The afternoon walk brought much more paranoia to that pair of children. So it was not surprising that they didn't want to leave their rooms when they returned to the inn.

They both suffered from it in different ways; Yue remained alert for any noise from the inn. Whenever she heard a voice near, like from the rest of the rooms occupied by travelers, she tightened on her knife.

Fynn tried to calm himself, but like his friend, he was too stressed at the sound of any strange voices or noises outside. However, he also felt it was ridiculous to be with paranoia in that place as Ronan would tell them if there would be any trouble. Then he would come up with some plan to get them out of there.

Abruptly the door opened, and for an instant, Fynn lost his breath.

Ronan peeked into the room and saw how Fynn was paralyzed at the foot of the bed and Yue standing on it, with the knife in hand.

"Am I interrupting something?" the man asked.

"Don't you know how to knock?" spat Yue.

"I think I almost died," said Fynn.

Ronan laughed and soon invited them to his room.

"Tonight, you'll sleep in my room, come on," he said hurriedly.

Fynn and Yue looked at each other, though they followed the marked man without much objection or choice.

"Are you sure about that?" asked Fynn.

"Absolutely. I don't want you both not to be able to sleep a wink at night just because you're scared. Besides, I know that you won't do anything because you have some sense. But she..."

"What do you mean?" observed Yue annoyed at the man with long blond hair.

"If I don't keep an eye on you, I'm sure you'd be running for the rooftops."

"He has a good point," Fynn joked.

Yue hit Fynn for playing along with Ronan's accusation. Even with the jokes, that would have been very probable.

Ronan showed the pair of children to their room; the place was undoubtedly a mess. Books piled up, papers on the walls, even his double bed was littered with objects and junk.

Fynn tried to find a word for that place.

"It's so..."

"It's a mess," Yue added. Fynn couldn't deny that answer.

"Excuse me if this place isn't a hole in the ground or a barn full of hay,'' the marked man expressed with irony.

"What's all this?" asked the dark-skinned boy, looking at the papers on the walls.

Fynn's curiosity was remarkable, a quality that seemed to be stated more with each passing day.

"Notes, maps, information about the surroundings places," Ronan said as he sat back down at his desk. "You'll be sleeping together today. I hope that won't be a problem."

"Not if he would stop moving in his sleep," the elven girl said as her eyes traveled over the objects on the table.

"I don't move in my sleep," the boy denied, "Right?"

"You moved a lot while sleeping in the barn," Yue added.

"Well, I had a nightmare. So it makes sense, don't you think?"

"What's this?" asked Yue.

Ronan was trying to continue writing in his journal, but it was also confirmed that the room had become more bustling. Marked children were coming and going around the room, watching, taking, and scrutinizing every object he carried on his travels.

The man set his quill aside. He would be unable to continue until they were done browsing.

Fynn noticed a heavy sigh from Ronan, and he was soon chagrined.

"Do you want us to be quiet?" the boy asked.

Ronan watched him out of his eye and soon smiled at him.

"No, it's okay. Just don't break anything," the man watched the pair of kids with a smile but soon had them move closer, "You two, sit down for a moment, please."

Fynn and Yue watched each other and soon took a seat on the bed.

"I want to talk to you about what you saw today, at the bazaar..."

Both children's faces soon had grimaces of distress.

"I know very well that you are frightened; any of us would be the first time in front of that. But, the truth is that it's like I told you there: people teach their children to see us as demons."

"But why?" asked Fynn with noticeable pain, "they hate us, fear us, attack us or run away from us as if we were going to harm them."

"That's because we hurt them," Ronan said confidently, "A child like you, fresh from an entry point, desperate or frightened, is very dangerous. The other day, when you fought the bandits, you went into a rage, remember?"

Fynn pursed her lips and nodded.

"You felt bad, right?"

"An innocent died because of me, and more people did it too."

"You felt rage, pain, anguish," Ronan added, "Imagine that, in the middle of nowhere. Imagine a small town full of people who don't know how to read and ingrained useless beliefs. Hell, just imagine it..."

Ronan sighed and shook his head.

"There are also marked ones who simply wish to hurt people just because. Someone with the wizard's mark can wreak havoc very easily; they could simply set houses on fire with a glance and cause lightning to strike. He could even raise the dead."

"Someone with the fighter's mark," Yue began her words, catching Ronan's attention, "could make a massacre with their bare hands, couldn't they?"

Ronan nodded, "Although you are the majority among our kind, I still don't know the limits of that mark. I witnessed only twice absurd feats from them, and I'm still not sure how much they can do."

"And the tricksters?" asked Fynn, "What about you?"

Ronan watched the boy, nodding as if that question had hit the mark.

"I think we're the worst," Ronan expressed, "Several more have the gift of thousand faces, and some have hidden among nobles, generals... or monarchs. Imagine what they can do in those echelons of power..."

Yue looked at his mark and soon frowned.

"It's starting to make sense why they hate us..."

"Don't justify them," Ronan retorted, "Thinking that way, you're just making them right. So many of us would never do something like that, even in our worst moments. So many have been through cruel things, and many still go through horrible things. But we do our best to show that we can coexist. We have our differences, but we make an attempt."

"Make a difference, right?" expressed Fynn.

Ronan nodded with a smile, "Not everyone hates us. Adhaz has few allies, but they are tenacious even if we are sometimes at a disadvantage. In some cases, some marked ones like us live in some kingdoms as members of society, but that is only if you swear blind allegiance to their leaders, just as The White Flame does."

"Who are those?" asked Yue.

"Simply put, those who would wish to see Adhaz and our allies burn. The White Flame is an order of madmen who blindly follow the Empire of Mordia and its gods. They say they are the 'purifying hand of Tisvar,' the Father of the Council of Fives. Many kingdoms recognize them as independent organizations and let them move about their lands. Several weeks ago, I ran into them at Eastfront. Luckily, they didn't have any marked trackers with them, or I would have had to flee very quickly."

Yue clicked her tongue, "So, wherever we went..."

"They will follow us," Fynn said.

"There are traitors to our bloodline with them, the so-called 'martyrs of Tisvar.' I think the term vassals or slaves of Tisvar sounds better..."

Fynn and Yue looked at each other. They only needed that to realize that they both shared the same thoughts. The whole thing was a mess.

"Well, I guess I talked too much," Ronan expressed with a click of his tongue, "I planned to try to take the weight off your shoulders and end up telling you that there are many more enemies out there than you thought. Well done, Ronan..."

"Once in Adhaz, will we be safe?" asked Fynn.

"Sure. The best place for us is our city. Adhaz has a nice view towards the Mordia Empire, almost as if it were a taunt to them. We're there, but they can't against us."

"Is it safe to travel there?" asked Yue, doubtful, "You said it's on the other side of the continent. What if something happens to us on the journey?"

Ronan watched the pair smile, "If anything happens to you, I promise to ride day and night to where they are. I'll swim across the seas and rivers because that's what we do for our own; we get them to safety."

The pair of children smiled at the marked man. Perhaps the feeling of having someone watching their backs was enough for them to rest.

Late at night, and with the silence of the streets, both children were finally going to sleep.