The eight of us moved inside where we made a fire and handed out food and drink to the newcomers. Jace took out many loaves of bread and some cheese from the day before, while Iskander and Jaxine talked with Viola. The Russo twins sat down and wasted no time in devouring the all that was presented to them, and within moments, an entire sourdough loaf was finished.
Meanwhile, Florencia and I stole a moment for ourselves and went into the cellar. We were out of earshot and she sighed.
“I guess we couldn’t put this off forever. As much as I hoped to prolong our time here, our little escape, the Gods have made it clear that we must begin.”
“If I’m honest, Flo, I wouldn’t mind a few more months of this. I could almost make myself believe this war was not going to happen.”
“Almost…” she mumbled. “When I was doing work in the greenhouse, I could just about convince myself as well. But it is. I’ve seen the army recruiters pass through the village a few times, and warships sail to Lottie daily. We both knew these months were the deep breath before the jump. It’s just I’m afraid to think when we’ll get this kind of rest again.”
“Even if we could stay here, neither of us could ignore the coming war for much longer.”
“Maybe you can’t…” she mumbled but stopped and fell silent.
Then, with a heavy heart, we went back upstairs to join the others.
A lively discussion was developing between Iskander, Viola, and Jace. The Russos sat like humiliated prisoners in their chairs, shoulders slouched, and looked ahead. But the moment I appeared from behind the corner, both of their eyes were on me, and they straightened up.
It was Florencia who took charge of what was about to be the first official meeting of the Order of Hiskandrios, impromptu and disorganized as it was.
“Arne, Lorena, I think it’s finally time to hear what happened in Veneiea. Your side of the story. The truth.”
Arne had been expecting this and his eyes livened. But before he began, I had to say a few words. Standing up, I spoke: “Viola, what you are about to learn is more than secret. The knowledge that you will learn is very dangerous, more so than any of us even dares to think. You are only permitted to talk openly about this, at all, only to the King, Ames, and Pitties. Do you understand?”
“I understand!” said Viola, a tiny speck of doubt in her voice.
“Swear it!” said Jace, his face close to zealous, and an aura of radiant strength was about him.
“I swear!” Viola all but cried out, and Arne was allowed to begin. For the slightest moment, I sensed a vague gust of energy lying in wait, but just as I noticed it, it quickly subsided. I took notice of it and stayed vigilant, but none of the others had detected it, even Goxhandar.
Arne Russo, the thirty-year-old former Guardian of the Yasman Lodge, whose task was to train the new aspirants, shifted uncomfortably in his seat and began to retell his side of what happened in the village of Veneiea, in late autumn of 1188.
“We didn’t know what we were walking into!” said Arne, his face long and his lips tight. He scratched his nose and his left eye twitched ever so slightly, and he held a handkerchief, knuckles white. “Ardovar said there were worrying reports coming from Caffria and Veneiea, and told us to gather our best aspirants. We would give them their first taste of real danger, and I told them that there was a chance some of them might not come back. Captain Dion and Warden Maore would follow afterward, just in case. Even Ardovar had a bad feeling about the task, but he still let us go ahead! This should’ve tipped us off, but I was confident… that we could handle anything. We had twenty aspirants of the Lodge, trained by Swordmaster Rian Gallos, for Hadrus’s sake! Who could stand against us?”
“So we took our aspirants and traveled to Caffria, hired some mercenaries and guards just in case, again, but a sense of danger grew in my heart with every passing moment. Lorena even said something was terribly off about the whole thing. It was like… the air smelled off, like death, everywhere around Veneiea. Does that make sense?”
“It does,” said Iskander, understanding exactly what Arne was trying to explain. I wondered how similar his experiences had been to what happened in Veneiea. Odel was also burned down during the fighting.
“I think we might’ve been fifty in total, and we went straight to Veneiea doing no reconnaissance. We should’ve been more cautious—”
“It was not your fault!” said Florencia, her heart beating fast. She grabbed my arm tightly as Arne spoke. But she was lying. It was their fault. They should have trusted their instincts and been more careful. Arne shared my unvoiced opinion.
“But it was our fault, Warden! They were our responsibility. It’s just… We brought a very strong force. Nothing should have had a chance against us. That’s what we all thought, but it didn’t ease our worry. We rode straight into the waiting gates of Veneiea nonetheless!”
