Neria released the second filament with more difficulty than the first. The red structure had grown around one of her roots, forming a kind of knot that tightened whenever she tried to undo it. Ester stopped the procedure twice to adjust the needles and check that circulation in her arms and back remained stable.
"Don't pull," she instructed. "If it's attached to a nerve, you could injure yourself trying to tear it out."
"I know where my root ends," Neria replied. "The problem is that it tries to follow when I move it."
Ester observed the knot through her skin and brought the small wooden sphere Aurelia had left on the table closer. The two lines recorded on its surface remained distinct. One represented Liora's structure; the other represented the parts of Neria that still corresponded to the state preserved by Eir.
"Can you identify which of these paths is yours?" Ester asked.
Neria looked at the sphere and nodded.
