“This is an order, both of you. You are not to look for the lost shrines of Iseda anymore.” - Norandun Stormaxe.

Adan laid in the creaky old bed of the Tarag Inn, groaning in pain. Reeyu stood beside the only window in the room, scanning for pirates.

“Don’t think we were followed, though I can see some Karathians running in the streets,” Reeyu said, sitting down in a chair by the bed.

Adan breathed a sigh of relief at finally ditching death. Limping along the alleys of Hosin in the middle of the night, avoiding men with swords and guns had been a much more difficult task than he’d anticipated. Most of it had to do with the magic fatigue. Adan wasn’t used to summoning Kallor to such extremes as he had to do on the ship. His legs throbbed with pain and his chest was filled with several cuts oozing blood. And his palms were smeared in ugly red splotches of allergy which Adan wished to scratch desperately but knew not to.

All signs of overexertion of magic. A few more minutes of Kallor on the ship and Adan was sure he would have burst a vein. Surviving that would have been nearly impossible, let alone escaping.

“How are you feeling?” Reeyu asked, chewing on an apple. Where’d he get that?

“Other than the cuts on my chest and the feeling of a million needles stabbing in my gut? Just peachy.” Adan coughed, gently rubbing his throat. Even speaking hurt. He tried to get up and soon found out his shoulder was ablaze with its own set of pain.

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“Just rest, you idiot,” Reeyu handed him the glass of water he was reaching for.

“I need to see the file.”

Reeyu sighed and got the file lying on the table in the middle of the room, covered the window with a curtain and lit the lamp by Adan’s bed. “Surely, this can wait.”

“Of course,” Adan said, trying to sound as breezy as possible, “but where’s the fun in that?” He took the file and opened it.

The first page had a hazy picture of a man, hovering in the sky, dressed in flowing robes, strands of bright red energy swirling around his outstretched hands, as if he were conjuring something. Norandun. Even though the man’s face was mysteriously blurred, like it was in every single picture of him, Adan had no trouble identifying Nor da. His Guardian Soul.

Taken 20 years ago on planet Uron. Last confirmed sighting, the caption of the picture read.

Following pages had further confirmed sightings, none more recent than the Uron one. And Adan knew even that wasn’t accurate, for Nor had visited Adan’s home eighteen years ago, right here on his home planet of Eor. He’d never forget that day.

Several pages were filled with detailed descriptions of the man, some true, some clearly rumours. One such said that Norandun could fly through space between planets without the use of spaceships. He was undoubtedly the strongest Mage alive but even for him that sounded like an impossible feat.

The last few pages detailed reports and rumours of his current whereabouts. All pointed to the Vorbon system, and many also guessed him to be on the Capital Planet, itself. This was a much more solid lead than any Adan had had in all his years of tracking the old Mage. Karathian pirates were famous for selling the most reliable intel in all of space.

A smile came on his face as relief and determination dawned on him. His next destination was planet Xylen.