(POV Nu)

 

  As I was only two steps away from slipping past Ruu, who kept a short leash around my neck since I had led the elf to him, never leaving me alone for more than it took to cut one arukoro seed from its stalk. The wood on the side of the wagon creaked loudly causing me to jump from fear as I turned to look at the cheery party. Ruu's back was turned toward me as he raised another hearty cheer. I panned across the party toward the alien purple glint and saw the elf's spikey ears slightly twitch but nothing more.

 

Phew! Should have held onto that leash instead of letting it go for alcohol Ruu!

 

I quickly jump off and run toward the back with all haste I could muster. When the sounds of drinking and chattering began to grow fainter I almost fell forward as I spotted a great clay-brown figure standing beside my destination. The golem blankly stared at the space in front of it while appearing too busy itself with scrubbing the crimson filth gunging up the crevasses in its intricate design.

The lifeless golem seemed to grow frustrated with the endless task at hand as its empty sockets gazed at the wagon with Siri inside

 

  I took my chance to sneak to the other side but before I fully made it I suddenly heard something crack behind me.

 

"W-?!"

 

  I jumped behind the cartwheel and turned around to the sight of the golem grabbing its head with one hand and ripping it off. A long dark oily goo hung behind the decapitated head with blue and golden specks of metal coursing through the dark mass. 

The golem leaned forward and reached for the ground with its free hand, scrapping a handful of rocks into its palm. The idol of death lifted its giant arm and opened its palm causing the rocks to fall into its innards before placing the decapitated head back where it belong. 

 

  From the inside of the construct rattling noise began to grow louder as small puffs of crimson powder began to appear all over its body. Occasional circular marks began to appear on the golem's surface, especially around the clay joints.

 

  Finally taking my eyes off the strange behaviour I slowly walked backwards, taking extra care to know where I placed my feet so as not to alert the giant mass of animated soil. Peeking my head around the corner I felt cold air flow down to the ground from the inside of the wagon. Why is ice covering the wood?

 

"Mmm?" What was that?

 

  From the corner of my eye, I saw something blue in colour dance in the wind. When I turned my head I was met with a ghostly silhouette of a blue serpent's skeleton. Cold. My forearm suddenly itched with power as I felt something empowering me as the blue serpent danced in the wind trying to get behind my head as I constantly kept my eyes locked onto it.

 

"An ice spirit?" The ever-fainting serpent the size of my forearm caused a thin layer of ice to start forming on the ground below it.

 

  Only in legends about heroes and true champions do a spirit show their fragile, delicate bodies to anyone who isn't a great shaman. Not only that but it was the wrong season for the blessed spirit to show itself. Bauha always spoke about how the spirits slumber the season which is not theirs in great underground caverns where they shape the rock to their will but it was the beginning of the wind season which should mean not even wind spirits should manifest as they had just awakened from their long slumber. But even if wind spirits were able to fully awaken the snow only comes after the wind.

Something isn't right.

 

  I followed the spector of famine and resilience with my eyes keeping direct eye contact with its ghostly eye while pulling back my sleeve to show I am a shaman. Eventually, the serpent drifted in a full circle around me and ended up fully fading right in front of the curtain door keeping the sickly girl in the dark.

 

"Woah!" I feel my wrist being pulled on the ice-covered wood as I was violently yanked back. Coming suddenly to stop in the air I saw the golem's petrified face staring me down as it held me high in the air by my collar. "Hi?"

 

 

---

 

 

  Below the naked sky, enclosed within a dark dome richly decorated with colourful stars twinkling softly with celestial light Iris idly watched the gash of otherworldly colours spinning above her, serving as the backdrop for the many constellations with unpronounceable names and the planets barely distinguishable from the larger of the other cosmic guardians of Niuran holding daemons at bay. Tanzmir the Ringholder the largest of the planets shined down at her with cold unwelcoming light foretelling the coming of winter as his ring created from his own shattered arm spun slowly around him.

 

  Iris's foot filled the tranquil air around her with inpatient taps of her foot as her knee twitched up and down, working the invisible bellows since the sun rose the previous day.

The first day after Kia had secluded herself, she had partied with the humans until the birds had returned to the roughly four humans who were not snoring loudly on the wooden floor and out of these four only one haven't touched enough of the strange alcohol to affect him. 

