A strange stillness set upon the steppe around the small trading caravan of the Unalig tribe as Iris climbed onto the leading cart and sat down on its driver seat slumped forward. Long grey pillars of smoke rose from far below the flat horizon.
The distinct sounds of a heavy two-legged creature used by the nomadic humans trotting approached the elf before Iris felt the animal coming to a slow stop. With a sharp sound of bone slapping against another bone, the elf turned toward the source of the noise and saw Ruu on top of a grey feathered terror bird with the owner of the clacking bird sitting behind him.
With graceful movements, the older human with some grey hair dismounted from the bird and jumped on top of the wooden cart with one graceful motion which Iris could only envy. The wooden cart commandeered by the elf shook as Ruu's powerful body hit the creaking wood.
"You don't look like she had done it," Even as the human leader stood perfectly straight striking an almost heroic pose his dirt-brown eyes focused on the elf steeling themselves for the inevitable. "I don't know if I should be annoyed at you for promising the heavens or myself for believing it. Where is your human?"
"Siri is with the boy seeing if-"
"How much time does Ba have left?" Nu's voice interrupted the elf as she kept her shaking voice from breaking.
"As I was saying Siri is staying with the boy to see if her treatment worked but-." Before the risen could finish her words the woman's grey eyes opened wide and she steered her mount into a sprint toward the small white tent. "You should disturb them."
"And off she went," Ruu followed the young shaman with his eyes before he walked toward the elf. "You don't look pleased about something."
"I do?" The grimacing elf looked away from the tent's entrance and raised her eyebrow at the human.
"Did you really cure Ba?" The man's eyes gazed with a child-like hopefulness at the sitting elf.
"I didn't do anything if Ba was cured it's all her work..." Iris spoke out loud causing the reality of what just happened. "I can't believe I just said that. She defeated Bloom, Bloom for Aspect's sake..."
"I was wondering if you have different faces other than frowning and stone-cold stare." Ruu gazed at the elf whose gem-like eyes opened wide in disbelief who either ignored him or didn't hear him. He stepped over the driver's bench before lowering himself onto the wooden bench. He reached into his brown coat and pulled out a large metal flask with a worn of merchant seal. Twisting the cap the human took a sip of whatever was inside before offering it to the speechless elf. "I think we both need some time to process what that girl had done."
"Yes..." Without thinking the elf grabbed the metal flask and took a swing of its contents. An aggressive feeling of freshness filled her mouth as she breathed out before she handed the flask back.
"Where did you even find her? The girl I mean." Ruu's words broke the long silence as he passed the already half-empty flask to the risen.
"I haven't found her, she found me." The risen own words rang inside her mind as the human beside her nodded along while staring at her. "Where is the shaman?"
"Kasheng? She was muttering about spirits finally answering her calls the last time I saw her." Ruu turned his body around and curiously overlooked the halted caravan in search of the tattooed woman.
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A muted yellow light shined upon the heavily breathing human with a sloppily fitted fur coat around his partially scarred chest, with the inside edges of the coat being lightly stained by the crimson ichor of life. In contrast to the olive-coloured boy drenched in sweat and fighting for his life, a pale breathless mage loomed over him as she closely examined the taproot while occasionally scribbling more words into the mountain of a book on the ground.
The interesting human began to cry in pain causing the ice-cold being to lift her eyes off her research. She wondered why the boy was convulsing in agony before she felt the ground rumble.
*Sigh*
Kia touched the ground and whispered a spell causing a magical circle to appear between her fingers and the ground. With a light push, the magic formation sunk into the ground and stabilized the earth considerably. It was fun having to use lesser spells usually but Kia began to miss being able to brute force any spells from the lores of magic she found particularly hard to learn. Who would think the earth element to be the most finicky and illogical magic type to exist?
A tall shadow appeared in front of the tent which caused the petite undead to mimic the elf's own frown as she had previously told Iris that she had to leave the tent, unfortunately. Healing the living wasn't that far from preparing bodies for their final rest so it felt wrong for Iris who wasn't the human's relative to be with her while his body rested and awaited her judgement on what his future fate might be.
