Meryn crept out from her hiding place, eyes still trained on the three people hunting her as their dreams grew farther away. She slipped off the mask when the old man read what was on the mysterious letter.

She only understood the first part. The 'eyes' and the 'silent one'? Easy enough to guess. But that had already happened – Meryn already had the mask. This 'prophet' sounded a lot more like a 'town cryer' as far as Meryn was concerned. She had no idea what the rest meant. Something about a rogue and murdering children.

Meryn decided she hated this town. Though, she supposed it wouldn't be a town much longer. What with everyone dying of a magical plague, and all. Meryn dropped the mask on the cluttered desk and brought her hands up to rub over her face. She dropped them and looked up to meet the old man's eyes. Unsure of what else to do, she gave a small, thankful nod.

She had no idea where the man had gone. Or why she was being hunted. Her best guess was they blamed her for bringing the plague. Or they hated outsiders. Trying to kill her on sight was kind of extreme, but the guards that had brought her in had also threatened to shoot her when she couldn't say her name.

No wonder the people were so eager for a revolution. 

Meryn let out a breath and started wandering around the room, eyes tracing the rows upon rows of books. She needed to get moving, she knew. The old man had bought her some time, but who knew when they'd circle back or if there was anyone else looking for her. But she was too exhausted to muster up a sense of urgency. Too sore and dirty. An unfortunate feeling from her childhood that she'd managed to wash off in recent years. Well, it seemed to fit like a glove after all this time.

Meandering to the desk, she glanced over it. It was a mess of loose papers and ink, scattered pens, Spook's mask, some sort of shiny assortment of rocks, runes… but Meryn blinked at what was under it: an expanse of green, the outlines of trees, and a brown square with the word [i]Cogswall[/i] written in small, neat lettering.

A map.

Memories of the voice echoed again in her mind: [i]North[/i].

Meryn began pushing papers and books aside trying to see the map in full.

There, to the East of Cogswall was the forest. And just on the other side, a small circle.

Enn.

Meryn's fingers drifted over the name. Home. Less than a day's travel away, but it felt like an eternity. How had this town been so close to Enn all along and they'd never even known? All this time, Enn had felt like a world unto itself, alone and adrift in space. But here was another world, teeming with life, so close to home but so achingly far. 

Cogswall was doomed. Meryn couldn't fix that. But there was still hope for Enn. She just had to go North.

Meryn found Cogswall on the map again and traced a line northward with her eyes.