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.
"Shit," she blurts out, then quickly covers her mouth.
Naomi tilts her head. "What is it?"
Nisha composes herself and takes a deep breath. "Sorry, just... If that's the woman from Athemar's vision, that means things are moving faster than we thought, which means we have to hurry to stay in the lead before the end catches up with us. We've gotta reach the finish line so we can take it down," she says and turns to start walking again.
Naomi joins her as they keep moving. "Right... but weird women aside, what do you think the Drynthar was after, if anything?" she asks.
Nisha opens her mouth to answer, but as her eyes cast downward and land on a pile of broken boards and debris, she halts all movement. Naomi stops walking as well and examines her sudden shift in demeanor.
"Nisha? Is something wrong?" she asks.
She looks past her shoulder to see her eyes trained on what looks a somewhat tattered and charred purple shawl, with some traces of blood staining the fabric.
She stares at it curiously. "A shawl?"
Nisha suddenly drops to her knees and grabs the cloth in her shaking hands, staring at it through blurred eyes and her ears fall back flat against her skull as she cries.
Naomi's face softens and she lowers down beside her, holding her by her shoulders and lightly rubbing. "What's wrong?" she asks tenderly.
Nisha sniffles and lifts her trembling head. She says nothing as her mind runs faster than she can keep up with. She doesn't know what to say or do so she forgoes control and allows her heart to speak for her.
"This... belonged to someone I knew..." she whispers and holds the shawl tighter, hugging it to herself. "...What was I thinking...? Letting them go alone..."
Naomi wraps her arms around the Tus'Felnis and holds her close, gently rocking her forward and back. "I'm so sorry..." she says in a soothingly hushed tone that gets Nisha to slightly relax. "Is there anything I can do...?"
Nisha stops trembling and takes a deep breath before standing up and dropping the shawl as she leaves Naomi's arms. She nods stiffly and wipes her eyes of tears. "Yeah... we can save Aramora and make this all be worth it," as she says that, her eyes tear up again but she bites her lip and shuts her eyes until she calms herself down.
Naomi nods slowly as she stands up. "C'mon... Let's get back out there and keep looking. I don't think there's anything in here," she says and starts making her way to the exit. With one last wistful glance at the purple shawl, Nisha sighs and follows her out.
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Of all the places in Whiteridge, it looks like the palace district got the brunt of the damage. Understandable, considering the fact that the king's palace alone takes up about thirty percent of the city. Perks of being friends with the Grand Master of Aramora, Nesosa supposes.
The main hall of the palace looks like a ghost town. Despite the attack having happened no more than a week ago, this place looks as though it's been withered for centuries. The stone walls are crumbling, the wooden roof has withering spots that have collapsed in, leaving piles of debris on the ground beneath them and sunlight shining through what gaps in the ceiling they can sneak their way through.
Oddly enough, with the snowflakes gently falling through those gaps of light and the almost ethereal glow from the snow and fog clinging to the ground and air, and the empty throne sitting on the rise at the very end of the hall... the sight is strangely beautiful.
After about an hour of searching in complete silence, Nesosa has determined that Sara isn't someone who is particularly easy to make conversation with. If you manage to talk to her, it's most likely because she approached you and not the other way around. If Sara has nothing to say to you, it's probably wise to say nothing to her.
Nesosa easily lifts a fallen bookshelf that once lined the hall and pushes it back up to sit against the wall. She kneels down as low as she can with her centaur height and starts rummaging through the disheveled pile of books.
Honestly, she's just looking through them to try looking as though she knows what she's doing. In truth, she doesn't know a damn thing about what these books are. They could hold the secrets of the universe but she would never know as her first reaction to books is to use them as tinder for a campfire.
She doesn't normally worry about how she's viewed by other people, but Sara has this effect where just being in her presence makes you hyperaware of all your flaws.
Nesosa glances back to see that Sara is casually strolling down the hall, examining every speck of detail about the scene in front of her. It's almost as if she's envisioning how each aspect of the destruction on this place occurred. Like she's trying to piece together a crime scene, with a look that almost makes it seem like she's admiring the criminal's work.
Sara turns her head and Nesosa quickly looks back to the pile of books as she believes Sara caught a glimpse of her staring.
How is Nesosa feeling intimidated by someone who's about half her height?
She can't help but wonder why Blackwell chose her of all people to group up with. Nesosa had been certain she would have chosen Nisha, since she seems to enjoy getting on her nerves. Maybe because Sara seems to be a person who throws all of her time, effort, and attention into whatever job she's tasked with and doesn't want to waste time on bickering.
She forces the thought to the back of her mind and tunnels her focus onto these worthless dead trees with words on them.
