Page 207 of A Soul to Guide

It held little, as most of their homes did. It was an oval, like a dome with tree roots for walls and a ceiling, with metal ore filling in the gaps. He had one or two pieces of art, and they consisted of historical paintings of him shaking hands with either a Bansu, Anzúli, or Taihee from when the portal gates were open.

Thorill shook his head in disbelief that she’d rudely let herself in, but he didn’t ask her to leave.

“It’s not that easy, Raewyn,” he sighed.

He walked over to a plush lounge to rest his tired bones – likely worn out from coming to ‘rescue’ her. He massaged one of his knees.

“Once a mana stone has been completely depleted, you and I both know it can’t be restored. The one I used to save you was a personal keepsake I’d stolen.” Then, he gave her a terrible eye, a stinky one, as he said, “I got into a lot of trouble revealing I had it, and not once have you thanked me. I would say young adults back in my day weren’t so disrespectful, but I already know you’ll roll those eyes at me.”

Raewyn’s arms tightened across her chest as she squinted at him in suspicion. “You have another one, don’t you?”

“No, I don’t. It’s been decades,” he answered far too curtly. “The others I took no longer work, and I only just managed to keep that one healthy enough in my old age to keep it glowing. Ulair was the one who helped the most in truly restoring it.”

“Ulair?” she asked in surprised. She and Ulair never really saw eye to eye, so she scarcely believed he’d had such a large hand in helping her. “Please, Thorill. There must be another way.”

He shook his head again, and his balding tuft of hair swayed side to side. “Unless you can figure out how to control a chaos portal to open directly where you want, which not even I’ve managed to do, there’s nothing that can be done.”

“Nothing?”

“No, child. Nothing.” He waved his hand to the side. “Trying will only see you hurt or send you to another random world, and we won’t be able to save you a second time.”

Raewyn anxiously bit at her lips. “But–”

“Whatever or whoever it is you left behind, they are gone. Accept this.”

She hated the way his words were uttered so definitively, like they were true and there was nothing she could do about it. She hated even more that he was likely right, especially since he was the only person in this city who could strike with such knowledgeable resolve.

He was the only person she could ask, and he was the only one who could have told her if there was another way. He hadn’t.

Raewyn’s shoulders turned inward in embarrassment that he’d witnessed her outburst in the central palace, but she turned her back on him to hide the pain in her expression.

“Thank you for speaking with me,” she whispered, wishing it didn’t sound so choked.

“They must have meant a lot to you,” he said softly, his voice radiating with care. “I’ve known you all your life. You haven’t been this distraught since...”

Since Jabez was locked away. Since she was a child.

Raewyn tightened her left hand into a fist when pain radiated down it from her heart. “I’m sorry if I’ve bothered you, and for entering your home without permission.”

“You are fine, councilwoman. We all have our days, and I’m sure your adventure has weighed on you. It hasn’t even been a day since your return, so I think it’s fair of me to say we can all forgive any transgressions, considering the stress you must be under.” She turned her head to the side to peek at him, and his expression was one of sympathy. “We all know what it’s like to lose someone.”

Thorill had been there when the Demons first came. He’d lost many loved ones and had watched the bloodshed himself.

She nodded as she calmly walked to his door. “Thank you. I’ll see myself out.”

Honestly, she just wanted to escape. She’d been hoping the usually mischievous man would leap at the idea of creating another portal, and his denial meant he couldn’t. He had the approval of a councilmember, so the responsibility would have fallen on her shoulders.

Just as she placed her hand on the doorknob, he chuckled as he said, “When are you going to tell everyone you’ve restored your sight?”

Perceptive old man.Then again, that was Thorill – observant as always.

“It’s not mine,” she admitted before leaving.

All the strength in her threatened to burn out. Her knees wobbled in tiredness, in disappointment, as she walked back up the central tree. The main hallway was a long spiral upward, and she looked towards the ground to hide her face under her hair.

It wasn’t just to shield everyone from her tears, which apparentlyhadn’tall dried up. It was so no one could recognise her. She wanted to be alone.

If Thorill, an expert, told her there was nothing she could do, then that was the truth. Chasing after Merikh by herself would most likely send her to a frozen wasteland or a lava-filled hell, knowing her luck.

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