Chapter 258: Realities of Combat

Ann had levelled. Six times, in fact, which meant everyone else had as well. Still, this wasn’t the time to be going over that. Cleanup had to be done, then a funeral would take place.

She hadn’t spent much time with Bones since that first day when he’d needed restraining. Still, she’d gotten the vibe that he’d been an overall friendly person despite his prickly appearance. He’d helped Noa a lot with their tasks in the village, and Lorvin had shared meals with him more often than not. For now, what was left of his body was set on a flat stone away from the mud and filth that’d been splattered over the battlefield.

“Oi, how’re ye doin’?” Kat called, clanking as she jogged up.

“Been better,” Ann shrugged. “Why do I always have to climb on things?”

“Eh, it’s where their weaknesses usually are. Makes sense. Saw the… popping. That looked disgustin’.”

Ann shuddered. She could still smell it, and it’d take a lot of washing to get the smell out of her fur and armour. The leather had taken a beating from this fight. It was still serviceable, but a new set was on her shopping list the next time they got somewhere with a decent leatherworker. “Bad memories from that smell.”

Kat paused, her eye focusing on Ann. “Ye wanna talk about it?”

“Nah. It’s something from a very long time ago.”

“Everythin’s from a very long time ago from ye,” Kat said. Her lips quirked up, trying to lighten the mood.

It worked. Ann couldn’t help the small laugh in return. “Yup. I’m the old hag, like Lucia keeps calling me. Still, I … it was someone who died. My grandma. I was the first to find her, and she’d been gone for a few days. Don’t like that smell.”

“Ah,” was all Kt had to say. They stood there awkwardly for a few moments.

Ann wasn’t too shaken up by it, being honest with herself. It was this weird melancholy that’d pass. She’d spent plenty of time getting over that event and knew that it was a stage of life she’d seen unexpectedly, like most people did. Therapy had definitely helped, even if most of the therapy was just coaching her through letting herself cry about it.

“So… I’m gonna go help clean up the bodies. How’s Noa doing?” Ann asked, pulling herself together.

Kat walked with her. “Better than I thought they’d be doin’. It’ll probably set in after we’re all done ‘ere.”

“Hope they have that lizard gene that lets them grow tails back. That’d be pretty awesome, right?”

“What, like yer eye thing?”

“Nah, it’d be way slower, but if they do, it’ll be a full recovery.”

Tarnu greeted them. It wasn’t a warm greeting, but the man looked haggard and twitchy. “Hey, kids. Glad to see you both in mostly one piece. Could use some help stacking up the bodies if you’re both up for it.”

They agreed happily. Everyone was exhausted and wanted to get home as soon as possible. This was the quickest way that happened.

It took the better part of two hours for them to haul everything into a loose pile while the stony fighter Ann had met went off to cut down some trees with their axe. A pyre would be built for the carnage, to make sure it didn’t attract anything else. Carrion feeders were already circling and were only kept at bay by occasional shots from Lucia. The mass of the creature that ended the fight wound up being the foundation of the construction. It took both Tarnu and Alruna to move the hill-like Warped on top of it. From there, it was just putting the larger bodies around the base and piling the numerous smaller ones on top.

The trees were hauled over and carefully placed in a giant tent shape. Ann was worried that the wood would be too wet, but magic fire solved that problem. Tarnu carefully took Bones’s body as they all moved upwind of the pyre.

With the news of the strange Warped still alive and nearby, the team decided to split up and return to the cave in intervals again. Alruna assigned numbers, and the first one in would be Lucia. She’d fire off a single shot to notify everyone else that she’d begun her approach, and they’d all take it at ten-minute intervals. Kat and Rosalyn were the last two, with no one wanting to have one person alone right now.

Ann, Bren, and Lucia waited for the pair at the entrance. Rosalyn had taken extra time to make sure the entrance and any tracks were concealed before heading inside with Kat keeping a watchful eye. By the time they got to the bottom of the ramp, the mood was mixed.

Some of the villagers were relieved that their close friends, or otherwise, had gotten back alive. Noa was embracing a woman, their remaining arm wrapped around them as she wept. Still, it didn’t seem like an otherwise sad embrace. The tip of Noa’s arm-tail was even petting the top of her head.

Others were talking about the battle with others, several boasting of their feats or how many monstrosities they’d killed. Plenty of people seemed genuinely interested, which struck Ann as a little odd. They were all one step removed from the creatures. Taking delight in the brutal battle… it seemed to have a morbid tinge to her.

The remaining villagers were quiet, gathered around Tarnu. Eldest of All was with them, conversing as quietly as a giant stone dragon could. That meant everyone could feel the words through the floor. A funeral would be held. Quickly, too. Leaving a corpse to rot was never a good idea. Ann knew this all too well.

The party of five approached the quiet group. Bones was laid out on the ground, propped up with as much dignity as possible. Eldest of All nodded a quiet greeting.

“Miss Ann!” Abigail’s voice made Ann cringe. This wasn’t something for the little girl to see. Well, she probably had seen some of it, or worse, but still.

“Not now. Later, Abby,” Alruna said quietly as she lifted the excited girl into her arms. The nod to Ann said she’d run interference for now.

