Ronan, badly wounded and half-dying, rode relentlessly along the roads, the plains, and the forests, to be far away from Lastrel and close enough to his objective.

The road wasn't easy for him; treating his wounds involved standing still, and when you must be on the back of a horse that runs like the wind, healing any convalescence wasn't easy.

In turn, the things he had to do to move forward day and night were also problematic; if he wasn't the one who was going to die, his horse would die from the extreme exhaustion he was forcing him into.

With no provisions, no rest, and badly wounded, it was clear that he had to choose another destination before traveling northwest, where those caves were located. When the first signs pointing the way to Eastfront and Sunhold reappeared in front of him, with a heavy sigh, he made his decision and, tightening his hands on the reins, rode toward the farms.

Amid a dark and cloudy night, the sounds of a galloping horse and its neighing woke more than one person on that farm. The family must have been sleeping peacefully, but everyone in the place was abruptly awakened when the door was knocked.

The screams of the children alerted their parents to the knocking; Erna went up to the loft to calm them down while Samson, with his crossbow at the ready and a lantern lit, approached the enormous wooden door to find out who was knocking at that time of night.

Once the man opened the door, he stumbled upon the trickster.

"I need help," Ronan exclaimed with groans of pain.

The burly man with the long reddish beard didn't expect to see the man again, much less in that condition.

"By Lithal!" exclaimed the farmer in alarm, laying his weapon aside and pulling the man inside his hut.

When the children were quiet, it was Erna's turn to work on the man's wounds.

By the fireplace, Ronan sat on a stool waiting for Erna to prepare the things to treat his wounds; anything the marked man could have in his bag was undoubtedly received by the sturdy woman to treat him.

"You have had a very long journey, my friend," exclaimed Samson, who, unable to go back to sleep, could only linger at that hour, keeping his wife company as he smoked his pipe.

"I'm so sorry to show up in the middle of the night," said Ronan, holding his belly wound, "I didn't know where else to go..."

"You're lucky, Ronan of Vilna; if you kept riding around with that open, you would have picked up some infection!" exclaimed Erna raising her eyebrows at the same time there would be several of the potions she had received from the man. Erna would sniff them to find out what it was and then decide what they would use.

"Or maybe my guts would have spilled out," the man joked.

Samson looked at Ronan and how bad he looked. Beyond his usual dark circles under his eyes and being dirty, he saw the marks on his chest and back like lightning, also how it looked like his bracelets were now stuck to his skin as if something had heat stuck him.

"What in Lithal's name happened to you?" the man asked in alarm, "Where are Fynn and Yue?"

Erna, though attentive to preparing treatment for that man, when her husband made mention of those children's names, couldn't help but look at the scarred man.

Ronan watched Erna's steady look that had struck him like a crossbow bolt, then took refuge in Samson's calm stare.

Then, Ronan explained everything.

"When we left here a month ago, we went to Sunhold, and from there, to Eastfront. Then, of course, we ran into enemies of our kin, but we soon got them off our backs that night..."

"Were you all involve with the prison riot on Eastfront?" asked Erna suspiciously.

Ronan bounced his head and pressed his lips, "Perhaps."

"Since that happened, the guard now patrols the roads more regularly," Samson pointed out. "They've also increased the detachments since some creatures have been stalking the area."

"I think we have something to do with that too," Ronan pointed out, "Not directly, but..."

Erna approached with a soaked cloth with green stains from the plants she used to prepare. Ronan removed his hand from the wound, and Erna rested the cloth on Ronan's injury when he did.

That certainly hurt more than the stab wound. Ronan gritted his teeth, and his face turned red as he avoided screaming at all costs.

"I see you've caused nothing but trouble since you left this farm," Erna said without thinking her words through as she pressed the cloth against the wound for more effect.

Erna watched Ronan menacingly, for should he scream, he would wake his children. And no one wanted to wake those farmers' children, or the mother would respond with fury.

Ronan gasped as the sensation became more bearable and carried all that horrible feeling to his feet, which moved restlessly.

"What else happened? Are the kids okay?" asked Samson once more.

When Ronan calmed down, he continued his tale.

"After making a couple of stops along the way, we arrived at Lastrel. There, they were waiting for us."

Erna and Samson looked at Ronan with concern.

"And Fynn and Yue...?" asked Erna.

"Alive," exclaimed Ronan, pressing the cloth over his wound. That word brought relief to the farmers.

Samson tried to ask, "But where...?"

"On a ship, heading Adhaz," the man exclaimed as he let out gasps at the throbbing of his wounds.

"Wait a minute, and what are you doing here?" questioned Erna with a frown.

Ronan watched her and then looked away as he tried to explain, "I must travel to some caves to the northwest, to where Fynn..."

"You mean you left the children alone on a boat?" asked Erna, annoyed.

Samson tried to calm his wife, "Erna, please..."

Ronan sighed as he grabbed his wound with both hands, "You wouldn't understand; what I do is..."

"Oh, I don't care what the fuck you do!" the angry woman spat, possibly breaking her own rule by perhaps waking her children. "All I know is that there must now be two kids on a goddamn ship in the middle of the ocean that can dock in any goddamn port, and then anyone can hurt them."

Pressed by those words, Ronan tried to defend himself, "They travel on a trusted merchant company."