It was here that Lorena took over. “Even before we reached the gate, the smell was suffocating. I wanted to vomit and turn around. Ah, the smell! Like rot and death and—”
“And somehow, even though it was midday and not really cloudy, it was very dark,” said Arne. “Immediately the aspirants got scared and wanted to leave, but then the gates opened, and we were overrun before we could form ranks or make a plan. I couldn’t count how many there were. Maybe a hundred in total, the first wave, I mean. We were attacked by savages, covered in blood, scars, and tattoos. Their eyes were… bestial, and filled with more than just hate. They stormed us with bloody clubs and rusty maces and fought like rabid beasts. I’ve never fought this hard before in my life. Our mercenaries and aspirants cut down their first lines and the savages retreated, but—”
“But we followed them inside the village!” cried Lorena. “We followed them inside and they closed the gates behind us and attacked us again from all sides. I knew we would all die!”
“We followed our training and for some damned reason, thought we had to finish our mission,” said Arne. “And we hurt them a lot. Killed so many of them, but they fought like… something else gave them power. They were stronger and faster than any man I’ve ever fought. And they just kept on coming, those savages, they just kept on coming. Hundreds of them lay in the mud there, dead and dying, covered in their filthy blood, and they just kept on attacking us. But when some of these fucking brutes began eating our fallen aspirants, that broke us. Most of us turned to escape, and we were overrun and—”
Arne had to regather himself. Lorena could not talk in his stead.
“And were beaten to death and eaten. Some were lucky to die before that, others weren’t. The mercenaries were all dead by then, so Lorena and I fled. I used a few forbidden spells in panic, something I had read in Ardovar’s class years back, and I just kind of made their blood burn and explode. This gave us a distraction. We found a basement somewhere further in that cursed village. While our aspirants were dying, we just… cowered!”
“You fought bravely and made Hanuos proud!” said Jace, tracing the edges of his medallion, but his words seemed to have little impact. I wasn’t surprised.
“No, Guardian Vialisios! We ran away and let our subordinates die! We didn’t do our duty, or kept our vows,” said Arne. “I failed myself, and the others. And now they’re dead.”
Silence fell upon us, and I didn’t know whether I should say something.
“When did Sofia come?” asked Florencia, breaking the fragile quiet.
“I can’t remember,” said Arne. “Hours? Days? Sometime after we hid, we felt very odd energies appear, and it got even darker. Like something blocked the sun. And because we barred the basement window and door, there wasn’t any light in there, so we didn’t know how much time passed. It felt like forever.”
“And after waiting for all that time,” said Lorena. “We heard some loud noises and this… presence became stronger and we could sense it more and more. It was so vile that I kept vomiting. Then we heard screaming and shouting, and fighting. Arne thought we should try to escape, and so we did.”
“When we crawled out, it was quiet for a bit, but we were attacked when we’d cross the street. We fought so desperately and I used even more of those forbidden spells just to stay alive, and I guess we broke the surrounding buildings—”
“But Arne, that was when we saw that flash of light—”
“Yes!” said Arne quickly. “We managed to kill those who attacked us, I guess our desperation gave us strength, but I had taken some bad hits, Lorena too. But then the whole air changed, somehow. It grew dense and heavy, and I found it hard to breathe. We had to take cover, and then we saw a blinding flash of pink light that blew us off our feet and I think destroyed a few buildings as well. I think I lost consciousness.”
“Me too,” said Lorena. “I didn’t even know what spell that was or who used it.”
“We still don’t know what it was, Ardovar didn’t tell us, but I think he knows, but I woke up—” he looked straight into my eyes, “and saw Jonas trying to tell us that he was trying to help. But then that… that beast came.”
“The beast?” asked Viola, sitting on the edge of her seat, her eyes wide and pupils dilated. This was no longer fascinating for her. She was quickly beginning to understand the gravity of what she was becoming involved with.
“The beast!” Lorena all but cried. “That terrible, terrible beast. That vile… monster. I saw it for a moment and fainted. I just took a single look at it and its… I just fainted.”
“But Jonas killed it!” said Arne. “I didn’t see how, but I heard this loud crack, like thunder, and a white flash of light again, and then silence. Silence… And then Captain Dion came and rescued us.”
“What happened next?” asked Jace.
