"Wernh'An is coming here." Saer murmured.

"Go away." Eryne pushed the rooted man.

"Go where? He will kill me!"

"Then hide you, fuckwit." Eryne lost her nerves, "And hide Rikilda somewhere."

Saer caught Rikilda by her arms and began dragging her to outside. He could not think of a better place than the cellar of the house. Saer somehow felt unwise for him to hope for a miracle in the same room. He would put her in danger too if he chose to take a cover in the same place. He took her to the cellar and locked her inside. Till then he had thought of a place to hide.

Maester Rudolph's room.

He came out and saw Eryne trying to go out of the house. Saer dashed to her, barring her from leaving. Eryne had no power to shove Saer out of her way.

"Leave my way. I don’t want to take part in your fight." Eryne screamed.

Saer caught bony shoulders of the fragile woman, "Don’t go anywhere. Nortze is in the vessel."

"Even thousands of gold chalices can't make me do what you say."

"Nortze is asleep here." Saer pushed the vessel in her hand, "Try to wake him."

"No. I am going."

"Do you think he would not find you?"

Eryne became silent.

"You don’t have to fight Wernh'An. Let Nortze do it. Otherwise we both are dead." Saer said.

Eryne snatched vessel and ran while Saer lugged Rikilda's doppelganger, leaving the storm to grow more.

Storm inside the room ended with an explosion of air. Things on edges of table or shelves splintered on the floor. Wernh'An kept himself upright through the support of his staff. Days where he could teleport without taking the rough path of the wind were long left in the past. Snowflakes around him dissolved in air, turning into droplets of water when they touched on the surface.

He is here. Wernh'An's intuitions murmured in his ear. Barefoot, he took steps on broken glass. None of those shattered pieces could pierce his feet. Instead they fragmented like they were made from sand. A pouch on floor could not escape his sight.

Wood creaked with every step he took towards it. He held it by end of the cloth and smelled from a distance. Taking the same tramps, he walked out of the laboratory as Werhn'An did not need to give a second thought to understand what it was.

Eryne's heart came to her throat when she heard him walk. The tap from his staff along with his heavy footsteps left her gasping for senses. Hair on her arms and back of her head stood from their roots when Wernh'An walked in the passage directly outside her room. She almost forgot she had to bring back Nortze.

When she recalled it, her fingers were not still. Each of them seemed to have involuntary movement. She removed the lid and hoped to see Nortze's arm shoot out. She was not right, by any means. Not anywhere close to being correct. Eryne put her ear on vessel mouth but only heard Nortze's heavy breathing.

"Get up." She spoke in.

There was no answer.

"Nortze." She made her voice more audible.

"Please." Eryne cried.