Aramora

Chapter 31: Teeth and Blood

Athemar sits at the end of the Boardroom table with his head lowered as he hears about everything that happened in Kilead. Sara is leaning back against one of the bookshelves, watching the exchange and providing little input, which seems odd for her.

The remainder of the group, being Naomi, Nisha, Malachi and Nesosa, arrived back in Ecrin after only three hours of sailing the Recharn Sea. The approaching storm has gotten closer, but they still have time before the rain begins to fall.

"The spies took him and according to Nisha, the man leading the assault said they were bringing him to Narvadin," Malachi explains.

Athemar sighs and lifts his head a bit to look at Nisha. "Lady Moraan, you are from Narvadin, correct?"

Nisha shakes her head. "No. My parents were and I just picked up N'Fel from them. Why do you ask?" she questions.

The Grand Master sits up straighter in his seat. "Would you have any idea as to why they went to so much trouble to acquire Sir Dev'Alrich? It seems a lot of effort for just an average Cle boy," he asks.

Nesosa growls. "Watch it," she warns.

Nisha looks down and shrugs. "I... I don't know. Maybe they know something about him that we don't. There's no way to tell, but that shouldn't matter right now," she says and looks over at Naomi who is standing beside the map of Aramora and staring at the continent of Narvadin.

She nods with her arms crossed anxiously. "She's right. We're wasting time trying to figure out why it happened instead of working on getting him back. Athemar, would you be able to have some soldiers go to Narvadin on a rescue mission?" Naomi asks and glances over her shoulder to look at the Grand Master.

Athemar sighs and shakes his head. "No. If these spies are getting this bold as to attack your friends in Kilead, then they must be close to something. If that's the case, we need all able soldiers and Mars present to defend the rift until it's open," he says.

Nesosa tenses and clenches her fists. "Then just send us."

Athemar grumbles. They can see that the circles under his eyes have darkened again, and now his hair is a bit disheveled. He looks over the group behind tired eyes. "Do you have three of the Schism Fragments?" he asks.

Nesosa nods. "Aye," she holds up the one she has. Nisha and Malachi do the same and they all set them on the table.

"Three is all you need, right?" Naomi asks.

Athemar nods his head slowly. "Yes. However, it will take some time to extract the magic from within before it is safe to transfer to the rift," he says as Sara comes over and grabs the fragments, setting them closer to the Grand Master.

Nesosa tilts her head. "What dae ye mean 'extract' them?" she asks.

Athemar holds up one of the fragments. "The magic inside the fragments is Tene-Medeis. Which we are aware is tremendously volatile. Tene-Medeis has the properties needed to power the rift, but we must first filter out all the negative effects so as to not taint the rift, which would make it unusable and extremely dangerous," he explains and looks to Sara. "Lady Blackwell, can you run these over to Magister Holloway and Magister Yearyn so they can begin the extraction process?"

Sara simply nods with a smile. "Of course, Grand Master. I will return shortly," she says and takes the fragments before rushing out of the Boardroom.

Naomi returns her focus to Athemar and not Sara or the fragments. "What about Lavern? We've done our part by getting you the fragments. Just lend us a ship and we can go to Narvadin and get him back," she says and turns around to face him.