“Are you ready?”
A breeze lazily stirs leaves through the yard, sun warm on my glass, as I pick my way around the circle traced into the dirt. I mean, I’m no pro, but it looks solid to me.
Probably helps that I got someone with hands to draw it.
“Ready,” I sign. I step into the circle, carefully picking my way over the lines to make sure I don’t disrupt anything. I call my Attuned void over, layering it on top of the circle’s pattern.
Noli and Rezira watch from a careful distance with excitement and concern (respectively) plastered on their faces. Zyneth kneels nearby, hand outstretched as he finishes funneling the last bit of Bonus Mana into me.
“I don’t think it will light all the beads,” he says as the glow of his magic goes out, gesturing to the charmed bracelet in the grass nearby. “But it should at least get you further than what you can do on your own.”
No kidding. With only 50 mana myself, I only have enough to keep the spell going day to day. Man, I need to start leveling up.
“Okay,” I sign, Rezira translating for me. “Here I go.”
I activate Core Bond, instinctively tensing up, waiting for reality to break—for the predator to emerge—but all that happens is the spell circle lighting up from my magic. With all of Zyneth’s bonus mana, the spell lasts nearly a minute, filling me with cozy warm light.
[Spell complete,] Echo reports as the light fades.
Whew. The sun is still high. The air is still clear and unbroken. Out of habit, I do a Void Check.
[Void: 100%]
Inventory Check.
[Inventory Space: DIV/0. Contents: Void.]
Nothing’s changed in the past two days. I guess that’s a good thing. Maybe it really is just stuck in there for good.
“Did it work?” Noli asks as she and Rezira approach the circle.
I Check the spell: [524 Mana].
“Yes!” I sign. “Now I have five hundred and two… Fuck.” I halt, trying to remember the numbers.
Noli gasps. “Who taught you that?” Her head whips over to Rezira. “You!”
Rezira raises her hands with a shrug. “The man deserves some swear words.”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Noli frowns. “It’s just so unnecessary.”
Unnecessary my ass. I decide not to sign that.
“Well I’m glad it worked,” Zyneth says, examining my bracelet. It’s about half lit up. “Five hundred? That sounds like… A week and half, correct?”
I confirm with Echo. “Yes. It should last… ten days.”
“Excellent,” he says. “That should last at least until I return.”
“You’re leaving now?” I ask.
Zyneth glances at the two women. “I’d rather not overstay my welcome. Besides, I’ve other matters to attend to. But I would enjoy visiting the present company in another week or so, should I be welcome.”
“Of course!” Noli signs. “You’re always welcome.”
Zyneth smiles, pushing himself to his feet. “And your hospitality will always be appreciated.”
Noli and Rezira stand as well. Noli offers me a hand, and I take it. She lifts me up, then takes the beaded bracelet from Zyneth and sets it on my glass like some kind of glowing tiara. She giggles.
If you don’t want me to swear, Noli, this isn’t the way.
We head back inside as Zyneth gathers his things. Attiru had left that morning, and Rezira intends to join them in the next week to help rebuild their shop. Part of me wants to go and help, too. I’m responsible for the destruction, after all. But with this body, even with the ability to use spells again, I’d probably just be in the way.
But I don’t intend for that to always be the case. I owe Attiru—I owe all of these people—more than I can say. It’s time to get my hands on some more glass.
“Thank you,” Noli signs to Zyneth, setting me down on the table. “You’ve been a great help.”
“Please, no thanks are necessary. At most all I ever did was recharge Kanin’s magic.” He smiles at me, and I’m filled with a fluttering warmth. “But this has all been quite exciting. I’m glad I could help.”
Zyneth swings his pack over his good shoulder, still favoring his injured arm. After spending every last drop of her magic on Attiru, Rezira hadn’t been able to do more for Zyneth, though he assured us he had the coin to seek out a healer in the next town he visits. Which town he means is anyone’s guess.
“Good luck,” I sign as he stops in the door.
Zyneth raises a hand in farewell. “To you as well. We’ll be seeing each other again soon, I’m sure.” He bows his head to Noli and Rezira, then takes his leave.
This time, I’m not so sad to see him go. I believe him when he says he’ll be back. And for the first time in a while, I don’t feel like I’m filled with liquid anxiety. I know I’ll be okay. I’ve got plans, I’ve got things to do, but my life is no longer hinging on their success—and neither is Noli’s. I can breathe again.
Well, you know, I could if I had lungs.
Noli stands in the doorframe, watching Zyneth depart, before finally turning away and shutting the door behind her. Her eyes are smiling even when her mouth isn’t.
“Well! What do we do now?” she asks.
“Fix up the house,” Rezira suggests. “Replant the garden. Start dinner.”
Noli laughs, gliding over to the bookcase. She brushes her hand over the little toy octopus that sits there. Shockingly, Rezira hasn’t thrown it out yet.
“No, I mean, what’s next?” She looks at me. “We still hardly learned a thing about where the predator came from. Why it was able to latch onto your soul. How that’s all tied to Between and the void and, well, everything else.”
All questions I still want answered. But now that I’ve had time to sort through my thoughts, I’ve decided that isn’t the top of my priority list. As long as the predator stays where it is, I’m perfectly happy to not go poking the bear.
First step is building up this body. I can’t do much as a glorified bottle of ink. I need legs. I need hands. I need to be able to get places, and read things, and learn more about how I ended up switching worlds.
I look at Noli—the real Noli, whose form still hardly seems familiar in flesh and blood. Seeing her standing next to that little relic, now dull and lifeless, gives me hope. It took everything we had, but in the end, she got her real body back.
Next, it’s my turn.