“I won’t talk about what Ardovar or Philemon did. I won’t dignify them for a moment! Fuck them! I hope they rot.
“We were brought to the Academy and interrogated, and all but imprisoned in that hospital room. But I will not say any more about that, nor will I spend another moment thinking about Ardovar or Philemon. They will get their comeuppance. But Jonas, you killed it, the monster. How? And what was it? I need to know. We need to know! We can’t sleep, we can’t think about anything else. And of course, we’ve heard the rumors about what happened in the east, and the battle, but nobody knows who these terrible enemies are.”
It was now finally time for these three to learn the truth, and I decided to explain from the beginning. In some sense, at least.
“The flash of light was me,” I told the Russo twins, but they stayed emotionless. I don’t think they understood what I had said, and I didn’t fault them. “And the creature that you saw, was a demon. I killed it with my magic, but in doing so, I spent my strength and I was also captured by Sofia Dion and imprisoned.”
“A demon?” asked Viola quietly, when none dared to talk. The five of us stared at the twins and Viola, to see how much they understood. “That doesn’t tell me anything. Not everyone has read those expensive and old books that you had in Cappesand.”
“Viola, our Enemy is the demon. They are the reason and cause for all those terrible killings and gruesome crimes that for you had no cause or sense. And the reason none of us had heard about demons before, is because, for almost a thousand years, knowledge of their existence was forgotten. The only person who we know wrote about them was Juham Vil.”
“The Pyromaniac of Hexen!” whispered Arne. He had also read the stories, as I had. Viola sat silent, looking at every one of us, confused and afraid. But at least she was beginning to understand, and this was what she wanted. What she needed.
“That’s right, Arne. The Madman of Hexen. The Pyromaniac. He had many names, but we know that he disappeared over a millennia ago. Rainier Pitties thinks his true writings, which most have been destroyed, hidden away, or burned in hatred, hold truths about demonlore. Viola—” I looked right at her with a determined gaze, “a demon is a being, a consciousness like you and me, we think, who lives just beyond the fabric of our realm. They are invisible to us most of the time unless trained—”
“Jonas can see them,” said Iskander with an aura of calm around him.
“And in time, all of us will. The demon cannot interact with our physicality while being beyond it, but they can whisper and influence the minds of people. Especially those who are weak and evil in heart. They can read our thoughts when we’re near them, we think, and they can also give strength to their servants. Arne, Lorena, this is the reason the savages you fought were stronger, they were given power to the Beast of Veneiea. Viola, this is our Enemy, and they are very dangerous.”
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
A short silence fell again until it was broken by a ponderous Lorena: “But Jonas, you said that a demon can’t interact with our world, but the Beast of Veneiea was physically there!”
“That is correct,” I said. “Unfortunately for us, there are rituals that can be done to summon one into our world. This was done in Veneiea, but how exactly this is done, we don’t know. I don’t know how they can violate the laws in such a manner—”
“Is it a violation, though, Jonas?” spoke Jace, slowly pronouncing his words meticulously and with a heavy accent he never had before. “Just as our magic runs deep, so must theirs. It is only fair.”
“How many demons are there?” asked Viola, her face now pale as a ghost, seemingly ignoring what Jace said in his dizzy state.
“We don’t know,” I replied. “I know of at least five. Probably more. Hundreds. Thousands. Endless. We don’t know.”
“How do you know?” asked the three simultaneously.
“The bright pink flash of light that you saw in Veneiea, was my translocation spell, that brought me back into this world—”
“The rumors about you, Jonas, they were true!” said Arne. Viola was even more lost than before.
“There were many rumors about what happened to me. None matter now, Cappesand is done. Pitties and Verralger have tightened their leash and Ardovar and Philemon won’t be a concern anymore. But before I returned to Veneiea, I was for a long time in another world that was conquered by the Enemy. And though my memories of that place are gone, and I thank myself for erasing them for I dare not think what happened there during that century, I know that entire worlds have been lost to the demonic. I think that there might be an endless count of them…”
“Impossible!” said Arne, but even he knew what I spoke was the truth. “I can’t believe it!”
“Viola. Arne. Lorena,” I said, looking at them with as much seriousness as I could muster. It was not difficult. “This impossibility is what the Order of Hiskandrios is about to fight, and the cause that you have pledged yourselves. I think it is only fair to give you the chance of revoking your oaths because you didn’t know what you were involving yourselves with.”
