"I still don't understand it." Iris said to herself as the humans began to walk back to their camp with a certain clay golem surrounded by a gaggle of children among them.
"Understand what?" Kia's curiously bewitching voice asked the tall elf.
"How could they accept your golem so quickly while even the siblings give me the occasional side eye?"
"Does that bother you?" Iris tilted her head down toward the fair girl and rubbed her silky black hair ruffling them up a little.
"Well, I do try my best to be friendly to the humans but seeing how the literal Idol of Death effortlessly gained their trust, it does sting a little." Iris replied to the kitten, who visibly relished in her touch and clung to it like a jealous lover.
"Oh, you two had come? I haven't noticed you until now," Nu's voice drew the risen's attentio, who saw the human woman jogging through the tall grass toward them. "Did you follow us from the camp?"
"We have accidentally stumbled here. Neither of us knew this was going on." She replied before finding Kia still glued to her hand, appearing completely oblivious to anything that had been said.
"Oh," Nu expressed. "Will Siri stay for the feast today or do you two have to leave before the late phase?"
The human must have known what she was doing as her words pressed Iris against the wall which was the slender girl with an endless appetite. She frowned at the nomad before sighing heavily.
"...We would be happy to stay but does Ruu approve?" The risen answered finding two pair of eyes staring expecting at her.
"Am sure he will," Nu quickly said before turning to the girl. "Siri, would you like to help with preparations?"
The necromancer hesitantly nodded to the human. Nu quickly grabbed Kia's hand and before Iris could react the human had dragged her mistress away into the maze of tents. Left alone she turned on her heel and began to head toward the human camp.
"Did you see Nu?" Iris heard the calm voice of the annoying human's brother. The golem marching behind him resembled a bodyguard to the still slightly sick human.
"I did."
"Did she take the girl with her?" The boy said.
*Sigh* "She did," Iris replied. "How did you know?"
"Because she was telling me how she will try to spend time with her since I woke up." The boy's words fueled the fire inside the risen's chest like a spell fed only by blood and fury.
"Did she tell you where she took my- I mean Siri too?"
"I don't."
"Are you feeling well?" The elf decided to change the subject finding the boy swaying on his legs. Kia's cure might had saved his life but by the way he clutched his chest, the necromancer didn't successes on completely lifting the Bloom's shadow from over him. Who might had know that necromancers are such good doctors.
"I feel fantastic, much better than ever before," Ba's voice trailed off before he looked up at the tall elf. "I don't know much about the outside world but I heard you call Siri, Kia, why? It sounds like how we call each other and I was wondering if Siri is her actual name."
Iris froze mid-step feeling her head getting heavier as a void began to grow in her chest. While her brain was still processing what the human had said and trying to find when had she slipped. Looking at Ba she found her hand gripping his shoulder with her nails feeling a little bit longer than usual. Even as the boy grimaced in pain he waited for her to answer his question.
"Were you eavesdropping on us?" The risen threatened the young man.
"No, I heard it when I got sick. My mind was drifting between our world and the spirit world, that's how Nu would describe how I felt probably. I didn't eavesdrop, I swear."
"Why are you asking me this?" The risen said while noticing that no one was around to witness what was happening.
"I-I want to know her name and what I want wouldn't work if I put the wrong name," Feeling his body being lifted by the increasing inpatient undead he speaks again with a hurried voice. "I just want to gift her a charm as thanks for healing me."
Iris let go of the human allowing him to fall onto the ground as she stared at his confusion and the remaining fire which slowly was consumed by the growing void.
"I have to know."
"Do you know how to take an oath?" The risen cold voice echoed inside the human's mind. "Show us your hand then. Take an oath you will never speak of anything relating to her to anyone." Iris spoke as she pressed her finger against Ba's hand cutting a shallow trench which quickly filled with blood. She carefully listened to each word the human spoke before she let go of his palm allowing his blood to drip onto the ground.
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"Can you tell me now?"
"Her name is Siri," Iris turned away from the human. "We will be going as soon as the feast end."
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POV Change.
I feel so happy! I finally can spend some alone time with Siri! WAIT, what will I do with her though?! I don't have any job for us to do. I thought they will slip out from the camp while Ruu was anointed as the new Tserei and not just watch us from afar.
