Circles of Ciridia: The Windtalker's Amulet

Chapter Two ~ The Rescue

Kiäna studied the layout of the beastmen's camp. The foul beasts had taken over the clearing where the grass grew long and the shade of the nearby trees would keep the area nice and cool. Some had brought wood to the center of the clearing while another had worked to start a fire. They built a campfire with all the wood and set it ablaze.

The beastman with her flowers approached the fire and threw them in. He was a menacing sight, with his wolfly appearance spreading beyond simple ears and the tail of a wolf. He had fur on his face instead of a regular beard. His legs had the appearance of a wolf's, with his paws in his boots. His hands had the claws of a wolf. Even from where Kiäna watched from the safety of the stifling foliage, she could see that this man must be a leader of the troop of beastmen.

Men came back from a nearby stream with buckets of water. A few beastmen sat with knives, skinning rabbits and squirrels. One beastman even walked into the clearing with a deer slung over his shoulders. It was a doe, and Kiäna couldn't help but harbor rage in her heart for the beastmen who would kill a mother deer without a thought. All the beastmen seemed to be taking care to remain alert.

Without making a sound, she found her flowers behind some trees and bushes. She took a breath and released her mist makutu, appearing again beside the bush, but hopefully out of sight of the watchful beastmen. Now she just needed to get to the children so she could cast her mist makutu on them. An illusion to distract the beastmen should work, and she pondered her course of action.

She pulled the pack off her back and took out the ingredients for an illusion makutu. Little acorns set inside circles of woven hair. She laid out dozens of them in a halo around her, all that she had in her pack. She would be very busy later replenishing her supply.

She quickly stuffed the lilac into her pack, making the bag bulge with all the sprigs she'd found. With all the lilac she already had in her bag, she would hopefully have enough.

She knelt down behind some tall grass and bushes and breathed slowly to try and remain calm, but now came the risky part of her plan. Now she would alert the beastmen of her presence. With her hands held cupped in front of her belly, she summoned her spirit again. Once her spirit answered her call, she waved her hands all around the acorns in their little circles, sending her spirit into the circle. "Kia ora mai nga kano oka iti! Haere! Come to life, little acorns!" she whispered. "Go!"

The little acorns turned into images of Kiäna. They ran off in all sorts of directions, now only somewhat under her control.

The beastmen shouted in alarm. Kiäna quickly hid behind the bushes as a few beastmen ran by. The bloodthirsty beastmen would pursue harmless Värian children who merely fled the area. The thought made her want to rescue the odd children from these tyrants all the more.

She hid in the bushes, patiently giving the pursuing beastmen time to run by. All but two of them had pursued the illusions. The two beastmen stood up to guard the children, looking around warily. Kiäna breathed a sigh of relief. She could deal with two beastmen.

She stepped out of the bushes and knelt down to lay out her lilac in a circle. Would it be big enough for all of them? She couldn't tell for sure. She could only bring the children here and see. So she pulled four arrows from her quiver and stuck them into the grass. The first shot was the most important, but she should have time to shoot at least a few shots.

She grabbed a pouch of moonstones from her belt and emptied the bag into her hand. Before activating her spirit, she made a circle around the arrows with the stones, infusing them with gravity makutu. Now there was nothing left to do but begin the attack before the other beastmen came back.

She nocked an arrow and aimed. For a moment she paused to steady her breathing. Then she let loose the arrow, which snapped forward and found its mark. She didn't wait to watch the beastman fall, and instead, she stooped quickly to grab another arrow from the ground and aimed at the other beastman who was on high alert. He held up a shield.