"You're actually helping him?" Galdrehln asked in shock. "That asshole damn near killed me!"

Renkyk recoiled at his friend's outburst, almost toppling out of the plush chair in his new room in Eynond's keep.

"He told me you were getting along well with the other mages and..." Renkyk began, but was quickly cut off.

"Don't believe a fucking word he says!" Galdrehln protested, his chubby cheeks quaking in anger. He paused for a moment to rub his hands on his forehead. "Ren, this isn't the sort of person we wanted to work with."

Taking a deep breath, Renkyk pointed toward the closed heavy wood door on the room's opposite end.

"I don't know if you understand this or not, but it's not as though we have a great deal of choice," he chided his friend. "You think we can just run out? Or say 'No!'?"

Galdrehln threw up his hands in frustration, causing his puffy red shirt to expand, resembling a large fruit of some kind. Renkyk chuckled at the sigh, but that only drew a further angry response from Galdrehln.

"Look, we need to figure our way out of this place or we're going to be drafted into Emperor Rohmhelt's army. Nethron never would have wanted that for us," Galdrehln insisted.

"As I tried to explain when you first came in here, Commander Dastov does have some good instincts regarding the Auras and I have been able to learn something from him," Renkyk said, his efforts to avoid becoming irritated buckling under Galdrehln's repeated outbursts. "Once I get what I want out of this, and the moment is right, we'll escape."

Even before he finished talking, he knew what Galdrehln would say in response. Renkyk had left himself wide open to the critique and he was shocked he had been so sloppy as to do so.

"And what happens if Dastov gets all that he wants out of you? Do you honestly think he releases us? Hm?" Galdrehln asked with a mocking squeak.

"No," Renkyk conceded.

"Right, he seems like the type to just toss us straight into the river, either bound and alive or with our throats cut."

"You've known a lot of men like that?" Renkyk queried, attempting a deflection.

"You know it when you see it!" Galdrehln insisted.

Renkyk laughed at that most quintessentially of Galdrehln sentiments, which did nothing to calm his friend's roiling anger. Much as he wanted to continue to parry blows, he saw the need to try to ease the tensions somewhat.

"Well, he was the spymaster of this region, or so he says. You might be right," Renkyk conceded. "Regardless, we're not getting out of this easily. Our best path is to be cooperative and hope something comes along. As you say, though, not too cooperative. Not so much that we lose our usefulness. That also means we need to keep learning. It would be a terrible mistake to believe that those others here are any less capable than we are."

"Speak for yourself," Galdrehln puffed. "Now, are you going to try to teach me what you know with the Silver Aura or not?"

"But then I would have nothing on you!" Renkyk joked, though he meant some of what he said. It was the only part of the Aura studies where he had an advantage. "Alright, I'll do my best. Just know that Dastov will be able to sense when we're using it. That's how he found us in the first place."

For much of the afternoon, Renkyk laboriously talked through all that he had learned to advance his understanding of the Silver Aura. He encountered a difficulty fairly early on, however, in that Galdrehln showed disinterest in virtually all of Renkyk's personal experiences and was eager instead to simply start wielding the Silver Aura in his own right to learn from simple experience. Try as he might to convince his friend that the Silver Aura was meaningfully different from the other Auras, Renkyk made very little progress. Galdrehln fell into the category of person who was inexplicably gifted at what he did despite knowing little about it.

Sitting at a table with Galdrehln, he laid out his own attempt to delineate the what he referred to as the "Natural Auras" from "Nethron's Auras" which included the Silver Aura and Abyssal Aura. While it was an oversimplification to ascribe those to the Aura Liberator, it was useful enough to communicate the subject. He represented each of the Auras with some kind of tangible object, with his own amulet taking the place of the Silver Aura. The Natural Auras, represented by a variety of little trinkets around his room, sat in a clump.

"There's not a thing I can teach you about the Natural Auras over here," Renkyk emphasized again, pointing to that clump. Galdrehln effortlessly drew some water from a vial, transformed it into a sliver of ice, and nodded. "Everything is made up of these Auras. Our world, as we think of it, is this."

"Uh huh," Galdrehln yawned, twirling the sliver of ice in the air.

"Then, as I understand it all from how Nethron explained it back a few months ago, you have these three over here. There are Nethron's Auras, the Abyssal and the Silver. Then there's the Ceunan Aura, but that's a different thing altogether," Renkyk continued, barely grasping it all in his own mind. "That comes from, as the name suggests, Ceuna and the angels themselves. I guess you can think of it as their answer to the Abyssal Aura, which actually comes from us, apparently. Or rather the Abyssal Aura came from us the way the Ceunan Aura came from them. I never did grasp that part."

"Huh. When you put it like that it makes us sound bad. Mortals, I mean. We're an abyss?"

