When Kaelen opened his eyes the next morning, he felt reborn.

After their meeting with Master Zerath the night before, they had wasted no time and directly made their way to the residential tract of the Great Library, where Kaelen's and Elara's rooms were located. Nyu had been granted access to a currently empty bedroom, whose owner was roaming the far reaches of the realm as a travelling Fateweaver. Reluctantly, she had accepted, and soon after they had all parted ways and gone to sleep, letting exhaustion take them to dreamland and beyond.

It was already bright outside when Kaelen finally crawled out of bed the next day. Even without knowing the exact time, he was certain he'd slept longer than ever before. Many busy voices could be heard from the courtyard below his window, and savory scents of warm food were tickling his nose. He stretched his tired arms and rolled his neck, feeling his joints and vertebrae pop one after the other. A note had been slipped through the gap under his door, the scribbly letters indicating it was from Master Zerath.

"Fresh robes outside," was all it said.

Kaelen smiled and cracked open the door to pick up a bundle of orange robes that were waiting for him in the hallway, along with two buckets of cold water. He understood the unspoken suggestion and took a brief but much-needed bath in the wooden barrel that stood off to the side in one corner of his room. Vigorously scrubbing at his skin with a scratchy brush, he managed to finally get rid of the crust of grime and dirt that was covering most of his body. Finally, when he emerged from the now murky water, it was like a great weight had fallen off of him.

When he put on his new clothes and saw his reflection in the mirror, he finally felt like himself again. His dark hair was shaggier than usual, his face still marked by exhaustion, but his green eyes looked alert and refreshed. The orange robe was silky and shiny, elevating his entire appearance and spirit.

Without thinking, he reached into his side pocket, but only found emptiness where he expected the fate tome. He bit his lip and scolded himself for being silly, then brushed the thought away and got ready to leave. For a moment, he considered bringing his staff, which was idly leaning against the cold stone wall, but then decided against it. After all, this was as safe a place as one could think of — at least for now.

#

When Kaelen knocked at Elara's door, it didn't take her long to open.

Her room was located one hallway down from his, separated by a gate that had once served as a barrier between men and women. Nowadays, they still had their quarters separated, but they could freely roam around to their heart's content. To no one's surprise, that new freedom did not lead to a breakdown of law and order in the Great Library, much to the surprise of some of the older Masters, who'd been adamant to keep with the ancient tradition.

Elara looked equally refreshed as Kaelen. Her hair fell in neat, curly waves, and her cheeks were smooth and spotless, like a comfortable pillow for her sharp green eyes. Just like him, she had received a new set of shiny orange robes that pronounced her elegant features.

"I see you also got a new outfit," Kaelen remarked quietly, as if anyone was still asleep at this time of day.

Elara gave him a playful smile.

"Feels great, doesn't it?"

He chuckled and ran his fingers down the soft fabric.

"It sure does. Shall we pick up our grumpy cat and get some food? I'm starving." As if on cue, his stomach started growling, and they both laughed in a way they hadn't done for a long time.

They strolled down the hallway until they reached the door to Nyu's make-shift guest room. Kaelen knocked once, then twice, but nothing stirred inside. He knocked again, this time more forcefully, but when the booming echo faded, there was only silence.

Knocking was a thing of courtesy in the Great Library — most doors were not locked, except for some of the outside entrances during nighttime. All Fateweavers respected each other's privacy, and they would never enter a room they weren't supposed to. That said, most of them didn't usually mind unexpected visitors — after all, they were like a big family.

After exchanging an unsure glance with Elara, Kaelen decided to risk opening the door to Nyu's room. He carefully reached for the handle and pushed it open ever so slightly.

"Nyu?" he whispered into the widening crack. "Are you awake?"

No response came from inside, and he could tell the curtains were still shut.

"Someone really seems to have a deep sleep," he said jokingly and fully opened the door.

His cheerful expression turned to stone when he saw Nyu's empty bed, the blanket carelessly cast aside. He stepped inside and looked around, as if she could be hiding somewhere in the small room, but there was no trace of the Fateless.

"What —" he began, but broke off as he helplessly checked behind the door.

Elara also pushed into the room, a troubled expression on her face.

"She's not here," Kaelen muttered, his voice wrapped in a mantle of confusion.

"Where could she have gone?" Elara asked, and he couldn't help but notice the rising panic in her eyes. "Do you think she …?

She didn't finish her question, but Kaelen knew what she was getting at.

Had it been too much for Nyu? The Fateweavers, Master Zerath, the Great Library — had it not been what she expected? Had she decided to seek her fortune in solitude, or, worse yet, returned to the Fateless and Malvorn? Had she just come with them to gather information for an inevitable attack on the Great Library?

