“And I thought that the south was warm even in winter…”

“Well… It fucking isn’t.”

Ehrir tried to wrap himself even further into the cloak covering him from the shoulders to the toes. Nalia was beside him in her chair. She was trying to ignore the cold and succeeding, mostly. It was easy for her, with that scarf, the hood and the fur coat.

The two apprentices had spent almost an hour on the deck, gazing onto the horizon as the southern shore grew bigger and bigger before their eyes.

The last one and a half weeks were spent in plain and simple sailing. During that time the autumn had finally given in. Now there was coldness permeating the air even at noon and cavalcades of grey clouds reigned in the sky. The sea was not as calm as before, although storms were rare and always missed the Ashen Gaze’s fleet. This environment proved to be as boring as the previous one and Ehrir used most of his time to continue improving his magical powers and enchanting capabilities. Under the old man’s advice he grew to be even more powerful in Manipulation and showed good advancement in Destruction and Creation. When it came to Conquering and Control… It was safe to say that he wouldn’t become Nalia’s equal in the first discipline any time soon and the situation with the second wasn’t much better.

But now the boredom, the reading of yellowy parchments and the constant training were left behind his back. He could sense the aura of change in the air. Everyone was longing to set their feet on the coast and start journeying through the south in a try to find Arleon… and the Thirdborn along with him. Ostrias had already voiced his plans to split his subordinates into a handful of groups and send them out to different locations. Still, every option sounded better than the ‘city of cutthroats’. Ehrir learned a fair bit about the place in the last couple of days and the image in his mind just darkened after every one of them was revealed.

He pushed out the thoughts swarming in his mind and inhaled the chilly air. He didn’t have to worry about anything just for a little while. Until they reached the shore, at least. And yet, his consciousness quickly let to a question being born.

“Hey…” he turned towards Nalia. “Have you been in Tarha-Nan before?”

The young woman’s brows furrowed.

“No. I already told you everything I knew, but it’s just shady rumors at best… I can’t believe that the Ashen Gaze is planning to send us there. That place is… chaotic, to say the least. Its official leaders have no real authority beyond their castles’ walls. And I doubt that the criminal overlords will do as much as glance at our direction even with a letter bearing the symbol of master Ostrias to back us up.”

Ehrir nodded silently. He still believed in the ancient sorcerer’s influence, but his hope to ever find a trace of Farnaraen in the city of cutthroats became dimmer and dimmer by the minute. Not to mention that the chance for the Thirdborn to even there was slim…

The Undone One and his comrade stood on the deck quietly for the next half an hour. Both of them sank in their own thoughts and lost sense of time until the galley finally neared the coast. There was no settlement or even a building in sight, only long rocky beach in bleak shades of grey. Beyond it lied a grassland which gradually turned into a series of hills and dense forests. Mountain range engulfed in fog occupied half of the horizon's edge. It wasn't a particularly cheerful or lively scenery, but it was better than the endless azure of the Cargaen Sea that Ehrir was accustomed to.

The ship had just one boat, so reaching the shore became a slow task. Luckily, Varhel managed to transport Ehrir, Nalia and the old man quickly. His flight abilities proved useful once again, but he wasn’t able to outmatch Ostrias who stepped first upon the beach. Soon all of the sorcerers and their disciples reached the coast in one way or another, but the sailors’ arrival wasn’t as quick. The remaining hours of sunlight were easily wasted. At least shelter was quickly built by the Manipulation and Creation masters. It wasn’t anything spectacular – just dozens of cubical buildings with one floor and simple windows, able to house six or seven people each.

Some of the sailors preferred to return to their ships when faced with the idea to stay in the primitive houses, but most remained on the shkre. The small amount of mercenaries and soldiers that left the Archipelago of Claws along with the Ashen Gaze quickly organized themselves and spread out the beach and field in an attempt to guard the sorcerers. Ostrias oversaw all of this until the evening. Then the ancient mage proceeded to create a place for himself. In mere moments his sorcery borne a three stories high pyramid with vibrant blue walls and mosaic windows. It was definitely more grandiose and beautiful than the stone cubes around, although it lacked the mastery and fine details that actual builders and architects put in their creations. Nonetheless, it caused Ehrir’s jaw to drop in a spectacular manner.

“Better get used to this… Master Ostrias loves to live luxuriously, even if he is in the wasteland”, said Varhel after he saw the Undone One’s expression. A faint grin dance don the young man’s face.

