Nightspun (#ONC_2020)

Chapter 14 - Armed

Amira never got the chance to hear where her aunt was hiding.

Immediately after Rayner arrived he received the unthinkable news of Siara's passing. Sybil had been dragged out of the room only to run at the first signs of allegiance for the new royal Sunstress, fleeing to who knows where at such an hour. The High Nightcaster had no choice but to return to his duties, tasking his niece to bring her to Waterdown as soon as possible.

"Honestly, for someone who just admitted to plotting behind a High Lawmaker's back for moons, he is completely clueless as to how to deal with a grieving Sunspell elf. No wonder she legged it."

Amira sighed at such a mess of the situation, cursing her uncle for acting so brazenly at such a sensitive situation. It had only been a few hours yet here he was sending a search party out for her. Combat Mages of all people were skulking around in their black cloaks, lurking around Bridge's Keep and even her family home at the Burrow. She was lucky her mother had been appointed the new High Lawmaker otherwise who knows what nasty injuries they might've received from breaking and entering.

"To think, I wanted to be in their ranks." Amira said, berating herself for her own choices.

Treading softly down the old, familiar path behind the back of the shed, Amira could faintly see the new additions to the lot known as the Stone Bouy. Rows and rows of jackanape plants lined the front of the lot, leaving only the back path open by a narrow margin. Had she not known the route by heart she would have surely fallen prey to such a finicky plant.

Making her way round the gap in the shed she winced as her hand brushed against the singe marks against the wood, still wary of the flimsy boards keeping her beloved workshop together. Yet there she was, shovelling away with a Stormspell elf she briefly recognised sifting through the earth and preparing the soil like nothing was wrong.

"Keep that row straight, Malik!"

"Righto, Boss!"

The Sunspell elf nodded, sweeping her newly cut hair aside like she had just cut it off with a pair of garden shears. Amira wasn't sure how to approach her, wary of the blazing shovel in her hand with the name 'Clausette' hastily carved in the wood. She would have laughed but the look in her eyes told her that this was not a laughing matter. Sybil was serious and that's what scared her the most.

"Syb, what's going on?" Amira asked hesitantly, careful not to disturb the soil with her footfalls.

"Setting up for the next crop of mandraroot. Summer's comin' and it'll burn 'em out quick if we don't plant 'em before those thieving beggars come back." Sybil said, her voice sounding eerily like Malik's backwater tongue.

"Thieving beggars?"

"Your lot. Combat Mages. It's why I spent so long gettin' those jackanapes."

Amira's eyes went wide, the Sunspell elf not daring to look up once at her, not even for a quick rest. Her eyes drifted towards the scattered crowd of angry mages attempting to burn the branches with Red Ire runes but the more they struggled the more they became tangled in the mess of thorns.

Sybil's Sunspell had been rapidly growing them long through the night and Amira didn't need an Allsee rune to tell that her power was far beyond what it was before. But Sybil's Sunspell wasn't the problem. She was physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted.

Still covered in sweat and grime, still sporting the same grass stained clothes from yesterday. If Amira hazarded a guess she'd bet Sybil hadn't eaten since the night they shared greevy burgers. Immediately, Amira knew she had to get her to listen not just for the current state of things but for the sake of her own well being.