They left early the following morning, leaving behind Dirk, a pair of outriders, Benlen and a handful of Thearns. Benlen would have preferred to take more of Dirk’s Thearns, but they only had so many horses available for them.

Verdan taught Magnus and helped him with his meditation and how to split his focus, but he found himself distracted and worrying.

Magnus was willing to work hard, but it was slow going for the moment, which unfortunately gave Verdan plenty of time to worry.

“I think I finally managed it,” Magnus said some time later, making Verdan start a little from where he’d been staring back at Blackpeak. They were still in sight of it for the moment, but it would disappear soon.

Shaking himself, Verdan turned back and gave Magnus his full attention. “Which part?”

“Splitting my attention. It was hard, but I think I managed it in the way you talked about. My head is throbbing, though.”

“Good, that means you’re making progress,” Verdan said, patting Magnus on the shoulder. “Now we can start working on your spiral. Eventually, you’ll be able to keep your focus split continuously, but we’ll work up to that.”

Magnus looked a little concerned at that, but it quickly faded as Verdan began to explain how to move the Aether inside of him and form the first layer of his first spiral.

-**-

Dirk and the others caught up with them late in the afternoon, but it was only when they stopped for the evening that Verdan was able to discuss what they’d found.

Unfortunately, what they’d found was quite bad.

The interior of the Enclave was ruined, the parts of the walls that were still standing were the most structurally sound part of the whole thing.

Any hope that the Mhorgain had of simply reoccupying the Enclave was gone. It would take a significant amount of effort and materials to restore Blackpeak.

It was that thought which led Verdan over to the wagons that were carrying the Fwyn. Verdan had only just been able to wrangle enough transport for everyone, and even so, the diminutive Fwyn were packed in as tight as they could.

“I’m looking for Hursk. Do you know where he is?” Verdan asked the first Fwyn he came to and was given directions to where a small burrow was being built.

It was an odd thing to go from the more human side of the camp to where the Fwyn were gathered. The differences were subtle, but they were there if you looked.

Putting the physical part aside, the Fwyn were eating and gathering as families, much like the humans were. Of course, this was their breakfast, and they were preparing for a full night of work, whereas the humans behind Verdan were having their evening meals before turning in.

Looking among the gathered Fwyn, Verdan picked out the wrinkled and aged Hursk near the centre and slowly worked his way closer.

Hursk looked up as Verdan drew near and gestured to where a small banquet of food was being laid out. “Verdan, welcome. Would you care to join us?”

“Not this time, thank you though,” Verdan said, taking a seat by Hursk as he waved away the offer of mushrooms and fresh greenery.

“So, what do you need?” Hursk asked, keeping to low imperial as he took a woven bowl filled with local forage.

“Dirk has scouted out Blackpeak,” Verdan said before giving Hursk a rundown of the issues that Dirk and Benlen had reported to him. “It will need a lot of work and materials, but between you and the Brecan, we could make it happen.”

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“Is this an offer to hire us?” Hursk asked, cocking his head to one side questioningly. “If so, I’d be forced to decline until we have established a new home for ourselves.”

“Why not make Blackpeak your new home, alongside the Kranjir,” Verdan said softly, deciding to go right for the heart of the matter.

“It would never work,” Hursk said as he nibbled on a mushroom. “Look at this camp. Even now we are completely separate. Besides, can you honestly say that the whole Clan would simply accept us moving into their home?”

“No, I suppose not,” Verdan said, wincing a little as he imagined how things would go. He’d let himself forget that the world wasn’t what it used to be.

Looking around the camp, Verdan saw the clear divide between the two races that Hursk had mentioned. The language barrier was a big part of it, of course, but the distance between them spoke of a deeper lack of comfort.

Those who’d been with Verdan the longest seemed the most comfortable with the Fwyn, but he wondered just how comfortable they were.

“Something to work on,” Verdan said, more to himself than anything.

“To be clear,” Hursk said, bringing Verdan’s attention back to him. “We are open to being hired for the work, but that will have to wait until we have our new home.”

“I understand. Thank you for being open about this,” Verdan said, starting to get up before stopping and taking his seat again. “If you don’t mind, I’ll stay for a while.”

If he wanted to work on this issue between the two races, he may as well start now.

“Of course,” Hursk said with a wide smile that revealed a row of needle-like teeth. “My people will begin foraging soon, but I’ll welcome any chance to learn more about this area we’re going to. What is the terrain like around Hobson’s Point?”

“Well, the city itself sits at the end of a pass through the Grey Peaks…”

-**-

Blackpeak was three days of travel from Hobson’s Point, so Verdan made sure to spend time with the Fwyn on both of the remaining nights of their journey.

At first, it was purely to further his aim of getting the Kranjir to relax around the Fwyn, but he found he enjoyed their company.

The Fwyn were much the same as they had been all those countless years ago, and that familiarity was comforting.

Dirk and Sinead joined Verdan as well, using the opportunity to further their understanding of low imperial.

Dirk was making good progress with leaning the basics, but Sinead was picking it up with a speed that impressed Verdan no end.

She was a long way from fluency, but she was doing well enough that Hursk and the other Fwyn had taken an interest.

After their discussion about the gap between the two groups, having the leader of the Mhorgain clansfolk learn their language was a good step in the right direction.

Gwen joined them on the final night of their journey to brush up on her own low imperial.

To Verdan’s amusement, and Gwen’s surprise, Sinead seemed to idolise the Witch and was quick to join her in talking with Hursk.

Gwen was a few years older than Sinead, but she’d been through a lot since she met Verdan, and that gave her words a weight that she clearly hadn’t expected.

As amusing as it was to watch, Verdan instead turned to Dirk and asked a question that he’d thought of earlier in the day. “Why exactly is Sinead the leader of the Kranjir coming with you?”

“It’s because she’s the closest thing we have to a Keeper,” Dirk said softly, giving Verdan a sad smile. “If I hadn’t done all this, she’d be the best chance of a figurehead everyone could rally around.”

“How close to a Keeper are we talking?”

“Her parents were both Keepers from different families within the Clan, but they both died in an attempt to retake some of our lands. Sinead was a child at the time, so while she knows a lot, she doesn’t know the secrets of being a Keeper.”

“The secrets of being a Keeper?” Verdan echoed, arching a brow questioningly.

Dirk spread his hands and shrugged. “I don’t know what they are either, but I know that Sinead doesn’t know them. She could have learned from another Keeper, but even if they agreed to teach her, she’d then join their Clan.”

“I see,” Verdan said, rubbing his jaw thoughtfully. “I wonder if we can put some pressure on Sebastian to help provide some of that information to her.”

“Keepers hold the secrets of our people above all else,” Dirk said with a shake of his head. “I doubt he’d give up anything like that without a compelling reason.”

“Something to consider for the future, then.” Verdan nodded to himself and looked over to where Sinead and Gwen were deep in discussion with Hursk.

If he could somehow get her what she needed, then Clan Mhorgain would have both a Keeper and a Chosen once more. If gaining a Chosen was enough to get this level of support, a new Keeper might well bring every last one of them down here.

The idea of a veritable horde of Kranjir descending on Hobson’s Point in a desperate attempt to help rebuild their Clan was somewhat terrifying, but Verdan knew that was the end goal his apprentice was working towards.

Dirk would need that kind of support to truly rebuild his Clan.