She had spent the second day practising her skill with magic, continuously getting more comfortable with the archaic force at her fingertips but around when the sun had passed its highest point she felt the energy in her body drain as a low buzzing sound appeared inside her head.

 

  On the third day, the buzzing had stopped as she waited for the undead mage to come out of her icy cocoon like a newborn butterfly but the only that thing that had come out to her was Ruu who appeared behind her, patting her stiff shoulders and saying they were two days away from their village. 

 

  The elf had thought she had broken the man's arm when she had instantly spun around and grabbed the human's thick arm. Instead of having his bone shattered by her, Ruu asked her if Siri's sickness was getting worse with a genuinely concerned voice. Even if the man's classes were probably aimed toward hunting wild animals instead of combat his high level above 100th line and high attributes shielded him from the elf's accidental attack.

Iris couldn't know for sure how Ruu's levels were distributed but thanks to her Mark of Darkness she could thus far inspect everything she had tried without having to consider if the target was fifty levels above her or not which was a new empowering feeling for the former slave who had her level progression completely halted on level one.

 

  Even with an urge to practise and get better, perhaps even being bold enough to ask one of the humans to spar with her. Iris felt like doing nothing for a day... or two as the annoying buzz returned to haunt her.

 

"What do you wa- oh?" The entire wagon shook as the risen's clay companion climbed on up. The golem looked worse for wear as small clay chunks fell onto the floorboard with each movement the golem made.

 

  Without its creator to fix it the construct was living on borrowed time and there were no doubts about this in her mind but something stirred in Iris's chest. Grabbing the backrest she leaned over heavily and ripped a handful of grass blades alongside their roots.

 

"Sit down and shuffle closer to me." Iris ordered the construct as she began to stuff the open cracks with blades of grass and entomb them inside with damp soil. She didn't expect to prolong the golem's life but it felt right to make the golem look presentable for their creator who was due to return any moment now. When Iris was done filling and hiding the many fractures she casted flame and turned the patches of black earth into a similar sandy brown colour the construct was made out of. As the elf worked the golem seemed to relax or at least look like it was relaxing as its clay body never strayed from battle readiness.

 

"All done." Iris said as she dusted off her dirty hands.

 

  Looking down at its own body the golem stared at the elf for a long silent moment before standing up and returning to walking behind the caravan leaving the elf alone once more.

 

"Ibiz? You're here?" A soft murmur radiating exhaustion interrupted Iris's stargazing. Turning toward the source of the murmur the elf saw Kia's head peeking out from the inside.

 

"I am," The elf replied while gently helping the girl climb onto the driver seat. "What took you so long?" She slowly said as she noticed that the girl's black hair was all interlaced into a single long plait hanging on her shoulder. 

 

  The necromancer rubbed her eye with a small doll-like fist before shuffling closer to the risen rubbing in the clay left there by the construct into her porcelain legs, staining them brown.

 

"I was creating a spell that would help me with surviving the winds carrying an enormous amount of life mana or at least withstanding them as you do but..." the girl leaned her head on Iris's shoulder. "Nothing I came up was able to withstand so much mana even with such a low density at any reasonable cost." 

 

"I do these often Iris, I like doing things with my hands when I am calculating spells," Kia added as she felt the warm fingers of her companion brush the long soft braid. "Do you like it?" 

 

  Iris thought long and hard about the necromancer's question as she compared her memory against the new and different style the girl decided to wear.

 

"I don't know yet." The elf's voice escaped her mouth but fell on deaf ears as Kia had fallen asleep before the elf could answer her question. 

 

  The elf smiled as she shifted in her seat and sneaked her arms under Kia's arms and tightly hugged the purring kitten.

Even hugging the girl the elf felt compelled to lift the sleeping mage onto her lap and cuddle with the girl whose sleeping body nestled into the elf's warm body. 

 

"The sum of the... wrong, waves out of phase... one two nine point zero five... round it up... grrr why can't wind be perpendicular to me... is this spell manifesting as a perfect sphere or..." 

 

  Only when the elf felt Kia's purrs tickle her ear and the kitten's cold hands wrapped around her neck did the elf feel the buzz inside her head slowly recede.