"You would like us to share our insights with you?", Sefra said, briefly summarizing the Eldest's request. Cale could feel Grischa stirring as he stood up beside him and pierced him with his gaze. He must have wondered if this request had originally come from Cale. The coincidence was simply too great.

"I'm not forcing you, not at all. It's just that in light of past events and some unfortunate situations, I think it would be a good idea if we talked about this openly. If you don't want to do that, then be allowed to leave now. I would prefer you to hide it than to lie to me, because that could endanger the well-being of all of us", the Eldest replied.

Basically, he just told the High-Magicians that he would consider them traitors if they dared to lie to him. But at the same time, he still gave them a choice. When the magicians joined the Magistrat, they were allowed to keep their Igrikum as well as their insight secret from the very beginning.

In other words, the Eldest was breaking two promises he had made to the High-Magicians.

"What exactly is troubling you, Eldest?", Aaron cautiously spoke up.

"My own insight."

Aaron did not reply anything else after this statement, so Cale was unsure if Aaron knew about the Eldest's insight. However, he did not suspect that the Eldest had ever told anyone about it. Otherwise, the mages would have acted differently when he appeared back then, or at least the council would have. Unless he had concealed a part, which would also seem plausible to him.

"Personally, I see no reason to hide it any further. After all, my insight was the reason I came to the Magistrat in the first place", Sefra lightened the mood a bit and smiled.

"Why not, I don't see how my insight could hurt the Magistrat", Nora threw in afterwards, seeking confirmation in her statement from Sefra.

"I don't know. It may be that both of your insights were harmless, but the rest of us might have seen a traumatic ones that they deliberately conceal. I don't exclude myself from that. With my knowledge, I would scare people", replied the last woman in the room, Rosalie. With her statement, she took exactly the opposite position of her two colleagues, but neither Sefra nor Nora seemed to condemn her for it. Even though Cale could clearly see the astonishment in their eyes. Rosalie was one of the High-Magicians who disliked getting into arguments, and was by nature more the shy type of person. Her Igrikum of invisibility probably only served her well in this regard, even if she wasn't particularly in control of it yet.

"I think likewise", Malte admitted afterwards, straightening up in the same breath. "What I have seen has not been my life. I fear that I would do more damage. Apart from the fact that I don't see how this information would be useful at all. No offense, but I don't want to take that chance."

Malte looked to the Eldest, who only nodded in understanding. Just as he was making his way out of the room, Grischa spoke up.

"I used to think that way, too. My insight was so vague and brutal that I didn't want anyone to be a part of it. But if I had talked to someone about it from the beginning, I might have been able to prevent the attack on Groka 17 years ago", Grischa interjected. Surprised, Malte stopped and looked over at the 1st seat, who just looked at him sympathetically. "I'm not questioning your decision, not at all. It's just that there's a possibility that you missed a detail that might seem logical to someone else. At least, that's how it was with me."

Impressed by his statement, Cale looked at Grischa and smiled. He still blamed himself for the village's downfall, but he was now looking ahead. He had accomplished what Cale could not overcome and had no intention of doing. Furthermore, he was as reluctant to mention the dragon in his insight to the High-Magicians as the Eldest was. It just seemed too dangerous to both of them.

"I'll go along with that. My insight is so out of context that I can't really say what happened or will happen there", Luc backed up Grischa's statement and looked over at his standing colleague. "How about asking the person from your insight for permission if it's one of us, Malte? Wouldn't that be an option?"

"You are picturing this rather easily. After all, if I told you I knew your future, you'd want to know what was going to happen", Malte countered brusquely at Luc's suggestion.

"I feel similar to them, Malte. In my insight, someone has been killed... but Grischa is also right somehow. Maybe I'm missing something?", Rosalie admitted surprisingly calmly. She rubbed her arm nervously as she tried to convince Malte otherwise, though she seemed quite scared herself. "If I understand the background, it may be possible to prevent the death."

"Prevent the death? Do you think that makes sense? What if that's what the gods were trying to accomplish?"

"And what if they didn't? What if they attempt to prevent such a future?", Rosalie retorted, giving Malte a penetrating look. For a moment, it seemed like Malte was thinking the statement through, which is why the Eldest spoke up.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"You guys can still think it over. I would start with my insight, if it's all right with everyone", he explained, indicating with a brief hand gesture that Malte could sit down again. After a moment, Malte finally nodded and stepped back into the circle. But instead of his previous seat, he stopped behind the couch where Grischa, Caleb and Joshua were sitting.

"In my insight, I saw Exarion being destroyed by the creatures", the Eldest calmly gave voice, and for a brief moment Cale watched Aaron's face completely lose its composure. "I think there will be a third wave of attack."

With a nervous smirk on his face, Cale looked to the Eldest, who deftly twisted the facts to inconspicuously arrive at the desired conclusion. Without consideration.

