Page 180 of A Soul to Guide

“If you like that,” she teased with a smile. “Then you should see what kind of outfits women can wear in my home realm.”

“If it’s more revealing than this, I think you should consider how dangerous it is for you.”

“Maybe you’ll find out.”

Doubtful,he sadly thought as she swam circles around him – like she had already been doing metaphorically for weeks.

She poked her tongue out at him, but her smile had returned and that’s all he cared about. He could ignore everything else now that he had his mermaid back.

Swim, swim, little fairy,he thought as he eyed her naked body through the ripples of the water.Swim as fast as you can from me.

Raewyn cheerfully hummed as she double checked her workstation. Everything was completely out of the way, but she just wanted to triple check.

It’d be terrible if something happened and other ingredients were nearby as she activated the mana stone for its new function. Wouldn’t want to oops another chaos portal into temporary existence.

What are the chances of that happening again?

With her apparent luck, who knew? The odds definitely weren’t in her favour.

Okay, so she was really checking everything for the umpteenth time because she was anxious.

She was happy, since their long swim in the lake had turned into something much naughtier. Being taken against the lake wall hadn’t been on the top of her list, but at least he couldn’t complain that she was clean of his seed!

She was also now dry, dressed, and ready to work.

It was likely she was feeling much more relaxed than she would have because of their heated moment of intimacy. Plus, he’d been kind enough to just... be there with her while she swam, and she appreciated that more than he’d ever know.

She’d also gotten off her chest something that had been bothering her. Raewyn had assumed Merikh would take learning more about Weldir terribly, but it had been bothering her that she knew something about him he didn’t. It’d felt wrong to keep that in, and she’d been considering telling him since they’d journeyed here.

Merikh was an enigma, and even when learning about such things, he seemed to bear the weight of everything with ease. She was sure it was just a façade, but it showed his inner strength.

Said stoic Duskwalker entering the cave broke her out of her thoughts.

“Alright. Here’s the pot.”

The clink of the ceramic hitting the stone bench made her ears twitch, only because he seemed to manhandle everything. It was broken, barely held together via rope. He should be more careful.

Still, she thanked him as she brought it closer.

In the dark of her vision, she could see the tulip holding the stone was glowing with activating magic. She gingerly loosened the ribbon keeping the flower closed and let the stone plop into her hand.

She couldn’t see the stone, but she could feel its warmth, the way it tingled her senses with power.

I must be quick now that I’ve removed it from its absorption tool.The flower had taken some figuring out and reconstruction on her part, which is why she’d fallen so ill after days of trying to change it.

They had a mechanical tool made back in her realm, but it had been designed off something similar.

“Will you need any help?”

“No,” she answered after she took a calming breath. “You don’t have to stay and watch. It might take me a while.”

“It’s fine. I’m interested in what you’re doing.”

Raewyn held the stone flat between both her palms and poured magic into it. It began to float, as did her hair around her face, as she used a hovering spell that would allow her to rotate and work it on all sides.

Once it was floating, and she could finally see the stone glowing black – a neutral colour similar to her own grey base magic – her heart raced.

No. It’s okay. I can do this.She strived to take in another calming breath.I promised Merikh we’d go to my realm, and I really, really want to go home. Just take it slow. Don’t be impatient like last time.

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