Aramora

Chapter 24: Sowing the Seed

Beautiful artwork made by Randompeephere <3

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Naomi sifts through piles of ash and burnt wood, sighing as she finds nothing and moves on to the next pile while Nisha moves her search away from the market and closer to the further port area. She makes her way down the boardwalk that ends in a canal tunnel that's been blocked off with fallen debris.

She puts her hands on the wooden boards and pushes, but isn't quite able to slip through the small passage without potentially crushing her.

"Naomi, think you can give me a hand?" she glances back to see Naomi already jogging over.

"No problem," she stands beside Nisha and helps her hold the wood up long enough for the Tus'Felnis to squeeze through the narrow gap. From the other side, Nisha holds up the wood as Naomi follows her into the canal.

They stand on the stone walkway that cuts off at the lip of the ice cold water swaying through the tunnel. The smell of brine, fish, and seaweed is strong. Naomi has to cover her nose for a moment as the scent caught her off-guard, but Nisha seems unbothered.

Naomi looks around the tunnel. It doesn't go very deep into the earth, it's only a few more meters until it cuts off at a stone wall, but this place seems relatively empty, save for some broken wooden boards and crates from either the attack or just shipments.

"What is this place?" Naomi asks.

Nisha starts walking down the stone pathway. "It was supposed to be used for holding valuable imported goods before they were shipped off, but it was closed off after it quickly became a smuggler's den from Tus'Felnis sneaking into Aramora to get away from Narvadin. And I'm sure the Cle'va Guild has used this place more than a few times for their 'business activities'," she explains.

Naomi follows and walks behind her, making sure to keep an eye out for any Latyrs or looters like Nisha had mentioned before. She has a feeling that if any smugglers were here, the Drynthar likely scared them away, but it's still good to be cautious.

"Why do you think the Drynthar attacked this place?" she asks as she keeps looking around, having to squint as they get further away from the light. Nisha seems perfectly fine though. Maybe cats really can see in the dark.

Nisha shrugs. "Could be a freak accident. Beasts don't always need a reason to kill their prey," she says.

"True, but Malachi seems to think it was calculated somehow. Maybe there was something here it wanted to destroy?" Naomi suggests, recalling how Malachi told her about the Drynthar attacking Eelry and his suspicions about it being an attempt to stop Colin from leaving Aramora.

Nisha sighs and stops walking at the end of the tunnel. "There... could have been, but it's hard to know for sure," she says and leaps over to the other side of the canal.

Naomi follows and lands at her side. "I just don't see how this could have at all benefit the Dev'al Ordon, if they are behind it. They wanted that 'Reela' girl alive. Was someone else here who it could have been after?" she asks, but before Nisha can provide a response, Naomi remembers her call with Kitty this morning.

"Wait, I meant to tell you sooner, but I talked to my friend from Eutria earlier," she starts. Nisha cocks a brow and eyes her curiously.

"Do I even want to know how?"

Naomi chuckles. "Communication device. Anyway, she told me that a strange woman showed up at her apartment and was asking about the rifts," she explains, eliciting a gasp from the Tus'Felnis.