The room lights up, bright as day. The lantern light is perfectly steady. You can see everything in the room now -- the items lined up neatly on the shelves, all manner of strange and ordinary thing. Knives, silver fish, hats, teeth, glass stars, musket balls, dried flowers, bowls of liquid and sand, feathers...

And the liquid in the cauldron. It's not just blackness. There are pictures moving in it.

*glances down at them, keeping a hand on Mau's shoulder*

You see Mau, running through the dark.

A tiny sandbar, crowded with people -- people from Aather, Mau's family, who you'll recognize from the memory of his childhood, people who came to the Nation later, dancing and laughing.

You see the island rise, cupped in hands made of darkness, and great grey wings -- they must be as big as the sky -- closing over everything.

And all the people Mau knows, caught and crushed between fingers the size of treetrunks, hands made of sea and storm and falling stone.

Selenia's face turned up willingly toward the face of death.

And Mau flinging himself at Locaha, tiny and insignificant, battering himself against those closed wings, ineffectual, but fighting, always fighting.

*thoughtful...*

I don't know if treating symptoms is going to do more good than treating the source.

"But that's me. And I can't... I stay here, doing the dreaming. It's what I do."

Not what I meant. I meant where it's happening.

He shivers.

"I can send you there... most of the way."

*hugs him tighter*

I'm not sure what else to do here. But there...I have an idea.

"It's going to be dangerous."

I kind of figured.

"I know, but I had to say it.

The thread will take you there."

Okay.

I'll be back.

*feeds a little more of his aura into him, then squeezes him a little and let go*

"Thank you. All you have to do is take the end of the spool."

He's definitely more alert than he was when you showed up, and turns to watch you go, pulling back against where his hands are planted.

Okay.

...would it help if you weren't holding that thing so tight?

He looks startled, like that's never occurred to him.

"I -- it might."

*o-oh, bro*

It's worth a try, right? Need help letting go?

He tries to pull his hands away and his whole body shudders in a spasm of pain; he cries out, a brief choked-off scream that subsides to panting.

"I can't do it myself."

I'll take that as a yes.

*:/ coming over and taking hold of his hands*

This is probably going to hurt a lot. Brace yourself.

Through gritted teeth: "Do it."

The surface of the cauldron under his palms is barbed, hooked into his flesh with iron and power.

*focusing, taking a deep breath.

then pulling swift and sure, his own power flaring up to force the cauldron's power back long enough to get Mau's hands free.*

Mau screams as he's torn loose, and falls back against Josh, hands streaming blood -- but free.

*and his aura flows over Mau's hands -- Josh doesn't have much in the way of healing ability, but lots of tiny gouges is about the best possible scenario for it.*

It takes a second for the shock to wear off enough for Mau to move, but only a second, and then he turns and throws his arms around Josh, clinging wordlessly, heedless of the cuts and healing both.

*hugging back hard, yes*