Startled, overwhelmed, and ripped from his observations, Yu struggled to function. His gaze flickered over the small pin affixed to the shaman’s chest. It was a miniature rendering of the coat of arms that adorned the wooden plaques throughout the building. The same insignia worn by every guild member. All but Deltingar and Estington wore it over their hearts, or at least where Yu assumed their hearts to be. The brothers, being shirtless, had larger versions affixed to their belts.
As Yu’s eyes locked onto the pin, the he first thing that came to him slipped out before he could stop it: “Are you Terbert?”
A brief pause.
Then — laughter.
Not from the shaman.
From outside.
A bellowing, guttural roar, rolling through the storm, crashing against the walls, so forceful that it rattled the air inside. Estington or Deltingar. Howling.
Every conversation in the common room stopped. Heads turned. Some towards the door. Most towards Yu.
Yu wanted the floor to swallow him whole. He knew he had fucked up the moment the words had left his mouth. Sometimes, shit just came out. He was exhausted, overworked, hungry, not thinking clearly since the moment he arrived.
The shaman did not show any amusement or reaction, which did absolutely nothing to make this better.
“I am the shaman of this guild.”
The words seemed whole. Yet if you listened closely, if you reached out to touch them, you found them shattered — a million shards of fractured sound, just at the brink of merging.
Yu snapped out of it. “Sorry, I mean, I thought you were a guard … Sorry. Never mind.”
“She is a guard,” said Bubs.
“I am a former guard-to-be,” said the shaman. “This is most likely my last day at the guild. Until the ceremony.”
Yu latched onto that. “What ceremony?”
“The Relief of Duty. A ceremony for farewell.” The shaman’s tone did not change. “I have spent eight months here. Now, I return to my settlement of wanderers. Shamans are not meant to remain in one place. Even after our pathfinder walkabout. As for the ceremony … You will see.”
She left it at that.
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