It was dark, despairing. It was an awful sound, and other people would have winced or closed their ears or eyes from it. Caren watched him though, with her complete attention. It might be a little intense, with her gold eyes, but what she said was supposed to be more or less assuring.

"The only way is forward. If this place wants you to linger, then you can't let it happen. If you take my hand, I'll help walk you forward. If not, then we can still walk."

Her hand hadn't dropped.

"We can talk about other things. You can talk about yourself-though if you hate that topic right now, you can ask about me."

It was practical, if not difficult with the memories, visions and whispers.