His words sparked a question within Ehrir’s mind.

“Why do we lower our anchors in the middle of nowhere?”

“I have no damned idea…” Varhel shrugged his shoulders. “You can say that the Ashen Gaze wanted to and leave it at that. And it’ll be true… But the master is probably not willing to attract any unnecessary attention by docking his fleet at some of the big ports around. There should be a city state nearby, actually… Well, nearby is a bit of a relative term.”

Soon dusk engulfed the world, so the two men got inside their own cube. Nalia and Sevria were already there.. The old man had divided it in four almost coffin-like rooms via Creation. There was a fifth one, too – bigger and with a massive, albeit rough-looking fireplace. In its insides danced magical flames, filling the place with subtle green light. No smoke was coming off of them. The room was additionally illuminated by a couple of glowing spheres. No furniture was transported from the vessels, so Ehrir and the others had to use the primitive chairs and a table created by Varhel and further refined by the Undone One. At least the food they dined with wasn’t made by a sorcerer.

***

Ehrir didn’t manage to sleep well. The reason didn’t lie in the bed which was Changed into existence by him and was far more than just uncomfortable. It wasn’t the absence of a pillow or a blanket, either. The thoughts invading his mind couldn’t just let him sleep in peace. He was thinking about Tarha-Nan and their path to there again and again. The defensive instincts from his homeless years awakened slowly. What if the Thirdborn had some of the criminal organizations there in his grip? What if he was able to establish and scatter a number of subordinates through the whole south and they just waited for someone to mention his name and to alarm him? What if some kind of war erupted during the Undone One's travels? What if…

He shook his head viciously and tried to fend off these thoughts away many times during the night. The years spent on the streets taught him to always think about the worst possible scenario and that habit started working again when Ehrir was faced with so many possibilities and uncertainties. It was quite the task to calm down and let himself succumb to slumber. It wasn’t particularly long nor very relaxing kind of sleep, but he still woke less tired than before.

The morning turned out to be as cold as the previous one and even damper. There was a slight fog on the beach and it invoked the unpleasant memories of the Ethereal within Ehrir. It was early, but the boats were already going between the beach and the ships. Every trip of the sailors brought a wide variety of items for the sorcerers - from furniture to clothes, books and various religious symbols.

Most of the mages themselves just wandered around meaninglessly or stayed in their cubes. The small fraction of Ostrias’ subordinates that referred to themselves as feral wizards had already abandoned the buildings and erected various tents just a few steps away from the sea. The dozens of warriors walking around just added to the array of people, movements and noises of the camp. It was quite a unique sight. The Undone One spent a lot of time just standing on the beach and watching it all.

Until noon Ehrir had already seen some familiar faces. He met Lantor – he was hanging with Ahor as usual. The latter wasn't particularly happy to see the Undone One, but the former grinned upon laying his eyes on him.

"Have you tried using the enchanted blade already?" he asked after exchanging the usual greetings with Ehrir.

"No, I haven't."

"Well, do it as soon as possible, friend! There is a lot of useless rocks around here, so just make something out of them and start cutting it." Lantor's words were filled with enthusiasm and he oftenly glanced towards his own magical sword, loosely hanging on his waist. He was going to follow his own advice, undoubtedly.

"I'll think about it."

"Of course, of course. I can't force it on you." The young man suddenly turned towards Ahor. "See? Both I and him have enchanted blades thanks to your little service. You should be proud of that!"

"Yeah, right." Ahor's expression was far from proud. "My master suspected that his book had disappeared and its return didn't make his assumptions go away. He's more paranoid than he has always been now."

The three of them - mainly Ehrir and Lantor, actually - exchanged some chatter and could go on for another dozen of minutes if it wasn't for the arrival of an important man on the beach.

Ostrias looked sleepy and his messy hair and barely open eyes suggested his recent awakening. Regardless of that, a wide grin hanged on his face.

"Hey... Do you guys think that he was with a girl? He was getting up pretty early back in Nalevas. Only a really dirty woman can make such an early bird wake at noon..." Lantor giggled.

"For fuck's sake... You could've at least said it quieter", hissed Ahor.

His words were almost drowned in the Ashen Gaze's empowered voice.

"Men!" he uttered in a cheery manner. "Gather around!" He theatrically paused for a second. "It's time to speak for a bit and for me to handle out some tasks."