The Loud Purr frowned. “Invisible? How?”
Manky took a deep breath, and after a glance at Oscar, retrieved his pouch. “By manipulating this.”
After a moment of indecision, he held it out.
No one moved to take it, nor did he want them to.
“This,” he continued, his voice faltering, “is what we call amberstone. It is a potioned aggregate of sap and magma, cooked in the monastery’s bowels, set in the winds that scour it and manipulated by those who know its song.”
While the pouch was stared at, he crumpled.
“I can’t!” he cried. “I can’t reveal this to you! I mustn’t—it is the secret of my home! To do so is to betray all that I hold dear!” He stifled a sob, clutched the pouch tighter and sagged to the floor.
Vaasi-Vee crouched beside him. “He has been through an immeasurable amount, I sho