A few more minutes of silence pass, only Sara's echoing footsteps throughout the long hall give Nesosa a concept of time. Each footstep seems to fall in exactly the same span of time as the last, following each and every one like the seconds ticking on a clock. So when the steps suddenly come to a halt, it feels as though time has stopped.
"I can feel the fragment's energy on you," Sara's voice cuts through the silence, but Nesosa luckily doesn't startle easily. She turns her head to look back at her to see that Blackwell is now standing only a few feet away.
Nesosa slowly rises from her place beside the pile of books and narrows her eyes questioningly at this woman. "Aye, ah have it with me. What of it?" the centaur asks, trying to keep her voice a good balance of restrained enough to show respect but also full enough to display her strength.
Sara smiles and takes a step closer. "Do you find it as strange as I do?" she starts. "How something so small can hold so much power. Enough power that if it's broken, it could kill the person who broke it if they aren't fortunate enough to have a Life Mar nearby when it happens. And can turn even a small child into a force of destruction as easily as one might blink. It's fascinating, isn't it?" she says and glances at Nesosa's backpack, which holds the Schism Fragment.
The centaur tilts her head and shrugs. "Ah guess sae. Ah still fin' it kind o' hard tae believe something that gives that kind o' power is just laying around Aramora," she says.
"I agree. It seems so habitual for people to be so careless with power that could kill them with one little mistake. Though, I suppose that counts towards more than just magic. A sword, for example, is used to keep its wielder alive. However, if the wielder does not first learn how to use the weapon, he may accidentally cleave his own head off. For this reason, I feel it's wise for power to rest in the hands of those who know how to use it," Sara says and takes another step closer.
Nesosa watches her warily and sees how her eyes occasionally dodge towards her backpack with intent in her gaze. The centaur reaches into her bag and holds up the fragment. "Dae ye want th' fragment? Is that what ye're getting at?"
"Not just anyone can wield Tene-Medeis," Sara says, which makes Nesosa slightly lower the stone. She didn't exactly answer her question. "The power can only be gained if someone who doesn't currently have any magical talent breaks it. If a Mar were to break a Schism Fragment, the power would instead latch onto the strongest source of energy in the immediate area," Blackwell explains.
"Like a rift?" Nesosa guesses.
Sara nods with a smile. "Exactly. Which is why it's wise to have the rift be in the possession of the Dev'al Ordon, the order of the strongest Mars in Aramora. Once we have the fragments, they must be broken by Mars near the rift, and it will lend its power to activate it," she explains. "However, a wielder of Tene-Medeis doesn't need to be killed to power the rift. They need only to lend their strength, but nothing is lost from this. The rift opens and the wielder can continue on with the power of Tene-Medeis," Sara goes on, her manner of speaking keeps Nesosa anxious, curious of whatever she has to say next.
Conversations with this woman feel almost scripted. She rarely ever needs to stop and think about her response. Almost as if she knows what the other person is going to say before even they do.
Nesosa brings her hand with the fragment down to hang at her side without taking her eyes off of Sarabeth. "What are ye getting at?"
"Have you ever considered breaking it, Miss Val'Dernak?"
Nesosa has to pause for a moment to register what she just heard. Sure, everything she's been told about the Schism Fragments makes them sound like an incredible boost of strength, but wielding Tene-Medeis sounds almost scary. She may love a good kill, but only when it's her choice to do so. With Dark Magic, it doesn't sound like much choice is involved.
The centaur shakes her head. "Nae. Ah don't think that would be a good idea. Ah spill plenty o' blood as it is. 'N' ah don't need more strength, a've got enough," she answers, which makes Sara's smile slightly lessen and she squints her eyes as she stares at Nesosa's face as if she's trying to read her like Lavern does with seemingly everyone he meets.
Sara purses her lips. "That sounds drastically different from what the Grand Master told me about you. I thought it's in every centaur's blood to always crave more? More strength, more blood, more fame. Always more, never less," she says thoughtfully.
Nesosa says nothing. This woman is very strange to her but at the same time intriguing. She's beautiful, cunning, silver-tongued, and powerful. And her power comes from more than just her path as a Mar. She's well respected by Athemar Du'Keldan and the other leaders of Aramora. It's mind-blowing how much one person can achieve given enough time and commitment.
Sara notices the centaur's absent gazing as she ponders her thoughts and she lets out a soft chuckle. She takes one more step towards Nesosa and reaches her hand up to gently brush over her cheek.
"Just a thought, Miss Val'Dernak," she says breathily and simply turns and walks away.
