Druids Clan: Sisters 3

Furor sighs once more before she glances up at the tree. Startled, she knocked into her sisters to bring their attention to the tree. Kaimana gasped as she saw what had surprised Furor. Cheiro didn’t have an outward reaction, but her eyes went wide. 

“What’s happening?” Furor mumbled as she stood on her hind limbs to get a closer look. 

“I have no idea,” Kaimana added. 

“It can’t be,” Cheiro finished. 

The three sisters were looking at the tree as the glowing runes wavered on and off. When they took a second to look away from the runes, they could see that plants and flowers even turned away from them. The empyrians were immediately put off by the rejection from the nature around them. 

“I guess they can sense our nature,” Kaimana chuckled, letting a smirk appear on her face. 

Cheiro smiled at her sister and laughed. She didn’t deny that she thought the same thing. Furor agreed with them, but she didn’t find it so funny, if anything it made her a little mad. However, all three knew there wasn’t much they could do, so they waited for Auris to return. 

It wasn’t long before the leader of the Druids approached them. He saw the glow in the atmosphere and knew the tree had let its decision be known. The three topsiders weren’t welcome. He saw them lounging at the base of the old tree and called for their attention. 

“Ladies,” Auris addressed them and started to see what the tree saw as the three turned their heads in his direction. They all had an eerie stare he hadn’t seen when he first came across them. 

“Is there anything we can do?” Furor asked, gesturing to the tree, “To help.”

Auris gave a tight smile and shook his head. 

“There isn’t much we need help with in this clan,” Auris continued, “I can show you a few things before you go.”

The three sisters stood up, ready to follow him. He led them past the tree and further from the way they came. Cheiro noticed the direction they were headed but didn’t say anything. She and her sisters figured since the Druids didn’t need their help with anything they might be able to move on to the next clan quickly. 

As they walked the sisters looked around taking in the plants like they had the whole time they were in this clan’s territory. When Auris saw what they were looking at he would point out different variations and describe their uses. He hoped to leave them with some information that might help them through the rest of their journey. 

After a long walk, Furor looked over her shoulder and saw they were heading away from the massive pillars and tree. She looked forward towards her sisters to see if they noticed. However, she didn’t see any recognition from them. In every other clan, it felt like they were visiting for a long time taking in the culture, but she and her sisters had hardly experienced anything here. 

“Where are we going?” Furor finally asked. 

Auris sighed with a slight chuckle, “I’m showing you the way to the next clan.”

Cheiro wasn’t surprised but didn’t realize her sisters hadn’t caught on. 

“What?” Kaimana sounded shocked, “We haven’t gotten a chance to experience your ways like the other clans.”

Furor nodded, and added, “Yeah, is there a ceremony or tradition we can witness?”

Cheiro observed her sisters trying to stay longer and before Auris could say anything, she chimed, “Don’t you want to get home?”

Kaimana and Furor whipped their heads to their eldest sister with confusion written on their faces. Cheiro followed up by saying since there wasn’t much to do here, they could carry on to the next clan ultimately leading to getting home faster. Auris nodded his head to the dark blue empyrian. He wanted them off the territory as quickly and calmly as possible. 

“And, unfortunately, you’ve come after most of our ceremonies take place,” Auris added. He wasn't lying to them, their moon ceremony passed days ago, and the seasonal celebration wouldn’t be for months. 

The sisters all sighed. Cheiro was relieved they could move on; Kaimana was disappointed they missed one ceremony; Furor was reluctant to let the topic pass without more information. The group walked in more silence until they reached the end of the Druids’ domain.

“This is where we part ways,” Auris said. He thanked them for their help with the young injured animal. 

The sisters each said their goodbyes and were turning to leave when Cheiro spoke up, “Wait, Auris. Do you know the way to the next clan?”

Auris paused for a moment unsure whether he should give them that information, but ultimately he didn’t want them to get lost or need to come back so he quickly pointed to the path to take. He also gave them markers to look for; some would let them know they had gone the wrong way and others would let them know they were on the right track. 

This time the sisters thanked him and then started to walk away until they had the space to fly. 

Auris watched the empyrians materialize into clouds and vanish from his sight. 

[876]