The Urban Legend Sorcerer’s Apprentice

Chapter 123

Over the next few weeks, Talia set to work restoring the abandoned waystation cave into a refuge once more. She cleared rubble and overgrowth, repaired damaged walls, and scrubbed grime from the etched runic symbols until they gleamed in the firelight.

Supplies she discreetly acquired from rural villages and remote woodland homesteads, appealing to the inhabitants’ memories of the Torchbearers’ kind deeds generations past. Some grumbled about aiding a suspected fugitive, but many willingly gave goods or tools to support Talia’s cause.

Slowly but surely, the cave was transformed into a humble haven, ready to shelter any seeking its protection. But as Talia finally lit the great brazier to serve as a beacon, she felt a twinge of sorrow that none had yet braved the marshes to join her nascent sanctuary.

Perhaps magic and myth were only nostalgic relics to these people now, not the seeds of hope Talia imagined. Even if travelers came, would they truly wish to pursue reconciliation in da