"Siri, can I quickly go to my Bauha's tent to change out of these clothes," I asked her, pointing at my ceremonial robes. Her large glowing eyes stared at my hand wrapped around her wrist. "Oh, sorry I am just very excited that you will be helping me."
"Mmm."
"Great! Follow me."
I headed toward Bauha's tent but I had to stop every so often as I found that Siri was easily distracted by the many warding emblems protecting us from malevolent spirits but eventually, we arrived in front of Bauha's tent.
"Can you wait for me here I will call you in after I change into my clothes." I said to Siri.
Going inside I relax a little while I began to change. Bauha's tent was like the tent of Tserei meaning it was larger than everyone else, it resembled the mountains we see in the distance during the fire season more than the cone shape of a normal tent. Its size wasn't for show as tents such as these are meant to fit either the tribe's Tserei and his family and be large enough to still hold council or the shaman and her apprentice. Traditionally I should have ended up living with Ba and moved under the Bauha's roof but she allowed me to live with my brother until he turns eighteen and just like I am now, he will become a full apprentice.
Although, I was picked as an apprentice at the young age of fifteen since Bauha hated the idea of wasting my spirit attunement for three entire years where I would do nothing since I was the oldest of my lineage.
As I carefully undressed myself just like Bauha had shown me, showing reverence to the spirit I had yet to meet who had chosen to be my companion for the rest of my life inside its smooth fabric. I lay down my robe on the small bed which Bauha had always kept in pristine condition as if I was living with her since the day I turned fifteen already. I found it surprising that she would bother to do that a day after our arrival, especially since Alan had died and her fire spirit wasn't responding to her.
I heard that spirits are finicky about allowing being used but they usually respond to a shaman's call when they are needed but her dragon-shaped spirit hadn't responded since the day our caravan was ambushed by the ogres, causing Bauha to be on edge since then.
"Who is that!" I covered myself the best I could as I heard the sound of bones hitting wood coming from behind the cloth separator. "Bauha I will be with you shortly."
Oh spirits, please allow me to exit this tent today.
Lifting the thin sheet separating my portion of the tent and the centre of the tent with a shrine to the wyrm I saw the back of the green hood Siri wore in front of the box where Bauha stored the ingredients to create ink for the tattoos.
"Siri, don't touch those." I quickly push the lid back onto the box as the fair skin girl looked inside.
"What is inside?" She sounds so cute!
"...Inside of this box contains the ingredients to create the ink used to make these." I lifted my sleeve to show Siri my incomplete tattoos. "Eeek!"
"Mmmm?" The short girl looked up at me, radiating her pure innocent as her cold fingers brushed against my arm. "Why is your catalyst incomplete?"
What?!
"It can maintain some mana flow but I don't think it will work with more mana-intensive spells."
"I didn't think you would know anything about these. A-are you a shaman perhaps!?"
"S-h-a-m-a-n? Like a spell caster?"
"Yes!" That explains so much! Siri's companion is the frost wyrm causing her to be so cold all the time. "Can you teach me something?"
"No, I promised Iris I will teach her…” Her unusually fair face perked up suddenly as she stared blankly at something beyond the doors.
"Eh? You are Iris's Bauha? How high is your level that you can teach someone?"
"I'm only teaching her the basics.” Siri answered.
"Sorry, I got too excited at the possibility of you being a shaman at such a young age. I too try to teach some of my friends simple spells but I am not really good at it."
Leading Siri outside still undecided on what will we do, I lifted the entry flaps for the short girl to leave.
“On the wyrm! I didn’t know a spirit can be so adorable.” A squeal made by someone slightly older than me sounded from outside. Stepping outside I saw a group of people slightly older than me standing still while a woman with a red mask was crouching way too close to Siri while tugging on her cheeks. Are they not supposed to be helping their elders? What are they doing here ruining my plans?
“Hello, Nu.” A boy wearing only his undershirt and pants greeted me with a small bow before being followed by the people near him. Wasn’t he an apprentice hunter, what was his name again?
“Hello, Haa. I see you are getting bold around young innocent girls.”
