In the Year 1823 of the Fourth Ghrana.

  Somar Township, The Far flung reaches of the Mollard Colonies, The Empire of Alista.

  The one-eyed man ran. As fast as he could, without looking back, without caring about the pain shooting through his ribs. ‘That damned dagger...’ was the only thing he could think about. It had merely grazed him and yet he felt pain that almost made him loose consciousness. But what frightened him even more than the wound was the fact that he had not sensed any ripples in the flow caused by the man’s attack, it had come out of nowhere, like an unseen whisper of death. He tripped on the roots of an ancient tree; it was as if the forest itself was conspiring to slow him down

  He put aside all of these errant thoughts as he focu’ed on his escape. He knew his pursuer was close. He stilled his mind as much as he could and then he reached out with his soul to touch the flow, to find the ripple he was looking for and he did find it. The ripple felt like a breeze flowing through his soul and as he resonated with it, his body became lighter.

  ‘Yes, with this I have a chance.’

  As soon as that thought crossed his mind, his instincts flared, warning him to move. He jumped to his left without thinking as the sound of a revolver going off rang through the forest, echoing off of the thick and old trunks of the trees, the bullet struck the spot where he had just been. As he smelled the fresh soil of the forest, teeming with life, he realized his was about to end. He heard footsteps approaching, but he dared not look at the man walking up to him. He knew that he could only hear the man's footsteps because the man had allowed it to be so, his pursuer could move in absolute silence after all, and this scared him even more. The footsteps eventually stopped and his pursuer spoke in an odd tone, as if admonishing a child, “You should not have taken from that family. They had less than you did and yet you took from them, Jonakh.”

  Jonahk’s voice trembled as he replied, “I am sorry, I did not mean to hurt the child, I just... I lost control.”

  “Yes, you did. You lost control because you abused the flow every chance you got, you used your ripple to commit acts that were never meant to take place and you are surprised the flow retaliated? You only sought to use it, never truly understanding it, never truly resonating with what that ripple meant and now, that has become your undoing.”

  As Jonakh heard these words, he realized who his pursuer was and he accepted his fate immediately. If his pursuer was who he thought it was, he was not going to be spared. But he had to know if it truly was who he thought it was. With a voice that quivered like a baby lamb, he asked, “You are him, aren’t you? The one they call “The Unheard Whisper”? That heretic named Sareth?”

  “Maybe. Maybe not.” His pursuer replied, unsheathing a dagger from his waist. Then without ceremony, he plunged the dagger into Jonakh’s chest, through his heart.

  “Though you do not deserve such an easy death, I do not want to waste more time on you,” Sareth softly whispered into Jonakh’s ear as he pulled the dagger out. As the life drained out of Jonakh’s eyes, Sareth looked up at the sky and took a deep breath, his nostrils were filled with the smell of blood and regret, He realized that he could not see the sky as there was a canopy of trees in his way and he realized how deep Jonakh had actually run into the forest. Sareth sighed and started making his way back to Mollard.

  ‘I just hope I do not have to deal with any other problems tonight,’ he thought as he saw the lights of the township come into his view.

  ******

  Sareth walked into Giorri’s, one of only two taverns in the entire town and the only one that was frequented by the less savoury types. Sareth felt at home among these people. As he entered, he noticed the hushed conversations and the smell of cheap tobacco mixed with bad decisions. Old Man Giorri was in his usual spot, wiping mugs behind the wooden counter. The place was filled with hushed conversations, the lighting was as abysmal as usual, providing the darkness required for some of the deals that were struck regularly in this place.

  “Hey Old Man, a mug of your finest Imperial Beer,” greeted Sareth.

  Giorri looked up from the mug he was wiping, a mug that seemed to retain all its spots no matter how many times Giorri tried to clean them off, and said, “Treating ourselves today, are we Sareth? Another job well done?” Giorri asked as he began pouring Sareth’s beer.

  “Something like that.” Sareth replied, grabbed his mug and walked to an unoccupied table in the corner. At least one he thought was unoccupied.

  As Sareth sat down and started to drink, his mind began wandering, thinking about the day’s events but before he could fully come to a conclusion, he heard a low chuckle followed by a voice emerging from the supposedly unoccupied seat opposite him, a voice he would never fail to recognize.

  “You’ve grown careless Sare. You did not even notice that I was already sitting here.” The voice carried a sense of light reproach, making fun of him and expressing concern at the same time.

  Sareth looked up at the source of the voice, saw the familiar pale face and grimaced, “Why are you here, Cassian?”

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  “Oh, using my full name now? What happened to ‘Cass’? Is this how you treat your best friend?” Cassian laughed but Sareth noticed the hint of tension in his eyes and the sadness hidden underneath that charming smile. As these details registered, Sareth realized what had happened. Only one thing could make Cassian seek him out despite his express wishes of not to be looked for. “So, the Old Man is gone?” He took a sip of his beer before continuing, “I appreciate you coming to deliver the news in person but I doubt that is the only reason you are here.”

  Cassian’s eyes narrowed at those words and then he spoke, “I am here to bring you back Sare. The Old Man named you as his successor. You are to be the new leader of the Vine.”

