"It's the tiniest piddliest kind of spell."

"Well, I don't think we have them. And I don't think we have things like your curse either. Maybe none of your magic works here and you could just leave."

"...Unlikely but worth trying. Which way off the mountain?"

She points across the lake. "Just keep going down. There's not exactly a road but there's not exactly obstacles either."

"Okay. Thank you." 

She leaves. 

Partway down her legs give out under her.

She gets up and tries to take another step down. She collapses again. She gets up and tries to walk up the mountain. This succeeds. She sighs and walks back to where she started.

The woman by the lakeshore is still there.

"...I'm glad there aren't any gods in this world," she says when she sees Elodea come back.

"I mean, they're not all bad. They empower clerics, who do most of the healing." She sighs. "But I don't blame you for feeIing that way based on my example. He'd probably find me even if I did get get off the mountain."

"- what, how -"

"The curse....manipulates potential attackers."

"- manipulates, like, even if they wouldn't have done it by themselves -?"

"That only if they're unusually mentally malleable. More often it arranges circumstances so someone who would has the opportunity."

She has looked awfully edgy this whole time but, it turns out, it is possible for her to look even edgier.

"I think -" she starts, and then shakes her head and tries again. "It's -" no. "If he -" no.

She takes a deep breath and concentrates on getting her words in order.

"If Serik finds out there's someone on his mountain with a curse that makes people want to rape her, I think he's going to have about the same opinion of your gods that I do," she says, with visible effort. "He doesn't like - things like that. You might be better off than I thought."

"...Maybe."

"He's - he doesn't lie," she adds. "He does a lot of bad things but lying isn't one of them."

"Sounds like a character."

"Yeah."

"Also," he says, materializing out of the air, "I hear my name whenever it's spoken on this mountain. You're making interesting choices today, Luar."

She stares tensely at him.

"Was I wrong though."

"You were not."

"Fun," she says, stepping between the two of them and looking him square in the eye.

"Hello," he says. "Do you imagine you are helping."

She stops and thinks for a moment and then says, "Reflexes, sorry."

"Would you mind giving us a moment?"

...She looks like she kind of would mind, but says, "Okay," and steps out.

"Thank you."

He looks at Luar. "I'm impressed, and I'm not going to give you any trouble over this. You can go."