Druids Clan: Sisters 2

The three empyrians glanced at the injured animal one last time before they followed their new guide further into the Druids’ territory. They could catch glimpses of the tall pillars getting closer through holes in the trees, but they could tell they were still quite a ways away. The three sisters attempted to start a conversation with their guide but the guide wasn’t too receptive. 

Nearly an hour of walking had passed by the time the group had managed to get to the base of the pillars. The sisters had one thought in their mind; it would have been much faster if they had just flown. However, they tried not to dwell on the thought for too long as they took in the area around them. 

The guide mumbled something about staying where they were, but they were busy looking at the pillars to really acknowledge the haedian. The structures were massive up close, even more so than they had thought when they first saw them. Furor was deep in thought when she saw a tall Haedian approach them. At this point, Kaimana and Cheiro had turned away to look more closely at some of the plants that grew on one of the pillars. 

Furor spoke with a simple greeting when the Haedian was within earshot, and her sisters turned when they heard her voice. The brown Haedian nodded their head and returned the greeting. He went further and welcomed the three empyrians. 

“When I heard what you’d done with the animal, I thought I might show you our old tree,” The haedian explained. 

The three sisters listened as the haedian spoke with a calm, measured tone. They easily considered that this might have been the leader of the Druids. Cheiro and Kaimana kept their thoughts to themselves, but Furor was more blunt. 

“You must be the leader?” Furor spoke before the group could start walking. 

“I am, I go by Auris,” He spoke simply and gestured for the group to follow him. 

The three sisters weren’t entirely happy to have yet another silent walk, but they didn’t want to get thrown out of another Clan. They remained quiet as they walked, taking in more of the environment around them. Thankfully, this stroll was much quicker than the first. Within minutes, they could see the massive tree and the faint glow coming off it. 

When they were at the base of the tree the group could see all the intricate runes and shapes written all over the bark of the tree. Kaimana was immediately interested, trying to see if she could decipher anything written. Cheiro and Furor were struck by how massive the tree was and how old it must be to have all this writing. 

Auris took a moment to explain the tree and its significance to the sisters. None of them looked at him as he spoke, they circled the tree taking in the glowing marks. They were still listening, they would nod or make noises of acknowledgment to let Auris know they heard him. 

“You can take your time with our Oracle, and if you feel inclined you can water it,” Auris added when he finished his explanation of the tree. 

The three sisters nodded and thanked him for his information. They turned their attention back to the tree and Auris moved to a different patch of grass to watch them from. 

“What do you think all this means?” Furor muttered to herself, but her sisters answered. 

“I have no idea,” Cheiro answered. 

“Can you translate anything, Kai?” Furor turned to her older sister. 

The white tyrian shook her head, “There are some shapes that look familiar but they are tied with other shapes I’ve never seen before.”

Cheiro focused on one section of the tree and noticed that some of the runes in the bark glowed more strongly than others. When she looked closer she noticed that every single rune had some sort of glow, but some were barely visible. 

She wondered out loud, “Do you think the strong glowing runes are more recent?”

Furor, who was looking at a different section of the tree, wordlessly shrugged her shoulders. However, she made the same observation. 

“We could ask Auris,” Furor added. 

Furor was about to call out the leader, but Kaimana called for her sisters' attention. Dropping the thought to ask Auris; Cheiro, and Furor moved their way over to Kaimana to see what she wanted. 

Kaimana had picked a string of runes that seemed the most familiar to her and was staring at it. She felt her sisters join her at her sides. They waited for her to explain. 

“I know many languages,” Kaimana started, “I thought this one might be one we might be able to decipher.”

Furor gasped, “That’s exciting.”

“How can we help?” Cheiro added, feeling her youngest sister’s excitement. 

Kaimana was quiet for a moment before she quietly whispered a spell. In a flash, hundreds of different runes and shapes burst from her body. They floated in the air around her with a shimmering white glow like Kaimana’s eyes. 

“I’m hoping we can match some of these runes to the ones we see on the tree.” Kaimana explained, “If you guys help, it’ll go by quickly.”

Furor and Cheiro quickly agreed to help. 

“All you have to do is if one rune doesn’t match, touch it to expel the magic,” Kaimana informed her sisters how this spell worked and offered a quick demonstration. A rune floated in front of her that she quickly saw wasn’t needed and lightly touched it with one of her claws. The rune disappeared like light smoke fading away. 

“Sounds easy enough,” Cheiro said as she and Furor got into position. 

Cheiro noticed right off the bat that some of the runes floating around Kaimana were made of completely different shapes. The ones on the tree were all sharp-angled and straight lines, but a good portion of runes near Kaimana’s back were made up of circles and dots. She quietly started tapping them away with her claws. 

Furor was more methodical. She focused on one rune in front of her that was floating slightly off Kaimana and then compared it to any of the runes in the string they were trying to solve. 

As Kaimana’s sisters worked she could feel the spell becoming easier and easier to maintain. After several painstaking hours of getting lost in the puzzle. Kaimana was convinced they wouldn’t be able to decipher this string. 

She sighed, “Sorry guys, I thought we might be able to get one.”

Furor and Cheiro joined in her disappointment, but they all had to admit they were tired. They sat down by the base of the tree and relaxed as they figured out what to do next. 

[1130]