Immediately after Igmi's surprise revelation, three of the four children started speaking over one another. Only Bup took the news in stride, grinning quietly from ear to ear as he watched and waited patiently. Igmi, a hint of her ordinarily quite serious self resurfacing, shushed the children.
Then, much to their continued surprise, Igmi spoke in a singsong voice, reciting,
"If indeed this eve magic you seek,
first from thee, thine offerings."
Turning halfway toward the camp and sweeping low in another curtsy, she stretched her hand out, pointing. Beyond her, gilded in the fading afternoon sunlight, lay a camp transformed. Both braided and loose streamers woven of what must have been the prairie flowers were hanging from ropes suspended high throughout the camp. They dangled and danced like living bunting in the slight breeze. The [lowephants] too had been adorned in flower crowns. As the wind changed, blowing across the camp into their faces, they caught the rich smells of spiced meat, roasted vegetables, and freshly baked bread. On plush cushions set around the long, low table that had come from Hayzen and Igmi's kitchen, sat Hayzen, Drust, Tecka, the three [guards], and enough unoccupied place settings for the Igmi and the children. The low table held a feast of things both familiar and difficult to be had frequently on the road.
But between that table and the children directly beneath one of the ropes bedecked with braided stems of grasses and flowers, the thick rug from Lissa's home had been laid out. It had been similarly adorned with flowers, but also bore seeds, trinkets, shiny rocks. A wide, deep stretch of damp river sand had been piled lengthwise along the center of the rug, and atop the sand had been placed four green baskets. Beside each basket was a clay cup and a small lit candle.
Hayzen's voice called from his seat at the table, similarly reciting,
"Come forth, my kin,
from eldest to last born.
Betwixt the reeds woven this morn,
place thy gifts, but speak not, children."
The strangeness and mystery of the occasion, quieted even Lissa's voice. Igmi said nothing more, but nodded to Falton to head over to the rug first and place the wickedly curved claw in the basket. He found that the bottom of the green basket had been lined with a nest of fully dry strips of brown grass.
As Falton settled the claw gently atop the kindling, Lissa's father's voice next called out from the table, "Step not aside, but kneel there, eldest, for the rest there to arrive." The 10-year-old did so, sinking to one knee in front of the basket.
Igmi gently pushed on Cammind's shoulders, and he walked to the next basket on the rug. He held the small collection of multi-shaded stones in the upturned hem of his shirt, and he uncoordinatedly dumped them into the basket next to his older brother. Unsure what else to do, he also knelt in front of his basket.
Next was Lissa, just couple months older than Bup, and she looked with concern at her aunt. She opened her mouth to speak in protest, wanting to run for the [umbral fur], but Igmi held a finger over Lissa's lips and mouthed silently, "Trust me." The girl's brows furrowed deeply, but she finally nodded and walked to the third basket. There atop the nest of dry grass, she saw a handful of the inky fur, nestled carefully to protect it from the sunlight. Sudden joy broke across her face, and she merrily stuffed all her gathered stems into the mouth of the basket. They didn't exactly fit fully *inside* the basket, but she knelt anyway, happy that the fur had been included.
Last was Bup, moving forward after his mother's gentle pat on his head. The blonde boy reverently approached his own, last basket. He brought out the small clump of iridescent hairs and kissed it before placing it in the basket. The mottled brown feather next, he kissed as well and laid it across the shimmering hairs as if sheltering them. He knelt on both knees, bowing over the special objects.
Tecka's voice sounded next from the table, warm and rhythmic,
"To these the gifts of fundaments added,
of river and earth and skies,
Then shall we supper together feasting,
'til moonlight has touched our eyes."
Igmi approached the table and picked up the earthen cup next to Falton's basket; it held a small portion of clear river water in the bottom of it. She wordlessly indicated that he should pour it out over the claw. He took the cup from his mother and poured it out into the basket. Igmi nodded at the rest, and they also poured the small portion of river water over their baskets. The four sets of attentive eyes watched Igmi as she next stooped and gathered a small portion of the sand that the baskets sat on and indicated they should sprinkle it into their baskets. They obediently did so. Finally, she loudly took a deep breath and blew it out. The adventurous Lissa took a deep breath and blew it loudly over her basket. Igmi smiled, nodding, and the three other children followed suit.
The first portion of the evening's ceremonial sections completed, Igmi dusted her hands off against her skirts. She said, "Come, my darlings, and join us for dinner."
The four children stood up, and walked around the basket setting to head to the table. Lissa sat on the thick pillow between her mother and father, and Igmi remained standing until her three boys were settled on their own cushions.
No one at the table spoke or reached for the food until Igmi broke the stillness, "Come on, now. Formalities again, *after* supper. Dig in!"
Soon the soft sounds of wooden plates being passed, appreciative 'mmm's, and excited conversation filled the air around the table. It wasn't every day even at home that meat was served, and the freshly caught rabbits had been expertly prepared and spiced a creamy sheep's-milk broth. Tecka's fresh loaves steamed when their crisp crusts were cracked open, and soon salted butter melted across the faces of pillowy slices. An assortment of fire-roasted vegetables joined the ensemble along with fruit chutneys and honey-sweetened lemongrass tea to drink.
