I scrambled to my feet and chased after him. Soldiers jumped out of the way as Rimu charged through them in attempt to escape me, but I kept with him. Rimu tried zig-zagging, making sharp turns, and even turning mid-run to run around me, but I wasn’t deterred from getting my hair clip back. By no means could he have it. That was one thing I would never part with.
I crashed to the ground with a thud as something heavy slammed into me. I grunted and tried to get up, but whatever hit me was still on me. My assailant hung his face in front of mine and chirped. I huffed. It was one of Rimu’s siblings. Taking a good breath, I forced myself against his weight and started to get up, but I was thrown back down when more weight jumped on me. I sighed when a new voice chirped. I was being ganged up on by baby scaly critters, and losing.
Their weight disappeared and the two little dragons grumbled. I turned to see Raikidan holding them by their tails and staring the two down, who showed no fear and stared back defiantly. Not taking my freedom for granted, I scrambled to my feet and ran off, looking for Rimu.
“You’re welcome!” Raikidan called after me.
I pushed through my men and searched for Rimu. He had gotten the chance to get pretty far, but I doubted he was old enough yet how to be completely tactical in his hiding.
I grinned when I found him trying to hide behind a rock seat that was much smaller than him. “Found you, Rimu.”
Rimu snatched the hair clip from between his feet and took off again. I followed him again, but slower. I needed to be aware of his siblings and figure out where he was going next for me to cut him off. Rimu ran and hid behind his mother but she moved away, exposing him. “You’re not going to hide behind me.”
He whimpered and tried to hide behind her again but she moved once again.
“This is your problem. You’ve upset her by taking something that belonged to her, so now you deal with it.”
It sounded weird hearing her talk to him like that. It sound like something you’d say to an older child, but Rimu could be older than I thought. I wasn’t familiar with the dragon age-to-growth ratio. Of course, they could just parent differently than humans as well.
Rimu looked at me and then back at his mother. He then looked at the entrance of the village and then back at me. He hesitated for a moment and then dashed for the gate. Unfortunately for him, that hesitation was all I needed to gain the upper hand. I cut him off and snaked my arms around his abdomen, grabbing a firm hold of him. He wiggled and writhed, but my grip held and I hauled him into the air and into my arms.
I sighed. “You’re the size of a small to medium sized dog, but you sure aren’t as light as one.” Rimu grunted and continued to try to get away. “I’ll let you go when you give me my clip back. There’s no negotiating this.”
Rimu grunted and shook his head. He had stopped squirming now, much to my relief, but it didn’t look like he intended to hand the clip over any time soon.
“Rimu, I’m not playing. Give it back to me,” I ordered.
Rimu lowered his head submissively but shook his head again in defiance. I sighed. I wasn’t going to hurt him, but asking wasn’t working for me. Just then, a small child ran up to us with her hands held up to Rimu. I looked at her with interest and watched her motions carefully. Rimu looked up at me and then suddenly tossed the hair clip to the girl. Shocked by his willingness to hand it over, the girl was able to get several feet away before I reacted.
Placing Rimu down, I dashed after the girl. “Get back here, kid.”
She squealed and giggled and continued to run. Picking up my pace, I closed the distance between us and grabbed her. She squealed and giggled with delight but didn’t fight me. I looked at her, hoping she’d hand the clip over to me without a fight, but then became confused when I noticed she no longer had it.
The girl giggled and then another girl giggled. I turned to see another child with my hair clip in hand before she disappeared into the crowd of soldiers. I placed the child back on the ground and ran after the other. Just as I picked my way through the crowd of men and reached her, she giggled and tossed the clip to another child who lay in wait. I went after him, but he too tossed it to another child when I came too close.
I huffed and pulled my hair to one side. I was starting to get annoyed. These children didn’t see any harm in this but I wanted my hair clip back. I didn’t want it getting broken.
I chased after a young child, maybe four or five, and watched her bump into one of the Brute soldiers. The little girl fell down and began to cry.
“Hey, hey, don’t do that,” the soldier cooed as he knelt down and pulled her onto his knee. “See, you’re okay.”
She sniffled quietly and he smiled at her. His smile was genuine and warm and she smiled back at him. Slowly the little girl held up my hair clip and offered it to him. The soldier took the hair clip with a grin and then put her on his shoulders before standing up. I advanced toward him, thinking he’d be wise and hand it over, but I was wrong.
With a large grin, the soldier tossed my hair clip to someone else. I growled and spun on my heels. This just got worse, and my worry about my hair clip being broken was looking to become a reality.
“Give it back,” I ordered.
The other soldiers refused to listen and laughed as they tossed the hair clip around.
“I’m not joking. Give it back.”
“Aw, lighten up, Commander,” someone said. “We’re just havin’ fun with ya.”
“I said give it back!” I barked.
Most of the soldiers stopped laughing. They knew I wasn’t going to play, with that tone, but there was one soldier in particular who wasn’t going to comply with my order, and he happened to be the one with my hair clip.
“Dude, give it to her,” one soldier told him in a hushed tone.
