14. Cinis

"You need to rest," I instruct her.

Since our unexpected encounter, I've begun to notice wounds on Serena that I didn't notice before. At first, they were not major and didn't seem to be affecting her in any meaningful way. Plus, my familiarity with human vulnerabilities is not high.

But over time, they appear to have opened up significantly, and I can see them draining her.

"I'll be fine," she urges me as we walk around outside, her movement noticeably impacted by a heavy limp. "We have to go back."

I pause for a moment, scrutinizing her.

"You could have perished on the way to the towers," I remind her. "Maybe I'm powerful enough to survive those beasts, but you are not. Especially not in your current state."

"What do you want me to do? Not bury my friends? Leave the remaining humans in the towers, possibly to be experimented on and mutilated?"

I shake my head.

"You didn't tell me you needed to evacuate the other towers. If you'd just told me, maybe we could have dealt with them earlier."

She laughs gently but with a cruel undertone.

"In the dead of night, in the middle of a freeze, after being attacked by unspeakable horrors? I don't think so."

I float forward more slowly, in the hopes that it will dissuade her and that I can talk her down before we get too close.

But she's speeding ahead of me, even with her limp. I can see the pain she's in, both emotionally and physically. It's a scourge on her being.

"I would have done it for you," I reassure her. "You were all I knew. You were my guide through this realm. What was I going to say?"

"Cinis, I barely knew you. I'm not even sure I really know you now, to be honest."

This sudden change in tone catches me off-guard.

"I wasn't going to ask you to clear entire towers for me," she says. "Besides that, you were pretty insistent on not helping me. Didn't you ask what I would offer you in return for your help?"

"Well, you know me now," I reply. "I'm not sure you could claim otherwise."

She shakes her head. "That was sex. Normally it means something. But in our case, you made it clear it was purely physical."

Every word cuts through me.

"What do I need to do to heal you?" I ask. "Maybe I'd be more comfortable letting you go back in a better state, but as is, you're an easy victim."

She turns to face me. "Where is any of this coming from? Why do you care if I live or die?"

I look ahead toward the distant towers. The elves have magic that could easily destroy me if I let it. So I'll have to be careful.

"Do I have to have a reason? Why can't I just want you to be okay?"

"Because you're you," she says. "We already established you were keeping me alive because you wanted sex. And now that I've pleased you, you can let me go."

I shake my head in frustration.

"Or maybe you haven't had enough of me yet," she comments. "You haven't gotten to fuck me yet. If that's the case, just take me now and be done with it."

"Why are you so ready to throw your life away all of a sudden? You seemed pretty keen on staying alive last night."

Her emotions have become a conflicting twister, almost impossible to read.

"Can't you just read my mind and find out?" she asks. "Just like you always do?"

"That's not how it works at all. I don't simply peer into your brain and read your thoughts."

"Except for when you do."

The wind's rush is cold and unforgiving, and as she separates herself from me, I can see her shivering even in the milder daylight.

"It's the whole reason I left. You broke into my mind to learn how I felt about you. You violated my trust. And saving my life doesn't change that."

I sigh. "What can I do to prove that I care about you?"

"You can let me do this. Let me save the people I failed to help. Let me confirm that the people we saved are okay."

"And I'm telling you that you can't go in your current state," I reply. "So tell me how to help you, and I'll do that."

She looks out toward the black glowing structures, deep in thought for a moment.

"Fine," she says. "If you insist on healing me before we take the towers, then that's fine. I really don't know what it's going to prove, though. In any case, I know you torched the library on your way out. But there's a common magical book in every library, Healing Mortal Wounds. If you can find it in one of the towers, you can retrieve it and use it."

I pause, freezing in place.

"What?" Serena presses.

"I'm not able to read. So…"

She describes the image on the cover of the book and writes down the book's title on a piece of scrap.

I walk her back to the hovel to ensure her safety, levitating the piece of scrap in front of me so it doesn't burn. She doesn't say anything on the way.

It feels like a barrier has suddenly appeared between us after I shared one of the most intimate experiences I've ever had with her. What's more, she pushed for the experience in the first place, urging me to open myself to this new realm.

And now that I've felt it, I'm not sure I can take it back.

"And do one more thing for me," she proposes as I glide away from her.

"What?"

After the sudden rift she's created, I'm a lot more reluctant to help her.

"When you find the book, liberate the tower for me. And make sure everybody we saved is safe."

I nod. As long as their magic doesn't connect with me, there's not much the dark elves can do to stop me. So this feels like little more than an inconvenience.

And if it returns to me the Serena I knew, who helped me discover this realm, then it's worth it.

I start a small fire in the hovel for Serena so that she can keep warm, and then I venture out into the wilderness.

"I hope this is worth it," I say aloud. "Two days ago, I didn't even know what a human was. Now I'm risking my life for them. And for what?"

In the distance, the towers beckon me. I hesitate, knowing that the dark elves hold the secrets to unmaking me should they choose to use them.

But I won't give them that chance.

I first confirm that the humans in the tower we liberated are okay. They've found portions of food left over from the elves and are using that to sustain themselves. They're still very weak and it's only a temporary solution, but for now, they're equipped to survive.

The moment I enter another tower, I'm greeted with immediate opposition. The layout appears identical, meaning bookshelves outfit the first floor.

I just need to stop myself from burning them.

"It's here," one of the dark elves says to another immediately as I enter the room. "Tell the boss."

I lift the elf in the air, choking him. The other dark elf flees for his life, running up the stairs.

Easily enough, I'm able to dispatch the elves on the first floor, killing them without destroying any books. Curiously, they don't seem to put up much of a fight.

"Now to get this book for Serena."

I levitate the piece of scrap in front of me, using it for comparison as one by one, I look at the covers and spines of these books.

It takes longer than I'd like, but I manage to find it and set it on the table before I move up. If I carry it with me, I only risk damaging or burning it.

"No potion tables," I note upon reaching the second floor. "Just lots of cells."

The humans are huddled together in cells, connected to the strange device. They all look at me, pleading for their lives.

"I'll come back for you," I say into their minds. "I need to clear the tower first."

This tower has several floors of cells, gathering nearly four times as many humans. But I can't do anything about that yet.

The top floor appears similar to the one where I was summoned. I find a large group of dark elves, huddled together while muttering an incantation. Blue light emerges from all of them, streaming together into the room's center ceiling.

I fear they might have readied a spell to deal with me, but as I watch from the stairwell and the light dissipates, seemingly nothing happens.

"It's done," one of the elves says to the group. "He knows everything now."

I step out from the shadows.

"Hello."

I kill them individually, ensuring the humans' safety.

Though I can offer the humans no food, I promise to return for them and tell them to be safe. This group appears even weaker than the one we liberated.

"Perhaps this will convince Serena of my loyalty," I say to myself, secretly glad it was less trouble than I thought it would be.

I try to scan the book as I levitate it in front of me, turning the pages with my mind. But I can't read any of this world's languages, so it's effectively gibberish to me.

"I found your book and freed the tower, just like you asked," I tell her upon returning to the hovel. "But they'll need food."

Serena instructs me on where to find fylvek grass and rirzed herb, which I mash together into a powder. She consumes it, and we wait.

While she recovers, I retrieve food from nature to give to the survivors, even finding a far-off garden. The creature there has wings but still speaks intelligibly. In an unlikely pairing, he's also settled down with a human woman, who helps me find what I need.

I marvel at the flowing river in front of their home, amazed at the variety of geographical features this world offers.

Serena rests peacefully when I return. As she sleeps, I sense a lot less distress in her and notice that her wounds are nearly gone.

"Hopefully, that was enough," I muse to myself.