Noah’s mind wandered off ahead of him, and he strayed through Windgrad at an excited pace. He clung to the scroll like a man holding onto some driftwood while lost at sea. Down lanes and through guild streets, he found himself moving intuitively, his mind pondering what he had been told.

  Why hadn’t they asked Giles more questions before sending him and Elias out as they had? Or why not have just kept him there in his cell and sent himself along with Elias instead? He ran the questions over and over in his head until it only managed to make him angry. Angry at their obvious mistake in hindsight. Angry at how in the dark they truly were. But mostly, he was angry at the loss of the old man, who died with so little to show for it, other than to send the two off on a wild research errand to uncover old gods and other children’s tales.

  The sounds of merchants shouting advertisements of their wares filled his ears, and he found himself on the main road of the city. The high density of its citizens brought him to a shuffling pace. With the combination of this and his absentmindedness, he eventually found himself moving towards the city square, and before he knew it, he stood at the edge of the great water fountain. Its three tiered levels spilled the sparkling liquid like a thin glaze, catching the setting sun’s orange glow. He looked into it, standing stupidly and holding the scroll to his chest. Minutes turned to near an hour and the sun had finally gone below the wall, and stars revealed themselves in the darkening sky. Though there would always be people wandering the main street of Windgrad, their number had dwindled from thousands to a few dozen. Many of whom were drunkenly huddled together, minding their own affairs, leaving the young man to himself.

  His thumb ran back and forth along the rough texture of the parchment, and, as he did so, he brought his eyes up to look upon the castle atop the hill. Its high towers and great stone walls reflected the many torches to be seen along it. To him, it might as well have been hundreds of little eyes looking down upon the city, watching. Watching him. Playing his own game meant being out from under the guidance of Thomas. If he was to make a single mistake, one simple move without thinking, then he would be caught.

  “Something tells me,” He said to himself. “That the old man won’t exactly step to my protection should it come to that.” His mouth had gone dry, and the sound of cascading water only made it worse. He felt alone. Not only for the fact of not being near another person. And not for the fact of being out of the shadow of Thomas. No, this had been brought on by a different thing entirely. Here, far from home, standing in a new city, Noah might as well have been from a different plane of existence entirely. Having been plucked from his home, and brought into the reality of wars, royals, and gods, he felt no more related to these things than a boy from a small village should. And all because he decided to go snooping around when he knew better. This did bring out from him a sad chuckle. “Suppose I am getting what I deserve.”

  “You deserve a good smack upside the head.” Noah started at the voice. He had not noticed Lewis standing across the fountain. He caught glimpses of him through the breaks in the water. No longer wearing his armor, he seemed a much smaller and older man. He held a lantern low in his hand. How long had he been there?

  “What?” Noah’s words felt loud in his own ears. Lewis began stomping around the fountain, with an aggression that made the younger man take a half step back.

  “You heard me. Your man had been waiting outside the inn for nearly an hour to give you these.” He held up a stack of brown papers. “Gods only know how he manages to get them past my men. Some sort of magic maybe.” He stopped in front of Noah, and held out the papers. “Luck for him, he had the wisdom to not enter the inn looking for you and your master, and came to find me instead.” Noah made no move, and after a quiet moment passed, Lewis shook the hand holding the papers. “Well, go on.” Hesitantly, Noah received them. Lewis looked at him, confusion growing on his face. “Didn’t know your master was in the business of taking halfwits along with him. Though it does make sense as to why you were standing there like you were.” He moved to walk away but stopped beside Noah. “Tell your man, I am not an errand boy. Your master will need to cough up some more coin for this little delivery.” He kept walking, and, for a moment, Noah stood looking stupidly at the papers in his hand. At the top of the front page, a name had been written. Ironvail.

  What had confused him for a few moments now all came clear. He was holding letters from other regions of Tovoran. Four to be exact. He was holding the letters from Thomas's contacts. ‘Your man’, as Lewis called him, must have been the spy Thomas had slinking around the city. Noah had never seen the man once, and had never been told by Thomas to work directly with him. However, the realization that such a thing might be possible gave life to his chest. The spy, whether Thomas knew it or not, seemed to think of Noah and Lewis as middlemen. He turned abruptly and called out to Lewis, who halted but did not look around.

  “What is it now, boy?” His voice growled, but Noah felt too excited and hopeful to let it stop him.

  “Our man, if you see him again, send him to wait outside the inn. Tell him to not enter, but wait down the way a bit, to where I can see him if I were to go to the outhouses.”

  “I am not your errand boy.”

  “No.” Noah said. “But if you want your money, and if you want to be left alone from here on out, you’ll do this for us.” He did not respond, but simply continued walking. The sound of his boots striking the road beneath them clattered up and down the nearby buildings, until eventually fading away down the alleys and onto the upper end of the city. Noah turned his attention back to the letters, and, in the torchlight of the square, began to read them.

  The night had become close and cold by the time Noah had made his way back to the inn. The ladies of the night and drunkards had taken note of the chill and retreated to whatever holes they spent their sleeping hours in, and the only sign of life down the narrow back lane was a stray mutt scampering his way past, some stolen meat clamped within his jaws. Noah hesitated before the door, a swimming sensation in his mind giving him pause before stepping through its arch and down into the inn’s dining hall.

