Page 1 of A Soul to Guide

If one had eyes that could see, they would probably note the mess in this high-ceilinged, spacious laboratory. How the walls and ceiling were made of white tree branches, while black obsidian glittered on the ground. They would note the gold ore that filled in the gaps between branches and helped to support the glass in the roof.

They would see that every wall in this octagonal, nearly circular room, either had a writing board or a gold and black marble bench against it.

They would try to figure out what ingredients the cupboards, windowsills, and benches were covered in, since there were glass beakers, tubes, and metal jars from one end of the room to the other. Some contained ground-up dust, others whole items such as plant roots, flowers, and leaves. There were a few that held liquids of different colours.

A person might even gape at the lovely round white light that looked like an exploding star hanging from the very centre of this triangular roof, and marvel at how it was powered by magic. Or stare in awe at the little red, blue, green, and silver orbs that hung from the ceiling and changed locations to mimic their current astronomical points in the sky.

She knew, without a doubt, they would be scratching their heads at the mathematical equations written on every surface available.

For Raewyn, who could not see, she knew the state of her precious laboratory by what she could smell, by what she could feel, and by what she could hear – like the papers loosely fluttering on their clipped stacks from the wind gently pushing in.

“Cykran, could you please close the window for me?” she murmured as she frowned at the paper in her right hand, too distracted to raise her voice.

She brushed her fingers over the bumps etched into the paper to read what was there.

Cykran said nothing, but her pointed ear twitched at his light footsteps heading towards the only open window in her spacious laboratory. Despite his general quietness, Raewyn could hear where he was by his deep breaths, and lately, she’d even noticed him by the general shift of his clothing.

The window made a muted clicking noise, and the smallest smile spread over her lips.

A few had been nervous about aDemonworking as her assistant, considering how many of his kind had slaughtered the Elvish people. Raewyn, on the other hand, couldn’t think of anyone more tolerable.

Since the day she’d accidentally blinded herself with magic, people’s attitudes towards her had changed. Some were wary of her hurting herself in her laboratory, while others were worried she’d hurt others by exploding this part of the council palace – it wouldn’t be the first time, and that was before she lost her sight.

Of course, there were many more who knew Raewyn wouldn’t stop her experiments, no matter where she was, so it was safer for her to work where she was isolated and could be monitored.

Many had come forward, wanting to be her assistant, but none were as patient as Cykran. None were as quiet, even in the way they breathed. None were as thankful as he was.

What’s more, none knew how to distinguish what she truly needed against what they thought she did.

Others would get in the way by being overly helpful, but he rarely crowded her and stuck to leaning against one of the cabinets, since there was barely any free wall space. He also only spoke when necessary – except for when he wanted to be a sarcastic little bastard, but that was part of his charm.

From the right, she tentatively felt out and picked up a vial with a distinct peppery scent, then one that was musky.

“Yellowcrest and bellsage,” he commented, which caused her to put down the musky scented one and grab the container on the left instead. “Yellowcrest and ringsage.”

After bringing both closer, she fingered the paper with bumps ofelbrailleon it so she could read her notes.

Letters made up of triangles and lines told her what was written, both in Elvish and mathematically, and she was thankful such writing craft was available. With just a small amount of magical ink, the elbraille would form raised patterns on the parchment.

It also allowed everyone, no matter if they were visually impaired or not, to read what was written.

The rest of her experiment she could do withoutCykran’s help, since she had all the tools she needed with elbraille etched into the handles to inform her of their measuring amounts. Each spoon had a swiper mechanism, so she didn’t need to touch whatever it was – like spotted green and pinkpolleshrooms, which could be quite poisonous.

After pouring a tiny amount of yellowcrest into a glass container already filled with other ingredients, most of them liquid, Raewyn paused as she went to tip in a gram of ringsage.

This spell required the perfect amounts of every ingredient.An incorrect ratiocould lead to different results: some funny, most not.

Last time, when she had been trying to uncover the spell through her equations, she’d accidentally turned her dark-brown skin a bright purple. People had, jokingly, called her hufflepumpkin for a week!

When she’d paused for too long, Cykran chuckled. “I wonder if you’ll turnintoa hufflepumpkin this time, rather than just colouring yourself as one.”

Raewyn pouted. “That’s mean, Cykran.” She stepped back and gestured to the glass container. “Excuse me, assistant, but I require help.”

His dark laugh was warm but hissy from his Demon fangs. “By the holy Gilded Maiden, no. You do it, councilwoman. I don’t think I’m truly capable of such wonderful scientific breakthroughs; that is best left to our most valuable asset, the great Raewyn Daefaren.”

Raewyn rolled her eyes at his mocking words. “Then don’t tease me. Since you’re in the room with me, you’ll likely turn purple, too.”

His fangs clipping shut in concern and his clothing ruffling with movement had her laughing.

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