Chapter 31

Galva, recovering from her collapse after invoking Dal-Gaata, introduces another excerpt from Amiel. Amiel describes Fulvir announcing his invisibility potion a “failure” in the Molrovan way that signals success. When volunteers balk, Amiel offers to test it on the condition he can roam Goltay while affected.

Amiel drinks the mint-and-honey brew and, believing the magic works on others’ perceptions, strips when Fulvir says clothing remains visible. He sets out toward Goltay wearing only shoes and stockings, alarming passersby who can plainly see him. Realizing the trick, Amiel curses and flees an angry old man—only to collide with an unseen Fulvir, who reveals he was the invisible one all along. The two, still naked, retrieve stockings and bundles of kindling and start home.

Near their house, Fulvir senses an ambush in a fallow field. With three flicks of his hand, he unleashes searing magic that ignites nine hidden goblins, one briefly rising ablaze before collapsing. The stench forces Amiel to stagger while Fulvir calmly leads him back.

Inside, Fulvir dresses, extracts a tooth as the cost of the spell, and rinses the blood away. He explains that magic always borrows from one thing to pay another—each working exacts a price, sometimes pain, sometimes other losses—and admits the practice is as compulsive as gambling. He jests about abusing the trust of a curious assistant, then pointedly asks whether Amiel still intends to go “invisibly” into Goltay that night.