Chapter 17: Chapter Seventeen – Waxing Cresent

Chapter 17

"I missed this city!" Nadia says with a big smile as the four of us step into the streets of Tunis. The dim glow of twilight casts long shadows over the street, and the waxing crescent moon hangs low in the sky, just barely visible. 

"Should we find a place to stay for the night?" I ask. 

"No way! Let's get food!" Nadia shouts. "C'mon, the souq should still be open. I'll take you." Nadia jumps into the street and waves down a taxi. 

The ride to the market is quite cramped with all four of us squeezed into the back seat of the cab. Nadia insisted that Qasira should get her own seat, forcing me to embarrassingly sit on Lina's lap. 

The car bumps and bounces across Tunis' uneven streets, creating a bumpy ride that combined with Lina's roaming fingers make the short trip to the souq feel much longer.  

I really hope Lina can't feel my emotions right now. 

I do my best to avoid eye contact, but Lina's confident smirking face draws me back into her eyes every time I look away. Finally the car comes to a stop, and I gratefully tumble off Lina's lap and onto the sidewalk.

Nadia pays the driver extra for taking us with a bird, and waves her goodbye. We cross the street together and enter a large bazaar style market. Colorful cloth and canvas covered stalls sell fruit, vegetables, spices, clothes, and jewelry. Most vendors are packing up their wares for the night, but Nadia guides us a few streets deep into the market to a crowded row of food vendors. 

Nadia quickly identifies her favorite stall, and drags us through the crowd to buy three steaming bowls of shrimp chorba from a very friendly old woman wielding the biggest ladle I've ever seen.

I gotta get me one of those!

We pick up some very sweet red mint tea with almonds floating on top from another vendor, then sit down on a quiet street curb away from the crowds to eat. 

I lean over my bowl of chorba soup and waft some steam up to my face with my hand. My nose is filled with the delightful smell of harissa, freekeh, tomatoes, chickpeas, and flame grilled shrimp. 

Wow, the woman who made this really knows her soup!

"So, where are we going, anyway?" Nadia says with a big grin over her bowl.

"Libya, a bit east of Benghazi." Lina replies. 

"Oooh, what's out there?"

"Someone who has something we need." Lina says, trying to take her first bite of soup. 

Nadia bounces in excitement, nearly losing her soup. "Oooh, some secret vampire mission? Is it some ingredient to make some kind of evil dark artifact? Is it an ancient tome containing secret dark magic spells? Oh no, is it a-"

"You're really nosey." Lina says, interrupting our enthusiastic friend. 

"I'm inquisitive! It's part of my job, as a researcher." Nadia smiles. 

"Were you being inquisitive by eavesdropping on us at the mosque? That's really rude, you know." Lina scowls at Nadia, but I can tell she's not really angry. 

"Of course! I mean, two young European women show up at our mosque first thing in the morning, one seriously injured and looking for a healer, but coming to us instead of going to the hospital? You two are hella sus! I had to make sure you weren't dangerous." Nadia smiles innocently. 

Lina seems to accept her explanation, or maybe she's just more interested in the soup.

I know I am. This soup is so good! 

Lina frowns, putting her spoon down. "How did you do it though? Listen to us like that? I would have known if you were hiding nearby." Lina asks. 

"I'll tell you if you tell me what we're going to get in Libya." Nadia winks at my vampire with a teasing smile.

Wait, is she flirting with my vampire?

"Deal." Lina agrees, to my surprise. 

Nadia seems surprised too. She raises an eyebrow suspiciously. "Ok fine. There are five large bricks, carved from a single lapis lazuli rock. Four of them are embedded in the base of the walls on each corner of the mosque. The fifth sits atop an altar in a central room that only myself, Dihya, and the Imam have access to. The cornerstone blocks are linked to the central block, allowing someone to charge all five blocks with one spell from a secure, central location. We often use the bricks in religious ceremonies and festivals. Lapis is air aspect attuned, so during the rest of the year I keep it charged with a listening spell. The stones transmit a sort of echo of every sound wave that passes through the air within the boundaries of those four stones. You can stand in that room and hear every word spoken anywhere in the mosque. Alternatively I can also have it transmitted to my ear, for a short period of time, and so long as I am very close to the central stone." 

Nadia tucks a piece of her soft dark brown hair behind her ear, turning to show us a tiny lapis gem implanted deep in the skin of her inner ear, almost in the ear canal itself. 

Lina puts her bowl down, and leans back, clearly impressed. "Wow, that's brilliant. I've never heard of air magic being used like that." 

"Thanks, that's because I invented it! It was actually the first spell I developed myself. It was the product of my dissertation for my doctorate at the magic institute. That's how the Imam and I met. My research was all theoretical, until one of the faculty at the institute who knew about the mosque's lapis bricks reached out to the Imam on my behalf, and introduced us. It took me a year to get it working, but when I did the Imam was so impressed that she offered to sponsor a laboratory for me." Nadia grins at Lina. 

"Wow, not bad. I guess air magic can be used for more than hovering for a few seconds." Lina laughs. 

