The crest point of an element denotes a specific level of volatility. It is at this point that one element no longer solely interacts with itself, but potentially with the other five as well.

  Volatility within a single element will always reduce itself given no external stimulants, yet this is not the case if more than one element is involved. When two different elements start to interact with each other, the volatility of the ?ther will increase instead, giving rise to potentially dangerous situations.

  Excerpt from 'Introduction to the Workings of Magic'

  “A surprising outcome,” Karan said. He was sitting in the living room of the haunt as Moeke tended to the plants. Siella was doing the laundry in the scullery and Gieltje was taking an afternoon nap.

  Moeke poured some more water into a plant pot. “You expected something different?” She brushed some spider's thread from one of the plant's tall leaves.

  Karan half-shrugged. “I knew the sanctum itself wasn't much of a threat, but I'm astonished that the ones who attacked me didn't make another attempt. The Royal Guard was obviously expecting them to.”

  Moeke shrugged in turn. “Maybe they already got what they wanted.” She frowned, noticing a small brown spot on a leaf.

  “Isn't this outcome for the best?” she continued. “Perhaps now things will return to normal.” She put down the watering can and turned to face Karan. “Speaking of which, what are your plans now? Do you wish to prolong your stay?”

  Karan sighed and folded his hands together. “I'm uncertain.”

  “What did you plan to do after you stormed Callium with the Daughters?”

  Karan jerked upright. How does she know about that?

  A wisp of a smile passed over Moeke's face before she shook her head. “You think I didn't know? You've been plotting something for days now with all the things I had arranged for you. And then, right after a huge uproar involving Callium and the Daughters, you come back here looking all distressed. It wasn't hard to figure out.”

  Karan relaxed his posture. She's right. I have not been very secretive around here. Again, he sighed. “I did have a plan, yet an overzealous magistra ruined it. Or at least the part that was to redeem me.”

  “There's talk of Callium being disbanded,” Moeke said, reaching up towards a potted fern that hung from the ceiling. “If that turns out to be true, the city will have lost its two biggest magic guilds within a single moon. The last time that happened was during the Schism, and at least then we got two new ones as well.”

  Karan nodded, staring out of the window at the rain outside. At least I managed that part.

  Yet somehow the way the inner circle's downfall had played out didn't sit right with him. He had expected Sill to allow himself to be taken under protest, and then make a huge spectacle out of everything in the following days. Yet instead he had fled the scene, using one of Callium's most secret and dangerous spells to do it.

  If he resorted to redshifting, he could well be dead. Why would he take such a risk?

  Unfortunately, Karan did not know exactly what had happened in the mansion that morning. After Magistra Seleny disappeared into the tunnel, Karan had waited at the entrance, debating whether or not he should follow her until he heard the tunnel collapse.

  Fearing the target spelltomes lost, he rushed out to retrieve the small set of his own White Candle tomes that he had hidden nearby for this very purpose. The signal stone he gave Magistra Seleny was among those items as well, and to his surprise she responded. At least, she did at first.

  After the fire started he had tried to contact her again, but she did not respond. A few moments later he learned that Callium's archmagister had used magic to disappear from the house, and it was at that point Karan decided to do so as well after leaving his spelltomes with Magistra Lakrima Mirr.

  So what's my next step? I could go to the Royal Guard and proclaim my own part in the whole thing, but I have no idea if the Daughters have held up their end of the agreement. For all I know, they blamed me along with the rest of Callium. He moved his finger over the stubble on his cheeks, noting that he should shave soon.

  “You spoke of redemption,” Moeke said as she poured out the last of the water from the watering can. “Are you so eager to return to your old life?”

  “Not my old life, but at least a semblance of it.” He waved his hand around. “This place may be safe, but that's all it is. No offence.”

  “Redemption is not earned, it is asked for,” Moeke said with a solemn expression on her face. “You are the one who has to take the first step.”

  “I'll wait for more news first,” Karan replied, rising from his seat. “I need some time to consider these latest events as well.”

  “Suit yourself,” Moeke answered. “Lunch will be ready within the hour.”

