They had a gift for seeing through disguises. The gentle dragon guised as a gnome traveling with that wizard. At night, they gently said. "I see you, and your soul is so beautiful." -- Anon Guest
[AN: Dragons shapeshift, but I'm going with a similar idea]
Technically speaking, Arwen was blind. Hir parents had been greatly upset by the lack and prayed to Lenus, the god of healing, for hir to have some vision given to hir. Gods grant prayers in peculiar ways. Arwen could not see the light of the sun or a flame. Ze could not see light as many mortals did.
Ze saw the light of souls.
Which meant that ze could navigate in crowds, but often found furniture or walls by bumping into them. The stick, staff, or trained creature was still necessary to help hir move about. Knowing where people were certainly helped for knowing where to talk towards, and hir family had to be satisfied with that.
Its not as if one can successfully complain to the gods.
Ze could easily tell a good soul from a vile one, and sense when anyone wished to cause hir trouble. It gained hir something of a reputation as a lesser Seer.
There was only one case in which Arwen's soulsight seemed to fail hir. That was when a Wizard passed through with what others said was a Gnome. Arwen saw a completely different light. From both of them.
There was an Elf's soul, of course. Brighter and more open than any other Elf ze'd met. The other... was both glorious and enormous. Arwen addressed the space where ze thought the head should be.
"You are beautiful."
"I'm down here," said the second voice. Far, far lower than Arwen expected it.
Ze had to feel him out, finding the height and form of a Gnome. "I see," said Arwen. "You may have been told I'm a seer, but I don't see futures. I see souls. There is a good within you that outstrips your current bounds. You may wear small flesh, but I see... all your truth. Goodness like yours should be rewarded, would that the world was fair."
"Working on it," said the Elf. That soul light moved before Arwen's brow and the soul lights had a companion.
Shadows. Vague shadows of the physical, but discernable from the general fog that was her normal experience of the world. It would take Arwen a few weeks to learn how to work with them.
At least ze didn't bump into things any more.
[Photo by Marek Piwnicki on Unsplash]
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