  Sareth merely scoffed at this and replied in a tone laced with disdain, “I am not going back to lead that rabble. The Vine is rotting down to its roots and I am never going to involve myself in that decay.” Sareth’s voice clearly implied that he did not want to discuss this topic further but Cassian simply ignored his wishes and continued, “That decay is exactly why The Vine needs you to come back, Sare. They are fracturing. Factions are forming. Some think we should ally with the Orthodoxies while others want to sever all ties to rules and simply indulge in whatever rotten pleasure their minds can dream up. Some are even advocating selling weapons to both the rebellion and the Empire itself. We have strayed so far away from the path we set out on that we need someone to lead us back. That someone is you.”

  Sareth looked into Cassian’s green eyes. He looked tired and there were flashes of doubt constantly flashing in his eyes. “Why don’t you lead them, Cass? You may not be a rippler but you have always been better than most of them and as far as intelligence goes…... I think we both know that you surpass me in that aspect,” Sareth said with a small smile that was mostly joking but laced with a sense of solemnity that caught Cassian off guard.

  “You know Sare, you are right that I am the smarter, more handsome and more talented of the two of us but that is not what the Vine needs right now.” Cassian paused and his hands moved in a blur, the next moment, Sareth found his beer mug in Cassian’s hand. Sareth had not been able to track his movements at all. ‘I still cannot feel any ripples in the flow from his actions, just like always,’ Sareth had always been one step behind Cassian when it came to trickery but even now, after all his practice wielding the flow, he still could not detect any ripples from Cassian.

  Cassian swirled the beer in the mug around and continued, “But they don’t need someone like me, a knife in the dark. No. They need someone like you, one who can guide, inspire and breathe new life into the Vine.”

  Sareth’s face still showed reluctance but Cassian simply had a smirk on his as he said, “Besides, you can disagree all you want but I am simply going to drag you back kicking and screaming if I have to and we both know that is not going to be a pretty sight for anybody.”

  Sareth pulled his coat tighter around his shoulders, fighting of a chill no one else seemed to feel, “And once I go back? Then what? I have no plans; I barely have any idea what is even going on in Kharatoula. Which factions have power, who leads the orthodoxies, I know nothing about the city anymore and if you haven’t noticed, I do not get involved in these things anymore. I have lived a quite life here for the last four years and I intend to continue to do so.”

  Sareth’s words made Cassian’s smirk grow into a full-fledged smile, “A quite life, huh? See, I would have believed you except, I saw you chase that half-baked rippler today. Seemed to belong to the shallows of the first fold, fairly powerful. He seemed to resonate with a surface level ripple that belonged to the wind and yet, you took him down like it was nothing.”

  Sareth opened his mouth to speak but Cassian had already cut him off, “And I know why you did it too. That family he killed when he lost control because he doesn’t fully understand his ripple.” Cassian’s smile faded away as he said his next words, “There are many like Jonakh in the Vine now.”

  ‘So, he even has knowledge of my recent actions, how long has he been following me? He truly never fails to surprise.’ Sareth thought to himself.

  Sareth pushed his errant questions about Cassian following him aside and said, “If I agree, I need your word that you will help me maintain control of the Vine.”

  “Oh, come on!!” Cassian exclaimed with mock dissatisfaction, “I am not even a part of the Vine.”

  “Then why are you here in the first place?” Sareth shot back.

  “Well, let’s just say I am an independent contractor who is currently in an exclusive partnership with the Vine.”

  Sareth simply stared at Cassian with a look that screamed, ‘You are an absolute idiot.’ But Sareth knew, he did not really have a choice. If he kept rejecting Cassian’s pleas, Cassian would drag him back, if only to make sure he fulfilled the last wish of the Old Man, the nameless teacher who had trained them both in the art of surviving in that blasted city. He owed at least that much to the Old Man.

  “Fine,” he finally sighed, “I will go back and I will assume the seat the old man willed to me but,’ his voice developed a dangerous edge, “If I find that the Vine cannot be saved. I will burn it all down myself.”

  Cassian sighed deeply and nodded, his smile dropping away. He had no doubt that his best friend would follow through with the threat if he did find the Vine beyond saving and he also knew that if Sareth decided to burn it all down, he would be the one to light the match. He still remembered the words their Master had said to him all those years ago, “Remember Cassian, you cannot achieve most things alone and as for things that truly matter, you can never achieve any of them alone.” It was the day he had brought Sareth back to meet the old man for the first time. Sareth was the same age as Cassian but he was shorter and thinner than him, signs of not having enough to eat. The Old Man had taken one look at Sareth and had uttered these words to Cassian. Since that day, Cassian and Sareth had become two sides of the same coin.

  Sareth’s voice jolted Cassian out of his reverie, “So, when are we leaving?”

  Cassian’s smile returned with a hint of smugness attached to it, “I already have two train tickets for tomorrow. Be at the Station by 7:00 am.”

  Sareth could only sigh at his friend’s antics, Cassian knew him too well for his own good. Cassian looked at Sareth and said, “Well, I will leave you alone for now and let you enjoy your beer.” Cassian handed the mug back to Sareth. He had not even taken a single sip of the beer, he had only taken the mug to annoy Sareth and he had successfully done so. Cassian stood up and made to leave the tavern only to stop and look down at Sareth. His face morphed into one filled with genuine warmth, “It is good to see you again, Sare.” Then he turned and made his way towards the door, disappearing into the night outside.

  Sareth stared at his half-finished mug of beer and said to himself, “Well, so much for a quiet life.”