When she was alone "waiting for her judgment" usually meant which section of the Necropolis will she put the body in for its deserved rest which was tedious as depending on circumstance would force her to rearrange everyone in a section so everyone would fit. But she didn't need to consider anything now as the human boy decided for himself if he would stand up or choose to gain his deserved rest. She now felt a thrilling feeling in her heart as she didn't know what would the boy choose.
"Ba!" A human dressed with a sheet of blue fabric wrapped around her waist ran in deathly urgency into the tent, almost riding her mount into the tent. She stared at the boy who grimaced in pain.
The girl absorbed in her thoughts jumped away as the other human with long hair lunged toward the two, cradling her sick sibling in her arms.
"Sstop!" Kia stammered at the sobbing intruder in the intruder's own language. The human confused the startled undead even more as she shed tears over Ba's pain which she caused by touching him. Having to fulfill her promise the pale mage shoved Nu or tried at least as her thin arms couldn't muster enough strength to budge the human of her sibling.
Ba's hoarse groans transformed into a teary scream as his sister clutched onto him ever so tightly in a painful cycle.
"[Word of Pain]" Kia's finger brushed against Nu's neck causing her to leap backward in pain pressing her hands against her neck.
The ancient extended palm landed on the female's head as an additional precaution. Nu reached into her boot and unsheathe a small knife before her feral eyes widened in sudden clarity as silence once again returned to the tent.
"I'm sorry, I just cannot lose him. Ba is the only one I have left." An ashamed apology came from the grey-eyed human as her entire body slumped.
"Mmmm." Kia hummed her response as she checked on her patient before losing interest and returned to document her findings.
"Is he healed?" Nu hesitantly shuffled closer to her laying brother. Kia watched Nu's hand hovered above Ba's pox-scarred face and gently brushed the air above him, similarly to how Iris brushed the back of her warm hand against her cheek.
"Maibe." The transfixed petite girl answered not thinking about her pronunciation.
"Maybe..."She repeated the word letting it hang in the air before speaking again. "Still better than what Bauha said. You are one mythical and mysterious person." The human took her mask off and wiped her tears with her arm before she gave the mysterious girl a knowing smile.
Kia stared confused at the smiling human trying to decipher the bizarre smile before giving up on understanding humans. It was much easier to guess what Iris felt since she could feel the tall undead's raw emotions through their bond unlike trying to unpack the strange emotions of the living who wrapped their emotions in untold hints and cues she couldn't comprehend or keep track of.
"Why is he still in pain?" Nu asked again as a tear ran down Ba's face.
Kia might have removed the taproot feeding on the boy's mana but the effects caused by being so saturated by life mana and having a parasite feeding on your mana couldn't be healed so quickly by her. She could probably ask Iris for the strange red liquid with a healing spell trapped inside but flooding Ba's system with more foreign life mana could cause the situation with the taproot to repeat once more.
Unable to say what she wanted the undead mage pointed at the yellow discolouration deep below Ba's skin. Her silent explanation must have answered the human's question as she fell silent.
"Siri. I want you to know that my name is Nushi and I cannot ever repay the debt your kindness had brought upon me."
The undead once again frowned, is the human saying she didn't want her kin to live?
The giant fireball outside slowly started to lose its shine becoming darker and darker as time passed. Nu was kneeling beside Ba content to sit in the twilight waiting for her brother to wake up. Opposite to her, Kia had finished documenting everything which caught her attention and was playing with a strand of her hair. Iris didn't look astounded by her hairstyle so she had freed her long straight hair into an abyssal veil Iris liked.
With a deep raspy gasp for air Ba's eyes opened wide and stared at the olive face hanging above him while mutely whispering to himself. Interrupting the reunion Kia squeezed her head between the two and examined Ba's scarred chest causing Nu to gasp at the strange scars arranged in a large circle.
Finding that her spells had left the human's body and had not ripped his living skin away from his muscles Kia stood up and with a tired stride left the two siblings alone.