Aramora

Chapter 37: See You Soon

Malachi motions to the magic barrier. "No one without magic can pass through and we don't exactly have a reservoir of Schism Fragments for Naomi and me to break," he explains.

She had a feeling this would be the case. It honestly brings her some small amount of comfort to know that the two members of their group who can't go through the barrier are also the only two who can't defend themselves. She's hoping this will go smoothly and there won't be a need for fighting, but if Sara is at the Temple when they expose her to Athemar, it's unlikely she'll go quietly.

If there's one thing she knows about Sara, it's that she'll have her way or die trying.

Nisha nods. "You and Naomi wait here while Nesosa and I go to the Temple and deal with Sara. If you get caught by any Orc invaders, don't bother trying to fight or negotiate with them. Just run and we'll meet up with you when we can. But other than that... wait here and wish us luck," she says and looks to Naomi and Nesosa to see if they're in agreement with this plan. Not that they have many other options.

Nesosa provides no reaction and merely nods without breaking her glare from the barrier. Naomi eyes Nisha curiously and takes a step towards her. "What are you going to do when you get there?" she asks.

"I'm going to tell Athemar and the rest of the Dev'al Ordon the truth. Sara will be ruined. That's the only thing I can think of that will stop her from getting what she wants. She's always acted carefully because she had the Grand Master in the palm of her hand, so taking that away will leave her with nothing," Nisha answers, somehow managing to sound more confident than she actually is.

Malachi turns and looks at her and Nesosa and Nisha makes her way over to the centaur. "Good luck. And you two had better come back," he says. His grim tone sounded almost threatening. Malachi certainly seems like the type of person to imply 'if you die I will find a way to bring you back so I can kill you myself' while wishing someone luck.

Nisha nods and looks up at Nesosa. The centaur finally breaks her gaze away from the barrier to look down at her. Seeing the pain behind her eyes makes Nisha's heart feel heavier. It doesn't matter how much time she has left. She won't be convinced that everything that happened in Narvadin wasn't her fault.

But self-ridicule is the last thing she should be focusing on right now. It's time to see this mission through to the end by stopping the woman who started it.

Nesosa offers Nisha a hand and she takes it, getting pulled up onto the centaur's back. Nisha looks down at Naomi and smiles with determination that she herself can't tell if it's real or not. She believes in the plan, but she's still dreading the cliff.

Naomi smiles back as best she can, but Nisha can tell that her confidence is feigned. Again, everything they're feeling is understandable. After all, the last time the group got split up was when Lavern...

No. That won't happen again. Without the Drynthar, Sara is just one person.

With very powerful magic.

Without another word, Nesosa walks through the barrier. As they enter, they feel a strange tingle and their vision briefly turns light blue, but as they reach the other side, their sight returns to normal. Nisha glances back over her shoulder at Naomi and Malachi on the other side, standing on the edge of the ship.

She nods one last time before turning forward and letting Nesosa carry her through the streets of Ecrin, rushing in the direction of the Divine Temple.

The moment they reach the gates, Nisha slides off Nesosa's back and the centaur pushes the doors open for them both to enter. Right away as they enter the courtyard, they see that three of the four magisters have gathered around the garden as well as some disciples here and there.