Ehrir was awoken from the loud sound of a fist banging on the door of his cabin.

It was the middle of the afternoon and the ship was sailing on the aquamarine waves of the Cargaen Sea. The winds were pleasant and the vessel was steadily moving to the south. The sailors were tirelessly working under the rays of the sun. The heavens were as clear as the waters below them. Not a single cloud could be seen all the way to the horizon.

The ship had left Borhael at noon. Almost three hours had passed in this peaceful atmosphere before the galley appeared, with its giant size and sails with a weird sign painted on them. This vessel couldn’t be mistaken. It was the same one that the city lord of Borhael visited.

This galley – or one of its passengers, rather – was responsible for the rude interruption of Ehrir’s sleep. This much he learned from the captain of his ship – rough-looking middle-aged woman who looked much tougher than him. She had to be, of course – there were too few female captains of ships in the north Outer Fantasy, and one had to be strong to earn that position. But there was a dangerous light in her eyes when she looked at Ehrir.

“What did you do? Damn it, the old man on that bloody ship was visited by the city lord himself. What could someone that important have to do with you? I hope you didn’t get into any trouble…” There was anger in the woman’s voice and Ehrir couldn’t blame her for it. His own blood was like ice in his veins. He felt distant fear – the old man on the galley couldn’t want to see him for anything besides his Changing. He probably sensed his inner warmth on the harbor just as Ehrir sensed his power. The Undone One hoped to remain unnoticed in the harbor – he wasn’t anywhere near as the powerful as the sorcerer on the ship, and he hid in his cabin as soon as he sensed the warmth coming off from the old man. “Well, the plan to hide failed”, he thought regretfully before finally arriving on the deck.

Ehrir’s ship was miniscule next to the giant galley besides it. The two were connected with a narrow plank with a length of roughly ten feet. The galley’s rows were lowered and the sailors operating them were standing still and looking at the other ship. There was at least one hundred of them on the deck. It was truly massive crew for a truly massive ship.

On the plank connecting the ships stood the old man from before. The expression on his face brightened when he saw Ehrir and at that moment the Undone One felt a surge of warmth coming towards him. It was clearly radiating from the old man’s body.

The crew suddenly went silent. The only sounds were the wind, the creaking of the deck and the noises from the water beneath. Ehrir swallowed and then started walking forward. His steps weren’t loud but to him they sounded ear-piercing. He felt the looks of the crews from the both ships and those of his fellow passengers focused on him. It was if they all knew that the old man was here for him. Hell, they probably knew.

But the most important gaze focused on him was that of the mage. His stance and expression were relaxed and his stare was as clear and calm as the sea around him. Seemingly there wasn’t even a trace of aggression or bad intention in him, and yet Ehrir was expecting something terrible to happen at any moment now. He approached the sorcerer slowly and carefully but doubted that would actually help if the old man wanted to do anything bad to him.

Surprisingly, the magician started talking to the captain of Ehrir’s ship, who was standing at the deck before he even looked at the Undone One.

“Thank you”, he said. His voice was deep and had some kind of undefined strength to it. Ehrir felt chills down his spine when he heard it. “Now I will talk privately with this young man. You can expect that he’ll probably continue his travel on my ship. In this case I will send my men to take his things and give you enough money to compensate the lost time. Take care.”

With this words the old man turned to the galley and started walking towards it. Ehrir followed him silently.

“You are an interesting person, young man. You know that?” muttered the sorcerer when they stepped on the galley’s deck. “In this underdeveloped and isolated corner of the world you are the first person with real magical capabilities that I’ve come across. Although you inner might in still low I could sense you on that harbor and trace you. You are not strong by any means, but I feel potential within you. And because of that I’ve got an offer to make.”

“What is it?” Ehrir didn’t know what to say to the old man, but his remarks had stirred up curiosity within the Undone One. Ehrir’s words came out sudden and almost rude, but the sorcerer didn’t acknowledge that.

“You’ll see very soon, believe me. But I’m not comfortable talking about it with so many people around. These sailors are just common folk, after all. They don’t need to hear the blabber of an old mage. Be patient and wait until we arrive at my cabin.” The sorcerer turned his head to Ehrir and smiled.