The soldier with my hair clip grunted and tossed it carelessly between his hands. “Why? It’s just a hair clip. It’s not like it’s something special.”
“You’re wrong,” another soldier argued. “Amara gave that to her. If anything happens to it, you’re a dead man. Just give it to her.”
I threw out my hand. “Give it to me now.”
“Lighten up, Eira. Nothing bad—”
I watched with horror when he fumbled my hair clip due to his careless tossing about and it flew out of his hands. Even though the hair clip was made of emerald, it was over half a century old. I had always been careful with it so it wouldn’t break, but I had always tried to be extra careful as time passed since I wasn’t sure if a short fall would break it or not. It wasn’t like I could easily get it fixed, and it definitely wasn’t replaceable.
I prepared for the worst as gravity pulled it down, but it never hit the ground. Several ivory spikes soared through the air, penetrating the ground and cradling the hair clip. I sighed with relief and watched as Talon strolled over to where my hair clip was being held captive. I eyed the long ivory spikes sticking out of his arms and watched as more grew out as if replenishing the ones he’d used.
Talon knelt down and picked up my hair clip and gave it a quick once over before standing back up and holding it out to me. “I think you dropped something.”
I grunted and walked over to take it from him. “Thanks.”
Talon smiled and nodded and headed back to the tactical table. I took a step to follow him, but was stopped when Tla’lli tossed a bow and quiver filled with arrows to me.
“Hunting, you in?” she asked.
I tossed the items back to her. “Don’t need them.”
She grinned and handed the bow and quiver over to her father, who looked at the tool and then at me.
“I see you don’t have the one I gave you,” he observed.
“I left it back at my campsite,” I explained. “I hadn’t realized I’d be gone for so long.”
He no
dded. “Fair enough. Have you used it for more than just hunting?”
“Once,” I admitted. “It took me a while to figure out its unique trait but it was useful. Though, it’s a bit clunky for what I do so I can’t use it all that much. Something smaller, like a hand crossbow or even a smaller bow, would work better for me.”
He nodded. “I understand. Unfortunately that’s the only one in existence, and we don’t know how to recreate it.”
I was a bit shocked. I couldn’t believe he’d give me something so rare.
Tla’lli grabbed onto my arm and pulled me toward the village entrance. “I don’t mean to interrupt you and my father, but we need to hurry before he—”
“Don’t be too long!” Ir’esh called. “You can’t be late.”
Tla’lli sighed. “Yes, father.”
I chuckled. “Late for what?”
She frowned. “Today is my coming-of-age celebration. It’s been in planning for months. It’s probably what made that general think we were planning some sort of rebellion or attack.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You have celebrations for coming of age?”
She nodded. “It’s a big elven tradition. Once an elf reaches a century old, they’re considered mature enough to be of marrying age, and since I’m the only one to reach a century in a while, it’s a really big deal.”
“Careful, your father might start trying to marry you off right after the ceremony with all these men here to choose from,” I teased.
“He’s already started,” she muttered. “I don’t want to think about what he’ll do with all these new men here.”
I laughed and threw my arm over her shoulder. “Then let’s hurry up. Can’t make you late for your own bachelorette party.”
She sighed. “Please make me late.”
I laughed again. “Not a chance.”
“You’re horrible,” she muttered.
I grinned. “I try.”
She shook her head a laughed. “Hey, where are you going?”
I pointed to the new direction I’d chosen to take. “Hunting, remember?”
“Best hunting places are this way,” she informed me.
“There’s prey this way,” I insisted. “I can smell it.”
She shook her head. “We don’t hunt over there. There’s never anything good.”
“The more you use a particular spot, the more you leave a permanent scent,” I informed her. “And the more permanent your scent, the more likely animals will avoid that area.”
She snorted. “I know these woods like the back of my hand. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You wanna bet?” I challenge.
Tla’lli grinned. “May the best hunter win.”
She turned to continue heading down the main path that lead out of the village and as she did, the wind picked up and she changed shape. I watched as she went from woman to cougar within seconds.
“Commander.” My attention was pulled away when a young soldier spoke. “What should we do?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Just make yourselves useful, I guess.”
I headed down my intended path without another word. Hearing soft crunching noises behind me, I stopped walking and turned around. Behind me, Rimu tentatively followed.
I chuckled and motioned him to follow. “C’mon, maybe I’ll teach you something.”
Rimu chirped happily and trotted close behind me as he followed me into the woods.
The sky was dark and littered with stars. The bonfire burned bright and lit up the forest around us as we sat around and enjoyed ourselves. Ir’esh and the villagers knew how to make one feel welcomed, but that was the duty of the shaman.
My men laughed, drank, ate, and were merry. It was nice to see them like this. It was nice to give them a piece of a moment in time where they didn’t have to worry. It was nice to give them a moment they could feel like normal men.
“You’re smiling,” Talon observed. “That’s not something I’ve seen in a long time.”
I looked at him. “Don’t get used to it. It’ll be gone by the morning.”
