[ Matt inhales slightly as Liem pulls his hand away, an unconscious sort of bracing. He takes the flask immediately, and drinks from it for a long time. Long enough that his throat feels noticeably warmer when he stops, the throb at the end of his wrist dimmer. ]

Don't go spreading this around, [ he says quietly, by way of a disclaimer. He told this same story to Amos without preamble, but he and Amos have been through some truly serious shit. They have things in common. ]

A few weeks ago, Xishen asked me for my help casting a spell. It was to find the Innocence entity, since ... you know, she wasn't actually destroyed, or even really defeated. And when we first tried it, we were close, but she sort of rebuffed us. We couldn't get through. So I asked Xishen if there was some other way to come at it.

And she told me, well, actually, she can transmute personal sacrifice into magical power.