"The name for the Abyssal Aura was merely Nethron's observation of its color," Renkyk smirked. "Regardless, these three, aren't part of us, not as our flesh or bones, at any rate. I don't really understand all of this myself and I don't think I ever will. Nethron himself was unable to explain it fully and he confessed that the angels have never comprehended every aspect of the Auras. But, the Silver Aura is the bridge between our sprits and the eternal life that awaits them in the Communion of Souls. I am sure of that."

Galdrehln furrowed his brow and his heavy cheeks sagged.

"How can you be?" he asked.

"Because, as I told you earlier, I've seen it. I've seen the Communion of Souls and I need to make sure you see it, too. You'll never understand all of this until you do."

With a sigh, Galdrehln folded his arms and glared back at Renkyk.

"So, what do I do?" he queried, his frustration palpable.

"I was near dying things when I had my best experience. Dying people, as a matter of fact."

"Ren, I'm not going to go hang around a hospital waiting for people to die. It's sick!" he protested.

With that resistance, Renkyk felt like tossing his hands up in the air. Another thought immediately occurred to him, however.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"There is a different way, I think," Renkyk sighed, scratching at his forehead. "I could try to bring back something. Obviously I wouldn't start with a person. That'd be wrong. I would start with something like a rat or a vugwaz."

"A vugwaz?" Galdrehln asked, an eyebrow raised.

"They're some manner of frog creature native to these parts. I don't pretend to understand where the name came from. It never made sense to me," he replied. "Anyway, when I try to bring it back, you should be able to sense the strands of the Silver Aura and follow them back to the Communion of Souls. That will probably help you."

"If you say so," Galdrehln sighed and formed a nervous smile. "We've certainly had worse ideas than this."

Before he could conduct his experiment, Renkyk needed to seek approval from Commander Dastov to leave the keep and go to one of the small tributaries nearby Eynond to capture, kill, and then attempt to reanimate a vugwaz. Dastov, who received Renkyk back in the commander's messy personal chambers, shrugged upon hearing the request.

"That is totally unnecessary, my dear Renkyk," Dastov laughed. "I happen to know that we have many of those creatures already killed and waiting to be turned into some foul lunches for our men. Apparently the vugwaz liver is a delicacy, but I've never appreciated the taste myself. I will order one brought to you in the rear courtyard."

"Will you be watching?" Renkyk asked nervously.

"Of course!" Dastov blurted through an amused smile. "You're actually going to try to bring a creature back to life and you think I won't be watching? I understand your misgivings and anxiety at a potential failure in front of me, but be assured that my expectations are modest. If you can so much as get one of those things to twitch, I will consider that a success."

Whether or not Dastov was being sincere eluded Renkyk. He couldn't imagine that the commander would forever tolerate only meager progress. If the rumors of Emperor Rohmhelt's armies' mounting losses and continuous defeats were to be believed, Dastov was doubtlessly under pressure to deliver results. That was firmly on Renkyk's mind when he descended to the rear courtyard for his first great experiment.

Galdrehln was already waiting for him in the center of the circular enclosed courtyard. In that early autumn evening, torches provided most of the light in what was an amphitheater of stone and trees. Galdrehln folded his arms above his gut as he looked upon the dead vugwaz that rested atop a stone bench in the courtyard's center. The vugwaz was about as large as a person's head with glistening mottled gray and green scales. Judging by the moistness of the skin, Renkyk surmised it was only recently deceased.

"Are you sure about this, Ren?" Galdrehln mumbled, first glancing toward the guards surrounding them on all sides and then looking up to the balcony overlooking the courtyard. From there, Dastov glared down at the two of them. "If you fuck up, it'll..."

"I know. I know," Renkyk interrupted, drawing his amulet from the pockets of his silver and black robes. "I think we have a lot more to lose by not trying anything. He hasn't said as much, but..."

"Ren, you're making me nervous," his friend nervously chuckled.

"Do you boys have everything you need?" Dastov shouted from his balcony.

"Yes. I think this will be fine," Renkyk shouted back, nodding in an exaggerated fashion.

Galdrehln patted Renkyk on the back and drew closer to the corpulent and warted dead vugwaz.

"Are you ready?" Renkyk queried to his friend.

After breathing in deeply, Galdrehln nodded and shot Renkyk a wink before closing his eyes and holding out his hands with open palms. There was a pulse radiating from his friend that Renkyk took to mean that he was ready to watch for the Silver Aura.

Renkyk grasped his amulet and brought it up to the vugwaz's face. He closed his eyes and recalled his prior experiences. In an instant, he saw the argent strands of the Silver Aura and followed along them. Their strange warbling and whirring was precisely as he recalled it from before. He latched onto them, focusing on the faintest traces that connected the vugwaz's body to its next life. It was far weaker than he experienced in the Eynond infirmary, which made him wonder just how long something could be dead and offer a useful trail to the Communion of Souls.

