The destination was three days away. If they'd had horses, the journey would take two days instead. They were going for half a day already, and it was getting dark. There was nothing unexpected so far, but they were nervous and wanted to find a place to sleep quickly. The road was not a safe place during the night.

Not far away, they started to see something. It was a tall building with at least three floors. The building looked like all buildings in Bouler. Wooden with big windows and glasses in them. Neither Steve nor Whirl would know this is a tavern if they hadn't seen a big wooden sign above the entrance with something that could be taken for a beer mug.

The closer they came, the more signs of devastation they saw. Broken windows, holes in planks, and no doors in the proper place were giving a rather pathetic look to this tavern.

"We probably won't eat anything here. I hoped for something not prepared on a campfire." Said Steve with sadness written on his face.

"Well, that's a shame, but at least we will be able to sleep somewhere." Said Whirl while looking at the floors with a grin.

"Let's take the opportunity to learn the magic." Archibald sounded to be very pleased with this situation.

As they were coming closer, they'd seen that it had been a long time since anybody was here. Except for previously seen broken glasses in windows, everything inside was covered with a thick layer of glass. Broken parts of chairs and tables lay everywhere around them. Empty glasses of alcohol stood behind the bar on shelves, which had even more dust than the floor. In the corridor at the other side of the tavern, they saw stairs that were going up.

They decided to go there. The upper floor seemed to have solid doors. Even if not locked up, it would be easier to barricade themselves. Steve tried to open the doors, but they resisted.

"We're not in luck. It's closed." He said while still banging with his shoulders on it.

Whirl made a big smile and said, "Give me a space. I'll handle it. I have some–". She made a pause, "–experience with such things."

It didn't take long until they stood before vast space. Against how it looked on the first floor, there were no room splits here.

"We really need to talk about your past Whirl," said Steve.

"She knows how to fight. She knows how to pick the lock and how to survive in the wild. Actually, she does look like someone from the thief guild." Added Archibald only in Steve's mind.

They found a broom and some old sheets that could be used to wipe the dust.

They were cleaning when Whirl started speaking. "My whereabouts are a little complicated but, I think, I can tell you a little. You saved us from wolves. I owe it to you." said Whirl. "I'm from a noble family, but they were ashamed of me. I was always pushed down in the hierarchy. My siblings… they always had more parental love than I did." The usual non-stopping smile on her face was changed into gloominess.

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"Because of this, I'd often ran away from home. I didn't want to spend time with them. I wanted to see some world. Furthermore, I thought that this was the only way for me to run away from my problems. And then he found me. Tark was one of the closest leader's associates, and he'd seen potential in me that even I didn't see at that time. It looked like a good option, so I joined a guild where I could learn and grow. Fighting, lock picking. Learned there." While she was saying the last sentence, a smile returned to her face.

"Whirl –"

"I talked too much anyway. Let's stop it here. You were supposed to train magic." She said, cutting the discussion about her.

They quickly cleaned the place so Archibald and Steve don't do magic in a mess.

For the next few hours, Archibald tried to explain the basics of magic. The rules of working with it were simple. One needed to imagine using some artifact for some purposes. The sword that Steve possessed was capable of thunder magic. It could throw lightning bolts. The Wizard explained that the power depends on experience in using particular artifacts. The more it is used, the more users can imagine its capabilities.

Steve was good at learning, therefore he was able to use the sword in a short time.

"Good. Good! You are a really clever student. Please remember this. A good wizard can use his items, but a great wizard can recognize magic items at a glance. This is a much more powerful ability." Archibald summed up lessons.

Steve's eyes were closing themselves. They decided to use beds that were available on the floor. They didn't have any sheets, but it didn't matter since the nights were warm. With the decision to wake up at sunrise and head to a further road, they fall asleep.

The sun still didn't rise when the sudden noise from the first floor woke them up. Someone was desperately looking for something. The sound of broken bottles and ruined bars resonated clearly where Steve and Whirl were.

"Damn, where is this kid? It's a shame that wolves didn't manage to do the work for us. Now we need to catch him on our own. Prince Bork said to kill everyone. What a stupid idea to make this shitty deep water ceremony." An angry voice shouted.

"They want to find you. By looking at the number of soldiers they took, they want you really badly. We need to get away from here. Quick! I'll close the door. This should give us some time." Said Whirl.

She quickly did what she said. Locking the door wasn't a big deal for her. They were looking for a way to run or a place to hide.

Whirl looked through the window and said, "more of them are probably inside. Under the window, there are only two of them, watching over the horses. Your thunder magic won't be useful. Too loud." She tried to make a sad face saying that, but it didn’t work out, and she made a smile instead. “We’ll do this. I’ll jump out of the window and take care of those two. Then you’ll jump as well. We’ll get on horses and try to run away. Please, please don’t break anything while jumping.”

It was that time when Steve knew that his friend was, in fact, a deadly weapon. Whirl jumped with grace from the window, swiftly cutting one man's throat. The second soldier couldn't even say anything after receiving two slashes in the stomach and being stabbed in his heart.

"Now you Steve. Jump before they realize what happened." She whispered.

Steve hesitated for a few moments, but hearing that they will now go upstairs made him jump.

He landed on soft grass below the window. Fortunately for him and his legs, only one floor was between him and the ground. Steve dusted off his pants and ran to Whirl as silently as he could. They let free all horses except two, on which they decided to ride. Whirl chose the black one. This one was beautiful, but it was black like the darkest night at the same time. It looked like a perfect match for Whirl. Steve decided to pick the one that looked the most peaceful. The horse was brown with white gaps and gray hair. Mounts didn't look tired, as if they were taken not long ago. With horses, the journey to Gret narrowed to one day instead of two more.

They left those people in the ruined tavern, but they got the feeling that more soldiers will try to find them.