Having finished his work, Anders scarcely let it leave his side. He secured it in a leather bag and kept it with him at all times. It was too close to the assessments to let it slop from his hands again. After days of irregular sleep, he slept for a very long time, then his mind settled on the other problems at hand.

Who was the mage researching the restoration of life? He couldn't ask anyone in the hallway any more who was in that room. And what had Jak found out about Hughes? For that matter, who put his notes back, and brought him the last quartz?

His head swam with thoughts as he went down to breakfast. He joined a nearly empty line for porridge. He was startled to see the dining hall so dreary. His steps echoed in the once noisy hall. There were more empty tables than mages eating, and a hush blanketed them all.

He sat at the edge of the room, watching. Mages kept to themselves, and there was something odd about the people who were left. He wished for some of Ghilda's spices the moment his spoon touched his lips. Looking around, he watched the solemn mages pick at their bowls. Few sat in pairs. Those that did weren't speaking. Anders watched puzzled as mages quickly finished off their meals and left the hall, eyeing everyone around them with suspicion.

He finished his bowl, still staring at the other mages. He handed his dishes to the kitchen girl in the window, and walked through the halls. Libraries were sparsely occupied, entire sitting rooms were empty. Few walked the halls, and those he passed hugged the opposite wall so as not to come close to him. Something still looked odd. He wandered back around near the main gate where a familiar face surprised him.

"Deidre." Anders called to her before thinking who it was he called to. He felt instantly uncomfortable the moment her eyes locked onto his.

"Anders!" She hissed and walked over to him, holding a handkerchief over her mouth and tilting her head away from him in an exaggerated movement. "How are you still alive?"

"Alive?" He asked concerned.

"Oh my yes! Ah but you have been brown for a long time have you not? Or have you not taken the tests?" She narrowed her eyes at his neck. That's when he realized what had looked so odd. He stared down at her orange robes. He hadn't seen one so low all day. Purple robes walked around freely. The few blue and green robes the keep housed were there too. He had seen maybe one mage in red, and none of the children, which would be grey or brown.

"What happened to all the weaker mages?" He murmured. His brows knit together and he stared blankly at the ground in thought.

"Dying! Sick and powerless. The guards too. The second floor library is an infirmary. If you know what's good for you you'll lock yourself in your room!" Deidre wailed and stomped away moaning.

Anders walked up to the second floor with caution. There was noise coming from the big doors, the sounds of pain and crying. The doors opened letting out a sweating mage who looked over at Anders.

"Gods, you aren't sick too are you? There's no more room!" He looked panicked.

"No, I'm not." Anders said.

"Good." The man walked off in a hurry, leaving Anders by the doors. He looked in, The furniture had all been moved to the walls. Blankets and pallets were laid out in neat rows on the floor and they were all occupied. Medics in white and a few of Whitethorn's water mages hovered over patients, most of whom had yellow orange or red marks glowing on their necks. The worst sight was the corner of children in grey or brown, they were clearly scared and sick.

"Move!" Shouted a woman with a thick accent who shoved past Anders with a box of glass jars. She ran over to a table at the side of the room where a mage in royal university colors was talking quickly to assistants.

Anders stood to the side watching the chaos. Everyone was either in some kind of hurry or lying on the ground. He counted, three hundred or so mages were afflicted by whatever sickness had spread through the keep.

"You aren't sick? Take these to the other room." The woman who rushed in the box of jars earlier shoved three of them at Anders.

"Other room?" He asked. She rolled her eyes.

"The sitting room down the hall." She barked and left him to tend to a coughing man on the ground.

Anders stared at the jars for a moment, then headed out the door. He found the nearby sitting room which had also been converted into a sick room. A boy not much older than Anders himself saw him walk in.

"Ah, the salve, thank you." He took the jars and rushed away.

"Anders, you aren't sick are you?" Ghilda was on the floor over a girl in yellow robes. She got up, wiped her hands on her robes and came over to him.

"No I'm fine." He said. "What's going on?"

"It started two days ago. I heard the storm, I figured you'd be sleeping it off but when I didn't see you since I thought..." She placed a hand on his forehead. "I'm glad you aren't affected."

"Why is it targeting the weaker mages?" He asked brushing off her hand, he held her shoulder steady once he saw she was shaking.

"You noticed that did you?" She looked down at the people on the floor around them. "Let's step into the hall, I need to rest my powers anyway."

He lead her to a chair down the hall. Once he was satisfied she was resting he sat down next to her.

"Now, what's going on Ghilda?" He asked calmly, holding her hand.

"It started with some of the children, then traveled up to the tested browns and the yellows. Suddenly the keep had thirty or so sick mages. We were lucky that some of the royal medics were already in Cliffside, they came to help diagnose the problem. With every passing hour more took ill. All the mages in Whitethorn are losing power, and the ones that lose too much are becoming sick." She sighed.

"Deidre said people were dying." Anders murmured.

"None yet, though a few of them are scaring us." Ghilda said.

"And Deidre, she's only orange. Why isn't she sick?" He asked.

"Ah, Deidre might not have much control over her powers, but she isn't lacking in them. Her control problem is why she is orange." Ghilda studied Anders's face. "Some good news is you have the stores of power to stay well. Small blessings keep us moving. You don't feel weak do you?"

"I have drained myself of some power these last few days, but I don't feel ill otherwise. What are the symptoms?" He asked.

"Well, of course you can feel the draining of your powers, but we all know what that's like. Added to that is nausea, and pain. It's bad enough that those afflicted can't sleep, they are exhausted. Most of them can't keep food down."

Anders's fingers wandered to his leather bag while she spoke. He brushed one of the quartzes and drew on a bit of the stored power to ensure he was energized.

"What was that?" Ghilda asked.

"You felt that? I completed the storage device." He pulled it out to show her. The moment wasn't as he had imagined it. She knew for the past couple years how he struggled to make it. Every stone and crystal he slaved to save up for, the feeling when he spent coin on a gem that wouldn't' work. The months of working with Reece to make enough copper wire. All of his work accumulated to this point, and now he showed her under such somber circumstances.

"Oh Anders that's wonderful!" She was happy for him despite the tired shadows under her eyes. "So you found your research?"

"Er, yes." He never told her they were stolen, and by now it was best to not worry her. "But how are you doing? Are all the water mages with the sick?"

"Yes mostly. There is so much water in the human body we are able to ease the nausea and some of the pain. We can move spread the pain medicines through the body faster as well." She said.

"What is the source of this?" Anders thought out loud.

"The royal medics haven't figured it out yet. It looked to be an illness targeting those with magical power, but some of the guards have been affected too which doesn't fit into the theory. They are in their own infirmary and not with the mages." Her eyes drooped.

"Ghilda you need to rest or you aren't going to be any help to anyone." Anders said stubbornly. "Let's get you to bed."

"Oh I can still walk, I'm not that old." Her eyes crinkled. "I'll be fine, I promise I'll go lay down a while. You be careful, I don't want to see you as one of my patients, okay?"

"Alright Ghilda." He agreed. "I'll see you later. Be sure to eat something."