Even before Ilias took his sword away, Spoon jumped and hugged Armad excitedly. Armad tried not to fall from the weight.

Spoon cheered. "Armad? So you are here? But why are you asking about Nusi? Shouldn't you be together with her?"

The questions threw Armad into a frenzy. Spoon and Ilias also didn't know where Nusi was. But what were they doing in Sisiya?

Armad looked at Spoon. "I haven't seen her since the Jinzidal. But what do you mean by 'I'm here'?"

Ilias and Spoon sighed in defeat. They had been looking forward to seeing Nusi with Armad or at least getting some information but he also didn't seem to know where she was. And now they had to tell him about prince Niyashi and how they found out he was going to be there in Sisiya.

"Let us find refuge so we can speak in private," Ilias said.

They went into the town together, looking at the magnificent city. It was lined with huge, colorful buildings. Most were made of stone with only a few mud houses which happened to be plastered with molten rocks. Armad noticed a single hut in the market, which was incredible on its own. Who built a market with expensive stone when you could just use mud?

Spoon didn't remain silent, of course. He asked Armad about his fight with prince Niyashi and how Armad won.

"It was spectacular," he said.

Armad just smiled. It was embarrassing. Especially when he remembered how he cheated with the help of the book-sword.

They arrived at the courtyard of a large hotel near the market. Armad still had no money on him so Inara paid for his room. Afterward, the four of them gathered in one room to discuss.

Ilias gestured for Armad to send Inara out so they could talk in private but Inara refused.

"If you're from Mikironomada then you know a student doesn't leave his teacher's side," Inara said. "But I promise to take whatever I hear today to my grave."

Spoon looked at Ilias for a few seconds before nodding in agreement.

They told Armad about their relationship with prince Niyashi and how the prince predicted Armad's coming to Sisiya. They told him about Nostalgia and the wedding.

Armad was silent for a long time. Everything that happened, including the war that was looming between the jinzidal Kings and the wedding, was his fault. He didn't like the marriage for some reason. It would save the world. If Sisiya and Seerish were to join their families in marriage then no one would dare attack them. Even the other three kingdoms combined would hesitate. Nostalgia saved him and the marriage would save her. All would be fine. The marriage might even benefit him by making Bihanzin more likely to help him.

Spoon looked at Armad in amazement. "Your eyes are red, bro. You like her, don't you?"

Armad said nothing. It was foolish to think he would have any relationship with the princess.

"Even if you like her," Ilias said. "Take my advice and let her be. This marriage is the only thing preventing the war. Although, I don't think you can stop it even if you try."

Armad took a deep breath and shook his head. "I didn't come here because of the wedding, and Niyashi is wrong about me having some kind of relationship with her. I came here because of my mother. We will leave as soon as I'm done."

Armad recounted everything that had happened to him after the jinzidal and the real reason he was there in the capital.

"We'll look for Nusi together," Armad promised. "Just wait here for a little longer, I'll be back."

Armad turned to Inara. "You too should wait with them until I come back."

Inara bowed his head. "My lord, I can't leave your side until you dismiss me as a student. Please, take me with you."

Armad had expected the boy to say that and he just smiled and left the room. The boy following him behind.

Armad and Inara went into the city first thing in the morning. They would first get information about the city and especially the princess. Then they would plan on what to do next.

As they walked across the city, asking questions, they found themselves on a narrow road leading to the palace. Armad looked at Inara with a slight frown. "Did you awaken your Bend?"

Inara shook his head. "No, sir."

"I thought as much," Armad said. "Anyway, we'll correct that in time. You can specialize in djinn Bending, sword Bending, or runology. You are already able to use fire but that's not enough. If you want to specialize in any field then you have to awaken. I will let my teacher Babara awaken your innate power, but before that, I will teach you some sword and djinn Bending.

"Using djinns requires pol. And the pol you have is equivalent to the essence you can tap from your djinn. There are six levels of association between man and djinn, each level being significantly more powerful than the one before it. With fifty-one years, you can't go beyond the second level even if your innate affinity is strong. So we'll start by..."

Armad suddenly felt something hot hit him in the chest. It was pol albeit different. Burning and boundless. If, for example, he could describe the magnitude of his pol as a single cup of water then the pol that just hit him would be the size of the Red Sea.

It wasn't just the capacity that made him sweat, it was also the intense heat and dread in it. He felt like his soul would explode.

Inara, having felt the same thing, fell to the ground unconscious. Armad turned around in the direction of the pol and saw a huge, black, one-eyed raven attacking him. Forgetting he could turn into lightning, he laid flat on the ground to allow the raven to pass over him.

But before he could stand, the raven flew back and attacked him again. Armad quickly turned his hand into lightning.

He waited for the raven to get in range. But it, having seen the lightning in his arm, stopped midair. It floated there for some time as if gauging him before it turned around and fled.

The first thing that came to Armad's mind was a story his mother once told him about a tribe whose name had been forgotten. This tribe was the first to identify the Great Cold hidden in pol that exceeded one thousand years. They used mutated ravens called death ravens to Bend. According to the tale, even King Eyrion Wilberforce and King Kuyurussa'ayi Ururu couldn't bring the death raven to its knees. So they joined hands to destroy the tribe. And from that day forward, no one saw the ravens again. But if Armad wasn't mistaken, he just saw one.