Birds did not chirp in the forest of Avenna, perhaps not anywhere in Winstrova. No bells chimed and nobody rejoiced to see the orange sunlight. Places where people used to live was now covered with skeletons. Trees had shed their leaves overnight and no surviving bird returned to its next afterwards.

Maester Rudolph stood behind the window, trying to find signs of life in the dead city.

Every morning women used to fetch water from a nearby well. Hundreds of those women. Men used to watch them walk from their windows. Those men teases them, talked to them and adored them.

Women would often pretend to hate those things but secretly blushed when teasing came from a handsome man.

Rudolph had waited there since dawn but nobody came there. No window opened and no man peeped out. Instead of people, there were wolf like skeletons which seemed mutilated and melted.

Skulls varying from size of child to an adult. There were all to find.

Every person in Avenna had born as a human and died as a werewolf. Women, men and children alike. Nobody was spared.

For a while, Rudolph felt like an undertaker looking at the aftermath of a genocide. Then he realized he was the one responsible for it. Hadn't he used the Truth Incents on Calajhans, it could have been avoided.

However, he kept his sanity intact telling himself, This could have been worse.

His stomach disagreed.

Rudolph fell on his knees and vomited. His entire body trembled. He brought his shaking hand infront of his face and dug on it. He refused to cry loud as he feared it could echo in the emptiness of the palace.

Or in the emptiness of Avenna.

Hundreds of thousands of people were killed because of me. He cursed himself. I am not a sorcerer, I am a monster.

Maester Rudolph lamented for not having let himself die last night. It took him some time to gather his rationality and realize he still could do it.

Taking no time, he pushed himself up to the window and glanced down. A fall from this height would kill him right away. Rudolph crossed his arms on his shoulders, muttering a prayer. When he said the final word of the prayer, he let himself loose.

He closed his eyes and felt the breeze come to his body. He kept palpating it as he continued falling.

His fall stopped.

Rudolph felt his right leg stretch. Then there came a sharp pain of torn muscle. He opened his eyes to see Saer clutching him by his ankle.

Saer had caught him from his chamber. The spot from where Rudolph had jumped was directly above Saer's bedchamber. Saer kept his balance, holding the frame of the window.

"Good morning, Maester." Saer said, pulling him inside the chamber.

Saer left him lying on his room floor and closed the window while Maester stood up. After Saer was done, he stared at Rudolph with narrowed eyes.

"Fine, I won't do it again." Rudolph looked away.

"You better not." Saer said, "I bet you were awake all night. You should have slept like me."

"You passed out."

"Saved me a couple of nightmares, at least."

"Nightmare is outside. The emptiness of Avenna haunts me." Said Rudolph.

"Getting scared of carcasses isn’t in my nature."

"The nature now you share?"

Saer tilted his head, "What?"

"You co-exist with somebody. Remember what Calajhan had said?"

"Should I be worried?"

"Very." Rudolph sighed, "Picture yourself as a healthy pitched plant in a pot, feeding on flies. Andin the other pot, there's a fern. Ugly and malnourished. Something unnatural happens and both of them start co-existing. Despite of being put separate, they are in the same pot.

In the wild, killing is the part of survival. Creatures get sins and strength in a balance. When a fly falls in the pitcher, the fern gains strength and the pitcher gets the sin of killing. Pitcher becomes weaker and the fern goes strong until the pitcher dies."

Rudolph placed his hand on Saer's shoulder, "Cut-throats are very similar to picthers."

Saer nodded, lowering his eyes.

"Who do you think might have done this to you?"

Saer exhaled, "Metal Mage."

"Don’t let the fern grow." Rudolph tapped his arm, "Make peace with you and others. Who knows if you next killing may be your last."

"So be it."