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The two families and the three [guards] broke bread together, feasting as Tecka had recited, until the sun was well asleep beyond the horizon and both moons had risen high enough to be seen over the sea of tall grasses around them. The brighter but smaller Anella hung directly above the larger but dimmer Nohm, bathing the night in silvery light. Any questions about the ritual from the children were skillfully turned aside and refused. Each child was asked to explain how they found the objects the brought back. Lissa explained for both her and Bup, which he didn't mind. She even included the part where it was her fault that Bup fell over. Cammind had wandered through the tall grasses for a while, but felt drawn by the gentle sound of the river. He returned to the sandy riverside, and gathered stones that glinted. Falton, as reluctant to tell his story as he'd been to show what he'd found, finally admitted to finding the claw in an abandoned nest as wide as he was tall. It had been quite cold and degraded, empty for a long time, but under the twigs and branches that it had been made from, he found the claw and knew it was what he wanted to keep. His mother and father exchanged a concerned look, but didn't dissent.
Once every belly was full, the [guards] began clearing the table. They had generously offered to clean up as the families completed the rest of the ritual before they returned to their regular schedules, Kilpa retiring for the night while the two men took up their watch.
Instead of Igmi, Hayzen, as the father of the eldest child, began the next portion of the ritual. "We will begin again," he said simply. A hush fell over the children at his words, eager to experience what would happen next. He silently guided the children to sit before their baskets again. This time they sat on the side of the blanket closest to the camp, looking out at the fields, where they had spent the afternoon, and the moons which loomed low and close and bright.
Hayzen spoke in the lilting cadence of ritual,
"As the trees once raised our fathers and mothers,
so our love will raise you, cousin and brothers.
Take the candle, bright with flame.
Add fundament of fire to proffered claim."
After sitting for an hour, the objects were relatively dried from the water that had been poured on them in the first portion of the ritual. The each took their respective candle, even shorter than they were before, and added them to their baskets. There was already a portion of kindling at the bottom of each, but Hayzen handed them more bundles to help set the baskets fully alight. Once each caught, they waited, watching the fire burn the green baskets and the kindling. The green stems of the baskets smoked as they burned, causing the children to cough a bit, and obscuring the fire's work. As they burned down, the smoke began to clear, and each child looked down at what remained.
Hayzen continued,
"Imbued with strength of fundaments four,
these gifts are yours forevermore.
Though they may not always be seen,
their secrets are now yours to glean."
He held out his hand, casting a spell he had only gained the previous day when Falton had lost his last agetooth. His connection to the world's magic wasn't strong by any measure, but his connection to these children was. The small thread of magic he gave multiplied with his love for the four, entwining into something great enough to complete the casting.
[Ancestor's Blessing] manifested slowly. In the smouldering ashes of each basket, soft green lights began to glow. The children gasped in awe as the lights brightened. They seemed to send out a whispers of wind, blowing the white ashes away from beneath. As the remains of the baskets and kindling cleared, each of the objects the children had gathered was exposed as the sources of the lights. None of them had been burned or damaged in any way, and they began to float up from the sands atop the blanket. Four small, wide-eyed faces were illuminated in warm green-gold magelight and blue-silver moonlight. One by one, the shining objects turned fully into light and floated through homespun shirts into the respective child's chest.
Falton's hair stood on end as his eyes and nails flashed glossy black. Cammind's irises and skin scintillated as if suddenly encrusted with geodes. Lissa's brown hair turned black and smoked like the [umbral fur] and her eyelids appeared like hundreds of tiny rainbow flower petals. Last, but not least, Bup's whole body shimmered iridescent purple and green and then immediately blended visually into the sand and rug and night sky, perfectly camouflaged. As soon as the changes had come, though, they vanished, the children returning to their perfectly ordinary selves.
The four parents, still and waiting through the blessing, burst from their places, rushing to congratulate the children. All stiff formality was thrown aside now that the ritual was complete, and the camp filled with hubbub and excitement. Lissa, always the first with questions, turned the nearest adult, her father in this case.
She asked in at child's barely-discernible high-pitched rapid-fire pace, "Daddy, what was all that? What happened? How does it work? Do we get to be magic like adults now? What does mine do? What did you offer when you were a kid? Does everyone do a ritual like this? What about kids who don't have parents? What about Spot? And why did I have to pick it myself? Couldn't you have—"
Drust's low chuckle cut her off as it burst out of him in jubilant mirth. He picked his only daughter up and swung her around in a full circle, still laughing, and pulled her close to nuzzle her nose with his. "Come, sweetling," he said. "The ritual of the [Ancestor's Blessing] might be over, but we've a story to tell you as well. And then we'll answer any other questions you want until we're all too tired to keep our eyes open. Okay?" He grinned widely, and she nodded against his thick beard.
"Okay," Lissa said, quieting as he carried her back over to the low table.
Lissa sat in her father's lap next to her mother, Tecka. The woman with matching hair leaned down and kissed Lissa on top of her forehead. Voice warm with satisfaction and love, Tecka gushed congratulations into her daughter's ear and draped an arm around Drust's waist.
The others soon gathered around the table, having similar conversations. Once they were all settled, and one last treat had been brought out—a honey-glazed cake with warm tea—Igmi motioned for Tecka to do the honors. The warm glow of the lamplight on the table mirrored the intimate joy of the occasion, and Tecka began to speak, explaining the mythological tale of how humans came to be and how they have magic.