The Intervention

The form of Jaxurha, long deceased, hung over the healer working on his pupil. Satisfied that Shakar was finally in good hands, he drifted over to the Great Air Elemental, Shoriz.

"I thank you again, friend, that you came to the aid of my beloved so willingly. Were it not for True Air, he would be joining me in the Netherworld."

The fluid form of Shoriz shifted perceptibly, "Jaxurha, you have come to the aid of my kind more times than I can remember - you taught me how to resist the summons and for that, I am forever in your debt. To this day, I regret that you are no longer walking the world of mortals. So seldom does one appear that truly understands the interaction of spirits and elementals. Your passing was a great loss."

"My death was inevitable, friend Air. I was getting old, and Matzurha, though I trained her poorly, was young. Perhaps she even got a lucky shot. She did so well with the spirits, I felt certain that she would understand the elements.

"I allowed myself to be beguiled by her beauty and charm, and did not peer into her heart as I should have. Even now, I find myself serving her in death, as she served me in life. Of all the things that I did in life, I regret her the most."

Shoriz briefly engulfed Jaxurha in a friendly embrace. "Should you decide, my dear friend, to ever resist her, call on me, and we will aid you in you contest of wills. She is indeed an evil person, favoring one element over the other at any time, betraying oaths and promises at every moonrise.

"Now, I must return to my home, for the creation of those kernels tasked me greatly - this space corrupted as it is. Be well, friend, be well." Shoriz's telltale swirls of elemental air and his powerful presence departed.

"Thanks be to you, Shoriz", Jaxurha whispered into the now empty astral space around him.

Jaxurha turned his attention back to the pair in front of him, separated from him by the fragile veil between astral space and the physical world. The healer, whose name he did not yet know, had cleared away all but a few of the pieces of wreckage from around Shakar, and had built a small fire with the debris. Even now, he was plying his trade with a stew on the flames, gently calling on the elements for help in weaving a thread of magic to the stew to grant it the healing properties that the healer felt was needed. He could not have known that a Named spirit watched over his patient, and was not ready to let him die.

He watched as the healer gently tipped the stew to the lips of Shakar, still murmuring words of incantation as he allowed Shakar to drink the healing mix.

"Indeed, Shakar is in good hands now, it is fitting that an Elementalist would come to the aid of my last student." With that, Jaxurha caused the pair to be at ease within his influence, and, in time, the two drifted off into a deep sleep, healing for both, be it of body, or of spirit. Jaxurha turned his thoughts to the dreams of the healer saying, as he did so, "Tell me of yourself." And Boric did.

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