All were silent.
“In this case, dear members of the Order of Hiskandrios, know that the demonic enemy has conquered many worlds and now they have targeted ours. This we shall stop!”
“I sure hope you know where we’ll start,” said Iskander without a hint of sarcasm, though he did hope I knew where we would begin. “We’ve all heard of the rumors of the wards in the north. Mutinies in Valden, and a coming war against Stotor. Tell us, Jonas, now that you have gathered your Order here, what will happen? How do we do this? How do we stop those devils?”
“If you hoped for an intricate plan, I must disappoint you. At first, Iskander, I thought joining the war against Stotor would be our priority. We don’t know whether a new Rasmog would rise—”
“When a new champion would rise,” Iskander corrected.
“Exactly, which is why I thought we must be at the front lines, making sure that this will not happen. I will never again fail like I did the corisseri and Orsin!” Viola looked even more shaken now if that was possible. The violet glow in her eyes was muted and frail. She did not know what had happened to the Corisseri of Lottie. This was a secret. Nobody did, except for a select few. Now she knew the truth.
“But it was the King’s wish, and Pitties’, for us to focus on the larger picture. They assured me that our armies are strong, and will handle the upcoming skirmishes well enough for a time. Our priority is knowledge. We must learn all we can about the Enemy. How they think, what are their weaknesses, and what kind of magic is effective against them. And we must also, at the same time, keep in check the corruption within Lienor, and to eradicate anyone who might be influenced by the Enemy.”
“And don’t forget, Jonas,” said Florencia. “We must also translate the letter that Jaxine found in the ashes of Veneiea. … vu kirrack juham na dvomu ek akkrash na bazebubian.”
“Correct, and this is where we will begin. But,” I continued, holding everyone’s attention upon me. “Our most difficult goal, but one which should yield us the most gain, is to capture a demon, and to interrogate it!”
“Are you insane?” Lorena and Arne spat out in unison. Viola was silent. She had not stood against one, and could not even comprehend the gravity of what I said.
“Unfortunately I am not,” I said, cold-faced, but injecting a comforting tone into my voice. I think it failed. “I had the same reaction when the King said I had to do this. But they’re right. I know it. I sense it. We must capture a demon, however, we can, and make it spill its secrets. I fully understand this is beyond our abilities now, but this is our first major goal that we must strive for. It may take us years until this happens. Make no mistake! Our task will take years, decades, and perhaps even longer, to achieve. But we must must nevertheless begin. Jace is already learning runecraft for protection, imprisonment, and anything else we might need—”
“We are lucky that Jonas has his tattoos,” Jace interrupted, “which are in themselves runes of warding, that cause pain and discomfort for the demonic. And from our long conversations with Jonas, and my short exchange of ideas with Goxhandar, we know for certain that there are ways to keep a demon imprisoned indefinitely, either in flesh or… somehow.”
“While I am only now realizing how little I and the many schools of magic understand about the depth of potential of runecraft, it mirrors reality and I suspect there is not much that we can’t do with it. With time and practice, I believe there’s much that I can do against our Enemy with runic magic. I’m sure of it!”
His face had calmed down, but we all sensed a righteous fire enveloping his spirit. It increased as he talked and that encouraged me.
“How can such magic work?” asked Arne. “How can… symbols trap an… extra-dimensional consciousness? Please help me understand! We were told in Cappesand that such entities cannot even exist.”
“Arne, make no mistake—none of us would be here without Jonas. I, like every one of you, was stumbling around blindly before he came back. This whole thing began with him, and he is deeply connected to this whole phenomenon. It was on the day he disappeared, thirty-six years ago, that I saw the shadow creatures for the first time as well. I saw them drag Jonas into that other world for all these years. Arne, I’ve done the research, over thirty years of it. Before that day, there had not been a single case that had the symptoms of the demonic. None. It all started with Jonas, and when he says we can capture one, I believe him.”
“Florencia is only half-correct,” I said. “I think that I was just an incidental casualty. For some reason, Keon took me as his victim. It could have been anyone else. I’m collateral damage, so to speak. But I do think that their attack began that day, with Keon Zek and Rufasmos, the latter name we must keep in mind. As Keon disintegrated before my eyes, he told me he was being rewarded, that what he did to me was nothing personal and that his real master, Rufasmos, would immortally reward him. That name, Rufasmos, comes up everywhere. I also heard it in Scorro, when the secretary asked Rufasmos for a reward, using the exact same words! And when I spoke with Rasmog—”
“You spoke with it?” cried Viola. “You spoke with a demon?”
