He stood and stretched, making a small motion with his head indicating Brandos should look out the small window. The old fighter put aside the leather jerkin he had been cleaning, stood, and walked over to his friend—a stepfather as much as anything else, despite the fact he now looked ten years the old magic-user’s senior. “What?” he asked softly.

“Rain is going to play out soon,” answered the Warlock as he looked out into the late afternoon murk.

“You look bored.”

“Constantly,” said the Warlock. “When I first came here, I will concede I did so with some anticipation, finding those I counted kindred souls, and thought for the first time in my life I might have colleagues with whom I could share my knowledge as well as learn from, and at first it was like that, but lately…? Now, what do I find instead?”

“Children.”

Amirantha smiled. The magicians remaining here with Pug and his son, Magnus, were hardly children, yet his foster son reminded Amirantha that he had a tendency to be dismissive of most everyone he met because of his long life and the perspective it offered. Yet Pug was even older, as were others who came and went from this island. Miranda, Pug’s late wife, also had been older, and her sudden death had been a grim reminder to Amirantha that long life and experience are not defenses against mortality.

“Hardly,” said Amirantha. “Still, for the most part they’re in the formative stages of their education, training, and power. None of them have been practicing their arts for more than twenty years.”

Brandos returned to his stool and took up the leather he had been cleaning. Applying a generous dollop of leather soap to his weapon’s belt, he said, “Sort of makes you wonder where all the grown-ups went, doesn’t it?”

Amirantha stared out the window. “Indeed.” He craned his neck a bit and looked out and up. “I’m ready to go outside. Being cooped up here is hardly a treat.”

Brandos sighed, looking at his unfinished cleaning. “Well, a short walk. I could use a leg stretcher.” Looking at his friend, he added, “Samantha says I’ve been as irritated as a bear woken from hibernation lately, so maybe it’ll do us both good.”

“It’s been four days of rain.”

“It’s an island in the middle of an ocean, Amirantha. It’s late fall. There’s going to be a lot of rain.”

Muttering as he opened the door, Amirantha said, “Not an ocean. It’s a sea.”

Brandos shook his head but said nothing.