In the middle of the flight to the temple, Ayg stopped with a worried look on her face. "Quickly, child, you must wake and come to Moirai. Only here can I protect you. The Ebon have found you. Flee NOW!"

——

Five wraiths jumped over the estate's wall into the garden. They moved through the shadows, and where they passed, the guards were no more.

"Spread out, find the boy. Remember, Lord Zain wants him alive," calmly whispered Falcon his command. "Everyone else dies!" he continued.

——

Something woke Gazi - call it a soldier's six sense - but he got out of bed, dressed, and armed himself. Too many times had he been saved by heeding his feelings. He found no guards as he walked toward the barracks. Without thinking, he unsheathed his sword, ran into the barracks, shouted, "Kemal, we're under attack!" and rang the alarm bell. Kemal rushed out of his room as guards jumped off their cots and readied themselves for battle. "Kemal and you four, come with me! We must get to the young master," ordered Gazi.

Gazi burst into Renier's room, sword in hand, his left arm bleeding.

Kemal and the guards that had followed him fought a solitary figure dressed in black in the courtyard. A guard lunged, a thrust aimed at the assassin. But the wraith sidestepped effortlessly, his blade slashing and finding its mark across the guard’s torso.

Without pause, the assassin pivoted to parry a strike from his left, the clanging of steel briefly disrupting the silent night. His counter was a swift, upward cut, and as the guard clutched at the wound on his arm, the downward stroke finished him off. Now, there were only three. Despite the terror tightening in their chests, the remaining warriors fought. They knew their job was to delay.

Gazi was surprised to find Renier awake, fully dressed, and wearing his leather armor. "Ohran, we must flee… We're under attack… They're very powerful; I can't stop them," said Gazi, panting as he pulled Renier out of the room and ran toward the stables. Fighting could be heard throughout the estate, and guard bodies were strewn along the way. "Captain Kemal is holding them, but that won't last," commented Gazi as he led the way.

Gazi and Renier mounted the waiting horses, coaxing them to a gallop towards the gate. The two stallions burst with speed, and as they crossed the gate, Gazi's mount tumbled and fell, an arrow embedded in its neck. Unsure what to do, Renier stopped his horse as Gazi got up. "GO!" yelled Gazi, pulling himself up behind Renier as the horse passed. Then Renier heard a 'thunk', and Gazi's body slumped. "Go… to… the… city… take… my… sword…" and then silence.

Renier pushed the almond stallion to its limit. With one hand, he held the reins, and with the other, Gazi's limp arm as he tried to secure him so he wouldn't fall off.

'Don't go into the city, child,' he heard a familiar voice, but he was sure there had been no sound. "Ayg?" he whispered.

He slowed and stopped two hundred meters before the moon-draped Akköprü bridge. No torches were lit on the bridge or the gate, and he couldn't see any guards. He moved the horse off the cobblestone road behind some bushes and awkwardly dismounted while holding Gazi's lifeless body. Suspicious, he waited, watching the scene. On the far side of the bridge, shadows moved.

'I have very little energy to do this. Don't speak; just think the words, and I'll hear. The city is full of Ebon Specters. I can feel their taint from here. Follow the route you learned to Moirai. They will not be able to enter there,' Ayg instructed Renier. He was full of questions. He would have asked them a year ago, unable to contain himself. But now, after many life and death experiences, he knew to concentrate on the important.

Unceremoniously, not letting his feelings surface, he went through Gazi's body: a dagger, the Yataghan sword, and a purse with twenty-eight silver akces. The horse had nothing on it. 'Hurry, child. They're coming,' he heard Ayg. He thought about taking the horse, but it would be too easy to spot, and he needed stealth now. So he led it onto the road, pointed it at the bridge, and hit it on the rump with the flat of the sword. Then he returned to the bushes, strapped on the dagger and yataghan, and silently moved toward the river.

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'Once again, into the water, I go while being chased,' he mused as he waded into the river and silently swam to the middle to let the current take him. If he remembered correctly, the Ankara River flowed north, circling half the city, so from the western side, he should be able to get to the eastern side about ten kilometers downstream and start his journey southeast. He had studied the maps in the Pasha's library and picked out a route at the nightly insistence of Ayg. His first task would be to get to Sarmalius, a town about eighty kilometers to the east. According to the map, there was a dirt road he could follow.

Water cascaded from his thin frame in rivulets as Renier heaved himself onto the damp riverbank. His hands, palms raw and tender from the extended time in the water, pressed into the soft mud, granting him some leverage as he hauled himself out of the river. The remnants of the night quickly disappeared as the sky to the east hinted at the approaching dawn.

