I walked across the field and leaned against the stone wall, and I stared down the hillside. “Have you made any progress?”

“Well, yes, in that we learned that aural healing is too volatile and dangerous for memory recovery,” he said with forced optimism. “We hadn’t known that before, and we do now.”

“What are you talking about? I tried aural healing, and I was fine,” I said, but even I knew I was downplaying overheating so much I needed an ice bath. I wanted a day or two of rest before doing more healing with Sunniva, but I did plan on doing it again.

“We tried it this morning, with one of the Ögonen attempting to heal Dagny’s aura,” he explained. “It was under my supervision, with Mästare Amalie instructing the Ögonen through their psychic communication. Before you worry, Dagny is all right. A bit singed and worn out, but she’s recovering fine.”

“Recovering? What happened?” I asked.

“We knew overheating would be an issue, so we had taken precautions,” he went on. “But ten minutes in, Dagny . . . well, she was basically cooking.”

“Alai.” I gasped. “Are you kidding me?”

“Her eyebrows actually had embers burning, and we immediately stopped and got her in the ice bath. Amalie brought in a healer, and they were able to reverse most of the internal damage. Her left eyebrow will take a bit to fully grow back, but she’s otherwise fine.”

I exhaled. “That sounds horrifying. I’m glad she’s okay.”

“Me too,” he agreed heartily. “But it also means that aural healing with the Ögonen isn’t a viable option for us. Dagny was lucky she made it without any permanent damage, and she was only under for a matter of minutes. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough time to make much headway into the memories. She only remembered something about a boulder on a mountain and following an elk through it.”

“What about me?” I asked. “I had some memories come back when Sunniva Kroner tried it with me.”

“You overheated when she tried it, and the Ögonen are more powerful,” Elof reminded me grimly. “I don’t want to risk cooking you alive to recover a few memories.”

“So then, what’s the plan?” I asked. “If aural healing is too dangerous right now. What are you trying next?”

“I don’t really know yet,” he admitted. “I have been working on an infused serum, but it hasn’t proven effective yet. Dagny’s looking into incantations, trying to reverse the spell they used on us.”

“What can I do?” I asked.

“I’m afraid I don’t really have much of a way of direction for you,” Elof said. “If you find something worth pursuing, you ought to do it, but you need to be safe.”

“Yeah. Of course.”