Editing Eldramin (section)

== Chapter 16 ==
''Fannara''

       	My plan was backfiring. Maybe if I’d actually stuck to the plan it would have worked, but it was too late now. It was the first day of patrols, what I had ''figured'' would be a good try at befriending Moren again. Unfortunately, he didn’t think similarly.

       	As usual, he ignored my presence, both in the Training Arena, on the transport that took us to Burning Waters, and on location. Never once was my existence acknowledged.

       	I stood at my post, technically guarding the entrance to the cavern, but I was more focused on glaring at the back of his head where he stood, not two meters away from me. This was going to drive me insane if he just kept ignoring I was here. Before I had gotten off of the transport earlier, Verelia had given me a rather unhopeful “good luck” and I was now realizing I needed it.

       	The silence was filling my brain with far too many thoughts. Without letting myself think it through, I started. “Would you at least acknowledge that I’m here?” An exasperated combination of sighing, slumping shoulders, and then ''very'' reluctantly looking at me followed. “I swear, I’ve met ten-year-olds more mature than you.”

       	He gave me a sardonic smile and then quickly went back to his usual almost-frown. “Happy now?”

“Oh, far from it.”

“Too bad.” He turned around and resumed ignoring me.

       	I groaned. “Would you ''please'' stop making this harder than it has to be? I’m not great at getting along with people and-“

“-Oh, I can tell,” he interrupted. I glared as he continued. “Look, Fannara, I don’t want your pity. I want to be left alone.”

       	I scoffed. “Just because you’re pitiful doesn’t mean I would ever give you mine.”

       	“Okay, cut the crap. What are you trying to do?”

       	Rolling my eyes, I answered, “If you hadn’t noticed, we’re sort of stuck together.”

       	“And the second the portal station reopens, you’ll be on the next train out.” I didn’t have an answer to that. “There is no reason to try to ‘get along’.”

       	“Bull crap.” He seemed almost startled by my abrupt response.

       	“You have been spending way too much time around Ari.”

       	I shrugged. “Probably, but that’s beside the point.”

       	He raised an eyebrow. “Point being?”

       	“Point being you’re an idiot who clearly needs more friends.” That was definitely not the right way to say that, but I didn’t care.

       	Moren gave me a very unamused, slightly irritated look. “Now I’m ''so'' much more willing to ‘get along’.”

       	I clenched my jaw and tried to control my frustration. “Look, either you can keep being an absolute jerk and make patrols horrible, or you could try to deflate your ego a little and make this easier on both of us.” So much for control.

       	“Wow. You really are bad at this.”

       	“I am so tempted to do something violent right now.” He actually laughed at that. And not the condescending laugh, one that sounded almost…genuine. I looked at him in confusion. That was an unfamiliar noise to come out of him. 

Moren tried to hide his amusement but was unsuccessful. “Okay, fine, I’ll ‘stop being an absolute jerk’. Don’t do something violent.”

“''Thank you''.” 

☙❦❧

''Two weeks later''

Soon patrols went from something I dreaded all day long to something I found myself looking forward to. Turns out Moren was actually enjoyable to be around if he wasn’t trying to ignore your existence. I had no clue how that conversation on our first patrol worked, but I wasn’t about to argue.

In healing class, we were finally going to be allowed to try and do something with wound swapping. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to do it, as Alithosi magic wasn’t capable of such big uses of magic without spells, and I’d forgotten most of mine, but it was fascinating to watch others try it. 

“Wound swapping is never something that comes easy. It takes years of practice to be able to exchange a full wound, but some of you might be able to partially swap.” The healing teacher walked through the classroom, giving each table two potted plants, leafy little shrubs with deep purple leaves. One of them had a long slice along the stem. 

Elara doubtfully scrutinized the two plants in front of us. “I don’t think I’m going to be able to do this.” 

I shrugged. “It’s still worth a try, right?” 

“I guess…” 

Our teacher returned to her massive desk at the front of the room and stood in front of her two pots. “The key to successfully wound swapping is in the concentration.” She grew quiet and narrowed her eyes at the plants, her eyes glowing gold. “You have to visualize the wound changing from one host to another before you stand a chance at doing it correctly.” 

Pressing her lips together into a thin line, the teacher stretched out both of her hands, one in front of each plant. Gold tendrils wafted off of her fingers like smoke. “Once you build up enough magic, you have to push it all out at once, first focusing it on the damaged host and projecting it onto the receiving one.” A sudden flash of gold jumped from one plant to the other. She maintained the stream of magic as it wrapped around the damaged plant and flowed to the other one. 

Finally putting her hands down, a satisfied look came over our teacher as she turned the plants to show us the newly swapped wounds. “Wound swapping is key if the host of the original wound is weak. Someone stronger stands a better chance of receiving the healing if the wound is swapped. Now you may try. I’ll be going around to check on your progress.” 

Elara turned to look at our two plants. Dark blue sap had started oozing out of the one with a gash. She squinted at the two plants and took a deep breath. Her eyes widened as green magic was visibly building up in her, reflected by her glowing eyes. 

She stretched out her hands, fingers unfurling, and took another heavy breath. Small flickers of green steadily grew and coiled around her hands. With one more breath, she began the wound transfer. But she couldn’t hold it.

Before any of the gash could start moving, her magic gave out. Elara leaned back with a huff, disappointment veiling her usually cheery facade. 

“I know I wouldn’t be able to do it. Green healers almost never can.” I had no clue how to comfort her.

“Well, at least you tried?”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, a whole lot of good that did.” Sighing, Elara pushed some hair out of her face and looked at me. “Your turn.”

I shook my head. “Alithosi magic doesn’t work like that. We use spells for something that big, and even so, it’s never been accomplished.”

“But don’t you want to at least try?”

I shrugged. “Sure, but I’m telling you, nothing’s gonna happen.” A sudden cheer rose up from one side of the room as one of the boys began the process. 

Classmates crowded around him, cheering him on. Their efforts broke his concentration and the stream of magic cut out. Regardless, he’d gotten further than the rest of us. 

Elara turned her attention back on me. “Come on, just try.”

I exhaled and closed my eyes, drawing on the magic I knew was waiting for me. I had no clue how much magic I’d need for this, but I assumed quite a lot. 

Once I felt I had enough built up, I opened my eyes to hear gasps. I was confused to see that everything looked like there was a green filter on it. I tried to blink the haze away, but it wasn’t any use. 

Deciding to ignore it, I stretched out my hands and let the magic dance along my fingers. It had been a long time since I’d tried to use my magic at such a large scale, but it felt so easy. I had to bite back a smile as the warm feeling familiarly coursed through me. 

I turned my focus on the two plants, trying my best to send my magic to them. Something deep inside me told me to stop and I obeyed. Closing my eyes once more, I slowed my breathing and relaxed my hands. The magic quickly slowed and faded away. 

When I opened my eyes, I found the entire class was crowded around my desk. Our teacher was holding the plant that hadn’t been damaged. As she turned the pot around in her hands I gasped. I had done it. 

The long gash was now on the other plant, starting to emit its sap. The other plant sat on the desk, still covered in sap, but without a cut. The teacher turned and looked at me, shocked amazement in her eyes. 

“Never have I seen such strong magic nor such a fast wound transfer.”

I didn’t know what to say. “I guess there’s still a lot to learn about Alithosi magic.” She shook her head.

“No. I think we have a lot to learn about ''you.''”