"Is it that you have confidence because you can pay them a lot for their silence?" the woman retorted suspiciously.

"Erna, calm down," Erna's giant husband, in a clear, serene voice, tried to soothe her. "The children are going to wake up..."

Erna, annoyed with that marked man, watched her husband briefly and went to sleep again.

"Thanks for the healing," said Ronan without looking at her.

"Don't take off the cloth, and don't lay on it," the woman indicated in a hostile voice to that man. After that, she went toward her room to rest.

"I'm sorry about that," Ronan said.

"Well, she's kind of right in what she says," Samson pointed out.

Ronan looked away again, for in what he said, something was right.

"Believe me, I would have liked to have gone to my destination sooner," the marked man said along with one of pain as he pressed his wound with both hands. "However, I preferred to get them to safety and then go to the caves; only that way, I was sure they could be away from our enemies..."

Then, Samson asked in a soft, serene voice, like a concerned father, "Are you sure they will be safe?"

Ronan watched the farmer but soon lowered his look, trying not to make eye contact with him.

The huge man then turned toward the fireplace, turning that silence more awkward and guilty.

Ronan settled his stool against the wall, perhaps intending to at least get some rest. "I'll be out when dawn breaks; thanks for everything."

"Those wounds look awful. Do you really think you'll be able to go alone?" asked Samson.

"Do I have any options?"

"I was going to send my son to buy firewood, but I think I could do it for him," Samson indicated, walking toward that man. "You can ride part of the way with me, so at least you don't keel over in the middle of the road."

The marked man looked at the farmer, who calmly seemed to have laid out that plan for him, with no other options.

Ronan didn't wish that, but it was better than moving alone. After a sigh, he agreed.

Finally, Samson would go back to bed to get a couple more hours of sleep. Ronan, for his part, leaned against the wall. Overcome by the exhaustion tried to fall asleep at least for a while.

With the first rays of the sun, Ranier was the first one who, at breakfast, unsubtly persuaded the captain to allow them to take some air on deck.

While they could go on deck and feel the salty sea air, they still had to hide, so it wasn't surprising that they remained in the bow, very close to a hatch where they could soon hide on the lower decks of the ship.

The group could eat their breakfast peacefully as they watched the sailors go below and the dockworkers load barrels and crates onto the deck.

Ahead of them was a colossal city; dozens of ships stood at the docks, and hundreds of people were hard at work. Fynn watched with delight the vessels and how unique they were from each other; the color of the wood, their flags, and the design. Like Lastrel, that place must have brought people from all over.

"Where do you think we are right now?" asked Fynn, smiling.

"I don't know, but I hope we get out of here soon," Yue said, eyeing the place suspiciously.

"Is it always like this?" asked Ranier to the dark-skinned boy.

The akajsi girl looked at the boy with vibrant colored clothes with annoyance.

"Why are we taking so long?" asked Yue.

Ranier replied, "They must be carrying things; remember, this isn't a passenger ship..."

Yue frowned as she opened with both hands a juicy, reddish fruit she had been given to eat, smudging her hands.

"I hope they can load everything soon, so we get out of here..."

Fynn put his hand on Yue's shoulder, who quickly turned to look at him. It was clear to the marked boy that his friend was nervous. Like other times, an irrepressible desire to be on the move was something that made Yue wish to be away from there as soon as possible.

The boy smiled at her, and as Yue watched her friend, she remained silent and continued with her meal.

When the akajsi girl quietly went back to her own thing, and the rest of the marked ones continued with their chatter, Fynn sensed something was happening.

The boy felt an unusual vibration and a faint, high-pitched sound around him. His large hazel eyes opened, and everyone could see his face of curiosity.

"What's the matter?" asked Pollard, the marked wizard of the group, to Fynn. Just like that, everyone soon turned their attention to the dark-skinned boy.

"You guys don't feel it?" the marked boy asked his colleagues.

Everyone, even Yue, looked at each other to see if they felt anything.

"That sound..." pointed out Fynn.

The sound soon grew louder, and just like that, Fynn wrinkled his nose and squeezed his eyes as he felt that approach. Then, quickly, Yue stood up to help her friend stand.

"What's wrong?" asked Yue, worried.

The intensity of the sound varied, momentarily becoming sharper, then dimming again.

Like that, Fynn remembered that she had felt something like this.

"There's someone around here, just like us," Fynn exclaimed.

Yue looked at him in confusion, as did the rest of Marked, but soon realized what he meant.

"Just like in Sunhold, right?"

Fynn nodded.

"Hey, look," whispered one of the Marked accompanying the group, who pointed to some people boarding the ship.

Along with the captain, at least six men came aboard. They were all dressed like most sailors, in light clothing that could allow them to move freely along the ropes. Something looked odd about them, however, and Fynn noticed.

"Some of them must be like us," Fynn pointed out. "But..."

Fynn looked at one of those who came aboard, a thin, long black-haired man with an aquiline, deathly pale profile.

He and his colleagues soon signed some papers with the captain's pen, and the captain jovially shook their hands as he invited them into the ship, into the cabin area.

"Maybe they're new crewmen," Pollard exclaimed.

Everyone in that place felt that these mustn't be new crewmen.