He laughed and went back to conversing with Tla’lli. I smiled. It was nice seeing him getting along with her. Talon was usually awkward around women in his attempt to never offend them, but there was no awkwardness between these two. It had to be a Tla’lli thing. The two of us had gotten along well today, and we didn’t really know each other. I had never bonded so fast with someone. Maybe Talon had been right. Maybe it was a destined friendship waiting to blossom. Or maybe it was just her. She was quite strange compared to most of the other village women. She dressed like them, but she didn’t act like them.
She was more trusting and curious. After we had gotten back from hunting and everything started moving with the party, she had boldly asked Talon about his ability. She was anything but shy and she liked getting her way, which meant she hated losing. I almost laughed, remembering what happened when we had come back from our separate hunting trips.
I had dragged back a decently-sized deer, surprising her. She really hadn’t expected me to bring back anything, but she wasn’t completely impressed because she figured her two deer, which Rimu attempted to steal right from her hands, rivaled my catch. She tried to tease me, thinking I had made the wrong hunting spot choice, and made a worse choice by bringing Rimu with me, but it backfired in her face when I left and returned with a large black bear.
She almost fainted at the sight of me dragging it back, and even Rimu had a small rabbit in his jaws, although I wasn’t going to tell her he had actually caught it when I was retrieving the bear. Rimu had made it difficult to hunt. He was too eager and tended to scare the prey off, but after watching me, he managed to get the concept of waiting without bouncing around, allowing me to finally land a kill.
When Tla’lli had recovered from her shock, she refused to believe I had caught the bear in that location. Her refusal to acknowledge her loss amused me. She was so stubborn, but there was a reason I had been so successful, even with my handicap. Once she calmed down, I pointed out the time of year and I reminded her of the river that flowed just past the village. I explained her it didn’t matter if she knew the normal good hunting spots or if the animals hadn’t caught onto their hunting scent trail. If there was no water during hot summer days, even in the later part of the day, she wasn’t going to find anything. I had found these creatures all by the river, looking for something to drink.
She reluctantly accepted her defeat, thought made it clear she wasn’t at all happy to have been beaten at her own game by an outsider.
A masculine voice pulled me back to the present. I looked up to find Ne’kall holding his hand out to me. “C’mon, let’s go.”
My brow rose. “Go where?”
He chuckled. “It’s time for the fire dance. Now get up.”
I shook my head. “Oh no. I don’t prance around.”
Ne’kall snorted. “It’s not prancing and you know it. Besides, there are few fire shamans in this village, and even fewer who know any of the dances. And that few includes you.”
“I don’t care. I’m not doing it.”
“I vote you do,” Tla’lli said.
“I vote you don’t have a say,” I retorted.
Tla’lli grunted. “I do too. This is my celebration and you’re going to do it.”
“This is the celebration you begged me to keep you from,” I said. “And since you didn’t want to be here in the first place, I’m not going to listen to you.”
“I’d like to see what this dance is,” Talon said. “Especially if you’re supposed to be a part of it. You always liked to say you didn’t know how to dance.”
“C’mon, don’t be a chicken,” Ne’kall teased.
I sighed and reluctantly took his hand. Wh
at was the harm? It wasn’t the kind of dance Talon likely thought it to be. Unfamiliar with tribal dances, he’d think this dance would be like those seen in the city.
Following behind Ne’kall, we headed for the bonfire. As we did, I figured it’d be more appropriate to wear my shaman outfit, so I had my clothes change. Once we arrived at the fire, a shaman with a large moose skull on his head handed me a large bear skull with large, colorful plumage attached to the back.
My brow rose and he chuckled. “Just wear it.”
I eyed him skeptically, but when a young woman came over and offered a deer skill to Ne’kall and he allowed her to a place it on his head, I put the bear skull on my own head. Another woman joined us with two wooden bowls in her hands. Curious, I peered into the bowls, to find green and red paint. This intrigued me, although all of this was intriguing to me. I was familiar with the dance, but never had I performed it in an actual celebration setting, or with this tribe.
This tribe’s customs were much different than the West Tribe. This tribe really embraced their primal roots, where the West Tribe didn’t. The West Tribe was self-sufficient, but they also had a firm hold in modern living.
I stepped back when the man in front of me dipped his fingers into the bowl with the red paint and then reached for me. He chuckled and then motioned for me to come back. Eying him, I did as asked and waited as he painted my face with various marks. When he was done, he pulled away and cleaned his fingers. I glanced over at Ne’kall to see a woman finishing the process of painting his face.
He glanced at me when she was done. The two of us, and the shaman who had been painting my face, moved into our positions around the fire with two other shamans. My body reacted instinctively as drums began to beat and people chanted. My feet moved without me having to think much, and my fingers pulled the bonfire flames to dance to my will.
I could feel the beat of the drums in my chest and could feel the heat of the flames as they licked my skin. The world faded and it was just me, the flame, and its warmth. I couldn’t feel the eyes of anyone watching. I couldn’t feel the stillness of the night summer air. I was lost in a world I knew but hadn’t visited in a long time. I was lost in a small sense of security and peace.
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