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  There were only a few patrons, either slumped upon their tables totally drunk, or leaning their backs against the walls. None looked up at the youth. Not even the attendant behind the counter seemed to concern himself with Noah, and Noah gave the same amount of attention back to him. Keeping his eyes down he stumbled up the creaky staircase and down the tight squeeze of a hallway and into their room. Thomas sat where he had left him. Hunched over, he showed no interest in his companion’s arrival, until he spoke.

  “Lewis stopped me on my way back.” Noah said, a meekness in his voice. “He gave me some letters for you.”

  “Hmm? Letters?” Thomas stirred, pulling his eyes away from the book he pondered over. Then, suddenly, he whirled around. “The scroll? Did you get me the scroll?” Noah blinked, then shook his head and held out the rolled up text he had kept under his arm.

  “Yes, here.” Thomas bounded from the chair, and snatched it from him.

  “This is good. This is very good.” He began to unroll the thing, letting its ends unravel down to the floor and along the planks, stopping when they hit Noah’s feet. “I did find one reference in the other books to this scroll, and it mentions something that might shed some light on our new guests. Perhaps nothing much, but we should take what we can get.” He scanned his eyes over the text rapidly and shifted the scroll lower and lower as he jumped through it. Noah looked down to his hand. The papers were clutched hard between his fingers. Without a second thought, he slipped one out from the rest and placed it within his belt and made sure to sag some of his loose tunic over it. He then held out the other letters.

  “Thomas, I said that Lewis gave me some letters. You will want to read them.” Thomas did not hear him. Noah spoke louder. “Thomas, it's about Giles.” This brought his companion’s eyes up, and he squinted at the youth.

  “They found him? He managed to escape the red demon?” He placed the scroll onto the cot next to him and took the letters, turning his back to Noah as he read them.

  “I don’t think so. None of the letters say that. All of them talk about how they have not spotted him at all. Not in Ironvail, or Greyrock. Not even in the Warren.” Thomas flipped through the letters, reading them all twice. He let his hands fall to his sides and looked up to the window before him. Noah felt his hand go to his belt. “It is most likely that he didn’t make it.”

  “Abner.” The name came from his companion’s mouth like a curse.

  “What?” Thomas shook his head before turning back to Noah.

  “No.” He said. “Our friend Giles has not been devoured by a demon. Not yet at least.”

  “How do you know?”

  “How do I know?” He slapped the letters against his free palm. “Here I hold a letter from every head informant from the four regions, except one.” He gave a heavy sigh. “I need a drink. Come with me.” The two made their way down to the dining area. All who had been present moments before, had cleared out, and only the attendant remained. Thomas snatched up a forgotten flagon of some stinking drink from one of the tables and walked back to the farthest corner to find his seat. Noah sat across from him. The area’s only light source were the burning coals in the large fireplace beside them. None were about to listen, and none were within the vicinity who might have any interest to try.

  The two began drinking, and Thomas puffed heavily between each draft. Noah fiddled with his mug, unsure how to proceed. It was just as he opened his mouth that Thomas went first.

  “Before you were born, not long after the great war, the whole of Tovoran was practically burning end to end. War lords and criminals took this post warring time to get what they could. It was all we could do to survive. I had started my efforts along with a friend I had made to get a network of like minded men across the regions to work together in order to find stability and lend each other aid when needed.” He took another drink.

  “Who helped you?” Noah asked. He detected in the faint glow, a fond smile show on Thomas’s mouth as he looked down into his mug.

  “A young man named Theo.” Then the smile faded. “And another was a Magi named Abner. He only stopped here for a short time, but it was enough to leave an impression on Theo to add him into our little grouping.” Another drink. “Anyway, Abner eventually left for Northguard. There was too much bloodshed up that way for our liking. More than that, the king of Greyrock was mounting an invasion to put an end to the tribal war and take the lands for himself.”

  “And what happened?” Thomas remained looking into his cup and shook his head softly.

  “Abner put a stop to it, I suppose. None of us really know. Those northerners tend to keep to themselves, and not many are interested in going into their woods to find out. All we know is that a new king was given their stone crown, and there has not been a talk of bloodshed there since.” Noah nodded, and then leaned in, bringing his voice low.

  “Then what does any of this have to do with Giles.” Thomas chuckled.

  “Of the three of us, things really came down to Me and Abner, as the two who were the ones to play our little games. To shift pieces around the board and make things happen. I was glad when he left, I can tell you that much. However, even I knew that a man like that needed to be kept under watch. So, he has been one of my informants. The only informant in the north, to be precise. And after all of these years, he has never failed to keep in contact with me.” Thomas looked up from his drink. “Until now.” Noah’s eyes lit up.

  “You think he has Giles?” Thomas nodded as he poured another drink.

  “You are quick.”

  “What would he want with him? Use him as a pawn?”

  “Perhaps. He is a strange sort of man. I don’t think I could truly say what he might do with him. But I know this for certain,” He leaned forward. “When Abner hears about the red demon, he will do what all Magis are meant to do.”

  “What is that?”

  “Kill it.” A silence fell over the room. Noah breathed heavily and took a drink.

  “But, hasn’t it already killed one Magi before? I’d say it might be that he’s met his match.”

  “Perhaps. But the Giles I knew was far from your average Magi.” Thomas looked through the frosted window to his right. Moonlight illuminated the glass. “However, I hope he knows his limits. This is a god after all.” The two drank heavily into the night, and one draft after another, they began to loosen up. Eventually, the conversation became of home, and of the good drink to be found at the tavern of Wesgrave. But that was oh so far behind them now. And the night grew colder.