“A dark day, this is,” Eldest rumbled. “Not only have we lost one of our own, but another suffered a debilitating injury. Our goals were met, correct?”

“Yeah,” Ann nodded. “We killed an absolute ton of Warped, including a lot of big ones. Betting we’ll have a lot of space to move around for a while. Still, that weird one with the skulls is out there. Rosalyn spotted it.”

“This… this creature needs a name. I will dub it The Shadow. Please come up with another before we next speak. The Shadow’s presence does concern me, but we can only afford so much effort. Already, Alruna will be up for most of the night, aiding with injuries alongside our healers.” Eldest of All sighed. “First, we must send our friend off to the Gods. It is a small comfort One of Bones went this way. He was showing signs of his mind fraying. My claws are spared the tragedy of ending his life. I believe he would be happy that he died fighting.”

“Respectfully, I think that’s bullshit,” Tarnu growled. “He would have wanted to live. We had a long talk after his last outburst, and he was fucking terrified of what was happening, but also dying. I’m not giving him false consolation. He died. He died, and we’ve lost him.”

Murmurs of the others agreed with Tarnu.

Ann was torn. Bones had thrown in to join the fight. Everyone knew this would be dangerous and possibly deadly. No one had wanted to die, though. A not insignificant part of her felt responsible. Her setting off the Goddess beacon might have been what attracted so many Warped. Maybe he would have lived then.

“There were way more than we expected,” Eyes said, her voice stabbing at Ann’s worry. “If there were that many in the woods, someone was going to die eventually. I don’t like it any more than you, Tarnu, but we could have lost so many more in smaller groups than we did today.”

Tarnu bristled and raised a clawed finger at Eyes.

Before he could retort, Kat stepped forward. “The calculus o’ life an’ death is a feckin’ cruel bitch. Nylir’s presence is among us today, as she always is fer battles. I ain’t the most sanctimonious person, but I do know the Gods are watchin’ things. No way Bones hasn’t been taken by one o’ them. I like tae think Illdall snagged his soul. He died fightin’ tae keep this place safe.”

More mumbled sentiment from the group. Kat’s words had definitely had an impact, for better or worse.

Ann felt a tug. Something inside her urged her to speak. An urge she’d come to know as Orenous’ guidance. As upset as she was with the Goddess, she knew She meant well.

Ann raised her hand. “Orenous wants me to say something here, but I don’t think this is the time. I’d like to say some words during the funeral, though.”

Eldest nodded. “As a Goddess’s chosen representative, I would appreciate it greatly. One of Bones would be honoured.”

It took a while for them to get it set up. It would be a fire, and would need to be held in the entryway. A woodfire for cooking was one thing, but burning a body in even an alright-ventilated cave wasn’t something anyone wanted. Alruna and Eldest hauled the stone plinth they used for this up into the hall.

While this was happening, Ann was beset by an extremely excited and extremely heavy little girl.

“Miss Ann! I’m so glad you’re back! Oh, your skin looks pink. That’s weird, cause it’s normally all brown. Did you get hurt? You didn’t get hurt like Noa, right?”

Ann smiled at Abigail’s concern. “I got hurt. Quite a bit, actually, but I didn’t lose anything.”

“What could hurt you?” Abigail gasped.

“Same stuff that could hurt you. I got smacked and scratched a lot, then there were the bone spikes, some little magic shots, bites, all sorts of stuff. My skin got hurt by acid. That was from a really big monster. It was almost as tall as Eldest of All when he’s laying down.”

Abigail’s eye widened with wonder. “How can anything be that big? Eldest of All is crazy huge! I have to be so far away from him to not hurt my neck when we talk!”

“Well, that’s because you’re very small,” Ann laughed, tousling the girl’s hair. “Doesn’t mean he isn’t huge, though. SO, yeah, I had to climb the big monster, but it had this really nasty stuff on its back that hurt me. I did a lot of damage, but Rosalyn, Lucia, and the other mage had to finish it off. I kinda almost passed out and slipped off the thing.”

“What?” Abigail gasped, her hands covering her mouth. “How are you okay?”

Ann smiled. “It was Alruna. She caught me before I hit the ground. It was really cool of her.”

“Yeah, she kinda likes you.”

It was Ann’s turn to be shocked at the conversation. “Huh? What do you mean?”

“I dunno,” Abigail shrugged. “She’s looking at you all the time, and Fur says that people do that when they like you. Alruna’s also started teaching about the Gods when she’s got me, and Orenous was a big part of that.”

“Maybe she’s just using me as an opportunity to be an example for you? To get you interested in all of that? It’d work for me.”

“I dunno… her worms do also get a little more wiggly when she talks about it, too. Hold on, I’m gonna ask her!” Before Ann could protest, the girl was off and running as quickly as the one-legged waif could.

Ann sat there, her tail thrashing behind her as she tried to figure out how to deal with this. If Alruna was interested, well, she wasn’t going to lie that the woman was strangely attractive. Nor could she deny that her heart had done a little flip when she’d caught her earlier. The worms were oddly comfortable when they were used like that.