  Karan nodded and went to his room where he sat down on the edge of his bed. Now what do I do? The inner circle is gone and the situation at the White Candle is resolved. What is left?

  His gaze fell on a stack of papers placed on his nightstand. It contained notes and other information he'd written down for Magistra Seleny while planning the operation. When he left Magistra Mirr behind, he had grabbed all of it and brought it with him.

  Karan sifted through the stack with a bored expression. Most of this can be thrown away now.

  At the bottom of the stack, however, was a thicker piece of folded paper that Karan didn't recognize.

  What's this?

  He unfolded it, revealing a detailed map of Rios. At several locations numbers were scribbled down in pencil.

  This is the map she had with her at our second meeting. The one with the ?ther measurements. It appeared Magistra Seleny had not bothered to update her experiment since then, as there were no new numbers.

  This really is clever, he thought as he passed his finger over the different locations. You can tell at a glance where magical activity is present. His finger stopped on a spot in the Seventh District next to a list of numbers that showed a continuous increase.

  Why are these so high? These numbers are the same as for River's Turn where the foundries are, yet there shouldn't be anything there to cause this.

  And it wasn't just that location. All the numbers were much higher than Karan would expect, and even stranger was the fact that all the elements had increased in similar increments as if they were linked.

  If it was just one or two elements, it would have made far more sense, he thought, his eyes shifting north towards the Amber Quarter. Could White Candle have something to do with this?

  Yet on the map the area around the White Candle did not stand out. In fact, everywhere that one would expect more volatility—the Winged Keep, the magic guild towers, the various ministry offices—showed overall lower numbers.

  Karan blew the air from his nose in a short huff. It's just the opposite of what one would expect. That's weird.

  With a shake of his head, he refolded the map and started to search for a razor blade. He wasn't particularly interested in solving mysteries right now, and it was high time he got rid of his stubble.

  As the day progressed, Karan kept thinking back to the numbers. He couldn't shake the feeling that White Candle had something to do with the odd state of the ?ther in the city.

  This was mainly because of the group of indicators he had seen before entering the White Candle sanctum; the ones that revealed a continuous stream of all six elements. Eventually, he succumbed to his curiosity and retrieved the map from his room, seating himself with it in the living room. There he stared at it, his hands folded in front of his mouth, to see if there was perhaps some kind of pattern hidden within.

  “The city sure grew over the generations,” Gieltje said from behind Karan. He placed a hand on the table to support himself as he leaned forward. “I remember when the Sixth and Seventh Districts were still nothing but ruins.”

  Karan eyed the old man. How do you still remember that? That was nearly a hundred years ago. He did not speak his mind, however, merely mumbling an acknowledgement.

  “What are those numbers?”

  “?ther volatility and pressure levels from the past weeks,” Karan said. He saw no reason to keep it a secret. “They're about a week old, I think.”

  “Seem too high then,” Gieltje said as he bent closer to see the numbers. “Had we still lived under the reign of King Vargarre, this would have been cause for great alarm.”

  Again, Karan glanced at Gieltje. Is he joking or something? Vargarre the Second abdicated nearly sixty years ago. Long before the current King, Darych, was even born. How old is he that he remembers things like that?

  Nevertheless, Gieltje's remark piqued his interest. “What do you mean, cause for alarm?”

  “Well,” Gieltje said, straightening his back with a sigh. “King Vargarre never got over the fact that his parents almost died in the Second M?lstrom, so he did many things to prevent another.” He shuffled around the table and sat down opposite Karan.

  During Karan's stay here, Gieltje had tried to engage him in conversation several times. Yet Karan had brushed off his attempts; he was too busy, and he remembered all too well the way Htanni got when he started talking about the past. Considering the conversation so far, it was clear that Gieltje was at least as old as the ancient Callium magister, and likely just as prone to slipping off into the past.

  At this moment, however, Karan had nothing better to do. I might even find out one or two things. “So what kind of things did he do?” Karan asked.

  “Many things,” Gieltje repeated. “New laws that placed restrictions on the things magic guilds could and could not do. The pursuit of new forms of scrying to discover m?lstroms long before they form. And, of course, he founded the Weavers of the Wing. A magic guild beholden only to the Crown itself.”