“I was working on carving up furcoats all day you can’t blame me for what I'm wearing! Also, my name is Hao.” Hao pulled the hem of his shirt down and pointed at the huge blood stain on his side.
“And you didn’t change before the ceremony?” I wasn’t born yesterday.
“Why are you picking on me? Look at Treni. At least I have an excuse.” He pointed his finger at the crouching woman still annoying Siri. Looking closer at Treni I spotted nothing out of the ordinary but as I looked back one of the women close to Hao pointed a finger at her chest. Moving to get a better look I noticed that Treni's coat of unbuttoned and that her undershirt was either missing or worn improperly exposing her cleavage.
“Button yourself up before I order you two to get changed,” I poked Treni on her mask getting her attention, her eyes were that of a child getting caught stealing. “Young people these days.”
“As you wish elder.”
“Hey! I am not old I’m only twenty-one that is still very young and you are older than me.”
“But you sighed like Kasheng who is,” Treni stood up and did as I told before turning toward Siri and picked her up. “Look what I found.”
“Woah.”
“Adorable.”
“Cute.”
A collective voice of adoration came from Treni’s group as she showed Siri off like a newborn terror. The women swarmed Siri leaving me and the stunned men behind.
“Is she a little too pale?”
“She is so soft but also a bit cold.”
“What do you use to get your hair so silky.”
“Obviously she is rubbing ointment from star-may on her hair, like me.”
“Pfft, your hair is nowhere near as glossy as hers are.”
“Stop, leave Siri alone.” I swiftly grabbed the girl’s wrist and pulled her out of the mob.
Siri’s face was frozen in a small grumpy frown while her eyes shifted from woman to woman with a confused look.
The girl naturally hid away from the mob behind me. I don’t know if I should be happy or angry for the girl choosing me as her meat shield against the mob but you should find an expression that doesn’t light up the flames inside everyone's hearts. Deprived of their icon of adoration the women seemed to come to their senses although staring me down as if I was the rude one in this situation.
“Who is she?” I heard Hao speak to me as his friends stood there glancing between the woman and Siri.
“She came with the elf,” I could sense everyone's eyes shift onto Siri, trying to peek under her hood. “She is not an elf and Iris is not her master, am I right?” I replied to the two questions everyone silently kept to themselves but even with my fellow shaman's nod I could see almost no one believed in my words but they all respectfully nodded along since I was their elder as an apprentice to the tribe’s shaman.
“Wait didn’t the earth spirit also come with the caravan, is it enslaved to the elf?”
“I thought the spirit just appeared in the nursery to protect the children.”
“No you are both wrong, I heard that the earth spirit came along the caravan, the spirit doesn’t even keep close to the elf-“ The group began to argue before a faint whisper surfaced above their voices.
“It's a golem.” Siri quietly corrected everyone causing everyone’s eyes to shift onto her again.
“Don’t even try.” I warned Treni who was barely containing her emotions after hearing Siri’s voice.
“How do you know?” An apprentice scout asked from the back.
“Because I made a golem, its not a spirit.”
“The spirit golem is hers?” I heard sighs of relief appear from the group as the newly arrived golem was announced to not belong to be elven and keep its favourite status.
I don’t know how people can stand near the golem and think to themselves, it’s a spirit. It looks like the Death itself!
“How about the girl and Nu come with us.” I hear Hao speak causing his voice to echo in my skull as my alone time with Siri is in danger.
“Siri and I were about to go… somewhere before YOU stopped us.”
“Where are you taking her? You do not have anything to do besides helping Kasheng.”
“Y-yes, and?”
“Kasheng will be all day with Ruu, come on you can’t monopolise Siri. We can sit around a campfire and share her.” That is the point! You didn’t have to face the frowning elf.
“Deliciousness?” Siri spoke a little bit louder than before as she peeked from behind me.
Is 'campfire' some sort of code word for her? Siri, you can’t be so easily bribed. This was supposed to be our day!
“Can we have food before the feast, Nu?” Treni turned to me causing me to wish I could lie about such things.
“Nothing prevents you from eating today.”
“Great then!" She excitedly announced before getting closer to Kia and nudging her a little. "Lets go!"