word, their eyes all fixated on the spectacle below them until they finally made it to the ground. Not wasting any time, Asmund led them to the western Waystone. Faye had found a manuscript in the library describing the creating and placement of the Waystones. The one they were headed to right now should lead them to the easternmost island of the Archipelago, not far from the coast of the Strait of Aramos.

The villages below Dadendam were slowly waking up as they steadily made their way through them. Window blinds were being opened, street vendors were setting up their stalls and Samos even heard a rooster crow in the distance. Roosters in the desert, he thought amused. At least some things still remained the same no matter where they were.

“Let me handle this,” Asmund instructed as they reached the Waystone and the guards there moved to block their path. Taking a quick look around to see if no one else was watching, Asmund suddenly launched himself forward and touched the guards on their heads before they could react. One by one, they slumped down with a wide gaze in their eyes.

“They’ll wake up in about ten minutes,” Asmund said with a satisfied smile, “and they won’t remember a thing.”

“What seal was that?” Yara asked with the curiosity of a student who had just learned something new.

“Obliviation,” Asmund answered. “Took me a while to get it right with the timing and all, but it sure comes in handy at times. Let’s go.”

He motioned them forward past the unconscious guards. If Samos didn’t know better he’d say they were sleeping peacefully.

As they approached the taen rock, Samos thought he could feel a pulse emerging out from it. It was glowing softly in the morning light and the warmth came to him now as a welcome and familiar feeling.

“So this is it huh,” Eder said slowly. “Time to part ways.”

“This is it,” Samos nodded. “Whatever it was that brought us together, I’m happy it happened.” He shook Eder’s hand firmly and hugged Faye. “We’ll see each other again.”

“No doubt about that,” Eder grinned as he released Yara from a hug. “You better keep training, Serifé will definitely be pushing me extra hard now that you’re going and who knows, I might eventually surpass you.”

“Go ahead and try,” Samos grinned back. “I won’t be slacking either.” With a final nod, Samos and Yara turned towards Asmund who stood waiting at the Waystone patiently.

“Ready?” he asked enthusiastically. “Let’s go then.”

He put his hand on the stone and disappeared with a flash, the pulsing of the rock multiplying hundredfold for a brief moment. Samos waited for the pulse to return back to normal before he put his hand on it.

“See you on the other side,” he smiled at Yara and enhanced his hand. A bright white flash and he found himself racing over the dunes of the Waste, hills of sand passing him by at an inhuman speed. Not soon after he passed over the coastline of the Salted Sea, waves of blue replacing waves of sand and the smell of ocean water reaching his nostrils. Absently, Samos wondered how he was able to smell if he no longer had a body and nose to smell with.

It did not take long for him to reach the other side, the coastline of the island they were traveling to rapidly approaching. Fisher towns passed by him as he raced inland, through a small forest and over some hills just a tad bit too small to be called mountains.

With a sudden flash and a lurching feeling in his stomach he regained his body and stumbled forward as he failed to keep his balance. Asmund stood a bit further inspecting their surroundings.

“You better move a bit out of the way,” he said without looking. “Unless you want Yara to crash into you when she arrives.”

Hastily, Samos stepped forward and joined Asmund at his side. “How far from the coast are we?”

“I’d say about a day or two on foot,” he answered. “None of the maps in Dadendam showed the exact same distance, but they all measured less than fifty miles to the coast, some even going as low as ten.”

The pulsing of the rock behind him grew suddenly and with a flash Yara appeared, striding forward immediately as her feet touched the ground. She wasted no time and kept straight on walking.

“Let’s go then,” she said confidently as she passed by them. “No need to waste time.”

Asmund and Samos shared a look as Yara strode forward and both shrugged their shoulders at the same time before moving to follow Yara.

With a start, Samos noticed something had begun pulling on him. Something to the north and to the west. And then a third pull, from the northeast this time.