“Rasmog was not only a demon, Viola. Rasmog was Rufasmos’ champion! On the battlefield of Krastarn, when the corisseri sacrificed themselves so we could win, I spoke with the Champion. It confirmed that Rufasmos was its master. I think it is the Great Lord that we hear whispered here and there. I think it was the presence I saw in the sky over Scorro and Krastarn. Rufasmos is our Enemy who is orchestrating the assault on our world. Defeating it is our goal. This is what the Order of Hiskandrios must do, and we will succeed.”
Everyone breathed out a heavy sigh.
“But we will begin with the letter,” I said, hoping to alleviate some of the burdens. “I sense there we will find a lead. We are luckily not alone in knowing the existence of the demons. Juham Vil wrote about them and is a name that keeps coming up, especially with Pitties’ research. It is with the letter that we will start our work, and pry at the edges of the world to uncover why this clue was handed to us.”
“So you are certain of our victory?” asked Iskander. He knew it was an impossible question, but I answered it nonetheless.
“No, but I will give all that I have to win. As long as I must, and as much as I must.”
“Do not lose faith, Iskander. Jonas has powerful allies,” said Jace.
“I haven’t. Not one bit. I’m just making sure none of you have,” said Iskander with a grin that faded in a single breath. “I’ve traveled in many countries, and I’ve never encountered anyone who has taken this threat seriously. Nor have I ever seen anyone do what Jonas has done on the battlefield, ever. I’m sure we at least have a chance.”
“Thank you, Iskander. And I am glad all of you are here, for I would not have a chance without help. All of you, us, have been robbed of our lives by the Enemy. And we are fortunate that fate brought us together, and we are also fortunate that our King recognizes the danger, and that we have many helping us. Soon we shall be given a base of operations near Lottie, and as much funds as we would need. Then we’ll move there and begin doing the work. I need every one of you strong and capable. I will show you how to sense the demonic presence, and how to combat it. And we will take strong recruits who have potential, as we need, and train them also.”
“Training is all nice and good, Jonas, but one day, every one of us must face a demon and fight it. Training can only do so much,” said Iskander. “I’ve fought one and killed it. It was small and weak, compared to what we faced in Poscale, but even that one single creature took down twenty strong men.”
“I’ll face one and kill it!” said Arne and Lorena, taking each other’s hand.
“And me too!” said Viola, hoping to light her own bravery which had been shaken. “Though I wouldn’t mind a bit of training.”
“Good. And I believe in all of you.”
But then came suddenly a shift of energies, and the presence I felt before returned acutely. It was here now, close! The presence was something utterly different, a potent, yet elusive energy.
And then…
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Polite. Calm. Unbothered. And a voice to go with it from behind the front door.
“Greetings, lord Espian, would you kindly lend me your attention, now that you have exhausted your conference?”
We all rose, blindingly fast and weapons were made ready. But I decided not to summon Goxhandar. I felt no danger come from the stranger whose voice was soft and smooth and whose accent was exotic and flowery.
“Jonas, wait!” said Florencia, grabbing my shoulder, but I passed her and opened the door.
Who entered Villa Occo was a dark-skinned man of shorter stature but utterly imbued with aetheric energies as if it was a part of him from birth. His coal-black eyes were faintly glowing orange and his aura was like a smooth melody. He wore multi-colored robes of yellow and orange and black, weaved in intricate, overlapping square shapes, and his boots were long and pointy and his skin was weathered but young.
He politely bowed as he entered through the doorframe, removing his thick scarf and also his shoes, and set these aside.
“Qaalaz benerav, foreign lords, I am Ambassador Naz Raanol, from the realm of the Five Islands, and I come on behalf of my master,” the man spoke while half-bowed. “I humbly thank you for your allowance into your lovely dwelling.”
“The Five Islands. Lavris!” spoke Jace in a half-whisper and the ambassador smiled warmly. It was a disarming smile that was, perhaps, too rehearsed.
