#nelani

Nelani Nunne let her feet carry her, heedless of direction. It wasn’t unusual for her - the ground, the trees, the water of the Shroud all spoke to her at different times, telling her where she needed to go, and the voices were all the stronger and more familiar the closer she got to her clan’s territory. 

She could feel the amusement of a nearby tree as it let a branch fall at exactly the right time to trip up one of the Wood Wailers chasing her, and she stifled a wicked laugh. Their mistake, thinking the Shroud was on their side.

Her path led her to a sheer vertical wall of stone, a crag that seemed impassable if you didn’t know what you were doing. Nell, however, did, finding nigh-invisible handholds and footholds in the rock that allowed her to swarm up it quickly and quietly, dangling at the top before tensing her arms and flipping herself up and over.

Nell lay there for a moment in silence, listening to the distant sounds of the Wailers as they reached the dead end and milled around in confusion. A quiet snerk of laughter escaped as she heard one of them try to climb, make it partway up and then fall. 

After a quarter bell of trying to figure out where she’d gone, the Wailers gave up and shuffled off back the way they’d come, arguing the whole way. Nell rolled over onto her back and stared up at the clouds, patting the rock next to her with one hand. Thank you.

The elemental of stone sent back its amusement and a sense that, when she needed to get down, there would once more be sufficient grip available to do so.

A fanged grin spread over her face, and she closed her eyes. 

Tess: You mean woke?