Powerful magic met powerful anti-magic and the resulting blast created a shockwave so devastating that it levelled the landscape behind Rowan. Ahead of him, water reversed towards the castle in a wave so high that it crested the windows at the midway point of its height.

A shield absorbed the remaining energy in the shockwave and it protected the market from a similar fate as the rocks behind the anti mage. The shield was set up to protect the castle from magical and physical damage but somehow, Rowan had penetrated the defence.

"INSUFFERABLE BRAT!"

Ocean water parted for the old man who could be seen walking across the bridge of bricks. Alka, who had just suffered a fright of epic proportions, peeked out from behind Rowan.

He could make out a white beard that was braided into two tails. Bushy white brows and a bald head approached them.

"I TOLD YOU TO WAIT AT LEAST A WEEK."

"Why is he still shouting?" Alka asked Rowan.

"He's a little deaf in both ears," Rowan answered. "So you have to shout or he won't hear you speak."

"ROWAN, I SHOULD JUST REPORT YOUR IMBECILIC SELF TO YOUR EMPEROR."

The old man had arrived before them. Alka was hit by an urge to throw up. Such was the power that radiated from the man. He didn't even have the decency to pack in the power and hide it. This was clearly an act of intimidation.

"COME OUT YOU LITTLE RAT. HOW LONG DO YOU INTEND TO HIDE BEHIND THE BLOND IMBECILE?"

Alka was content to hide behind Rowan all day.

"Roga, call off the sea hag," Rowan said in a louder volume than he normally used.

The old man sniggered like he found Rowan's words to be a joke. "YOU THINK I HAVEN'T BEEN TRYING ALL THESE MISERABLE YEARS THAT I'VE REMAINED HIDDEN INSIDE THE CASTLE?"

Alka wondered how Rowan knew about the sea hag and the old man. If he'd asked Rowan, he would have been told that the information was available for a price if he knew the right channels to enquire through. The anti mage had only a few days ago found out and approached the old sorcerer about the sea hag haunting Syryn. He didn't want the alchemist to know about it for fear of causing problems in his dreams. The sea hag was a very cunning creature and it was in Syryn's best interest that Rowan solve the problem without alerting Syryn and in turn the sea hag.

"You made her, Roga. Fix it or I'll have my friend here destroy the castle and you won't have a shelter to hide behind anymore." Even as he threatened the old man, Rowan ensured that Alka was not visible at all.

"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO FIX IT?! YOU TELL ME SO I CAN FINALLY GET THE CREATURE OFF MY BACK AS WELL."

This wasn't going the way Rowan wanted it to. He was disappointed by Roga's pathetic excuses.

"Kill her," he suggested with deadly intent. "I don't care that she wears the face of your dead daughter. She almost succeeded in killing someone I love."

Rowan had been patient with Roga because the sorcerer's cooperation could help resolve their problem faster than if Rowan did it alone.

"MAKE HIM STAY AWAKE THEN. THE RUBY CIRCLET ARRIVES IN A FEW DAYS AND IT WILL PROTECT HIS DREAMS."

"I understand," Rowan replied conversationally. Alka heard the sweet sounds of castle towers exploding the very next moment.

The old man was breathing loudly through his nose. "HOW DARE YOU!"

"You've been harbouring a sea hag for decades, and you refuse to kill her even though many lives have been lost to her over the years." It was impossible for Rowan to approach this with the authority of the Sanguine. They had no powers over Silent Market which had secured diplomatic immunity by paying an enormous tax to the kingdom every year.

"I'll give you a quarter of an hour to convince her that my friend is off-limits. Make it happen," Rowan told the sentimental old fool who couldn't do the needful because somewhere in his shrivelled up old heart, a sliver of care remained for the sea hag he had created by using the dead body of his daughter.

It was unfortunate for the old man that the hag had immediately turned to attack him. When her eerie whistles allowed her entry into his dreams, he was forced to create a silent zone to hide within. The market soon came into being when he realised that his precious daughter needed feeding. How she chose her victims was random. Syryn just happened to be an unlucky man visiting an unlucky place on an unlucky day.

"I CANNOT CALL HER OFF," the old man spat.

"She wants to kill you. Sacrifice yourself for the greater good, Roga. You started it."

"EVEN IF I DIE, SHE WILL CONTINUE TO KILL MORE PEOPLE."

"Yes, but your death will save my lover's life. And when I'm ready, I'll hunt down your beloved sea hag and gift her to my beloved. He has a fondness for cutting things open." Rowan's cold-blooded words were made more terrifying by the absolute serenity with which he delivered it.

In a fit of anger, the old man let off a blast of his aura but it was nothing against the solid anti-magic shield that he covered Alka within. Nothing was getting through it. Roga was a sorcerer not to be trifled with but Rowan was an anti mage in a league that no sorcerer could think of besting.

"I HOPE HE DIES AND-"

Rowan had wasted enough time talking. The old man's eyes near popped out of their sockets when he felt the anti mage suppress him with hammer-like force. Rowan grabbed the old man by his collar and dragged him out to the sea.

Water lapped at their ankles and then their knees, thighs, as Rowan took them further in. With a single toss, Roga was thrown into the deeper end of the sea.

"No! NOO!" He begged the anti mage. Roga's magic was suppressed by Rowan and he could already hear the dreaded sound.

Hearing the whistle was a death sentence unless he could get back inside the castle. The sea hag had shifted her target back to Roga. Syryn was safe but only temporarily.

The sea hag was hiding in the vast depths of the unending ocean and it was nigh impossible for Rowan to find her.

Alka walked up to the anti mage and stood at a distance from him. "Rowan, will you watch him drown?"

"Yes."

Roga had created an instrument of death and then watched her kill for years. A victim, a sacrifice every year. He deserved what was coming to him. But Alka also saw an old man helplessly swimming against a riptide.

"Will Syryn die if he doesn't?"

"Whether he remains alive or not, Syryn dies as long as the sea hag lives. Roga's refusal has rendered him useless to my needs. He may as well die."

How cold, Alka thought.