The man wrapped in yellow stepped forward.
His movements were measured, proud, and soundless.
He did not look at Sonder, not at first.
His veiled face turned instead to Vell.
He stood over the fallen mage like a sentinel, the light that clung to his robes spilling across Vell's sunken features. A hand rose from the folds, long-fingered, wrapped still in yellow, and hovered an inch above Vell's chest.
He stayed like that for a long breath.
Then he turned.
He found Sonder, and though she could see nothing of his eyes, she felt the weight of his attention pierce through every layer of her. She staggered back, clutching the halves of bone tighter.
Her free hand rose, palm trembling but ready, the faint shimmer of a spell gathering at her fingertips. She didn't know who or what this figure was, but the cave was small, not giving her much room to retreat, but she would fight if she had to.
When the figure spoke, his voice was startlingly plain and calm. But it had an authority that expected and received obedience.
"Be still. Do not fear."
There was a pause, and Sonder didn't move.
"I am the Yellow Mage," he continued. "As Vell is called the Black. To those he calls enemy, I am a shadow. To those he calls friends…" His voice gentled. "I am an ally. And a healer."
"How did you come here?"
The Yellow Mage's head inclined, just slightly, as though recalling something buried in time.
"Long ago," he began, "Vell allowed me to place a part of myself within him. Not merely a trinket or charm, but a bone - carved from my own body, etched with my own magic. A covenant. A shard of myself, bound into his flesh.
In breaking, it would call me. A tether across distance and silence, no matter how far I had wandered. For if Vell's bones are breaking…" The faintest trace of something like humor tugged in his tone, dry as dust. "…then he is in need of a medic. And there is none more skilled than I."
Sonder swallowed, her throat tight.
His hand returned to hover above Vell, and the faintest shimmer of light spilled between the yellow-wrapped fingers. I do not mend flesh alone. I mend the soul, the mind, and the unseen besides. Even Vell, who takes such pride in his power, cannot stitch himself whole without aid."
He did not look at her when he said it, but his words left her shivering.
The Yellow Mage lowered himself, settling beside Vell with the stillness of stone, and laid both hands gently upon him.
"Calm yourself, child," he said at last. "He yet lives. And while I am here, he cannot die."