Meyriv descended to the lower levels of the fortress. He reached a dimly-lit room with a table, upon which two guards played cards.

One of them spoke without looking up from his hand:

“We’ve been hearin’ a lot o’ commotion upstairs, that you?”

“Indeed. You should know, the one called ‘Tutor’ has been vanquished.”

Both guards startled and looked up.

“Who in the blazes are you supposed to be?”

“Just doing my job, same as you. Are you going to answer my questions, or—”
A decrepit soul coughed themselves awake somewhere below. Meyriv’s head exploded with pain.

Mind-numbing despair Reflected to him.

He saw the guards speak and reach for their weapons, but he couldn’t hear over agony’s cacophony.

When he didn’t respond a guard charged and impaled him with a spear.

Annoyed, he deconstructed his body and stored the materials and his possessions in his anchor.
The guards looked around in confusion when he disappeared.

He ignored them, instead directing his anchor to fly down another set of stairs, entering a long hallway. Barred windows dotted the walls every few meters.

He refocused his anchor into the captive’s cell, searching for the source of their anguish. Frayed tethers and conduits trailed from their soul. Sensing his touch, the person lashed out with their soul like a cornered wolf, trying to grab hold of his. He let them, as it was a projection anyway.

They tried to tear at the projection. Instead, he opened a door. They hesitated, expecting a trap. Tentatively, they looked through. After a moment they fled, confusion and fear resonating outward.

He tried to open a path of communication. They were either unwilling or unable to accept.

He examined the broken conduits. Unsurprisingly, several had not completely sealed. He carefully repaired one of them enough to communicate.

I’m here to free you. He told them

The soul inspected him for some time before finally responding.
You can’t. She’ll take everything from you too. I looked. She has inflicted in you the same pain I feel without end.

You're confused. That’s…literally…a reflection of your own pain. The Tutor has been defeated.

No she hasn’t. My power still slips away from me.

Defeated, not destroyed. She escaped. But if you let me, I can force her to release you.

I fear this is a trap…yet I have nothing left to lose.

They let him try. He found the conduit that bore the Tutor’s distinctive feel. He carefully constructed a destructive enchantment and sent it hurtling down the pathway.

A few minutes later the conduit snapped. The soul’s energy stopped leaking.

How did you—

I’m somewhat of an expert in this field. I sent an ultimatum: Break the conduit or allow the trap to crawl directly to her. Wisely, she chose the former.

I don’t know how to thank you—

I need you to stop hurting. As soon as possible.

He drew a large amount of energy and set about closing the most painful wounds.

What I’m doing won’t heal you by itself. Wounds of the soul are difficult. You will have to do the deepest repairs yourself. All I did was apply ‘bandages’.

The pain was reduced to a manageable amount. He examined the prisoner. A man, probably in his fifties, although his tattered clothes and dirty complexion made him appear older. He was physically uninjured, but his muscles were atrophied from disuse and undernourishment.

He carefully repaired the deficit, healing the muscles back to normal strength.

The man opened his eyes and sat up. He looked around, confused to see no one near him.

“Where are you, friend?”

One of the guards stepped in front of the window:

“Quit yer yappin’ ”

Are you going to help? Meyriv asked Rynisia

You seemed like you were handling it fine.

They ‘killed’ me! That’s the second time today!

You’ll get over it. She seemed amused

Being without a body is unpleasant! Are you going to take care of those guards or what?

I can’t. They aren’t powerful enough to qualify as a threat according to my restrictions.

...You don’t pay me enough for this.

I don’t pay you. We simply have a mutually beneficial agreement.

Exactly.

Meyriv reformed his body outside the cell, gathering his possessions for the second time.

The guards were talking with their backs to him. He melted their spears’ blades in a flash of crimson flames.
He enhanced his voice with magic and gave his eyes a sinister glow.

“You’ve managed to annoy me. Lucky for you, I’m in a generous mood today...I’ll give you ten seconds to escape before you end up like those spears.”

He started to count down with his fingers.

The guards were gone before he reached seven.

Meyriv cut a doorway into each occupied cell. The stone clattered to the ground as gravel.

The man Meyriv had helped emerged from the opening, tears of joy streaming down his scraggly beard.

“Who are you?”

“My name is Meyriv.”

The man ran from one cell to the other. At one he shouted excitedly and emerged, leading a silent young man.

“Sir! This is my son! He was captured with me, they told me he was dead. Please, help him like you helped me!”

Meyriv examined him. He was mostly unresponsive, staring listlessly ahead. Interestingly, his soul didn’t bear the same damage as his fathers.

“He has retreated quite far into himself, likely as a defense against intrusions. If I attempt to communicate directly he will likely see it as more of the same and worsen the problem.”

“Please! We have to do something!”

“Let me think...In the meantime, I need to see to one more person.”

He knelt next to where a middle-aged woman quietly sobbed in the cell.

Her soul was wounded, but not as badly as the first man’s.

She spoke, almost whispering:

“I heard. We’re free. I...I don’t know what to do. I’ve been here so long. I’d given up.”

He strengthened her atrophied muscles.

“There’s something I need to do first. She’s still feeding on your magic. May I remove her?”

The woman nodded.

Meyriv examined the conduit. He doubted the same trick as before would work now that his opponent had had time to enact countermeasures.

He created a large, hollow trap and nested a dozen small traps inside, set to scatter and grasp when the large trap was destroyed. He sent it scuttling down the conduit.

As he’d predicted, he sensed a pulse of energy as she attacked the trap.

He braced himself against the wall.

Pain lanced through his mind, making him see stars.

One of the inner-traps made contact.

Another wave of pain.

Make that ‘at least two’.

Finally, almost reluctantly, the conduit dispersed.

Unexpectedly, another bout of pain struck him.

He grimaced. Sometimes I’m too good for my own good.

Don’t forget ‘humble’ Rynisia interjected sarcastically.

The trembling woman bowed.

“Thank you, thank you!...I’m afraid I’ll wake up and this will have been a dream.”

Meyriv nodded absently

“I know of somewhere safe you can go.” He said

He turned to the older man:

“It’s possible your son will recover on his own. You all should gather whatever provisions you can find in this building and travel east. A few kilometers up the coast is a village. You can find help there.”

The woman squinted at him, confused. “How did you do all of this?” She motioned to the destroyed cells and rescued captives. “The power I can see in you is negligible.”

“It can be dangerous to get too comfortable in our assumptions. Even the ‘Tutor’, who should have known better as she herself was feeding on others' power.”

“So are you like her? Do you also take power by force?”

♪ Not anymore he doesn't ♪ Rynisia chimed in, pretending to reply.

You’re distracting me. He told Rynisia, but a smile tugged at his lips.

“No, I have an agreement with my source.”

I happen to know you appreciate the company, don’t try to deny it. Rynisia teased him

Fine...but I don’t have to like that I like it.

Yes of course, it’s far more fun being a miserable loner, am I right? She poked him mentally
Meyriv realized he was smiling.

He cleared his throat and led the former captives to the exit.