Kaelen could feel his pulse rise like the morning sun behind the shaded windows. Painful thoughts were racing through his mind, painting a picture of betrayal and deceit in his mind.

"A wonderful morning, isn't it?" Zerath's voice suddenly appeared behind them, making both of them flinch despite its softness.

Their mentor chuckled as they turned around. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

He smiled gently and inspected their new robes.

"I see you found my welcome home present? Good. I also take it you had a replenishing night of sleep?"

Rendered unable to speak by a wild flourish of emotions, Kaelen simply nodded.

Zerath must've noticed the distress on their faces, but to Kaelen's surprise, it only widened his smile.

He glanced at the empty room behind them, then said with a mellow voice: "Your friend was positively starving. She got up about an hour ago, and since I wanted you two to get all the sleep you need, I showed her to the dining hall. Suffice to say, she did not expect such a fine selection of food and drinks."

He winked and folded his arms in his sleeves.

They both let out a sigh of relief, then laughed at each other for being so dramatic.

"I suggest you join her," Zerath said and gestured down the hallway. "I can't imagine your diet lately has been much of anything."

He sent them off with a smile and then continued to wander the halls as they left the residential tract behind, their steps hastened by rumbling bellies.

#

The dining hall was buzzing with life and the sound of clinking plates and silverware. A multitude of hearty aromas filled the steamy air, and the warmth emanating from the many pots and pans along the main counter made the tall windows above fog up like a mountain valley on a fall morning.

They waded through the sea of orange bodies until they eventually found a long table with only one dark-clothed woman sitting at it, a stack of empty plates and a new one loaded with all sorts of meats, eggs, and vegetables in front of her. Nyu's short orange hair bobbed as she mechanically shoved spoonful after spoonful of food into her grinding mouth, ignoring the surrounding Fateweavers that were eyeing her with curiosity and distrust.

When Kaelen and Elara sat down beside her, they could hear whispered chatter erupt around them like a dandelion in the wind, as their fellow students tried to make sense of what they were seeing.

"Mind your own business," Kaelen growled into the round, and the whispering died down, at least temporarily.

Nyu didn't seem to care — her sole focus remained on the mountains of food on her plate.

"I see you are enjoying yourself," Elara said playfully.

Finally, Nyu looked up, and her expression was oddly relaxed.

"This food is not bad," she declared with her mouth full, using her greasy hands to gesture at the empty plates next to her.

Without even swallowing, she went for the next spoonful of bacon and eggs.

Elara chuckled as she watched Nyu eat, twirling one of her curls with her elegant fingers. Meanwhile, Kaelen was made painfully aware of how empty his own stomach was, and so after a brief moment, he got up to fetch some food for himself and Elara. Shortly after, he returned with two steaming plates loaded with all he'd been craving lately. It was enough to feed a small company, but in his hunger, he didn't care.

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For a long while, all they exchanged were eating noises, as they stuffed their faces with what the breakfast buffet had to offer. While the dining hall slowly emptied, their famished bellies got fuller, until they eventually scooped up the last crumbs from their ravaged plates and leaned back sluggishly in their padded chairs.

"I needed that," Kaelen sighed, and the other two nodded in agreement.

#

After their late breakfast, they decided to give Nyu a tour of the Great Library. Not that she'd asked, but Kaelen could sense a hint of curiosity behind her mask of indifference. And when Elara offered, he could even see the hint of a smile flicker across her tight lips.

They started in the lower levels, where many of the classrooms were located, and carved their way through a steady stream of roaming students. When they passed the sparring ring where they used to meet Master Nerina, they spent some time watching a pair of younger Fateweavers practice their fighting routines in the cold morning air. They were clumsy and slow, but it was entertaining nonetheless. When they realized they were being watched, their form got even worse, and eventually Nyu couldn't help but laugh at their desperate attempts to parry and attack.

"These kids won't stand a chance against what's to come," she commented, without even trying to keep her voice down.

The two Fateweavers stopped and looked over at them, their sweat mixing with signs of anger.

"Oh yeah?" one of them barked, a hotheaded youngster by the looks of it, with short brown hair and a face too smooth for a fighter.

His opponent, a young woman with blonde hair and brown eyes, belligerently leaned on her staff, backing up her partner's words with a smug smile.

Nyu didn't dignify his words with a response, but instead rolled her eyes at Kaelen and Elara. But the young man didn't let it slide.

"What's so funny over there?" he asked and took a step in their direction.

Nyu sighed and turned to face him.

