"Calajhans will be safe." Nortze said the same thing he had said to those cut-throats, "His family lives in an impregnable house which he can move from one place to another. And impossible to find."

"Wernh'An thinks otherwise. He can locate Calajhans from anywhere."

Nortze was done from hearing strange tales. "Don’t you have a play to be in?" he changed the conversation.

"Oh. I almost forgot about it." Braden turned his back at him.

"And the pouch." Nortze put his hand on his shoulder.

"Ahh!" Braden scoffed, "Forgot to give it to you. What is in here anyways?"

"Death Pollen. It was your luck you didn’t open it." Nortze said.

When Braden was about to give him the pouch, he shivered. Nortze could tell why. The wind around them was cooler all of a sudden and the cold was increasing with time. Nortze breathed and vapor flew out from his lips.

Braden looked at Nortze with hopeful eyes, wanting Nortze to end the sorcery. But Nortze gave him a glance which denied all of his made up accusations. Soon came a time when both fixed their eyes on the same spot.

Snowflakes began appearing in the air on the top of stairway but it was not the case with everywhere else. Tiny flakes fused to bigger chunks till the upper portion of stairs was covered in thin layer of snow.

Bits of snow floating in air didn’t fall on ground and took shape of a small snow hurricane. Nortze was equally confused like Braden when the whirlwind grew wider. But other than snow, it caused no movement anywhere.

Through the whirlwind, a man came out with his staff. The whirlwind stopped and snow dissolved in air the moment he walked out of the mini-hurricane. The strange man looked around with his red eyes.

He blinked several times but did not blink his eyes once they fell upon Nortze. Even his eyes colour turned grey after spotting Nortze.

"Calajhan." He let cold breath pass through his lips.

"Wernh'An of Hilcastle!" Braden's jaw fell apart.

Nortze pulled his greatsword out of the rusting sheath. Wernh’An waited for Nortze to run towards him. When he took few steps towards him then Wernh’An turned the staff face towards him. A beam of light erupted from it and collided on Nortze's chest. Nortze couldn’t take the blow well.

Braden took a quick flee as Nortze got grounded.

"You are weaker than I had thought." Wernh'An said emitting a stronger wave of energy from the tip of his staff.

The blinding luminosity paralyzed Nortze from head to toe.

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Wernh’An watched the grounded man, searching for something in his robe pocket. And he walked to Nortze with a small bile. He removed the cap away and forced Nortze's mouth open.

In a second, he emptied the liquid into his mouth.

"Now you can’t lie." his calm voice reached to Nortze's ear amidst of unbearable brightness.

Wernh'An stopped the torment, "But I admit, you are strong.”

Nortze gritted his teeth.

"Tell me who you are." Wernh'An said in polite tone.

Nortze took a long gasp and held his breath. The answer was on his lips but somehow he swallowed it.

“You can’t fight the truth serum for long." Wernh'An pulled the sword towards his lower abdomen, “Or maybe I can force your mouth open to enhance serum's effect.”

Looking at Nortze's inflated cheeks, Wernh'An realized he was smiling.

Wernh'An got blinded in a second. Someone had covered his head from a pouch. As he took a breath inside the bag, his muscles loosened. But Wernh’An didn’t stop struggling to free himself. But being suffocated by the bag caught up with him. Wernh’An saw grounded Nortze through the black cloth.

Braden kept on holding the pouch tight over Wernh'An's head. He kept on doing so till Wernh’An slid to the floor. After ensuring Wernh’An was passed out, he sprinted towards Nortze.

"You okay?" Braden said, pulling the sword out of Nortze's body.

"Such blows won't kill me." said Nortze, getting on his feet.

"You are Nortze Calajhan!" Braden was laughing stock.

"Wernh'An." Calajhan whispered.

"OVER HERE!" Nortze heard people gathering at the top of stairs.

His army? Nortze thought by glancing at his foe which lay motionless with the bag over his head.

Nortze caught Braden's shoulder. He swung the end of his bloodied cloak to cover both of them. Both disappeared before those men could arrive, leaving droplets of blood behind.

Coliseum,

Play Master was tired of not finding Braden anywhere.

Braden ran with costume. Play Master couldn’t hold his anger.

He went to his room and began filling the mug with booze.

Before he could get to second round of drinking, someone came inside his room without knocking.

The same jealous actor.

"Looks like your man was shy." He mocked the play master, "Play is about to start. What do you think?"

"But you are not dressed as Wernh'An." Play Master burped.

"He never dresses like that."

"Can you convince the crowd?" Play Master stood up.

"Yes."

"Then get on the stage."