Aramora

Chapter 17: Nobility in Spirit

Amazing cover image made by Shreya_VA <3

__________________________________________________

"Naomi! There you are! What the hell took you so long?" Malachi glares at the girl as she and Nisha rush over to the group.

After having breakfast at the tavern, Naomi and Nisha decided they should probably catch up with the rest of the group before they start to think they're dead or something. They find Malachi, Nesosa, and Lavern stopped at a small pond as they are talking through their objective for Arkala now that they have finally arrived.

From here, the massive white palace stands even taller and more subliminal. The structure is pure beauty to all whose eyes are blessed to see it. However, Lavern seems to be looking at it with the complete opposite feeling. His eyes hold disdain and possibly dread.

How can he not love the sight of that thing?

Naomi catches up and Nisha stands at her side. "Yeah... Sorry about that. But hey, look! I found Nisha!" She motions to Nisha with what they could consider over-enthusiasm, but to her, it seems perfectly reasonable.

Nisha just smiles and mimics Naomi's joy with a small gesture of jazz hands.

Lavern glares at Naomi and his eyes dart between her and the Tus'Felnis. "Hurray... You found her. Hope it was worth ditching us for," he mumbles.

Naomi simply nods. "It was! Ten outta ten, would ditch again." She winks at Lavern, earning herself an eye-roll from the elf.

Nisha chuckles and awkwardly scratch the back of her head. Pulling her attention away from Naomi and Lavern, her eyes land on Nesosa and sees the dimly glowing black and dark purple runes along her leg.

"That's... Tus'Felnis magic," she says and approaches Nesosa, keeping her eyes on the runes.

Nesosa huffs and rubs her hand over the markings irritably. "Nae shite, ah did nae notice," she deadpans.

Naomi brushes Lavern aside and walks over to Nisha and also eyes Nesosa's leg. "Can you fix it? It would be a big help," she asks.

"Aw, good tae ken ye care, Naomi," Nesosa says. It's hard to tell if she's being sarcastic or not.

Naomi waves her off. "I care about getting you to shut up about your ass itching."

Nesosa growls, but leaves it at that as she sees Nisha standing and staring at the runes, seemingly in deep contemplation. There's a look of remorse in her eyes, maybe guilt.

"So, kitty? Kin ye fix mah legs?" Nesosa asks.

Nisha sighs and her ears slightly lower. "I'm sorry... I can't." She looks away.

Malachi watches her curiously. Something about her demeanor is different from the last time they saw her. He can't tell if he prefers her like this or her smug confidence from before.

Teenagers...

But it's odd that she can't help. He knows she is already gifted with Life Magic, but it's rumored that all Tus'Felnis possess at least some fraction of the inherent magic of their race. He himself doesn't have any magic, so it's nearly impossible for him to tell the state of her magic abilities. Maybe that rumor really is just that, a rumor.

But Life Magic is used for healing not only physical wounds, but arcane as well. Curses included. This shouldn't be anything different.

Nesosa groans and slumps over, as if hearing those words made the uncomfortable feeling ten times worse. "Dammit... How kin we fix this then? Ah can nae stay like this much longer," she whines.