The raven cawed sickly and fell over, landing in front of Sarenya. It twitched a few times, then started to dissolve in blood. Sarenya looked at the bird in horror. She only realized walking backwards when she felt the cold wall behind her. It must be one of the king’s magic tricks. Still, it was terrifying.

“I want you to…”, the king’s words echoed in her head.

“…stay out of my sight until you finished the job.” That was the only thing she could figure out. The assassin would not return until the messenger was dead. Marius would have his ticket, then the messenger would die. Sarenya sighed grimly. She looked around. Perhaps the stables would provide shelter for the night again, as it did two years ago. She would not set foot into the tavern; risking being exposed to the messenger.

“good night Arie”, she addressed her mount and petted the stallion. Lucky for her, there was a single empty horsebox in the back, where she could spend the night. The hay was comfortable enough, she’s spent nights in worse places. Her eyelids felt heavy and soon she fell asleep.

In the dark void of her slumber, there was a voice yelling at her: “Again!”

She saw herself picking up the long wooden stick. Sarenya took her fighting stance. The next strike came too fast to block. She was hit in the stomach and cringed. Mercilessly, Sarenya’s opponent struck her in the face. She coughed and whimpered.

“Pathetic. On your feet, now!”

The girl she was then just coughed. That earned her a kick to the ribs.

“I said on your feet! Take stance and fight, worm!“, the instructor yelled and picked the girl back up on her feet. Her fighting stick was handed back to her.

“Again!”

Sarenya heard herself scream when she took another hit, and everything went black. Smoke…she smelled smoke. Burnt wood and sweat. The darkness was alit by fire! Flames, all around her! She ran. Away from it. Alas, no matter how fast she ran, the flames caught up to her. In the distance, the voice of a woman yelled: “ROSE!” Finally, Sarenya was engulfed by the flames, she felt her skin melt, and smoke-filled out her lungs. Mercifully, the nightmare retracted its claws around her mind and the woman woke up, gasping for air. Her body was covered in sweat, her eyes burning from the salt of her tears.

The next morning, Sarenya was awoken by a loud noise. She jumped, ready to defend herself! It was then that she realized that the sound came from the sky. Thunder? No, it sounded like an explosion! The assassin ran outside and saw a beam of blue light shooting towards the sky. Shining ripples formed around the impact in the clouds, travelling outwards. It reminded her of the impact a pebble would make when thrown in a lake. The clouds were wiped away in an instant. The sky was left with a dark, blue tint for about a minute. Then, there was a flicker, and the dark tint made room for a regular, clear sky again. What in the cosmos was going on? Sarenya, dumbfounded, stared in the sky, waiting for an answer from above. Non came of course. But people came running out of the inn, windows were ripped open, and turmoil began. Everywhere around her, there was chatter, people wondering what just happened. The woman tried to sort her thoughts: Where did this beam of blue light come from? It looked like it came from beyond the Atuval forest where Ayumir was. Perhaps the local folks in Ayumir knew more about it. Since she would shadow the messenger’s every step, ending up there anyway, she would investigate if she had the chance. Amongst the crowd, her eyes spotted Marius and the messenger, leaving the inn together. They were in as much disarray as the rest. The woman crept towards them and eavesdropped.

“What was that?”, Marius asked confused.

“I have no idea, Marius.”

The messenger grabbed Marius’ hand as if by accident for a split second, then his hand retracted away from Marius again as if Marius’ hand was burning his. The woman was confused, turned her head away. No need to be caught staring. The crowd rambled, no one had an explanation.

Amongst the rest of the men and women outside, Marius and the messenger eventually went back inside. The assassin’s eyes shadowed them from afar until they lost the pair.

“You’re still alive, it seems”, Marius pointed out between bites after eating in silence for minutes.

“Seems so.”

“Shouldn’t you be happier?”

Cornelius gave no response and looked down on his plate.

“Breakfast is on me, by the way”, Marius said, seemingly trying to cheer the messenger up.

“Do you not wonder, what that was?”

“I do”, Marius responded. “But I have no idea. You?”

Cornelius looked around him and then sighed, he seemed tired. “Thank you. And no, I have non either. It …does concern me, however, from ‘where’ that…that…light came. Ayumir lies in that direction.”

“I am aware.”

“I have to get back as quickly as I can!”

Marius showed him a little smirk. “Last night must have rekindled your spirit, Cornelius.”

Cornelius blushed. The messenger’s eyes looked right into his soul this instant, it seemed.

“You really meant all the things? Are you going to accompany me?”

Marius responded with a simple nod, wondering what the messenger would throw his way now.

“I…I might have lied to you a bit, alright?”

“Regarding…what?”, Marius tilted his head.

“My name is not Cornelius. It is Albrecht.”

“Are you that distrustful? Telling me all these things, but not your name? Not even after spending a night like that?” Marius was not surprised if he was honest. This man was a shivering, paranoid mess last night for the most part. Nonetheless, Marius felt a bit offended.

“I’m sorry. I did not know how to bring it up.”

Marius rolled his eyes and let out an annoyed sigh. “Would that be everything then?”

Albrecht replied with a nod himself.

Marius scoffed. “We should be on our way soon.”, he closed eventually.