“My lands are indeed named Lavris, in your magnificent tongue. I hail from far away and have traveled many weeks through lands dangerous and war-torn. There is much death between our two kingdoms. But I am not allowed to speak further. Lord Espian, my master is requesting an audience with you, at this very moment. Do you accept?”
“Who is your master?” I asked.
“She wishes to introduce herself in person if that is permissible.”
I looked at Florencia, then Iskander, and then Jace. We were all armed to the teeth, and there was nobody who could withstand the eight of us.
“I accept. Where is she? I do not sense anyone else traveling with you.”
“That is because she is currently in her palace.” The ambassador closed his eyes, and I sensed a strong pulse of telepathic thought travel from him into a great distance. There something came back as a reply and he opened his eyes again. “She is ready and offers gratitude for your hospitality. Please clear space.”
Placing our trust in the strange man who exuded peaceful thoughts, we stepped back and he emptied the dining room furniture. There on the floor, he began to make markings with sand that sparkled in crystalline colors. He drew flowing patterns in circular, interconnected lines and sharp lines here and there that cut over the previous ones.
Quickly I sensed strong magic pouring into that space, and the incantation was ready.
“This is potent wizardy, lord Espian,” said the ambassador. “Please brace yourselves and if possible, breathe out and hold your breath as if underwater. Close your eyes and do not look directly at the light.”
Then, as everyone had stepped back further and held onto something, a blinding flash of light, slightly pinkish and green, came forth into the middle of the sand pattern. The air in the room blew out of the windows and doors, and my legs buckled. All but me and Iskander fell to their knees and coughed heavily.
And then I looked up and there stood before me a woman. She was tall and slender under her garments, and a fiery spiring blazing within her, burning brighter than anyone else I had ever encountered.
This exotic guest had a long tunic of elegant white and yellow and weaved into it patterns of checkered black, and hanging from her shoulders was a cape of rainbow-colored feathers that trailed behind her. They moved in such a mesmerizing way that I found it close to impossible to follow her movements.
With a graceful motion, she lifted a war-mask from her face, white with an unmoving crooked grin that unnerved even myself, and had painted eyes of deepest ebony and crimson. From under the mask, I saw she had dark skin, deep eyes of bright orange, and a long and sleek neck with her hair in a tight topknot.
The long spear that she held at her side, of onyx black and bossed copper and sleek silver that shone brilliantly against the light, she set against the wall and beside it her white mask.
Then she came close, our eyes met at even height, and everyone in the room could not utter a word.
“Greetings viscount Jonas Espian, Victor of Poscale and Krastarn and Champion of the South,” said the woman formally, holding her chin high and her gaze noble. Her voice was soft and smooth, songlike and honeyed. “I am very glad and honored you have accepted my request. Your conquests and victories in these lands so far away from mine are much talked about within our great halls, and I must extend the gratitude of the Kingdom of Lavris over your deeds. The man whom you called Grasd Vranik was known to us, and the cause for death and suffering in our lands and much more for our eastern neighbor Baversa who now stands at the brink of destruction. We have fought his armies for many years, Champion Espian. Me and my family have lost many we have held dear over the—”
Suddenly she stopped mid-sentence. A flicker of uncertainty crossed her delicate features. I felt the full weight of her unsuppressed psychic might upon me, seeking answers. But then, as our mental abilities locked against each other, she quickly discovered the two of us were more than evenly matched. And I never also had never felt such strength. Not even in Pitties.
She took a step back in fright and almost stumbled. But then something happened that shocked both of us. The moment our spirits connected, I understood immediately I had a kind of kinship with her that I never had in my entire life. Not with Jace or with Iskander. Not even Florencia. Our connection was wholly different and deeper.
I had the vague sense that she and I had been close once, very long ago, akin to a lingering memory from a vibrant dream. I wanted to step forward and embrace her, but could not move. Feelings of finding something lost flooded my heart and these were not of a romantic kind, but more as one would greet a long-lost sister or lifelong friend.
As for her, she masterfully suppressed her tumultuous feelings, and instead of saying a word, did what I could not and embraced me.
“Qaalaz benerav, anashe be daz,” she said with almost overbearing emotion I found it hard to bear. “Jonas Espian… Of different blood but kin in spirit. My name is Vaanve Haanhe, Princess of Lavris. And I am the Champion of the East.”
To be continued in Book 2...