I decided to settle in the town under the pretence that I was looking for ore veins in the mountains just north of the village. My skills as a Sealer soon earned me a place among the townsfolk. Repairing broken ploughs, lifting heavy objects, improving the growth and harvest of their crops… All the while I kept a close eye on the boy, watching every step of his growth, awaiting the first signals of Manifestation.

----------------------------------------

For once, the meeting had not been called in the Great Spire instead being held in the large meeting hall on the fourth floor. By the time Samos and Eder entered, nearly all spaces that allowed people to sit were taken. Near the front though, he noticed that Yara and Faye had kept two seats available. Another man Samos didn’t know sat next to them.

They made their way through the crowd and sat down just in time before Aram began addressing the crowd. He had a concerned look on his face. He began speaking in his own language, the man who was sitting next to them translating fluently for the four of them to understand.

“Very rarely does the need arise for a meeting of this size,” he whispered just loud enough for them to hear, “and even more rarely is the need of positive nature.”

Whispers and hushes began to arise and Aram held his tongue, waiting for the noise to settle down.

“The first of these messages is perhaps the most severe. The city of Eresath has fallen. The fortress of the Order still holds as for as we know, but the city itself is lost to Ethel.”

This time the murmur didn’t die down as quickly as it previously had. Samos understood little of the words they spoke, but the tone of their conversations needed no translation to get the point across.

“Sevens be damned,” Eder cursed. “Is this the end of the Order?”

“Aram said the fortress still stands,” Yara retorted, “so not all is lost.”

Before Eder could answer, the crowd finally quieted down and Aram continued.

“Our reports say the citizens of the city have been allowed to leave the city unharmed, most likely they will be shipped off to the Triut Dreyn.”

Someone yelled from the crowd, their translator providing them with the context in the common tongue. “What when the Order has fallen? Will Ethel focus his attention to us?”

Aram waited a moment before answering. “There is no certainty the Order will fall as of yet,” he responded solemnly. “Other messages speak of the Order’s forces that were away from Eresath gathering in northern Masenis. It is too early to draw conclusions.

“Concerning the danger he poses to us, it is our belief he will not engage us unless provoked. We believe his purpose is to wipe away the influence the Order has over the world, something we have nothing to do with. Even if he has conveyed our location and way of entry to others, there is still the Calm Waste to cross and the mountains to pass. We will double the guards on the Waystones.”

For a third time, discussions flared up among the crowd before Aram could continue.

“The second message comes from our spies at Nokoroy. It would appear that the remaining pirates there have banded together and overthrown the men Ethel had left there in charge. Not that pirates are a welcome change, but at least that is one big part of Ethel’s forces that we shouldn’t have to worry about now for the moment.

“Unfortunately, the fact that the Order’s forces are gathering and calling upon all their members means that the different courts across the realm are without control. We have had reports of border skirmishes both in Odera, the freeholds and northern Titrith that may potentially turn into full-out wars.”

“And what does that have to do with us?” their translator said as a yell from the crowd rose up.

Aram held his hands up in a calming gesture. “For centuries we have been isolated from the world beyond the Waste, our secrets hidden and kept safe. Now that Ethel is lose upon the world, there is no telling who knows about our city. Times are changing rapidly and we must be prepared for these changes, be they for good or for worse.”

With that, Aram and the others left the hall and ended the meeting. The people scuffled about, either leaving in a haste or starting heated discussions with one another. The translator motioned for them to follow.

“Come,” he instructed, “the Conclave has requested your presence once the meeting was done with.”

Wondering what else they might get to hear, Samos and the others stood up to follow the man who lead them to a smaller room at the back of the meeting hall. It resembled the first room at the entrance of the building, although it was not nearly as large in size. The ten members of the Conclave sat there waiting for them, their expressions worried.

“Welcome, Sooarom and Soannin,” Aram began softly. “Is everything going well in your training?”

Once they had reassured him everything was going fine, he continued on a more serious note. “As you have heard, the Order’s forces are gathering in northern Masenis to prepare for the eventual confrontation with Ethel. It will no doubt take several weeks if not months before they can face him and have a chance of emerging as the victor. As we said before, the four of you have your own choices to make. If you choose to join those forces, we will not stop you. If you choose to stay instead and train, we will gladly do so.”

Eder was first to break the silence. “My first choice would be to travel north,” he began, “but in all honesty I don’t think I’m ready for that yet. I would stay, but only if we all decide to.”

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“My choice remains the same,” Faye agreed. “We need more training if we want to be of use in the coming battles. And I feel there’s no better place to train than here.”

Yara nodded at Faye’s words.

Samos though remained silent for a bit. It was true they needed more training, Eder was right when he said they weren’t quite ready yet, but that was not the reason he wanted to stay in Dadendam. There was something about this place that was tugging at him, as if he belonged here in one way or another. It was a feeling he couldn’t explain.

“I’m staying as well,” he muttered eventually. Serifé relaxed visibly when he spoke, the tension she’d been holding at the prospect of losing one of her students fading away.

“Good,” Aram smiled. “Very good. Now if you would excuse me, I need to rest.”

He stood up slowly and made for an exit at the side of the room where a servant stood waiting for him.

“Get some rest, Samos, Eder,” Serifé spoke suddenly. “From tomorrow onwards, you’ll be training twice as hard.”

Eder grunted, but Samos only nodded. Ralph would need them soon, he would have to be ready for when the time came.

“With your permission,” he answered, “I would like to start training Yara in her Enhancement Talent as well, she can do exercises while you have Eder and me go through our forms.”

