He felt torn in two different directions. Killian knew he should take the Halrana Lexicon to Altura himself, and find Ella, but the hunger to find out who he really was burned inside him. He had to get the Lexicon to safety, and then he could find the old man. Only Evrin knew about the strange power he possessed. Not only could Killian survive the touch of essence, but runes drawn on his skin enhanced him in the same way they enhanced a zenblade, or a set of armour. What was he?

"It must go to Altura, to Sarostar, to the Crystal Palace. Give it to the Alturan High Lord and no one else," Killian said.

"You said, young man." Scherlic frowned.

The temptation to go to Altura himself still pulled at Killian. He knew it wasn't because of any altruistic desire to see the Halrana Lexicon to safety. Sailmaster Scherlic here probably stood a better chance at getting it to Altura safely than he did. A pair of green eyes and a soft smile hovered at the edge of his vision, framed by hair the colour of sunlight. Killian pictured a body slim but curved, her fair skin blossoming with youth. Ella.

Sailmaster Scherlic suddenly stood, the pouch jangling at his belt and the Halrana Lexicon now covered with oilcloth in his arms. Salvation was rife with thievery, but Killian knew the Buchalanti had nothing to fear; his brother thieves would stay clear of this one.

Killian watched the Buchalanti leave and realised he now didn't know what his next step should be. What could have happened to Evrin Evenstar? The old man never told him anything. Anything! Killian knew nothing to explain what his body was capable of, or about Evrin's own incredible skills with runemaking.

Killian looked out of the tavern's window and up at the mountain of Stonewater, looming over the town below, still visible in the afternoon light. He thought about the tavern's name, The Light Shines Above, obviously a reference to the Pinnacle.

The Pinnacle was gone now. Killian wondered if the tavern would change its name.

Killian tried to think about what could have happened to Evrin. The old man whose piercing blue eyes matched Killian's own had sent Killian into the templars' home alone. Evrin had said Killian's task was important, the greatest blow that could be made against the Primate's evil. Yet he had sent the younger man in alone, and they had made a plan to meet at the Temple of the Sky in Salvation.

But Evrin Evenstar had never arrived.

When, bruised and battered, Killian had limped down from the mountain, and made his way to their rendezvous, the old man was nowhere to be seen.