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He didn’t need much for this. Just a taste. The temptation to imbibe more was always present, but he controlled himself, of course. Those who didn’t respect their Light were not long in keeping it.

Ah. There. A glimpse of home. A window into the Realm of the Living Wind.

Gorgeous, as ever. He spotted a few of the Cloudkeeps, gently spinning as their long, verdant banners billowed from atop their white, fluffy islands.

He hadn’t been back there in so long. Or at least, it felt that way. Getting stuck in a prison realm for countless years certainly hadn’t helped. Whenever he did eventually return, it was debatable as to whether anyone there will have noticed.

Which was preferable, actually. With any luck, the master of the realm won’t have woken up yet. He didn’t need another lecture.

But that was neither here nor there.

Nerovoy’s condition was what he focused his energy into. A small push was enough to invigorate the reaper, make him whole and normal again.

Well. For the most part.

The amorphous shape briefly became a perfect orb, glowing in that familiar and ethereal way, before finally returning to the shape of all reapers.

To Ettol’s eyes, Nerovoy was now a humble flower. Green stem, black-and-white petals, and a smoldering stamen in the center.

‘Ah,’ came the reaper’s groggy voice. ‘Germal. There you are. I was having the strangest dream.’

“A pleasant one, I hope?” said Germal.

‘Heh. I’ll describe it, and then you can tell me what you think. I was on a beach, overlooking the ocean. There was a beautiful sunset across the horizon. I felt so at peace. And yet, at the same time, I could see a great tide coming in. Slow as molasses. I stared and stared, but it hardly seemed to move. And despite how comfortable I was, I somehow couldn’t dissuade myself of the notion that the tide I saw was a terrible omen. An inevitable doom, of sorts.’

Germal made no response. He merely let the reaper loose from his grip, allowing the little flower to float there in front of him.

‘So?’ said Nerovoy. ‘Go on. What does it mean? You were always good at deciphering dreams, weren’t you?’

Germal wanted to say something, but his neck and mouth twitched, trying to wrestle away from him.

Jonah. Stop this, already.

“Doom is exactly right, Nerovoy. You’re doomed, and I’m the cause.”

Bastard.

‘What? What do you mean?’