"Lots more, silly!" Nadia giggles. "That's what started my life's research. Contemporary air channelers think air magic is just about manipulating the atmosphere's gas molecules directly. But if I can magically tap into sound waves moving through the atmosphere, then that points to the air aspect not really being about air at all, but something bigger. Just think of the possibilities!"

I can feel Lina's genuine admiration for the small air channeler. She smiles down at her, before hesitating, giving me a confused glance. I realize I'm giving the two of them a very mean glare over the top of my now empty bowl. 

Oh no, Lina definitely felt that. 

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Lina furrows her brow at me before turning back to Nadia. "How do you charge the central lapis block though? There's no access to an air anchor deep inside a building, right? Isn't that the whole point of having a lab on the roof?" 

Nadia rolls her eyes. "What do you think Qasira is for?" She says, leaning down to fondly scratch the bird's head. 

Lina and I both nearly jump off the curb.

"What?!" Lina shouts. 

"You can't do that!" I join in. "That's cruel!"

I feel Lina's anger explode. "She's a living animal Nadia! You can't siphon off her aether to use as an anchor! That's torture! You'll kill her!" 

Nadia recoils in shock. "Whoa, calm down! It doesn’t hurt her. The belief that using living anchors is painful or harmful is a myth. It stems from archaic practices used by Europeans during the medieval ages where an animal's aether was extracted to depletion, killing it. So long as you use modern techniques, and are cautious not to take too much, you won't cause any pain or damage. Look-"

Nadia runs her hands through Qasira's feathers, exposing dozens of tiny gemstones hanging from soft threads looped in the bird's coat. "I have lots of micro-artifacts set up to monitor Qasira's aether levels, pain level, and general health metrics. Flamingos are some of the strongest sources of air aether. Qasira has hundreds of times as much in her as an air attuned human. Taking even large quantities of it doesn't hurt her, and she regenerates it quickly. I love Qasira, she's my best friend. I would never put her in danger. She gets lots of treats and pets, and a nice long nap after every aether donation." Nadia bends over to wrap her bird in a tight hug. The light pink bird loudly sighs, and lays her head on Nadia's shoulder. 

Lina still looks suspicious, but I can feel that she's generally convinced. I am very much not.

I do not like this woman!

"Don't Sunni Muslims believe a person's aether is their soul? Isn't taking an animal's aether a violation of Maliki Law?" Lina questions. 

Nadia tilts her head at us. "What makes you think I'm Sunni?" 

I feel Lina's embarrassment. "Oh sorry, I just assumed because you work at a Sunni mosque, and you're a member of the Algerian Ulama…" Lina trails off. 

Nadia smiles. "Ah, I see, an understandable assumption, but I’m not Sunni. My family are Mozabites, from the M'zab Valley. We are Ibadi. The Whabi school of thought encourages a close, symbiotic relationship between magical humans and animals. Using animals as anchors has been an important practice in our culture for centuries. The Sunni Ulama allowed me to join their ranks due to my academic achievements. Besides, I'm not really religious anyways. I left my family for the Institute in Algiers when I was very young. I've lived most of my life in the capital." Nadia bends down to feed Qasira her last bit of chorba, and sets down her empty bowl. All her talking left her the last to finish her food. 

Lina frowns. "Sorry for my assumptions." 

Nadia smiles cheerfully. "That's ok! Just don't be so quick to judge, anyone who sees Qasira can tell she's well loved. Just look how many artifacts she wears. She's flamingo royalty!" 

Nadia runs her fingers through her bird's feathers again. The gemstones chime softly against each other, and flicker lightly, reflecting moonlight from the waxing crescent moon, now high in the dark night sky. 

Nadia reaches over to me and lightly picks up my aquamarine pendant. "Besides, you don't have any room to talk with your pet dressed like this. What is this, aquamarine? Ugh… so cheap." Nadia drops my necklace against my chest in disgust. 

"She's not my pet." Lina replies, clearly embarrassed.  

A jolt of hurt and disappointment surges through me at Lina's words. 

Lina's head quickly snaps around to look into my eyes, her eyebrows raised. 

Oh no!

Lina turns her back to Nadia and shuffles closer to me. She leans in close to whisper in my ear. "Really?" 

I panic. I look up into her eyes and can't help to think about anything other than how overwhelming she is when she gets this close. 

She's so pretty… so strong. Oh no! 

Lina searches my eyes. An amused smile grows on her face as I squirm beneath her, too flustered and panicked to form words. 

"Aww, it's ok Lua. Come here." Lina leans in and wraps me in her arms. She whispers softly in my ear. "You can be my little pet if you want." 

My breath catches in my chest. 

"You're certainly cute enough for it." She whispers, giving my ear a light nibble before pulling away. 

"Awwww!" Nadia squeals from behind Lina’s back.

I forgot she was here. Does that woman hear everything?!

Nadia stands up, empty bowl in hand. "C'mon, it's late. We better hurry up and find a room for the night. Besides, we have to start early tomorrow so we can go shopping." 

"Shopping?" Lina asks. 

"Of course! We have to go to the pet store, so you can buy Lua some new jewelry. Maybe a nice collar would look cute on her!" 

Embarrassment explodes from Lina and I at the same time. Nadia giggles as she bounces away from us into the night. 

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