Their sadness welled up in Lia’s chest, and her vision grew hazy as she wiped tears from her eyes. I don’t know what to do, Lux.
You don’t have to do anything, I answered. We can’t fix this for them. They just need time now; a lot of it. The yawning abyss of the monster’s den waited in front of me, with a steep dirt slope leading down into a pitch-black cavern. I rolled my shoulders and hauled on the back leg of the dead beast as we descended into the blackness. My Detection revealed everything I needed to see: the space was nearly ten feet high at its tallest point and formed a circular room about twenty feet in diameter. The rough, uneven floor was littered with human bones, and the walls of the room were lined with the remnants of Elise's caravans, as well as smaller carts and wheelbarrows. Why would it collect this stuff?
I’m not sure. Lia’s voice startled me as I stood alone in the dark, surveying the scene.
Sorry, I was just...thinking aloud, I guess. I’m not used to whatever we’ve got going on here yet. I pursed my lips and rubbed my temples. It was disorienting to wade through our collective consciousness, but I refused to consider an attempt at decoupling our minds; whatever drawbacks the link held were massively outweighed by the sense of comfort we both shared by being together. I let out a frustrated sigh as I gave up on parsing the reason behind the ruined collection and moved on to a different line of thinking.
Whatever this thing was, it was alone; the den isn’t large enough for two of them. All of the tracks outside go from here to the road and back without detours, so it isn’t working with another one living somewhere else. But...I sent a powerful wave of mana throughout the cavern and suffused it into the walls and floor. Where did it come from? Why is it here? What...what is it?
Lux, you know what it is. Lia tugged on the memory I was actively repressing and pushed it to the forefront of our minds: Val’s face, unflinching against the cold steel of my sword on her neck as she spoke her warning. It’s one of the monsters Val told you about.
It was obvious that she was right, but it wasn’t a train of thought I wanted to pursue, so I instead busied myself with the task of cleaning the cave. I stacked the bones in a large pile opposite the caravans, then heaved the monster’s corpse on top of it. Whatever it was, wherever it came from, it’s dead now. That’s what matters. A rune glinted on my ring, and the pyre burst into brilliant crimson flames. I watched with grim delight as the creature’s chitin began to blister and crack against the heat, though the process was much slower than I would have liked. A surge of energy rushed out from my core and fed the flames, further brightening the dark cave with ominous red light.
I stood in place and watched the blaze consume the bones and beast alike. Though the act was deeply cathartic, my jaw continued to clench harder and harder as the monster’s remnants turned to ash. The thought that it had originated in Kaldan, more than likely due to Virram’s twisted influence, turned my stomach and set my heart racing. I sneered as the cave returned to darkness, leaving nothing but a hard, blackened spot where the pyre had been. Without looking back, I turned and left the burrow, emerging back into fresh air and a dimming, twilight sky.
Are you okay?
I’m fine.
Are you sure?
A new flame flickered to life in my gut as I felt suddenly ashamed of the emotional outburst. Yeah, I’m sure. My eyes peered down to my gloved hand, where the jagged, black scars hid somewhere underneath, reminding me of my failures. Sorry. I’m on my way back now. I sprinted back across the field, arriving at the wagon as Lia was helping Lyn out from the wreckage. Lia set her gently on the ground beside me before jumping back in to retrieve Miles. When Lyn recognized me, she immediately lunged forward and wrapped her arms around my chest, threatening to crush my ribs as she cried into my shoulder. Lia deposited Miles a few moments later. He gave me a long, empty stare, then nodded absentmindedly as he half-leaned, half-collapsed against the side of the wagon.
What do I do with Layne and Josephine? The question echoed in my head, sparing our friends the thought of their lost loved ones’ bodies.
Lay them out on the opposite side of the wagon. I’ll make a sledge out of what's left of it so we can bring them with us.
Lia sprang into action as I remained in the road, quietly consoling Lyn. Where are we going now? What...what do we do? Lia asked as she extricated the bodies from the carriage and placed them reverently at the roadside.
We need to take them back to Lienna. We’ll find someone there who can help them, and someone who can...look after Layne and Josephine’s needs. I paused as I encountered a gap in my knowledge. Unity has some sort of funeral rights, I assume? A series of images flashed through my head, all fragments of Lia’s memories from various ceremonies she had witnessed throughout her life. Men in vibrantly colored robes spoke over interred bodies before crowds of mourners, with the rites always ending with either a funeral pyre or a burial procession.
We each finished our grim work in turn; Lia traded places with me when the bodies were ready, and I set to work dismantling the wagon. A few well-placed Shatter spells shaped the floor of the carriage into a solid base for the sledge, and the iron axles bent into passable runners. After