The High-Magicians were getting scared.

"They invaded the city?", Aaron spoke up, so the Eldest answered with a dry nod and became more specific.

"I was watching the action from above. They had fallen in the city at the evening, tearing down the walls and houses and killing their inhabitants. I can't say more than that I witnessed mass murder. It was really brutal."

Silence enveloped the room and curiously Cale looked at the faces of his colleagues, one paler than the others. Especially Rosalie, who spoke up.

"What about Caleb's barrier? Didn't you see them, Eldest?"

"No, I haven't. I didn't see any of us", the Eldest lied to Rosalie, who looked hesitantly at the ground. Cale suddenly became extremely curious as to what exactly she and Malte had seen that made them react like that. In all likelihood, it had to be something similar to Grischa's insight if they were so careful with the information.

"That's pretty interesting. In my insight, I had seen something similar. I saw you Eldest and Aaron standing in the center of the capital fighting the creatures. At that time, when the second wave was announced, I was afraid all day long that something would happen to Caleb or his barriers", Rangar explained with his usual cheerful expression. "As we all know, that was not the case. So I take a similar view: Altona will be expecting a third wave."

"Have you seen anything more?", the Eldest chimed in, causing Rangar to lean back and scratch his head.

"Not really. Was hard to see anything at all with the chaos. There were just creatures everywhere, not a soul, but you two for miles. The fight seemed to have been going on for a while, too, because the next morning had already dawned."

Instantly, Cale realized how Aaron and the Eldest had died in the first timeline. The two High-Magicians had defended their beloved city till the end and lost. The Eldest seemed to have a similar thought, for he looked questioningly at Cale for a fleeting moment before turning his attention to Malte.

"What do you think? Is it worth talking about your insight?"

"If you ask me that way... I suppose it is", Malte finally relented. He seemed to realize what the significance of the insight might be, which is why he finally allowed himself to be persuaded.

"When you speak of the city's demise, I get really scared that my vision will come true", Odin interjected, which is why all pairs of eyes turned to him. "I have seen the creature attack Frignez and quite a number of mages and Anuxers fighting against them, alongside the Frignezers. It was as if I were among them, and in the midst of the blizzard I watched as thousands gave their lives."

He quieted down on his last sentence before looking at Cale. Cale guessed why the man was looking at him that way, which is why he had a correspondingly horrified expression on his face. Odin had just told them that the homeland of his friends was going to be attacked. Aletta Merensen. Judging from his words, he seemed to expect Cale to get angry. Which he didn't, after all, Cale knew exactly what was going to happen during those days.

A time he would never forget.

The fear of death. The freezing cold. The unsettling silence... it still felt to him as if the battle had happened only yesterday. After all, this was the first war he had really witnessed firsthand.

"Did you see what time of day or season the attack came?", Cale finally spoke up.

"Winter, for sure. I realize that Fringez is always shrouded in snow, but not in such masses. And especially not on the foothills in front of the Twin Mountains. Must have been midday, as it was relatively bright, I would guess."

"That would mean our premonition is being advocated... the creatures won't admit defeat", Sefra interjected, sighing. "We should have talked about this much earlier."

Her comment didn't make it any better. She exchanged a few words with Odin and Rangar, which is why Cale bent down to Grischa for a moment and whispered to him.

"So when exactly did Sefra actually tell you about her insight?", he quietly chimed in. The two looked at each other silently for a moment before Grischa moved his face closer to Cale's head at and replied.

"The week you became a High-Magician."

With a nod, Cale thanked him for the information, while inside he was on the verge of crying. Sefra had indeed affected the timeline. What had changed since Grischa knew about his future? And why did she tell him about it at all? Had something similar happened in his last life, when he became a High-Magician back then?

"I saw a fight too, but didn't recognize any faces. I'm not even clear where this fight took place. The environment was pretty rocky and I didn't see any creatures, I saw people. At one point today I briefly thought it was the Kormandents, but I could only make out rather tall, strong people and not these creatures", Luc reported as he nervously played with his fingers. "Then again, I only saw the whole thing from one perspective, I don't know.... I can't really describe it. I just felt a lot of hatred before the person rushed towards the giant."

"Giant?", Aaron and Cale echoed simultaneously. Immediately, Cale's heart raced at the statement and looked forcefully at the High-Magician across from him.

"What did this giant look like? Were over six feet tall, fairly broad and muscular, and maybe had long hair?", Aaron briskly gave the word, causing Luc to react in surprise.

"Yes. They were. Not all people were that tall, but this one was. Did you have an insight like that too?", he asked Aaron with relief, but Aaron just shook his head.

"No, I didn't. But I have an idea of what you saw. Those giants, Luc, I think it was a prehistoric human. You must have seen the great war of Tsuke, I would argue."