A smile appeared on her face. “Very well, but from the moment I see it taking a toll on your own progression I will send her off to be trained by someone else.” The look she gave Yara did not leave room for interpretation, she had meant what she had said.

Ehli, the Sealer who had been working with Yara and Faye, seemed not that content with the prospect of giving up time to work with Yara, but she didn’t object. She knew as well as anyone that Yara needed the training if she wanted to become a full Son’Sha.

“Off with you then,” Serifé continued, “and get some rest. I need you all at your best tomorrow morning.”

At her dismissal, the four of them stood up and left the room. The meeting hall was largely emptied out by now, only a few remained still emerged in discussion.

After saying their goodbyes, Yara and Faye heading towards the women’s quarters and Eder to his room, Samos made for the bathing rooms. He had not yet had the chance to clean himself today and the remainders of this morning’s training sweat was starting to make him feel dirty. When he lowered himself into the warm bathtub half an hour later, he dozed off almost immediately.

The lines and voices returned nearly instantly as he became one with the nothingness surrounding him.

… intrigues me, he’s hiding…

Delivery for the Conclave, twenty…

… extra duties? I’m tired enough as…

Still no news? We’ll be needed to the north soon…

… advise you to simply hold the siege, they’ll…

… tell me whether you want to or not, I have…

Just as last time, hundreds upon hundreds of voices found their way across the lines into his mind. Again, one of the voices stood out clearer than the rest. He was hearing Ralph again.

Tugging on the line that belonged to Ralph’s voice, all the other voices faded to the background where they could be ignored.

“They can be halfway across Titrith by now,” Rey’s voice spoke up with an irritated undertone. “I regret losing them as much as you do, Ralph, but we need to face the reality here.”

He heard what he thought was a deep sigh. “Don’t think I don’t realize that, Rey.” Ralph spoke up. “But you’re right. If we don’t have any news tomorrow, we go north. My leg is sufficiently healed by now.”

Samos continued tugging on the line, getting closer to the glowing orb at its end bit by bit. The closer he got, the clearer the voices became until the point where it seemed he was standing right next to them.

“Who knows,” Rey continued, “they might have made their way north without us knowing it.”

“That would be… providential…” Ralph answered in a way that made it clear he didn’t think the chance likely. “Wherever they are, they should receive news of the gathering eventually.”

“Ralph?”

Samos did not mean to speak it out loud, he wasn’t even sure how he was supposed to speak without a body, but the sound came out nonetheless. There was silence for a moment.

“Who speaks there?” Ralph’s alerted voice sounded from the glowing orb.

“Ralph, it’s me. Samos.”

“Samos?” Ralph replied in disbelief. “Where are you? Are you outside?”

“I’m not… here,” he answered unsure of how to explain it. “I’m far to the south, in the city of Dadendam in the Calm Waste.”

“Dadendam? Dadendam is a myth. How are you speaking to me?”

“I’m not quite sure myself, but I can assure you Dadendam does exist. I’m here with the others, we were rescued by the Nakin.”

“How in Sevens… No matter that, we can talk about this later. You need to come north, Samos, the Order…”

“Is gathering its forces, we know,” he cut off Ralph. “We have decided to stay here, Ralph. There is safety here and plenty of opportunity to study and train. I believe that once we’re ready we can join you, but not just yet.”

No one spoke for a moment, but eventually it was Rey who broke the silence.

“Boy, I don’t know how you are talking to us or how you got to the middle of the Calm Waste in such a short time-span, but it’s clear you are discovering things unknown to anyone else. Train. And train hard.”

“Thank you Rey,” he answered. “When we get the chance, I’ll make sure you can travel here, there’s a certain Enhancer here who you might be wanting to meet.”

He heard Rey sniff in amusement.

“I’ll be awaiting your arrival, Samos,” Ralph spoke up, his voice slowly fading as Samos began to struggle with maintaining his grip on the line. “You better make sure to train hard.”

“I will. Oh, and Ralph?”

“Yes?”

“Yara manifested Enhancement.”

With those last words, he finally lost his hold on the line and was pulled back to his body in Dadendam. The absence of sunlight through the windows was a clear enough indication of exactly how long he had been laying here in the warm water. He felt relaxed though despite the effort of communicating with Ralph, his muscles loosened and the fatigue gone from his body. He would have to talk to Yara about this. If she could hear the voices as well, they could very easily establish a constant flow of communication with the outer world.

Once dried and dressed, he made for his room. It was early still in the evening, but he felt the need for a full night’s rest. When he arrived at his room though, the sight of Yara waiting shattered those plans.

“Finally,” she complained, “I’ve been waiting nearly an hour, where have you been?”

“Taking a bath,” he told her, “I heard the voices again. I talked to Ralph.”

The bluntness with which he spoke made it take a few seconds for Yara to realize what he had just said.

“You talked to Ralph? How in Sevens…”

“I don’t know either, okay? But the fact is I did it. They’re going north towards the Order’s forces and expect us there once we’re ready.”

“You talked to someone halfway across the realm, Samos. Do you have any idea what the consequences of that will be?”

He had thought about it on his way to his room. If he could learn how to control this skill, there would be no more need for carrier pigeons, messengers, letters… Sevens, if he could teach this to others…

“We can worry about that once we know what it exactly it is we’re doing,” he responded. “Anyways, why were you waiting for me?”

She held up her hand, revealing a small piece of taen. “I think I found a way. To heal your amnesia that is.”