  Stolen story; please report.

  “The Weavers of the Wing,” Karan mused. “I remember seeing them when I was a child. I believe that was when they disbanded.”

  “They were a noble organization. I sometimes wonder if the ill that befell White Candle would have happened had they still been around.”

  “I doubt it would have made a difference,” Karan said with a shrug. “There was good reason to disband the Wing; in the end they consisted of nothing but old men and women. After runestones became a reality, the wealth they brought caused anyone with the talent to join one of the other magic guilds instead.”

  Gieltje nodded with a hint of disappointment on his wrinkled face. “The lure of coin rather than duty. It is a shame.”

  Karan scoffed. “Coin was part of it, sure, but it was mostly the archaic approach the Wing took towards magic that cost them in the end. They utterly failed to realize the impact runestones would have on the field of magic.” He placed his finger down on the map, pointing at the Winged Keep. “And besides, the Royal Guard turned out to be far more effective than the Wing ever was. Enforcement is about the ability to project force. Not merely by the growth of knowledge.”

  “So much was lost when those magistrae passed on,” Gieltje said sadly. “And the Weavers only existed for seventy years. I cannot even imagine all the knowledge that vanished along with the White Candle guild. I can recall their one hundred and eighty-year anniversary celebration like it was yesterday.”

  “That was ten years ago,” Karan remarked drily.

  “Hmm,” Gieltje hummed in response, lost in thought.

  He's living as much in the past as Htanni. Does growing so old really do that to you?

  Karan looked back down at the map. All this talk about ancient history had given him an idea. Perhaps the levels are linked to the respective ages of the city.

  However, it didn't take long for him to see that was a dead end as well. Frustrated, he ran a hand through his hair. It's like a puzzle, only I'm missing several pieces and I have no idea what the final result is supposed to look like.

  “You should look into that, you know,” Gieltje said.

  Karan looked up in confusion. “What?”

  “If those numbers are from the past week, why don't you go check what the current number is? I would love to know as well.”

  “This isn't my experiment...” Karan started, but then stopped himself. Why shouldn't I see for myself? Magistra Seleny mentioned that the readings were at a fixed point, so they probably used a scrying stone with a sigil. With everyone under house arrest, the stones are unlikely to be removed.

  He eyed Gieltje, who was still watching Karan with anticipation. His brown eyes shined brightly in his otherwise worn face.

  A sense of wariness rushed over Karan. “What's your interest in this?”

  Gieltje looked surprised at the question. “Didn't you want to know about this?”

  “I do, but you seem to as well,” Karan said, as he narrowed his eyes. “And there aren't many people who could tell that these numbers are higher than normal. Not unless they had some kind of involvement with magic at some point.”

  “That's all in the past,” Gieltje replied.

  “Maybe so, but it was pointed out to me this morning that I've been too careless in many of my actions. So if you say you are interested in this, I would like to know why, or for that matter, who you are.” Karan placed one of his arms on the table and leaned forward towards the old man.

  “I was once committed to the safety of the city,” Gieltje said, his eyes glazing over. “My desire is merely an extension of that past commitment.”

  Commitment to the safety of the city? What is he talking about? Was he part of the militia? He's too old to have been part of the Royal Guard, so what...

  Karan's eyes grew wide. “You were a magister of the Weavers of the Wing.”

  Gieltje did not answer. He merely sat in his chair, unmoving like a statue.

  “I wondered why you were so eager to sing the Wing's praises,” Karan said, still baffled. “But that explains it perfectly.”

  “As you said,” Gieltje whispered, suddenly sounding his age. “That's all long in the past now. Time waits for no-one.”

  “But why are you here?” Karan asked. “What happened that you need to stay in a place like this?”

  “Despair.”

  With that, the old magister got up from his chair and shuffled out of the room, leaving Karan behind in amazement.

  Who could ever believe that? That man, one of the old Weavers of the Wing.

  He took some time considering the possible implications, until he realized there were none. The Weavers of the Wing had ceased to exist thirty years ago, and the reason Gieltje was here probably had nothing to do with the Wing to begin with. It's a curious thing, though.