Ehrir couldn’t do anything but follow the old man. His cabin occupied the whole of the deckhouse and it was very luxurious to say the least. It wasn’t very well suited to the mental image of a magician’s room that Ehrir had – there were no skulls and old parchments laying around, nor strange elixirs or mummified corpses. It looked quite comfortable and extravagant, actually, like it was the room of some young noble.

The old man sat on a throne-like chair near the wall of the cabin. There was a table before it and another chair on the other side, but Ehrir didn’t move towards it.

“Why don’t you sit, young man?” asked the sorcerer with a friendly tone. “I don’t want this meeting to be official in any sense. Please, make yourself comfortable. Do you want any drinks? I have a lot of high-quality wine from the south on board. You’ll love it. It’s much better than any of the wines you northern men drink. I also have mead and ale. Do you want any?”

Ehrir silently shook his head and sat on the chair offered to him. He was fearful of the old man, but knew that he must show some show courage before the sorcerer.

“Where do we begin?” he asked calmly.

The old man answered him with a smile.

“Well, I guess we haven’t properly introduces ourselves to each other. I’ll be first.” He said before clearing his throat. “My name is Sevrian. Sevrian of the Maelics, actually. I’m part of the royal family of one of the independent city states on the other side of the sea. I’m also a wizard, although you know that already. I was in the north Outer Fantasy for quite some time, because I was searching for a certain someone that my master wants to find. I failed, though. Now I’m on my way to reuniting with him on the Archipelago of Claws. That’s about it.” While saying those words the smile wasn’t leaving the old man’s face.

Ehrir was silent and for a little bit the cabin became quiet. The Undone One was processing the things told to him. What fascinated him most was the fact that the old sorcerer was serving under a master. It had to be either another mage – probably older and even more powerful – or a monarch from the south.

But there was another thing that awoke his curiosity.

“Why are you telling me all this if you don’t know if I’ll accept or refuse your offer?” he asked suddenly and was yet again met with a smile. But in this one there was a hint of coldness.

“Youngling, do you honestly think any of the things I told can be used against me? It’s just simple facts without big importance. And even if they were important, a person like you has no reason to harm me with them. And even if you tried… I would crush you.” The words of Sevrian weren’t warm like before. “Besides… I’m sure you’ll accept my offering once you hear it.” He added with a friendlier voice.

Ehrir just nodded as an answer. The words of Sevrian didn’t invoke fear within him. He really didn’t have any reason to try to harm the old man, after all.

“Well, I should tell you a thing or two about myself…” he began talking slowly. “My name is Ehrir. Well, not my real name, but I don’t know that one. I’m an Undone One. I lived in poverty for a good chunk of my life, but recently I made some money and decided to travel south. There’s not much more than that.”

Sevrian’s expression became happier.

“Of course… An Undone One… Interesting”, he murmured to himself before making his voice louder. “Well, it’s much better now that we know a little bit about each other, right? You see, I prefer to be straightforward. Let’s get to the offer. You’re an Undone One that awoke the power the Changelings left inside of your body. That’s rare but doesn’t necessarily make you powerful. But it makes you talented in a certain field of magic that the Changelings also excel at. Let me guess… You can change the shape and form of things, right? You can probably also change materials into other ones, am I correct?”

Ehrir nodded.

“Yeah, all the other Undone Ones that awoke their potential are also like that, although there are only a handful of them in the whole Outer Fantasy. I’ll get to the point – you have a good chance to one day become a great wizard if you are properly trained. I, as a representative of my master, can guarantee than he and I both can give you knowledge and practice if you help us find that one particular person when the right time comes. I think it’s a good offer… So, what do you say?”

Ehrir swallowed. That offer was more than generous. It gave him a chance to rise above the simple magic of Changing, and he knew that well. It also could make his life even better. And the only price to pay was to help two already powerful magicians search for somebody? That was cheap (in his eyes, at least). He still feared the mages and despised them, but chance was worth taking.

“I… I agree.” He said after thinking about the offer for several minutes. “I will become your disciple, Sevrian of the Maelics, and of your master too.”

The old’s man gaze was filled with happiness when he heard the answer.

“Then it’s set. You’ll travel on my galley to the Archipelago of Claws. You can choose one of the cabins on the lower deck to live in. They’re quite comfortable, I should say. I’ll send men to get your baggage on the ship. You’re free to go. But I want to see you here after dinner. I’ll give you your first lessons and explain you the basics of magic. And – I assure you – it won’t be boring at all!”