His first thought was just to get the Librarian on the boat - anything and everything else can be worried about later. That alone would prove to be daunting. The only reason why the plethora of guards haven’t gotten closer was his reputation. But how long will that hold up? How fast until one of them realizes he could no longer do the horrible things he was infamous for? He kept the Librarian behind his back and steered her towards the docks but their path was quickly cut off.

Within a handful of heartbeats they were cornered. The only thing he could do would be to make a desperate lunge to the boat and try to shove the Librarian on board and try one last attempt at convincing the drunken boatswain to move but that was growing increasingly impossible by the moment. Perhaps he would be lucky enough and not be killed.

Back then Moulu was compromised and his old ‘friend’ had no plans to spare him. Why would he expect the emperor to give that mercy? Especially when the man was clearly delusional. Camaz broke out in sweat while his mind spun trying to find a way out.

There had to be a way out. Aris was waiting for him.

There was surprised shouting coming from behind the line of guards approaching him and before any of them decided to react, a handful of them stumbled and the group of young men that were not in the emperor’s colors broke through the throngs of guards. Yepla was barking something at them, then pulled Gardlo by the arm. It took Camaz a few moments to realize Yepla was helping him.

The hesitation from the emperor’s guards broke and they started to sprint to him. Camaz quickly pulled back with the Librarian at his back, her hand clutching the back of his tunic with a terrified grip. There was a scream of metal meeting metal and Yepla was suddenly there parrying off the few guards that dared to approach.

“Shoulda gotten some lessons while I offered them,” Yepla grunted at the young men he easily bested. One of his students unceremoniously pushed a white faced Gardlo so that the runeology professor was protected behind Yepla as well.

“We’re all going to die,” Gardlo whimpered.

“Get on the fucking boat before panicking,” Yepla shouted over his shoulder.

People surged around them. There was a confusion of movement, fighting, pushing and shoving. In the midst of the chaos Camaz was shocked to come face to face with Raka, one of the hot headed manus students he had taken with him in his initial search for Aris out east. Last he saw the young man, he had one of his knees severed at the joint. The young man simply nodded in acknowledgment and turned to engage a guard. Camaz took that as his cue to move towards the docks.

It was a mad scramble. The boatswain had not moved from his spot and simply watched the entire fight unfold with drunken detachment. Even as Camaz pushed the Librarian and Gardlo onto the boat, he barely seemed to react until suddenly he jerked in surprise at the number of growing people on his vessel.

“Hey! What is the meaning of - ”

Two of Yepla’s students became incapacitated - to Camaz’s relief, it wasn’t an all out slaughter. They looked like they were about to be arrested at most. Those closest to them were able to make it onto the boat, with one guard making the desperate jump from the dock while they were already five paces in the water.

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“Sorry, boy,” Yepla grunted. He swiftly dodged the guard’s awkward attacks due to the lack of space on the small boat and pushed him overboard.

There was markedly less whimpering coming from Gardlo - Camaz found him at the front muttering over a modest enchanting circle. From the way the boat just started moving, he could only assume it was the thing driving the boat forward even with the tepid winds close to the island.

Raka immediately took to the ropes and looked to know what he was doing as the small sail of the boat quickly caught wind and the vessel surged forward towards the Heart. There was shouting from the boatswain but at that moment Camaz found his legs became weak and he sank to the floor next to the Librarian.

“Raka,” he managed to say.

The young man grinned down at him. “Hi, professor.”

“How… why? And Yepla…”

“You owe me one, Camaz,” Yepla called out from the back of the boat. He was busy scanning the waters, eying the emperor’s ships at a distance.

“And me,” Gardlo sniffed.

“They won’t get to us in time,” Yepla said finally. “They are avoiding getting close to the Heart so if we are headed there, they won’t follow.”

Raka must have caught his outright stare and the young man laughed. “I’m just here to even a score,” Raka said. “Don’t worry, you don’t owe me anything.”

“I nearly made you a cripple,” Camaz said.

“Perhaps.” Raka pulled gently at a rope, making it creak against the wood. “Verne and Laell explained to me what they were able to tell me. Then after hearing what the emperor had to say, I had the chance to strike back at the people who actually crippled me.”

Camaz mulled over the unsavory thought. It was obvious to even Raka that the emperor was at fault for the Bringers, whether directly or indirectly. The emperor made no admission he gave orders to the Bringers but he wasn’t about to say anything that would convince Raka otherwise. At least not until he’s brought them to the Heart.

He then turned to the manus professor who had knelt by another one of his students who sported a bleeding gash on his arm.

“Why are you helping me?” Camaz asked.

“Helping you?” Yepla gave a bark of laughter. “By the Parts. We’ve been trying to get you to do something about the Gates for years! Of course what the emperor had to say wasn’t sitting right with us.”

“His actions weren’t sitting right with anyone,” Gardlo said.

“Downright suspicious. When we saw what appeared over the Heart it only confirmed he was running from something - him getting his guards to stop you from leaving the island only reinforced it.”

“I think you owe us an in-depth explanation,” Gardlo added. “Of everything.”

A part of Camaz resisted the idea. He wondered if it was the ‘spymaster’ part of him that refused to die, the part of him that clung on to a past when he played spy games and thought himself smarter than everyone else. But he had already admitted aloud he was never a really good spy in the first place - it was even more so now that he was rendered into a regular man.

He remembered the emperor talking about the lack of abilities. The frustration of being a powerless person while others around you could use their mind’s eye or be as swift as the wind or as strong as an ox.

It’s not like you ever liked it. Perhaps this is a good thing.

“I understand,” Camaz said. “I’ll tell you everything.”