  Despite his wonder, he forced himself to turn his attention back to the map. Now that he knew the reason behind Gieltje's request, Karan decided that he should do as the old man suggested; find one of the Daughter's scrying stones and see what its latest reading was.

  Even if it reveals nothing of importance, at least it gives me something better to do than staying in this haunt.

  Karan folded up the map and went looking for Siella. He needed a new address to find this place again.

  Later that evening, Karan found himself on the corner of a decrepit-looking alley near the south-west corner of the district. The map clearly indicated that the scrying stone he was looking for was on this block somewhere, and this alley was the only place one could hide such a stone.

  If it's not here, they must have a haunt nearby and have hidden it there. He hoped that would not be the case. On his way here he had run into several city watch patrols who seemed to be everywhere these days, and each time he feared being recognized. He couldn't hide his face, as that would only make him stand out among the otherwise regular citizens. He had to hope that the darkness of night would be enough.

  Maybe shaving was a mistake, Karan thought as he entered the alley. Thank the ?ther none of them was paying much attention.

  There was a faint stench hanging in the alley; Karan did not care to know what it was. He hastened his pace, looking from side to side for possible locations to hide a scrying stone. They wouldn't put it somewhere that's hard to reach, or in a place that's easily seen.

  There were several sewage drains in the alley, but Karan dismissed them. Those magistras would never stick their precious clean hands in there.

  He had almost reached the end of the alley when a glass lantern hanging from a wall next to a door caught his eye. It was an old one that needed fish oil to fuel a small flame. People who lacked the ability to channel ?ther still used them as they couldn't use sun sigils.

  Could that be it?

  The door next to the lantern had cobwebs in every corner. Nobody had opened it in a long time, and the lantern appeared equally disused.

  After checking his surroundings, he reached up and looked for a way to open the lantern. After some fiddling he found a tiny latch, which he flipped. One of the sides of the lantern opened, revealing a large rock inside.

  With a surge of joy, he grabbed the rock. There was no obvious sign that it was a runestone, but that wasn't surprising. Runestones were worth a good deal of coin, and anyone stumbling upon one wouldn't hesitate to take it, especially in this part of the city.

  The weight, however, confirmed to Karan it was the stone he was looking for. It was too light to be a real rock.

  He turned around and retraced his steps down the alley. First I need to figure out how to activate this rune.

  After he rounded the corner, he saw a small group of soldiers approaching in the distance.

  Karan tensed up. Yet another patrol? Is there something going on I don't know about? I thought things would calm down now that the White Candle has been secured.

  He briefly considered turning around, but realized that doing so would only make him appear suspicious. Instead, he moved on with an unchanged pace, arranging his face into a hurried expression as if he was late for something.

  The patrol consisted of four men, all wearing mail, padded leather trousers and iron skullcaps. They all carried arming swords as well as batons and sword breakers.

  Why are they carrying swords? Karan thought, just as they were about to pass each other. That's not standard city watch equipment.

  “Hey, you,” one of the men said.

  Karan glanced at him and stiffened mid-step. The man was looking straight at him.

  What does he want? Did he recognize me?

  The patrol halted and they all looked at Karan.

  “Are you from around here?” the man who had addressed Karan asked.

  “No,” Karan replied. He glanced at the other men, his heart racing. They appeared neither hostile nor agitated, and nor did they make any attempt to surround him. Yet Karan did not feel comfortable in the least. What is this about?

  “Do you perhaps know which direction the harbour citadel is?”

  The question took Karan aback. Watch members who don't know where the harbour citadel is? The harbour citadel held the majority of the Rios city watch, with the rest spread out over guard posts across the city. Every single militia member should be able to find it, regardless of their current location.

  His heart started to beat faster, and Karan could feel the blood rushing to his face. “I'm not certain,” Karan said, using every ounce of willpower to maintain his guise. “To reach the river, however, you merely need to keep following this street until you reach the main road, and take a right turn there.”

  “Coddly thanks,” the man replied, and the patrol resumed their walk.

