The next morning, when I wake up, Yaci is already standing up and dressed.
"Good morning, Aurea. Did you sleep well?"
"Y-yeah..."
Yesterday I doze off very quickly. The wariness of all nights of the last week was absent, and my body was able to relax completely.
I get up, and she hands me a small bowl with dried fruits and nuts and a cup with water for breakfast.
"At what time do the preparations for tonight start?"
"I think that some people are starting already. I can take you there before I leave. I have patrol duty today."
"Thank you."
:::
It's incredible how the day passes in a flash when we're busy.
Now that I think about it, it's the second day in a row in which I neglect my morning routine, so I tell myself that tomorrow I'll go back to it.
Maybe I could ask Yaci or some other warriors to train me in melee combat. As much as I love magic, it's good to have an alternative for bad situations.
I will also use that time to choose what to do with those skill points I have accumulated and to learn more about the system.
I pass the biggest part of the day peeling and cutting vegetables, and right after lunch they teach me to cut and prepare meat for grilling.
Cooking in the wilds is a run against time. I felt that way when I was alone, but it's still true in the tribe.
That's because cooking requires fire, which emits light. And light at night attracts monsters from far away.
So everything has to be ready before nightfall.
For that reason, everyone is really quick with cutting and slicing, and they are happy to teach me methods to do my part faster.
[Cooking skill reached the threshold. Level raised to 3]
[You have one skill with enough XP to be unlocked without spending skill points]
It's barely before sunset that we finish cooking, and I hear those two notifications from a voice in my head.
But right as I'm thinking about checking it out, someone calls out for me.
"Hello, Aurea, I see you've been helping out. Thank you."
It's Yara, the head elder.
"Hello, Yara. I hope everything goes well today."
"Thank you. I came here to make your preparing for the ritual."
"My... preparing? I'll be part of the ritual?"
"Yes, but don't worry. You won't have to eat the fruit or anything. You'll be there as a guest of honor, as the one whom the Enchanted Ones brought to us."
Now that she puts it that way, it makes sense. And it also means that I'll be able to witness that ceremony from a privileged point of view.
I follow her to the big tent where I met the council yesterday. But instead of taking me in, she guides me to a lateral, smaller tent.
The night is already settling in, so she takes me by the hand so I don't trip. Beastkin have a natural vision that is more adapted to seeing in the dark, but I'm just a human.
I make a mental note to create an aria that allows me to see in the dark.
Inside the tent, there is a faint light. In the middle there is a basin with scented water, around which there are some beastkin women, ready to give me a good bath.
A needed and welcomed bath, yes. But still, the situation is embarrassing.
The women don't give me time to complain, quickly taking out my clothes and putting me in the water, where they brush me vigorously.
Yeah, I've been doing my best to clean myself with water magic during the journey, but this is a real and proper bath.
It feels good, but I know that it's only because of the occasion. In day-to-day life I probably will have to rely on my water magic again.
:::
After the bath is finished, I'm given new clothes. It's a simple dress, a little bigger than my body, but its fabric feels very nice on the skin.
"What is this fabric made of?"
"I'm told it's made from the silk of the larvae of some butterfly, Aurea."
Ohhh, like proper silk.
"Do you produce it yourselves?"
"No, I'm told the wolf people from the far west make it, in what remains of the old forest."
It's a pretty special dress, then. There's no way I'm tainting it today with food or anything.
We go out of the tent.
What I see then is something breathtaking.
There's a giant tree a few meters in front of the tent of the council. Way taller than the walls of the city.
Its branches go over the entire village, and hanging from their ends there is something like a curtain or veil that reaches the ground.
Floating around the trunk and over the tents, there are several little things that look like fireflies. Those little guys rush from one place to the next, like busy bees.
This is one of the most beautiful things I've seen in all my life.
All around the tree, the people are already congregating merrily.
"Aurea, there you are!!"
It's Yaci, running towards me. I smile and wave at her, but when she reaches me, she just grabs me in her arms and turns me around in the air.
"You look so cute with that dress, Aurea!"
"Hehe... thank you. But... can you put me on the ground, please?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. I just couldn't resist."
"No, it's okay. Just tell me... what is this?" I gesture towards the tree.
"Oh, it's one of the miracles granted by the Loa. It can only be conjured in nights of communion, like this one."
"It's really handy... as we can have light now. I had thought the ceremony would be inside a tent, with light like on normal nights."
"Then it wouldn't be a big celebration, would it? Communion Nights are few and far between, so we have to relish everything it can offer us."
"If we could have something like this every day, it would make life a lot more convenient."
"More convenient, yes. But we know convenience dulls the senses, and life in the Barrens asks for constant attention."
"I see you are ready, Aurea. Please, come and take the seat of honor. The ritual is about to start."
Yara calls me, so I follow her to the pointed seat.
I'm a bit hungry, but it seems that everyone's going to eat after the communion ritual is completed.
The chairs are arranged in front of the entrance of the council tent, and my seat is right in the middle.
Yaci sits at my left and Yara at my right. Soon the other elders take their seats as well.
Little by little, the people silence and turn their attention towards us.
Some drums start playing from inside the council tent, and I can also hear some chanting, which is then echoed by the people around us.
I sense the mana behind us shifting dramatically. Every strand of hair in my body is standing on end.
It's a presence so big that I feel like a little pebble in comparison that had appeared, like if a god had just teleported in.