Nesosa is left momentarily dazed as she watches Blackwell walk towards the far end of the hall and stops just at the edge of the steps that must lead up to the king and staff quarters.
Sara smiles and waves her over as if nothing happened. "Come, let's search King Minex'mar's chambers. If he's not there then I think it's safe to say he was out of town when the attack took place," she turns and starts walking up the steps without waiting for Nesosa.
The centaur rushes to catch up and follows her up the stairs. She feels a bit crammed with her current centaur state in a rather narrow hall, but she will take crammed over uncomfortable from her human form any day.
They reach the top of the stairs and turn down a long carpeted hallway, littered with more snow and charred debris. At the end of the hall is a large set of doors with elegant silver trimming. Sara takes the lead and Nesosa keeps following close behind.
Blackwell grabs the pair of doorknobs and turns them, only to find that they're locked. She merely turns around and eyes Nesosa expectantly. "Break it down," she orders and steps off to the side to not get in her way.
Nesosa nods and pulls up her shield. With a deep breath and a rear of her hooves, she growls fiercely as she charges at the door and bashes her shoulder through, the shield dealing the brunt of the impact. Now that she's in and the doors are broken down, she puts her shield on her back and watches Sara walk into the room.
Blackwell examines the scene again as she had been doing in the main hall. The roof has completely caved in, the snow and crumbled fallen debris seems to have collapsed directly onto the king's bed. The layer of frost covering the boards and sheets makes her nearly miss the body beneath them.
Her expression turns inquisitive as she approaches the side of the bed, stepping around the broken support beams that didn't do a great job of supporting the roof. She just eyes the wreckage of debris and then glances back at Nesosa again.
"Lift the boards so I can check if it's him," she states.
Nesosa comes over to her side and puts her hands beneath the point on the rubble that would carry the most with it. She strains with the weight of it, but she manages to lift up the majority of the debris enough so that Sara can examine the body.
Just as she thought, the crushed corpse that lays still beneath the sheets has a crown on his head. The crown has been cracked and bent in a few places, but compared to the king's face, the crown's damage is nominal.
She glances at Nesosa as the boards shake the longer she pushes herself to keep her strength up. "Don't let it fall," she says and returns her focus to the mangled king. She slowly reaches over and grabs the crown, carefully sliding it off his head.
She steps back and eyes the broken crown, then nods to Nesosa. The centaur releases her hold and lets the boards drop back into place, but the force of the impact makes the ceiling shake and more pieces start breaking off.
Nesosa sees that the ceiling above Sara cracks and a large wooden beam crashes through. Sara has no time to react as Nesosa rushes over and raises her shield, grunting as she takes the force of the withering roof coming down on her.
Her muscles strain to keep the debris back, but her arms are still tender after holding up the other boards. She takes a knee as her strength starts to give out.
Sara watches the scene play out and tucks the crown into her bag. She eyes the cracking floor and ceiling warily before turning and sprinting back down the hall and out of sight.
Nesosa is too focused on keeping the roof from crushing her to notice or care. She tries looking around for something she could potentially reach for to hold up the weight long enough for her to get to the hall. But with a quick glance back, she sees that the roof of the hallway begins to cave in as well.
She momentarily considers breaking the fragment to gain some extra strength, but she recalls that after breaking a fragment, she would need a Life Mar for her to survive it, and Nisha's on the complete other side of town. She can do this on her own.
She cries out as she hears a crack and feels a bone in her arm start to fracture, making her momentarily waver on keeping up the debris and more starts coming down on her.
She hears another crack and for a moment she thinks it was her arm. The next thing she knows, everything is suddenly dark and the crushing weight is gone. She hears a loud crash and feels her body hit the ground, landing in a pile of snow and rubble as her sight returns.
Nesosa looks up and sees the ceiling still coming down, but she manages to get out of the way in time before it crashes into the ground.
Now that she's less fearful for her life, she looks around and sees that she's back in the main hall, beneath the king's room.
Standing near the throne is Sara, looking out of breath and holding a rope that's wrapped around a wooden beam that had been directly where Nesosa had crashed through the floor. She must have broken it for her to fall through before she could be crushed.
Sara drops the rope and sits down on the slightly broken throne to catch her breath, a sheen of sweat glistens on her forehead. "...Good job holding it up," she chuckles weakly.
Nesosa allows herself to relax a bit, but the splitting pain in her arm makes her sharply inhale and grit her teeth. She makes a sound that's something crossed between a sigh and a growl and she holds her wounded arm against her side. "...Did we get what we came 'ere fur?" she pants and swallows back her waning adrenalin.
