Sulvan’s dungeon—hospital—wasn’t any more inviting compared to the last time Theo had visited it. The place was damp, dark, and far colder than it should have been. Ziz and his boys had done well to expand the space available for patients. The alchemist still wouldn’t question how they accomplished the feat. It should have flooded from the swamp, or the groundwater deposited by the river. But it was only slightly damp, showing no sights of standing water. Magic or something.

    Zarali, Bilgrob, and Sulvan were all standing at the end of the hall. They nodded as Theo approached, but had looks on their faces that said it wasn’t all good news.

    “How is he?” Theo said, approaching with Tresk and Salire close behind. Alex had wanted to come, but she didn’t even fit inside the temple.

    “Better than dead,” Bilgrob said. “Tiny elf isn’t dead, so we did a good job. Right?”

    As simplistic and ogre-like as the statement was, he wasn’t wrong. “Can I see him?”

    “There’s not much to see,” Salire said, smiling. “But, yes. He’s talking and he even drank some water.”

    “Be gentle, Theo,” Sulvan said, dabbing his forehead. “My Lord is concerned about this one.”

    Theo nodded, poking his head into the door. The space elf was awake, taking shallow breaths as he stared at the ceiling. Theo was thankful he hadn’t brought Xol’sa along to see the elf’s progress. He was alive, but that’s all that could be said about him. The vacancy in his eyes was concerning.

    “My name is Theo Spencer,” he said, approaching the bed’s edge. “I’m an alchemist. Do you know where you are?”

    The elf sucked in shallow gasps, his gaze locked on the ceiling. Theo got closer, looking into the man’s eyes as though to discern some message written on his irises. The slight vibrations of his pupils showed he was doing something. Perhaps freaking out thanks to his imprisonment in the chunk of land floating in the void. Tresk poked her head out from behind the alchemist, poking the man with a stick.

    “I’ll be back,” Theo said, wrapping his will around himself, Tresk, and the elf.

    The moment the bubble of Shadow’s magic encased the group, the elf’s breathing grew steady. By the time they appeared in the void, his eyes were searching around.

    “He’s a void junky,” Theo said, shaking his head. The elf rested on the bottom of the bubble, looking around and clawing at nothing. “Perhaps we need to reforge their bodies...”

    “Maybe. Can you wean him off of his void addiction?” Tresk asked, being helpful for once.

    “That could work. I want some answers first. Can you hear me?” Theo snapped his fingers in the air, gaining the elf’s attention. “My name is Theo Spencer. What’s yours?”

    “Don’t remember,” the man said, his voice sounding as though it clawed at his throat.

    “Your people moved a chunk of land into the void. You tried to power it with the Great Shards, but the power faded. The protective bubble collapsed and your race was driven insane.” Theo let those words hang in the air. Yeah, he was slightly bitter about what the elves had done. But this wasn’t the first time he cleaned up someone else’s mess. And it wouldn’t be the last. “Do you remember?”

    “Water.”

    Tresk produced a skin of watered wine from the shared inventory, handing it over. The man drank deeply, draining the entire skin before coming up for air. He gasped, wine dribbling down his chin and onto his ‘hospital’ clothes. Leaning forward, the elf rubbed his temples and muttered something.

    “The Pilgrimage wasn’t the will of the Bara’their,” the elf said. “Just the insane plan of one.”

    “Who?”

    “Doesn’t matter. They’re dead.”

    “Oh, spicy,” Tresk said.

    The elf gained more of himself by the moment. The watered wine did a lot to bring him back. Or perhaps it was the void. Theo couldn’t say, but he wouldn’t complain. ??????ΟbE?s?

    “Of course, most of us expected it to go wrong. When it did, he was executed. But there was no way to return. The void itself seeped into us, sending one person after the other inside. Our prayers to the ascendants faltered before they traveled through the void. We were lost.”

    “You sent one of your children to the mortal world,” Theo said. “Do you remember that.”

    “Yes. We attempted to send people many times. It only worked for the children who hadn’t been corrupted by the void. Did any make it?”

    “We know of one. His name is Xol’sa, and he is an accomplished wizard.”

    A flash of pride raced across the elf’s face. “Accomplished? Interesting.”

    “Unfortunately, you’re still tied to the void. We’ve cured your insanity, but that doesn’t help your current state.”

