The village was plain, almost startlingly so, unlike the places Sonder had been.
The houses stood low and were made of wood and stones. The shutters were painted in fading colors.
Chickens pecked freely at the roadside, and goats leisurely ate grass.
There was no grandeur here, and no strangeness either. Just simple life, lived in simple ways, by simple humans. And that was, in its own way, elegant.
Stares followed Sonder, of course, but the people were not hostile.
If anything, they seemed protective of a little girl in their village, or what she could bring to the Yellow Mage, as though his presence was so ordinary it seemed only natural that he belonged here.
Sonder wondered at that.
A mage of his skill, one who had earned a color title, and who could heal Vell when he could not even heal himself - Why would he settle in a village barely larger than a crossroads?
Maybe he was nothing more than a village mage who had honed his craft past what most ever did? Or maybe he was greater and chose to hide here, in the middle of nowhere?
The tower came into view as she reached the northern edge of the village.
It was smaller than she expected, three stories of pale stone with a yellow roof, the mortar neat though weathered, ivy creeping up the sides.
It didn't seem like the home of a great wizard.
She went up to the tall yellow entrance door and knocked.
There was a short wait, and the door opened.
The Yellow Mage himself stood there, wrapped in his color as Sonder had last seen him, though his face-wraps seemed new.
"You're here," he said with a firm voice.
Sonder clutched the pocket where the goddess's tears rested and drew herself straighter.
"I have them, the tears of the goddess," she told him.
"Good. Come inside," he said, not bothering to check if the claim was true nor bothering to comment on her appearance.
He stepped aside, guiding her into the tower. The first stop was a staircase that wound upward in a tight spiral.
As they climbed, he spoke, his tone measured and plain, leaving nothing hidden.
"It is fortunate you came when you did. Vell has grown weaker with each passing day. He is holding on still, but there would not have been many more."
The words pressed against Sonder. She gripped the railings of the staircase, and her pace quickened.
At the top of the tower, through a short hallway, one door stood half open, waiting.
Through it, she glimpsed a bed with a still figure on it.
Sonder pushed the door open with both hands, the wood creaking against the stone frame.
The room was simple, as a farmer would have it. A single lantern burned low, its light pooled across the bed.
And there was Vell.
He lay on his back. His breaths came shallow, hardly more than a tremor in his chest. His hair lay spread on the pillow, darkened to black at the roots.
She crossed the room in quick steps and sank to her knees at the bedside.
"Vell," she said in a quiet voice, holding his hands.
There was no reaction.
The Yellow Mage's presence was steady behind her. He did not move closer, only stood in the doorway, his voice calm. "He has endured well, but I do not know what ails him. His body is exhausted, and his spirit is being drained. He needs strength, more than I can give."
Sonder's fingers pressed against the bed.
She pulled one hand free and reached into her pocket. The three tears glimmered faintly in her palm.
"Will they heal him?" she asked.
The mage stepped forward at last.
He crouched beside her, studying the tears before he touched them. A faint light glowed behind his face-wraps.
"They will help. But only if given carefully. Power like this cannot be poured into a man without consequence. It must be drawn in gently, like breath."
"Is there anything I can do?"
"You've played your part, and this magic is far beyond you, perhaps beyond me as well, but there is no one else that can help Vell."
He set his hand lightly on her shoulder, steadying Sonder. "Leave now. Go wash up. Eat, if you haven't. You'll find what you need downstairs. Do not disturb me until I call you."
Sonder swallowed hard, but there was nothing for her to do.