"You are," she said and shrugged. "I've seen grandpas fight better than you."

Behind them, a group of bystanders started snickering, and the young man in the sparring ring blushed in embarrassment. Even his comrade had to chuckle.

"As if you would know any better," he growled defiantly. "I heard what they say — you're a Fateless."

And with that, the courtyard got awfully quiet.

Nyu stared at him with cold eyes.

"I am," she said casually, "and where I come from, you wouldn't last a week."

Elara gently laid a hand on her shoulder. "Maybe we should let this one slide, hm?" she asked with a soft voice.

Nyu grumbled a silent curse and turned to leave, right when the youngling opened his mouth again.

"Show me!" he shouted, his face dripping with confidence.

Nyu paused mid-stride, and Kaelen knew she'd been waiting for an excuse to put a dent or two into that smug face.

She cracked her knuckles, then marched into the open space in the middle of the courtyard. Within seconds, the surrounding archway filled with spectators, and the crowd was murmuring in anticipation. Nyu didn't notice or care, but instead pointed at the young woman who was still leaning on her staff.

"Let's make it more interesting," Nyu said menacingly. "The two of you can fight together. If you hit me, you win."

The two Fateweavers exchanged surprised looks, then slowly readied their weapons with grim determination painted on their faces. Meanwhile, Nyu just stood there like this exercise wasn't even worth her time.

"What weapon will you use?" the young man asked skeptically.

Nyu shrugged. "Yours, once I've taken it from you."

The crowd started to whisper, and the young man tightened the grip around his staff.

"We'll see about that", he rasped, then charged.

His partner followed suit, and they crossed the distance to Nyu with their weapons up high.

Kaelen could see a smile on Nyu's lips before she turned into a wild swirl, moving with immense speed and precision. She sidestepped the female attacker, letting her staff hit the solid ground, sending shockwaves through her skinny arms, then lunged at the young man, catching him off guard. He tried to bring his weapon down as fast as possible, but Nyu's nimble movement was too quick for him. Before he even knew what hit him, she'd planted her elbow in his ribcage and grabbed his staff out of the air the moment his weak hands let go of it to cope with the pain. Swiftly, she swooped her feet across the floor in a spinning motion, hitting his ankles with her heels and sending him flying. Before he even made contact with the solid ground, Nyu had swung the staff around and abruptly stopped it mere inches above the female Fateweaver's neck.

And with that, the battle was over.

The crowd erupted into frantic shouting, cheering for the impressive performance they'd just witnessed. Some even started clapping. Nyu's face, however, remained unfazed as she studied her beaten opponents. She stood frozen in place for another moment or two, then dropped the staff to the floor and extended a hand to the young man who lay before her feet.

He hesitated briefly, then grabbed it, and Nyu effortlessly pulled him back onto his feet.

"How did you do that?" he asked in disbelief, and Kaelen could barely hear his words over the roaring of the crowd.

Nyu smiled dryly. "By taking many beatings. Eventually, you just don't want to get hit anymore, so you don't."

He seemed to consider her words for a moment. His arrogance had been peeled away like the scab from a wound, revealing a young student willing to improve.

"So there are people who fight even better than you where you come from?" he asked with a frown on his face, as if it was dawning on him just how much he still had to learn.

Nyu's expression soured. "Back in the day? Sure. Nowadays … well, let's hope we don't find out."

The youngling didn't understand her implication, but his glowing eyes followed Nyu as she left the sparring ground. Euphoric spectators hurled words of praise at her and made way as the newcomer marched through their ranks.

"Who knew you were popular with the masses?" Kaelen joked when she joined them again.

Nyu rolled her eyes and gestured for Kaelen to lead the way, away from the turmoil and the chattering crowd.

#

Leaving the courtyard behind, they made their way through the east wing, peaking into some of the large archives along the way. Kaelen could tell Nyu was impressed by the thousands of books that lined the tall shelves like colorful mosaics of woven fate, but not as much as he would've expected from someone seeing the Great Library for the first time. And yet he enjoyed showing the Fateless around, helping to bridge the gap between such different cultural backgrounds. And so did Elara, of course, as she chipped in facts and figures about the historical significance of what they saw along the way. Nyu didn't seem to care much, but she still listened carefully and even smiled occasionally at Elara's trivia transgressions, like when she went on and on about a pair of statues they passed and how they depicted some of the earliest Fateweavers, yet were crafted when no one could even remember what they looked like.

"Why is everyone so … young?" Nyu asked as they walked past a group of snickering students.

Kaelen chuckled. "Most of the adult Fateweavers are out roaming the world, weaving fate in the far reaches of the realm. We couldn't possibly bring all newborns here."