    The elf looked around, gritting his teeth. “You can travel freely through the void?”

    “I can,” Theo confirmed. “This is a very recent development, though. What year did your people leave the mortal world?”

    “Around 10,000.”

    “This place is creepy. Would it kill them to add some lighting?”

    Theo tried not to laugh. He explained the situation. They needed to search for an alternative to the Soul Bloom. Anything that had the Soul property would work, but they currently had no alternatives to the hidden property on spirit plants. The problem with the Soul Bloom itself was that it only bloomed when the shifting moon, Telbaris, was in its green phase. With eight phases, that meant they only had a shot at it once every eight days. Even then, the things were hard to find.

    “We should go through our stock, and buy any reagents offered by the merchants,” Theo said. “Do you know how many more Reforge Soul potions we have at the lab?”

    “One,” Salire answered. “And we need... a few hundred?”

    “That’s right,” Theo said.

    “I’ll head south right away,” Tresk offered. “Maybe I can find something in the lizard islands.”

    “Sarisa? Rowan?” Theo asked. The pair appeared immediately. “I want you to head to the caves. Grab anything that looks like a reagent and bring it back. I told the golems to obey your commands, so you can push them out if you need to go deeper.”

    “Got it,” the brother-sister duo said with salutes. They rushed off.

    Alex flew in, landing roughly on the ground. Tresk winked as she ascended onto the familiar’s back before taking off. Theo couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across his face. Broken Tuskers were good at jumping to action when something needed to be done. That’s what he loved about them. They would drop everything when someone needed help. They didn’t need a reason or an overwrought explanation. Just point them in a direction, give them a hammer, and they would go to work.

    “Tear the lab apart,” Theo said. “Time to learn how to deconstruct reagents.”

    “Okay,” Salire said, straightening up. “I’ll do it.”

    Theo watched as the woman headed off. He turned his eyes to the sky, thinking about what he had to do. As much as he hated seeing the elves in the void, he had a suspicion. That would be some irony, wouldn’t it?

    The alchemist headed to the town square, watching as people passed by, nodding as they went. He had neglected the town’s level for a while. Perhaps there would be time to do a sweep of upgrades after he sorted out the space elf problem. For now, he passed through Xol’sa’s portal. Since Zarali wasn’t there, he didn’t tip-toe as he ascended the steps. As expected, the wizard was studying one of the many devices he was working on.

    “Good news and bad news,” Theo said.

    Xol’sa turned, raising a brow.

    “I should’ve told you. But time was limited. The man we brought back woke. Then he almost died, so I had to put him back under.” Theo waited for some amount of anger. But it didn’t come.

    “Understandable,” Xol’sa said, nodding to himself. “Did he speak?”

    “Briefly. His name is Tag’Kalan. But he didn’t tell us what he did for the space elves. Apparently, your name is supposed to be Sa,” Theo said.”

    “What?”

    “You take the last part of your name is your nickname.” Theo shrugged. He thought that would make the news easier to process.

    “You had to use a Reforge Soul Potion, didn’t you?” Xol’sa asked with a labored sigh. “That makes the most sense. That also means you need something from me, don’t you?”

    “I sent everyone off to find a reagent with the Soul property, but I had an idea,” Theo said. “A pretty bad idea, actually. Well, perhaps you could call it cruel, rather than bad...”

    “What is it?”

    “Imagine the reagent we need is with the elves. That’s a cruel sense of irony if ever I’ve heard it.”

    “Are you confident you’ll find anything of use?” Xol’sa asked.

    “Nope. Just a feeling.”

    Xol’sa nodded, pushing away from his table and standing. “I’ll do what I must. What do you need me for?”

    “Restraining the elves. I can beat them up, but that seems cruel. It might also be a chance for you to set eyes on the shards.”

    “I do hate traveling through the void,” Xol’sa said with a sigh. “But if it needs to be done.”

    The bit of land floating in the void was an area untouched by the gods and the ascendants. Theo saw it as an untamed wilderness. He could bring anyone he wanted to that place, although he was uncertain why he would want to. Aside from potential reagents, it only contained the shards and the insane elves. Well, the forests were beautiful, but one didn’t have to travel far in the Southlands Region to find a forest.

    Theo expanded his aura, encompassing Xol’sa. “Ready?”

    “No. Let’s go anyway. I’d rather get it over with quickly.”