Malika of bone

Malika is a young-looking woman. She has smooth, tanned skin, covered by tribal tattoos with religious meaning, since she is a shaman.

Her clothes are enchanted to form a sort of protective field around her that cushions attacks and stops some attacks from hitting her.

Her scimitars were specially forged so that she could channel her magic easily through them.

The sachets on her are either filled with medicinal herbs, poisons or her bone summons. Yes, bone summons – carved bones, mostly fangs, of creatures she's defeated, then carved runes into them and made them her servants (a summon can't be stronger than the summoned, hence the rule of defeating them). The talismans are made of thread, a bit of metal and bone, they serve different purposes like repelling bad luck, warning about malicious intent and etc. The bone ornaments are tribal symbols of status and power – one of the rules is to have your first prey's bone and your last prey's bone on you, you keep whatever other bones you want and the others can be thrown/burned but those two are a MUST, usually they are placed in the two opposite ends of a necklace, symbolizing the beginning and the end, the bones in-between represent the warrior's journey.

Malika was born some 200+ years ago in the Ramatte tribe, it is a tribe of desert-dwelling demons in a country south-east of Melromark, that is known to most as the desert country Arrabito. Legends about the desert demons kidnapping kids, luring lost travelers and killing whole caravans that entered their territory were spread from mouth to mouth in Arrabito. People were scared and for a reason! All the rumors were true.

Ramatte was one of the plenty other tribes scattered through the desert. Malika was the daughter of not only the chief but also the grand shaman's granddaughter. There could only be 1 grand shaman, so Malika's mother, whose powers were not as strong as her brother's, became the wife of the chief while her uncle became the new grand shaman. She was born on the hottest day of the year – the Scorching Earth day. Desert-dwelling demons had extraordinary physique that allowed them to thrive in the desert and even walk under the hot sun without any problems, the Scorched Earth day was different. On that day it is said that the goddess of the sun Daxinya comes to Earth to mourn her lover's death, her radiance so strong it makes the sand so scorching hot it would cook any being not careful enough, parts of it would turn into desert glass and even fires may appear. It had been so hot when Malika's mother had given birth that Malika almost died but was saved and according to her grandma that was the reason she had such a strong connection with the spirits – she had almost joined them at the day of her birth.

Malika had been like any other child of her tribe – wild, chaotic, unblinking when she killed her prey. That changed after a caravan had strayed into their territory. The adults had killed a lot of the people but at least half of the caravan escaped. Malika, along with the other children searched through the remains for interesting things when she found a book. It was a story book about a brave warrior that journey across the world, had daring adventures and brought honor to her family, despite the other villagers' mockery that she couldn't do it because she was a woman. This book ignited Malika's curiosity about the world, about what else could be seen other than endless sand, rocks and occasional oasis.

Malika was engaged and that had pissed her off. No one had asked her, just announced it to her one day that she is going to marry a man to keep the priest and chief's blood and ensure healthy new generation, preferably a son – her father had said. That night Malika had taken all her needed possessions and ran away – to be free, to seek adventures, to see new lands, to find true love!

They had chased her for a long time but after going to a new continent, her pursuers had lost her or given up. She was lost and exhausted but was free. She wandered around for a few months before reaching civilization- turns out demons are also not received well here. It was so strange! Seeing so many people with round or animal ears and no one like hers! Malika used a shawl to cover her face and continue her travels.

She had no money, so she slept outside. That is when she met Cain and his party. They were dropping off the last of the rescued children to their families in the same town she had been at the moment.

Malika was drawn in by Cain's mysterious aura and the unusual spirits around him. It was odd to have someone being followed by a sprit but Cain had several – all of them looking like ferocious insect-like beasts she had never seen. She was intrigued and asked to join, they welcomed her with open arms.

=== After the 1st Wave ===

Malika and the others travelled to other countries. Each new place made her eyes sparkle more and more, her heart fluttering in excitement – it was nothing like the dull desert, so much color, so much beauty and life all around her!

She acquired new bone puppets from the monsters they fought on the way, even two wyverns after saving a mining village that was ravaged by the beasts.

She got closer to Neil, impressed by his strength and kindness. His aura a mix of two very different but complimenting halves. Her heart fluttered and cheeks darkened and she found herself wondering one night 'Is this what love feels like?'.