Zyneth walks stiffly beside me, as taut as a compressed spring. The moment we finally step outside the library and back into the sunlight, I turn to check on him.

He beats me to the punch. “Are you alright?” he hisses under his breath. “The predator—the void—what’s going on?”

“I am okay,” I tell him. “It only seems like a small part of the predator. Its mind is not as powerful as my own. I think I will be able to Attune it once I save up enough mana, and then it will not be an issue anymore. In the meantime, as long as I am not distracted, I can control it.”

“Not distracted?” Zyneth says. “What does that mean? If someone knocks into you, your control might slip and it could kill someone?” He pushes a hand through his hair as he gives a frustrated sigh. “I’m sorry. Now’s not the place. We should speak in private—you sure you’ll be fine to make it back to our inn?”

“I will be alright,” I insist. “Really. I have this.”

He shoots me a concerned look, and though he doesn’t say anything, he might as well be saying aloud, “That’s what worries me.”

Zyneth makes a bee-line for our inn. Once there, he bafflingly pauses at the tavern to purchase their largest bottle of wine. I mean, it’s been a trying day for all of us, but Zyneth never really struck me as the stress-drinker type.

The moment the door to our room shuts behind us, Zyneth pops the bottle’s cork. “Right.”

“Ah. Zyneth?” I ask as he begins pouring the wine directly into the chamber pot. “Are you going to tell me what you are doing?”

He shakes the last of the wine out—that had to be expensive—and then sets the bottle upright on the floor. “The predator. Can you trap it in there?”

Oh. That’s smart. I bring the predator out from the recesses of my cloak: like this, it’s indistinguishable from my Attuned void, just a pool of formless ink. Zyneth takes a leery step back as I send the predator to funnel itself into the wine bottle. It fills about half the container, then Zyneth jams the cork back into the bottle and hammers it in with the back of one of his knives. Knife still unsheathed, Zyneth stands back up and hastily steps away, nodding to me.

“Will that hold it?” he asks.

Good question. I don’t trust that cork. I send some of my own glass to the bottle as well, intending to Sculpt an additional glass stopper over the end.

[Insufficient mana,] Echo chimes in.

What? I know I went down to zero in the fight with Raz, but it’s been a half hour since then: I should have recovered a trickle of mana by now. I Check my stores, but Echo’s right: 0/56.

A problem I’ll deal with later. Right now I have the predator to worry about. Hesitantly, I mentally let go of its mind.

It immediately starts thrashing in the bottle, its previous fear replaced by waves of hatred as it seethes against my control. I have to resist the urge to mentally flinch away, cast back into the memories of when our roles were reversed. But even this amount of spite it’s throwing at me is like a brush of butterfly wings. The bottle rocks, tips over, and rattles against the floor.

After a long moment, I let out a mental breath. “It will hold.”

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I can feel it throwing all its willpower at the bottle, but without much room to wind up for an attack, there’s hardly any power behind its blows. Gathering my courage, I cross the room and put a hand on the shaking bottle, forcing it to remain still. The predator angrily lashes at me, but it can’t do any damage—physically or mentally. For now, it’s dealt with.

Zyneth sighs in relief, and all the tension in his stance falls away.

“Now we can talk,” he says, finally sheathing his blade.

“Right,” I say. For a moment, we both stare silently at the monster in the bottle. I right the bottle, leaving it on the floor, then stand up.

“I have to go to Emrox,” I say, at the same time Zyneth says, “We need to get this thing away from you.”

Zyneth freezes. “What? Emrox?”

“It is the only way I can get rid of this thing for good,” I say. “In the Athenaeum I found a spell circle from Emrox. I drew part of it—it is incomplete. But the rest of it would be there, in Emrox. It could take me back home.”

“Oh my. I see.” Zyneth sits down on the edge of the bed. “Are you certain? Myths of such magic are one thing, but to truly rediscover a lost path between worlds…”

Certain is a strong word. Even the books didn’t explicitly state this was the bridge spell Echo said I’d need. It might be a stretch, hung on a desperate hope. But… “I have to try,” I say. “Emrox is the only place where I have a chance to get home. To help me recover my body.” And saying it aloud, the words make my chest ache with hope. I’m so tired of living in this glass shell. I’m so ready to be myself again.

Zyneth stirs. “Even if you’re right about this supposed spell circle in Emrox… Is that your end goal, then? To return to your world?”

His words sour that flutter of hope. “Yes,” I say, though all the enthusiasm is gone. “I have to. There is no magic in my world—when I cross back to Earth, I might be able to leave the predator stranded Between. There it will not be able to hurt anyone else. Sent back to where it originally came from.” Like me.

Zyneth frowns. “Is that really the only way?” He gestures to the bottle. “We’ve sealed this piece away without too much trouble. You said it yourself, once you recover enough mana, it won’t be a danger. I would never try to stop you from recovering your lost body, but is that the reason you wish to return to your world, or is it the predator? Because if it’s merely the latter, there must certainly be other options.”

Merely. As if the predator doesn’t terrify me, even now. “Maybe you are right,” I say. “Maybe we can deal with this piece. But what happens when more appears?” When, not if. Even if that fire mage’s attack is what spurred this much of the predator to escape, it would be naive to think nothing else could cause more of it to emerge. “I cannot afford to waste time. The longer I stay in this world, the longer I run the risk. And we cannot know that next time the amount will be so small. What happens when it is more than I can control? What if it takes my mind before I have a chance to Attune it or send it back Between?”

Zyneth doesn’t say anything, but from the pained look on his face, I know he knows I’m right.

“We have to get rid of it,” I say. “Fast. That matters before anything else.”

“Okay,” he says after a moment. “You’re right. Taking care of the predator should be the top priority. But are you sure Emrox is the only way?”

“Between is where it came from, and it seems like it is constantly fighting to not be drawn back there,” I say, looking at the bottled monster. Well, that had been true before. Why this piece in particular seemed to be fighting off the pull of Between is something I still need to figure out. “If I can pass through the Between when I head to Earth, I strongly suspect it will not be able to follow me out. And that is where I should be able to find my body. Two birds with one stone.” Hopefully. If that Location spell will take me back to it the exact time and place I left it. Okay, it’s not a perfect plan, but I’m working on it. “Unless you know another way to open a portal Between?”

Zyneth shakes his head with a grimace. “It should be possible, of course—portals to different arcana sources are opened all the time—but a link to the Between has been lost to history.” He hesitates, as if he was about to say more.

“...Except in Emrox,” I supply.

“Except in Emrox,” he agrees with a sigh. “But how in the world do you propose we go there? It’s at the bottom of the ocean.”

We. Even now, he plans to help me. When he has no skin in this game.

Which makes the next part even harder for me to say. “Luckily, we know someone who has been there before.”

“What? Who?” Zyneth stares at me for a moment in confusion before horrified realization begins to dawn on him. “No. Absolutely not.”

“Who better to guide us to a lost underwater city than a submarine-owning amphibian?” I say. “We will get Gillow to take us.”