In the last few days, Dreiki had enjoyed many things. The incredible food offered by the Tibur was unlike anything he had ever eaten before. Kaara had invited him and the other noxa to participate in a great number of different games and activities. The majority of which Kaara herself had made up.
It was clear to Dreiki by how the others regarded her, that Kaara was what held them all together as a group. Even to the other branches of the tribe, Kaara was the favored cousin among those her age. It was easy to see why. Dreiki, a noxa, did not feel like an outsider when she was around.
There was a certain genuinity about her. Kaara involved everyone in her own way, not to check a box, but to use it as an opportunity to know them better. She had rescued Tadios from being a pariah among his own tribesmen. Both Rorik and Arik owed some sort of great debt to her as her friends. For some reason, it was difficult for Dreiki to believe. There had to be something under all of that kindness. Something dark.
He had already seen that darkness. The truth was, Kaara befriended everyone because she felt deep loneliness. She did not want to bother others with her problems even if they would be more than willing to accept them.
Dreiki was glad she had friends willing to accept her curse, but he understood why she felt the need to be punished for it. He felt the need to punish himself for the Osazi following him around.
Kaara had saved him too. She had chased away the Osazi during his lowest moment. It was almost funny, the fact that she considered Dreiki to be her savior. What had he done to deserve a title like that? In the end, it was very small. If anything, Ezo had done just as much for her as he had.
As the winter sun finally set on the eve of the Siren Ceremony, the day of reckoning drew ever closer. Dreiki got to witness many things in this camp in only the past three days. Not as an outsider, but as a friend.
That was special.
The Tibur’s dance was beautiful, but even with his knowledge of history, he struggled to interpret the story it referenced. This dance’s origin must have predated the written record. Passed down from one generation to the next to depict the dragons perpetuating life on Itaro.
Did dragons truly possess that sort of power?
There was something within Dreiki which resonated with the song they played. Something deep within his very being that echoed the tones blown through the winter air. He felt he understood the story, even if he could not put it to words.
When the spears were presented to them, Dreiki hesitated. It was the final step to take. He now stared at the edge of a cliff, uncertain of what might lie at the bottom, but assured it was possible to survive the fall. Everything in his bones told him not to take that spear.
He could tell the rest felt the same way. No one was spared from their instinctual fear. Looking around, he could see the uncertainty on his friend’s faces. He knew his friends would follow him no matter the decision he made. He still did not like it, even after they had convinced him it was their choice. Still, he was thankful to have made such loyal friends. It was something his mother had told him to do before leaving him. Dreiki wondered what she was doing right now. How would she react seeing Luna, Rixam, and Gornax?
Kaara broke the crowd’s fear by being the first to take up arms. She really was amazing. Not only had she overcome her fear before anyone else, but she had set everyone at ease with her display.
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Once everyone had taken up their arms, they were led to the blood grounds. It was such a brutally fitting name. What else could you call the place where children are slaughtered by monsters every year?
As they made their way into the dense forest, the snow underfoot grew deeper and more challenging to navigate. Dreiki hoped the water magic users would make it easier for them, once they arrived. He was almost buried up to his waist in snow. Although, considering how short he was compared to the others his age, perhaps this was a personal problem for him to deal with.
A somber groaning wind vibrated through the trees. Perhaps the Malaki had their own version of that song? Dreiki wondered just how long the Tibur had been doing this ceremony.
He scanned the landscape for signs of danger. Those monsters always seemed to be at the corner of his vision. He adjusted the Ux over his eyes. He would not let them escape detection.
Yet as he looked upon their pale humanoid forms, they receded deeper into the forest. It was as if they knew he could see them. They were massive, even as they walked on all fours. Their necks were covered with fleshy faces of varying expressions. Strands of wispy white hair flowed from their antlered heads. And just like many Malaki, they wore a perpetual smile with legions of sharpened teeth. The center of their bodies were swollen and bloated, black blood seeped from holes in their frame, dribbling to the snow and evaporating like steam.
Their sunken hollowed eyes reminded him of the Osazi. These creatures did not all look the same, even if they appeared to be the same variant of Malaki. Their limbs ranged from humanoid, to animal, to utterly alien. Some of them staggered about on stilt-like limbs which stabbed into the snow.
They were fast when they wanted to be too. Even when Dreiki tried to follow their movement, they would seize and rush for cover somewhere out of sight. He could sense their malice for him growing the more he gazed upon them.
“Warriors! Tonight, you make your mark on the world. Carve your name in the stones of history so that the Malaki remember it! Let them know your might.”
Dreiki joined their battlecry. The adults vanished from sight with unmatched speed, leaving them to fend for themselves. A familiar tingling sensation ran through Dreiki’s body. He was being watched. He was in danger. His heart beat faster as if to remind him that he had not yet been killed. He was alive, and he needed to stay that way.
Tension hung thick in the air. Dreiki looked around, seeing the other children gripping their weapons with erratic glances in every direction.
The wind had picked up, and it was relentless. A gust staggered Dreiki. That should not have happened. He had his Ux activated.
“The Malaki are manipulating the wind!” Deka shouted, “Don’t let them use it to separate us!” Deka shouted.
“We’re trying!” Arik shouted back, stumbling from another powerful blast.
Rixam slid through the snow, having to rely on Gornax to keep him from blowing away, “Shit! This is worse than the mountains.”
Dreiki could see the Malaki stalk forward. They approached with horrid speed, their heads dangling about as if their necks lacked a spine to hold them upright.
He readied himself for their charge, only to notice no one else was. Everyone was still clutching their spears searching for the enemy. Why? The Malaki were clearly in front of them. That’s when Dreiki realized it: They were invisible.
Those monsters were too quick. Before Dreiki could call out, one of them had already sent its stilt-like limb through the head of a nearby child, and out of its bottom. The monster lifted its limb and tore chunks from the child’s body. Meat slopped onto the snow beneath as everyone watched in abject horror. Its fingers dug into the corner of the child’s jaw and peeled his face off like a mask.
Another to add to the collection on its neck.
Whatever courage had been built through prior rituals was now completely shattered. A chorus of screams overtook the crowd as their formation scattered.
Arik redirected the wind off of their party, but without the help of the others, they were blown away. Some tried to use stones to keep themselves stable, but that just made them easier targets. One by one, the Malaki stabbed through their bodies and tore them to pieces. Some were still alive, if only to prolong their suffering as their faces were taken from them.
Dreiki looked to his friends, only to see they had been swept away by the wind. He was alone.