Sailing through the incomprehensible phenomena he experienced on his prior journey, he steeled his mind to try blocking out the more unpleasant experiences. Much as he struggled, he couldn't silence the ever-loudening shriek that pierced deep into his mind. It was far worse than what he recalled before. It grew more and more torturous, causing his eyes and teeth to rattle in agony. So terrible grew his own pains that he wanted to shout out in anguish.

Then, as before, a sudden stop.

He found himself again before the Communion of Souls. Streaks of white, silver, and gold light whirred endlessly in a harmonious chorus in that great familiar sphere. Near him, he sensed Galdrehln's presence, though he could not see his friend in any meaningful way.

"Call to that poor little creature," Nethron's voice sounded out inside his head.

"How? I can't possibly tell where..." Renkyk responded silently, frustrated as he looked at the dense mass of shapeless spirits melding together in their vast union.

"You have seen the creature and you have felt its presence," the Aura Liberator reassured him. "Call to it. Do not think about how do not know it. Feel how you do know it."

Renkyk thought back to the precise arrangement of the beast's scales and then the appearance of the argent trail leading to Ceuna. He beckoned with his hand toward the full Communion of Souls. He alternated between sensing something and then nothing. He wondered if what he initially felt was merely his wishes run wild. He tried again, focusing harder on the Silver Aura's wake. Suddenly, before him he saw a single small amorphous light that had departed the whole.

"Now lead it back," Nethron urged. "Quickly. I do not think it is the patient sort."

In a moment that passed with dizzying speed, Renkyk motioned toward the spirit and suddenly found himself in front of the vugwaz, sweeping an iridescent silver light into its lifeless corpse. Renkyk jolted back just as the beast's limbs and face rattled back to life. Its eyes glowed bright silver and its jaw distended, letting loose a cry deeper and more terrible than anything Renkyk had ever heard in his life. It sounded as though a thousand shards of metal scraped against one another while also carrying the gasps and gurgles one would expect from a creature such as that.

"Now, do not repeat my mistake, Renkyk," Nethron's voice urged him. "Remember what I told you. Only you mortals understand innately how to preserve your own form. Mend it now so that it does not suffer a terrible fate."

On that point, Renkyk knew not how to proceed. From what he could tell, the vugwaz had its skull crushed by whomever had captured it. He concentrated his mind toward restoring its body to its proper order. Its bones started to pop back into their appropriate places and flesh healed where it had been damaged. The creature's cries lessened and the haunting argent glow in its eyes diminished. Something more approximating what Renkyk believed its true form moved freely again, hopping off the bench and crawling forward in a halting and rigid way.

"Ren," Galdrehln gasped before offering a strong embrace. "You actually did it!"

"Be more watchful," Nethron's voice called out, skittering around the courtyard.

At that moment, a silver pulse emanated from the vugwaz and its skin sloughed off in great chunks before the unfortunate creature disintegrated into dust.

"What happened?" Galdrehln squeaked, motioning one hand toward the erstwhile vugwaz while reflexively gripping Renkyk with the other.

"A very close attempt," Nethron's voice answered. "You will get it right next time. I am very proud of you."

Nethron's presence dissipated after he finished speaking, leaving Renkyk bewildered as he stared at the remaining iridescent embers flickering from the vugwaz's body.

"Very good, dear Renkyk," Dastov shouted from the balcony. "When you come that close, it's only a matter of time until you get it right. Young Galdrehln, I hope you were paying attention to all of that."

"Ye... Yes, sir!" Galdrehln snapped to attention and offered a stiff bow. "I learned a great deal."

"Good," Dastov said, his voice far quieter. "Have a good rest. We'll speak again on this tomorrow morning at breakfast."

Renkyk scarcely remembered getting back to his chamber with Galdrehln as he was so lost in thought as he trudged through the halls of Eynond's keep. He tried in vain to identify the exact moment at which he must have lost control of the situation, dooming the vugwaz to its grisly second death. Nethron's encouragement notwithstanding, where he failed was a mystery and one he realized would need many more attempts to correct.

Galdrehln, however, pouring celebratory wine for both of them, had an entirely different line of inquiry.

"So, Ren, I had no idea that the Communion of Souls was so beautiful!" he gleefully said. "I actually wonder why we would want to bring anything back from that."

"What do you mean?" Renkyk asked, baffled at the suggestion.

"I mean to say that it doesn't look that bad. It must be the prettiest thing I've ever seen."

"In a way," Renkyk conceded. Then he motioned all around his chamber. "But it's also clear that when you die here, you give all of this up. Books, wine, dinner, companionship. It occurs to me that what we're doing is we are offering, once we get it right, a choice to mortal beings. Continue on here with everything this involves or go there if that's what you want."

"Or back and forth, even!" Galdrehln chuckled as he guzzled his red wine, some of which splashed up onto his cheeks.

"I don't see why not," Renkyk shrugged in earnestness. "This is more interesting than I ever hoped it would be."