His legs, unsteady and numb from the lengthy float, scarcely cooperated as he moved away from the river. Luckily, the weather had yet to turn cold as summer ended. Renier’s mind, foggy and distant, barely registered what he was doing. 'Child, you must keep alert. The danger is not over,' Ayg's warning brought him back to his surroundings.

He lifted his arms, stretching upwards toward the pale, gradually brightening sky, spine arching gently. For a moment, he held that stretch, eyes closed, face turned upward. A delicate shiver coursed through him, half-chilled, half-exhaustion, his wet clothes clinging unpleasantly to his skin.

He pushed himself to move silently, muscles tight and reluctant. The faint outline of a road was dimly visible in the predawn light. He cautiously approached, his footsteps soft on the wet grass as he transitioned from the river's edge. He moved close to the ground, eyes darting around, assessing the environment for any sign of movement or life.

The road, still glistening with dew, was devoid of traffic at this early hour. He moved silently. Every so often, he would stop, pressing himself flat against the ground or behind the occasional bush, listening intently for any sounds that might signal someone approaching. Methodically, he progressed along the road, opting to walk just beside it, on the grassy verge, where his steps would be quieter, and he could more easily duck into the surrounding foliage if necessary.

As the sun rose, Renier was about a kilometer outside the city when, 'Child, just at the edge of my perception, there are four people with the taint on the side of the road,' Ayg's warning came. 'Can they perceive me?' asked Renier, forming the words in his mind. 'At their level, if you're close enough, yes. You should walk south about three hundred meters and go around,' Ayg instructed.

'At this time of day, the fields will be tended. I'll need to hide from my pursuers and the workers,' planned Renier as he heeded Ayg's warning and walked into the fields. Two hours later, he had circled his pursuers without detection and was again walking on the side of the road when he met a farmer on a wagon full of fruit. "Selamün aleiküm, ağa," Renier greeted the older man. "Aleiküm selam, young Efendi," answered the farmer respectfully.

"Would you be willing to sell me some fruit?" asked Renier as he hungrily eyed the melons, apples, pears, pomegranates, and dates overflowing from the top of the wagon. "And a sack to carry them if you have one."

Two ripe melons, six golden apples, six green pears, and several handfuls of dates in an old burlap sack was the bounty he exchanged for a single silver akces. He walked a couple of kilometers further before finding a hedge that would hide him while he ate. The melon was delicious, satiating both his hunger and thirst. 'Child, meditate so that some of the Mu energy I've used can be replenished. I'll alert you if anyone comes,' suggested Ayg. 'Once you're on the road, you should practice the mantra and breathing while you walk. Gathering Mu energy is something you should learn to do constantly,' she added.

In Sarmalius, he was able to purchase a bedroll, waterskin, flint, and a satchel to make his journey more manageable. Ayg had not detected any pursuers or anyone with the taint in the city, so he stayed one night at an inn.

'Ayg, can you tell me who is after me?' Renier formed the words in his mind, hoping Ayg could hear and answer as he lay on the bed in his room.

'First, child, you will address me as Serene Ayg like all my previous disciples have. Second, I will answer some questions, but we should not use the small amount of energy I have since I'm sure we will need it during the trip. The group after you is called The Brotherhood of the Ebon Tulip. They are an organization many millenniums old, and they worship Auberon as a god. That is why they are tainted, but I will explain it all once you reach Moirai and Ombre Island. Their warriors are called Ebon Specters, and all of them have successfully completed their Psycho-Physical Symbiosis and are at some stage of developing their Samvid Nexus. The groups after you are at Stage 1 or 2, so their abilities are limited,' Ayg answered. 'Now try to rest. I need to conserve my energy, and you must be fresh tomorrow; the road will be long.'

The following morning, after having breakfast, he set on the road again. He was grumpy and sluggish, which he attributed to not having his khave with breakfast like he did at the Pasha's estate. He had learned to appreciate the clarity and energy the bitter drink would give him during his morning studies. But although he asked, the innkeeper had no idea what it was.

About four hours into the trip, Ayg warned him once again. He hid off the road behind rocks at the top of a hill a few hundred meters up, giving him a vantage point. He saw as a group of 5 men, dressed in the same black armor the assassin had worn, quickly rode past. 'Serene Ayg, can they tell where I'm at?' he asked, trying out the title she had requested for the first time. 'They can detect beings with high Mu Energy up to about two hundred meters, and they know the talisman's general vicinity in a radius of about ten kilometers, with the help of Auberon. If they had people at stage 3 after you, they could tell where you're at from a few kilometers away, and if it was stage 5, they could do it from the city of Ancyra. But those people are rare, and I'm sure this is just Auberon being curious; he detected when the Talisman activated and sent his minions to find out what it was.'