Nyu seemed to consider his words for a moment.

"So it's only you guys and a bunch of old geezers?"

Elara frowned. "Those geezers are the most skilled members of our order. They chose to stay back at the Great Library to train the next generations of Fateweavers. It's a great honor."

Nyu scoffed. "Yeah, right," she said facetiously, "Sounds like they are stuck here herding children."

"There are still plenty of older students," Kaelen interjected. "I mean, look at us."

"How long does the apprenticeship take, then?"

He gave her an amused smile. "As long as you need to be ready."

Nyu rolled her eyes. "Sounds like you already mastered the art of using words without saying anything."

As they reached the far end of the Great Library, the hallways got less crowded. Eventually, they walked through a wide archway that led into the extensive backyard, where Kaelen and Elara had spent many warm summer afternoons studying and relaxing under scattered olive trees, overlooking the vast sea that opened up behind a dramatic cliff-drop, and stretched all the way to the hazy horizon. Now, the lawn and groves lay lonely and deserted under the low-hanging sun, and a chill breeze rustled the dark green leaves and stroked the neatly trimmed grass. A frosty dusting covered the scenery like the glaze on a cake.

"Looks cozy," Nyu commented, as Kaelen tried to draw a mental picture of students gathering here for picnics and playing games.

"It really is," Kaelen assured her, and followed her gaze into the open field. "A bit too cold now, though. Usually, it's still quite pleasant out here this time of year, even on a mellow winter day. This year, however …"

"Are we really talking about the weather now?" Elara asked and chuckled.

Nyu frowned. "What's so bad about that?" she asked skeptically.

It took Kaelen a moment to realize Nyu was being serious. He and Elara exchanged quick glances, half amused, half pitiful. It never occurred to them that down in Morathen, the weather was certainly not part of your everyday small talk — after all, they didn't have any weather.

"Sorry," Elara apologized, as if they'd made fun of Nyu personally. "The weather is typically the most boring topic of conversation out here."

Nyu scratched her chin. "Why?"

Elara opened her mouth, then closed it again.

"It's just always there," Kaelen said and shrugged. "There is rarely anything exciting about it."

"Seems pretty interesting to me," Nyu murmured and looked at the clear sky, her eyes taking on a dreamy expression.

They fell silent for a moment and enjoyed the serene sight. It was, indeed, quite beautiful, Kaelen thought.

"Is there something the Fateless discuss on a daily basis?" Elara asked after a moment. "Like, something that is so normal that everyone can talk about it — which then also makes it rather boring."

Nyu considered the question for a moment.

"No," she finally said.

Elara seemed mildly disappointed.

"Really?" she insisted. "What about, I don't know, the temperature in the caves —"

"Always the same."

"Or … or … the humidity, you know?"

"Why would we talk about that?" Nyu asked and frowned.

Elara looked to Kaelen for help. "Well, to make conversation."

"Why would we make something we already have in abundance?" Nyu asked with a dry smile on her lips. "Fateless don't usually talk when there is nothing to talk about. We don't waste our breath discussing things that are not important."

Her smile widened. "We talk way less than you guys — no offense."

Kaelen and Elara exchanged glances, then chuckled.

"None taken," Elara replied. "If anything, we feel honored that you talk to us at all — that must mean it's important."

"Or I'm adapting," Nyu said and winked with one of her sky-blue eyes.

#

The day came to an end when Master Zerath stopped by to tell them that Elder Thornec had arranged for a council meeting around noon the very next day. In light of recent events, Elara and Kaelen had been asked to join the round of Masters, and so had Nyu.

"I already informed the other Masters about what you told me, but I still think it would be best for you to be there to answer any questions they might have," Zerath said with a casual gesture.

"Of course," Elara responded eagerly.

Nyu looked less pleased at the prospect of being surrounded by Masters of the Fateweavers, worst of all, the Elder.

Zerath nodded approvingly. "We will discuss our next steps regarding the fate tome you returned and the advance of the Fateless."

"Have you learned anything about the tome?" Kaelen blurted out, only to be met with a soft smile on Zerath's face.

"Tomorrow," he said with a gentle but firm voice, "Oryn and I will report what our research brought to light. I trust it will be most enlightening."

And with that, he left them to their speculations, which they shared on the floor of Kaelen's room until darkness gathered in the long shadows of their dim oil lamp.

Once their words got weary and their eyelids heavy, they wished each other a good night and the two women returned to their rooms. To Kaelen, it felt like an evening of good company was coming to a close — had circumstances been different, he could've gotten used to it.

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