Senses + Nut Magic

She rose quietly, holding her staff with both hands. Nothing moved in the shadows. She stood and watched, unmoving. She stood for so long that a snake slithered across her foot, and she looked down for a split second to see if it was poisonous. But it was only a nectar snake, with dark circles on its back. When she looked up again a shadow had moved. A normal eye would not have noticed it, but Nissa’s eyes weren’t normal. The change was slight: what looked like the shadow of leaf was curved ever so slightly, whereas previously it had been straight. Nissa bent and took hold of the jaddi nut that she’d placed next to her when she took watch. She brought the nut to her lips, whispering a spell, kissed it, and tossed it into the shadows. A green mottle arced up, following the nut’s path as it flew through the air. It is almost time to wake up anyway, she thought.

The nut hit the ground with a sudden flash of light. The tree stalkers—three, in fact—were caught standing, blinking their eyes in the flare. One was young—probably the one that had moved enough for her to detect it—but even in the blinding light it did not move again.


***

In the Teeth of Akoum, Chapter 2