Page 3 of A Soul to Guide

“It failed,” she sighed. She would have slapped the table in frustration, but her left ear twitched at footsteps approaching from the hallway. “Can I never get a moment of peace?”

“Someone is approaching? I’ll get the door.”

Cykran’s bare feet slapped against the stone floor as he headed to the doorway. His feet squeaked as he sidestepped two of her benches overflowing with either paperwork or ingredients – all of which she knew by memory.

The room was partly made of a gigantic tree that sat close to the centre of the city; it housed many within its white, sun-bleached trunk and branches. Within theunnaturalformation, they’d set carved marble and smelted ore, such as gold, platinum, and bronze, into its foundations.

The council palace was at the very top of the trunk, which is where she was currently – on the fringes of it.

“Sometimes it amazes me how good your hearing has become,” Cykran said as he moved.

“Your other senses can sometimes get better when you lose one.” But not always. “Our head of security claims he only obtained his council position because he was always a better listener, since he doesn’t talk like everyone else.”

Mericato had injured his throat as a child, but it was the infection that affected his speech. Now, he used sign language to communicate, more out of comfort than necessity. He was often in pain.

She was just extremely lucky her sense of smell, hearing, and touch had improved in the last few years. Before that... she’d been as clumsy as they came. She’d tripped on air one too many times.

Just as Cykran made it to the door, soft tapping resonated through the thick timber.

The clack of the locking mechanism being opened was followed by the door creaking, which brought in the rush of fresh, earthy scents from within the palace’s corridors. The starfir tree pollen was cleansing and uplifting, but she always tried to keep it out of her laboratory, so as to not contaminate her experiments.

She’d only had the window open since two of the three suns had been shining on her side of the palace, making the temperature inside nearly unbearable.

“Raewyn, you are late for the meeting, and the othercouncilmembers grow impatient,” Aurea, a general council assistant, stated. “If you don’t come immediately, you know how Ulair will be.”

She was likely shaking her head, since Ulair was the most annoying and temperamental of all the councilmembers.

Raewyn also had a feeling Aurea had her hands on her wide hips and was narrowing her deep-green eyes.They were delicatelyset in her dark, taupe-ish complexion. Aurea’s hair had always been shaved on one side, with the rest swept to the right, in the years Raewyn had known her. She was short for an Elysian, probably six foot two, which had always made Raewyn’s six foot seven feel even taller than usual.

They both shared the Elysian white hair, but Aurea’s short hair was straight, whereas Raewyn’s was long and coily, worn loose and full around her head. Still, they shared similar willowy Elvish figures.

Elysians came in all shapes and sizes, with different features, such as noses and lips that were full, perky, or thin. Even their eyes were of differing shapes – although they were generally brown or green coloured. Their brown skin ranged from light to dark, with the same grey undertone of their Elysian heritage.

Though she hadn’t looked in a mirror in over six years, she remembered most of her own features, as well as those of the people she’d encountered regularly before she lost her sight. However, as time passed, details were beginning to fade – which terrified her, as she didn’t want to lose them.

“Oh yeah... I forgot about the meeting.” Her forgetfulness was due to her obsessive, workaholic nature, and it was probably one of her biggest faults. “Do you mind guiding me so I’m quicker? I’m sure if I make Ulair wait much longer, he’ll have a hissy fit and give himself indigestion again.”

Just as she stepped forward to grab her guide cane, the sharp sound of glass shattering next to her made her gasp. Raewyn jumped back as a billow of peppery and sweet scents exploded against her senses.

A bright pink magical glow grew in size, but it had been so small before that she hadn’t noticed it. It was a terrible mistake on her part, one likely caused by Aurea’s interruption.

“Raewyn, watch out!” Cykran yelled as something vine-like grabbed her arm.

By the clattering glass and the mixture of smells, Raewyn suspected more vines were growing from the vial she’d tried to make a hufflepumpkin grow from. Other containers were knocked over as the vines grabbed or flicked them with their tendrils, the cacophony of sounds and smells almost overwhelming her.

Oh no!she thought, realising random ingredients were mixing with her still-activating spell. Raewyn struggled to free her arm, only to wince when the vines tightened in reaction.

Cykran’s rushing steps made her stomp her foot in his direction. A barrier, made from the root-like vines of the starfir tree, formed between them. She didn’t know what was about to happen, but she wouldn’t put another in harm’s way for her sake.

If they took her to the medical facilities in time, she would be fine, so long as it wasn’t fatal.

“Rae, let me through. Please!” Cykran’s claws tore at the wooden vines as he tried to fight his way through.

From experience, she knew the barrier she’d formed would be hexagonal, so she was able to hear his voice clearly through the spaces in the vines.

“Just stay there,” she begged, throwing her free hand over the vines ensnaring her in the hopes she could sever them or gather enough magic to incinerate them.

“I’ll get the guards,” Aurea said with a panicked shout before she ran off.

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