Sara takes a deep breath and nods shakily. "Yes. We did. Let's return to the docks and wait for the others to be done. I'm sure Lady Moraan will be able to fix that arm," she nods to Nesosa's arm.
The centaur nods in agreement and Sara stands up from the throne on shaky legs. Nesosa eyes her quizzically. "Are ye alright?" she asks.
Sara weakly nods. "Yeah... I guess I just don't see this much action very often..." she breathes out.
Nesosa smiles and walks over to her. Blackwell looks up and sees the centaur stand over her and offer her a hand. "Ah'll give ye a lift," she says.
Sara studies her curiously. "Aren't you injured?"
Nesosa shrugs with her good arm. "It's nae like ah broke mah leg. Besides, it's only tae th' docks," she says. Sara smiles and takes her hand, letting the centaur help her up onto her back.
Sara looks strangely cheerful. "I must admit, I've never ridden a centaur before," she says almost timidly.
Nesosa smirks and glances at her over her shoulder. "Well, there's more where tha' came from," she winks and starts walking out of the palace and down the snow and ash-covered road.
Blackwell chuckles and shakes her head. "You flatter. But I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you by saying I'm not attracted to women," she says.
Nesosa sighs with a half-hearted shrug. "Ah well, yer loss then."
"Perhaps it is," Sara says and relaxes as Nesosa carries her back towards the docks.
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As agreed on, as the sun starts to go down, the three groups have made their way back to the Whiteridge port and gather in front of the Ecrin ship still docked and waiting. Malachi and Lavern are the last ones to get back, joining the rest of their group.
"Oh hey, looks like the boys are back," Naomi chuckles as the only guys in their group make their way down the stairs. Something about Lavern seems different than how he was when they all split up. She can't tell if it's better or worse though.
Malachi stops by the stone wall and looks over the others. "Any luck on your ends?" he asks.
Naomi shakes her head. "No, not really. At least nothing that I can think of," she says and looks at Nisha, who has her head slightly lowered and her tail slowly swaying from side to side, sweeping up the snowflakes that hit the ground.
The Tus'Felnis takes a deep breath. "I believe Reela M'Qinan was here when the Drynthar attacked," she says quietly.
Sara watches her closely. "How can you be certain?" she asks.
Nisha doesn't bother glaring at her and she reaches into her pouch to pull out a necklace with a black cord and a silver pendant with a symbol of a snowflake that has a sword through it.
Malachi slowly nods with a low sigh. "The M'Qinan family crest," he rumbles.
Nisha sighs and lowers the necklace. "If this was from Nelaeryn, it would have probably been in the palace district, but I found it near the market area. And if I recall, in Aramora culture, the head of the family typically wears a sash that bears the crest, while the spouse and children have more simple versions," she explains.
"Like a necklace," Lavern says. Even his tone sounds different. He sounds less annoyed at the world, so hopefully that's a good sign.
Nisha nods and glances at the necklace in her hand. Sara walks over to her and holds out her hand. "Good work, Moraan. I'll have to bring the necklace back to the Order as evidence for Magister Holloway to look over with Magister Yearyn," she says and waits expectantly.
Nisha sighs again before placing the necklace in Blackwell's hand. She hesitates to let go for a moment, but quickly brings her arm back down to her side. Naomi rests her hand on her shoulder.
Sara now looks to Malachi and Lavern. "Did you two happen to find anything in the cathedral?" she asks and steps away from Nisha and Naomi.
Lavern shakes his head. "Nothing much. Most of the church's archive was destroyed, but from what we could see, there was nothing really useful," he explains.
Sara nods and turns away, walking back over to Nesosa. "Miss Val'Dernak and I searched the palace and found that King Minex'mar was killed in the attack. I have his crown to bring back as evidence and also for Holloway and Yearyn to study," she says and pulls the crown out of her bag to show them before she puts it back and slips the necklace in as well.
"So, was that all we needed?" Naomi asks.
Sara nods with a smile. "It was. I will return to the Divine Temple and bring this information to the Grand Master so he can heed what has happened moving forward. If the Drynthar is deciding to attack Aramora again, we must be sure the other cities are prepared," she says.
Lavern nods as well. "We can warn Kilead when we get there, so don't worry too much about getting a letter out there."
Sara takes a step onto the ship and glances back at them, but when her eyes land on Nesosa, she smiles. "Take care, Miss Val'Dernak. Watch you don't get almost crushed in a king's chamber again, alright?" she chuckles, resulting in a laugh from the centaur.
"Nae promises. But if ah dae, it will be a different kind o' 'crushed'," Nesosa winks.
Blackwell smiles and nods to the group one last time before getting fully on the boat and glancing back at them. "Good luck in Kilead."