Leela could only look on in sadness as she saw Ruth storm off. She was happy to see Sheba going to comfort her. Friends are hard to come by after all. Especially human ones.

  “Blast it!” shouted Katherina. She had her head in her hands, sighing in frustration.

  “It is as I feared. Ruth can’t just say the words phonetically, she needs to be actually speaking them,” said Elias.

  “Why does it matter?” signed Leela, frowning. “She’s commanding the world to obey. Didn’t you just say that’s how spellcraft works?”

  “But she isn’t speaking, Leela. Not really,” said Katherina. “Her mouth moves, but it’s merely imitation.”

  Elias' glowing eyes flickered. “We need to be more accommodating to Ruth’s way of speaking.”

  Katherina turned to Elias. “How so?”

  “Can you help me translate the incantations from the Old Tongue into Benelim Sign Langauge?”

  Leela and Katherina blinked before glancing at each other. Leela raised her arms, signing slowly as she was thinking it over. “That’s a very good idea. But neither of us know the Old Tongue.”

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  Elias scratched his head. “Isn’t Golden Wood a dialect of the Old Tongue? Certainly closer than Cradlen.”

  Katherina shook her head. “It’s not close enough. The words might be similar but the grammar is different. You’ve said that creating new spells is fickle already.”

  Elias nodded. A long and terrible moment of silence passed as the three pondered the issue. For the first time, Leela wished Ruth wasn’t a Godshard. While Ruth is able to control her Soulsight now, the problems kept on coming. It is bad enough Leela will outlive Ruth due to her functionally ageless nature, but this would still be far too soon!

  Leela didn’t understand why Omnitus chose Ruth in the first place. By all accounts, the God was never cruel! How could one of his Shards do this to her? Was it perhaps an aspect of his hatred separate from his wider being?

  Elias brightened. “I have an idea! It’s audacious, but it just might work! It was High King Ioannis that created Benelim Sign and transcribed the Old Tongue, right?”

  Katherina blinked. “Yes? How does that help us?”

  “Why don’t we reach out? Nobody knows lexicons like him and both languages were his creation. If anyone could make sure we’re translating the spells correctly, it’s him!”

  Katherina and Leela both scoffed. “You’re nuts!” signed Leela. “Why would His Majesty care about commoners like us? He has more important affairs. He gets letters from all over the world.”

  Elias shrugged. “The way I see it, the worst thing we’ll get is silence.” He walked closer to Leela, gently laying a hand on her shoulder. He turned her to face Ruth, still in the distance, dejected and sad, even with Sheba by her side. “What do we have to lose by trying?”