  Karan's tension abated. 'Coddly thanks' he said, Karan thought, as he resumed his walk as well. They're not militia. They're soldiers from Neroshi. I should have recognized his accent the moment he opened his mouth.

  A streak of pain went through his right hand and he noticed he was tightly clenching the runestone hidden underneath his tunic.

  He let go and shook his hand, stretching his fingers. I need to examine this stone as soon as possible.

  The haunt would be the safest place to do that, but Karan wasn't certain if this stone would be of any use. He might need to retrieve another one, and with the memory loss he would suffer the moment he stepped back into the haunt, he might end up trying to find this one again.

  It's best if I stay in the area, in any case. I may need to do some readings of my own.

  Eventually he settled on a bench in a secluded yet well-lit square bordered by a couple of taverns. There were people strolling around and Karan could hear music.

  This will have to do, he thought, and retrieved the stone from his tunic.

  It was a dull grey colour with broad streaks of a lighter grey, and had no markings at all except for the monogram of its crafter at the bottom.

  Karan examined the stone with his fingers, sending small amounts of ?ther into it to see where the ley points were located. It did not take long for him to find them, and the flat side of the stone lit up, showing the familiar sight of scrying lines.

  The first thing he noticed was that all the elements remained equally excited, yet the displayed pressure value was several levels below the last listed value on Magistra Seleny's map.

  That's a relief, Karan thought. If the previous trend had continued, it would become dangerous. It looks like my worries were unfounded after all.

  The lines did not change as Karan moved the stone around, indicating that they weren't showing the current state of the ?ther, but an aggregation of readings instead. This is probably the average for the entire day, but how much is this exactly?

  Karan could see no indication of scale, so he pulled out his own scrying stone. He charged it and the stone sprung to life, the six ?ther lines dancing near the top of its flat side.

  What...? Did I adjust the scale last time I used it?

  A chill crept into his bones. When he moved his thumb to change the scale, it seemed to move at a glacial pace.

  It was set as he expected it to be.

  That's impossible, he thought, his eyes flitting back and forth between the two scrying stones. If this really is the current pressure...

  He waved his scrying stone around to see if there was another cause, but the stone showed the same result no matter where he held it. The Daughter's scrying stone probably changed its scale because the reading wouldn't fit under the old one. But that means...

  He rose from the bench and stumbled, his body feeling ten times heavier than normal. This can't possibly be real.

  In a daze and with wide eyes, Karan moved around the square, eyes fixed on the two scrying stones. Yet everywhere he went, the results were the same.

  Karan lowered the stone and looked up towards the cloud-covered night sky. If it is this bad, how come no-one else has noticed this? Karan thought, before recalling the abundance of soldiers in the streets. Or have they?

  He shook his head. No, that doesn't make any sense. Once the blowouts start, regular soldiers will be useless.

  The thought turned the numbing chill he felt into one of cold fear. As a magister, he knew the horror of ?ther blowouts better than most, having studied the effects of several as they occurred over the years. If the pressure kept rising at its current rate, an ?ther blowout would be inevitable.

  And with pressure this high, the first will trigger several more blowouts, which in turn will trigger even more until... a m?lstrom begins.

  He put the scrying stones away. He could no longer bear to look at their terrible message. All that mattered was what he was going to do now.

  As he made his way back to the haunt, he checked the scrying stones every now and then, but they only returned the same result. The entire Seventh District was covered in an invisible cloud of doom, and nobody was even aware of it.

  I cannot allow this to happen. I have to tell someone about this, Karan thought, but who could he tell? Going back to the haunt to tell Gieltje would be pointless. The old man might have been a Weaver of the Wing, but that was in another lifetime. It was the Royal Guard he needed to inform, although they would clap him in iron shackles the moment he showed himself.

  But what other choice do I have? All I wanted was to live my life in this city, but if this continues there won't be a city left to live in.

  He knew it was unlikely that the Royal Guard knew about the current state of the ?ther. If they had, they would have already started to evacuate the citizens.

  Redemption has to be asked for, Karan thought, recalling Moeke's words.

  Karan halted and looked behind him in the direction of the Winged Keep. I don't like it, but it's the only option left.