Diaval rolled her eyes. “Liminal space. The space between what is and what’s coming. There are liminal spaces when you can contact those not truly dead but also not truly alive—like Lydian. And there are liminal beings that control those spaces and work as catalysts to move from what is to what is to come. The stag is a liminal being.”

I blinked. “I feel like I would’ve known if I was a liminal being?”

Diaval shrugged. “For you, it’s mainly unconscious. You still can’t access the stag’s full consciousness and scope of abilities while awake and in control. I mean, that’s what you and I practice. If you can’t do that, then getting yourself into a liminal space would be nearly impossible at your current skill set. If anything, the closest you can get to one is when you’re unconscious.”

I frowned. Another reminder about how bad I was at this entire stag thing. “So, you’re saying it’s impossible, then?”

“Not at all.” Diaval closed her book and heaved herself out of the crevice in the floor she’d been lying in. “You need help. And since I am particularly skilled in this area, I can help. But not now. Later, at midnight, when the others are asleep. I don’t really fancy having to explain to everyone what I’m doing. They won’t get it.”

I nodded in understanding. Magic was not necessarily a thing goblins usually knew how to do. Other than a few of them having extra abilities outside of the scope of normal, they tended to be much more physical and martially focused. They weren’t exactly created to do magic, the stag let me know that much. Other creatures in the Permafrost would and could perform it, but like the inability to create without harm to themselves, the inability to use magic was like a check and balance in the system to keep things fair. Finding Diaval had been like finding a needle in a haystack, and her affinity with magic separated her from the rest of her kind. Like me, she understood sarcasm, nonliteral figures of speech, and was deeply attuned to the world around her. While not necessarily physically gifted, she was psychically strong and wasn’t afraid to show that off. She also “got me” more than most others did. Soren was my lover, and Seppo and Rose were friends, but Diaval was someone who I could talk to and know she understood the way I was feeling and offer comfort rather than ways to fix it. We were both outsiders in the Permafrost in our own ways, and like me, she was someone often underestimated but not afraid to pack a punch.

She was my best friend. Words I’d never thought I’d utter.