Finally, the day had come. I would be lying if I said that the past two days were calm. The village was full into preparing mode for the Festival and I was pulled into it as well. My job was to make as many decorations as possible. Orna and some other two women showed me what and how to do the specific decorations. The main ingredient was animal bone and it took me a moment to not be weirded out by them. Orna explained that they didn't use flowers because they would wither quickly and that flowers would look weird when celebrating the God of Death. At that moment I learned that they burned their dead and nothing else. They also planned to burn the body of the murdered girl before the festivities, so that we could celebrate her soul reaching the Ethereal Fields. Or just afterlife. In these fields they will be able to run and hunt to their heart's content and meet their Gods.
Using leather strips and different size and shape bones, me with other women made all kinds of pretty things. We mainly made bone garlands for trees, but made sure that each was different from others. One of the woman carved bones, another one tied them up. We worked in front of Orna's home and from our position I could see how other people worked. What surprised me the most was the fact that food was prepared mainly by men. Which kind of made sense since they were the ones that hunted while women took care of their children.
During those two days I didn't see Tlaloc and Laird at all. Either I would be fast asleep when they came home or he would wake up super early and I woke up alone. I wasn't sure what made him so busy, but I had a feeling that a lot of his time was spent hunting down the killer. Unfortunately, unsuccessfully. The day came and the killer was still free.
That morning I woke up uneasy. And not because of the Festival. For half the day I walked around the village, helping with the last minute touches, but all the time my guts were in turmoil. Telling me that something was wrong. I couldn't pinpoint what was wrong with today's Festival and that bugged me. When the sun began dipping towards the horizon, me with Tlaloc began preparing ourselves in silence, each lost in our own mind. I began putting on my clothes that were prepared for me yesterday. It was a deer skin dress that hung to my knees. I had a necklace made out of animal, most likely wolf, canine teeth and a grey wolf fur on my shoulders. The front legs were slung over my shoulders and resting on my breast. They were held by a leather strip that was adorned by small carved bones. The wolf's head rested on top of my own head and hid my hair apart from a few loose strands. The rest of the fur covered my back and slowly began cooking me as summer's heat was quickly building up. Thankfully, my feet remained bare and stones cooled me a tiny bit.
'You're ready?' Tlaloc called me and I turned to him. He wore a deer skin kilt with his black wolf pelt over his shoulders and head. He also had a necklace made out of carved bones and teeth around his neck. He looked a lot like the day we met for the first time.
'No' the response escaped my lips and he rose his eyebrow. I hugged myself as I looked at the entrance where voices could be heard talking. Staying in the living quarters felt amazing for some reason. Tlaloc's bright blue eyes went to my hands around my stomach and back to my face. Our eyes met and he walked to me. In a second I was pulled in his bear hug and my uneasiness lessened a bit.
'I don't like having the Festival while the killer is on the loose, but we have to do it.' He spoke into my wolf pelt and I signed.
'Yeah' I understood that the Festival was very important to others and suddenly cancelling it when everything is done would not go over peacefully.
'Let's go, we have a soul to send off' he released me and I quickly fixed my fur. With Tlaloc by my side I walked down the steps leading to our living quarters and reached the sacrificial pedestal. On it was finished bonfire with the body on top of it. The woman was dressed nicely despite her torn limbs, prepared for the festivities like the rest of villagers. The bonfire was already rounded by the villagers, only the side towards the statues open. Tlaloc lead me to the front of the bonfire and I was given a lit torch while Tlaloc took a light brown wolf pelt and walked to the bonfire.
'Alaia, your life was short with us and taken too soon by someone who does not deserve to run free. Watch over your family and may your hunts be successful in Ethereal Fields' Tlaloc spoke with firm voice and covered the body with the fur plate, so that only her legs were open. He turn to me and I walked up to him. The fire from the torch quickly jumped onto the bonfire and in minutes the body was swallowed by it. Silence stood between everybody apart from sobs that came from the grieving family not far away from us and crackling fire.
I watched as the family of three approached us. The woman in tears was being lead by a teenage boy who also had teary eyes, but tried to stay strong in front of his mother. The father walked in front of them, his face sombre as he greeted Tlaloc.
'Thank you for sending my daughter off on such important day.' Tlaloc put a firm hand on the man's shoulder and shook his head.
'I should be apologizing for not able to protect her' the man smiled weakly.
'She would have found a way to Ethereal Fields no matter what. She hated her position as one of the Herbalist's successors'
To my surprise, the woman chuckled with tears in her eyes.
'She always wanted to join the hunting parties and now she can do that for as long as she wants' the woman smiled sadly.
The man thanked Tlaloc once again and took his wife and son away into the crowd. I glanced at the fire and my guts squeezed in worry.
'C'mon, the woman for the ritualistic dance will be chosen soon and you have to participate in the choosing' Tlaloc's voice woke me up and I nod, my mind still uneasy.