Scorched Campaign

9: Druid's Moon

.^^ Giant-Born Mongolin ^^

— Caroline —

Sandy woke me up, the day of the celebration, and shushed me when I went to speak. She motioned me to dress and follow her, and began pulling her own clothes on.

I obeyed, confused but interested in what was going to happen, and gasped quietly when I saw the group of people, the entire clan of 120 Daisha that had gathered over the past few days, carrying Iris and four other girls (that were also coming of age, apparently,) like they were crowd-surfing in their sleep.

Sandy placed a finger on my lips, and I noticed the eery silence in the house, as the crowd began a procession, like a funeral march without the caskets, through the streets and into the entry canal.

As the procession marched, each of the adult women raised a staff, and the ends lit on fire; the men held curved scimitars on guard in front of themselves, adding to the image, which made the entire procession resemble an angry mob and a military parade mixed together... until the dancing started.

I'd never seen so much grace and elegance in a single group of individuals, as they deftly moved around each other, threading around each other like needles and fine silk.

Sandy led me to the rest of my family that had stayed, which was just our adventuring party and my parents, plus Sariel, who was glued to Tommy's side, staring at the fire and flashing blades around him with his wide red eyes.

After we were together in the center, she moved to stand next to her mother, and their moves synchronized flawlessly, leading the procession out of the canal into a large cave, which had several tunnels upwards. They didn't choose any of them, instead walking into the water that rocked gently at the opening towards the outside of the cliff.

The fire on their staffs didn't die out, and I noticed a tunnel of air open around them, then stay open behind them. I curbed my need to exclaim how awesome this entire experience was, because other than the sounds of the flames and swords flying, there was no sound yet. No words.

The path continued until we curved around and reached a piece of beach, our arrival from the sea scaring away a group of giant seals and a few slumbering water dragons.

The crescent moon was directly over us, and I could feel the heat of the sands under us, even though it didn't affect me. Papa was the only one who was bothered, apparently, which mother solved by carrying him, much to his embarrassment.

The procession laid the girls down in the sand, and formed a large circle around them, stabbing their staffs into the sand, like tiki torches, as the sand around the flames in the bottom of the staffs crystallized from the heat, and kept the staff upright.

A cave to our left finally made a sound, and a massive creature slowly walked out on two legs, though it had four. A furry belly and armored scales on his back made him some sort of pangolin, perhaps, but mixed with a Ferret, with his slender, weasel-like body, other than the scales. On his forearms, he wore brass bracers, and his larger bottom feet were strapped almost to the toes in silk.

He sniffed, and then approached the circle carefully, and a rich, deep voice came from his throat. "When the moon is High, rage and fury Die... when the Sands Quake, the Daisha do not Shake... descendants of Giants, killers of Titans, breakers of Tyrants, Givers of Life. What does the Daisha Bring the Giant-Born Mongolin?" He asked, and sat primly in front of Kaza.

She mutely gestured to the girls, who had woken up as soon as he'd exited the cave, but hadn't moved from their sitting positions.

"To enter into Adulthood, a Daisha must have strength. Strength of body, of mind, of soul, of heart. To aid in this, you may ask for strength, from your family. From your Clan. From yourself, even." He leaned into the circle, speaking to them directly.