Still, Kat was going to be the decider here. If the princess didn’t want anything, then they didn’t explore this attraction further. Ann kept her promises. Well, she did her best. Sometimes you got shot in the head and put in a coma for five thousand years, preventing you from going to see your younger sibling’s recital. That was the tricky thing with promises. Anything could just happen and make them impossible. This, though? This was a personal commitment between them. This was one of the things she would never break.

Ann grumbled to herself as the clanking of Abigail’s run receded into town. Better go talk to Kat about that first, before shit got more complicated. They’d had a brief talk, but it might be time for a refresher. Their expedition to the nearby mountain was soon, too. Kat’s first real test of getting someone that wasn’t part of their little poly group in bed that wasn’t a Seed trial. Ann was worried about how that was going to go. Better to talk it out than run face-first into a bad surprise.

Ugh, this was her life lately. Lots of heavy thoughts. At least Abigail was mostly happy. She could take comfort in that.

“Hey, Scruffy. How’re ye doin’?” Kat asked, ambling up with Rosalyn in tow.

“Abigail thinks Alruna likes me.”

Rosalyn and Kat paused, then sat down.

“She’s a kid, Ann. You think she even knows what that means? Betting it’s more of just interest than anything more,” Rosalyn giggled. “She’s so precious.”

“Yeah, but what if?”

Kat had been staring at the floor. “Not ready yet.”

“Then we don’t do anything yet.” Ann felt a little disappointment, but she stomped it down. That wasn’t fair to Kat, nor to Rosalyn. She couldn’t let that feeling ferment into resentment.

“I did say yet,” Kat said, still looking at the stones beneath her feet. “Let’s see how this next attempt goes, an’ I’ll tell ye from there.”

Ann reached over and pinched Kat’s cheeks until she made a pouty face, and dragged her gaze up to meet hers. She didn’t need to say anything. She just leaned in and kissed her girlfriend. “You’re not being overprotective or jealous. Stop telling yourself that.”

“Oh, that’s what she’s thinking? Yeah, Kat! You’re fine. Just gotta relax a bit more and see how much fun we can have while still being the three of us stuck together. Cause, well, don’t want you to go away as much as I don’t want Ann to go away. Ann, what was that silly word you used the other day?”

Ann perked up. “Wha? Throuple?”

Rosalyn cackled. “Yeah, that one! We’re that. Everything’s fine. Just gotta work on issues together.”

Ann was about to agree and plant another kiss on Kat’s still pinched lips when Eldest of All returned and called all to be present.

The three joined the procession, keeping their distance so as not to cause any problems. Bren and Lucia eventually found them. Eldest took up most of the hallway, but used his long neck to let others stand beneath him.

Bones was on the plinth, wood stacked beneath his body. A tan, roughspun cloth was draped over the half of him that wasn’t there anymore. The mage who’d set the fire earlier stood nearby.

“My most precious friends and family,” Eldest began. “Today, we have lost one of our own. One of Bones came to us many years ago, a shadow of the man we knew. Tired, broken, without hope. Over his years with us, he has shown his kindness, his joy, and his resolve to do better by us than those who cast us out. He passed fighting for our people’s safety against what we might have become. Even now, at his passing, we owe him much.”

Tarnu stepped forward, clearing his throat. “I know the man well. He could fight, yeah, but that wasn’t his passion. Most of us know, by now, that it was scrimshaw. Pretty morbid hobby for someone made out of bones, but he always joked that he’d never run out of material.” Tarnu paused. He wiped his eyes and took a deep breath. “Gonna miss talking to him at night when we’re on watch. Talking about our place in this world that seems to hate us. I know he was scared about our slow corruption. He’d told me at length. I know he also didn’t want to die. He put that aside to go up and do what needed to be done for our sakes. You all have heard about how many Warped we fought. If it weren’t for people like him and everyone else who joined, we might have faced something far worse.” Tarnu turned to the pyre. “I’m gonna miss you, buddy. Hope you found your way to somewhere without pain.” Tarnu stepped back, sniffling. Eyes put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

A few more came forward. Each gave a short speech, usually recalling a story about One of Bones that meant something to them. When they were all done, it was Ann’s turn.

She stepped up and walked behind the body. Her hair was still dark grey, but she’d added streaks of purple to her hair and tail to at least show she was speaking for Orenous in an official capacity.

“I honestly didn’t know Bones that well,” she started. “I only got here recently, and my first experience was him getting knocked on his back after an episode. That being said, it was clear to me even then that he was not his sickness. Your stories and memories are touching, and he will be dearly missed by everyone present. You all know I am Orenous’s Chosen. I’ve never had to officiate a funeral before, but I’ve been reading the rites. I want to do this right for him.”

Ann leaned over the body and traced Orenous’s symbol over his heart, then his forehead. “Rest now, oh beloved. Your heart has brought many together so that, even in your passing, your love can be felt. Your knowledge and your passion will be remembered by those who met and truly cared for you. By my Lady’s name, may you find rest and succour in the halls of your diety, whoever they might be. To all of those gathered, may you spread the kindness and love that One of Bones shared with you. Farewell.”

Ann stepped back and motioned to the mage. With a flick of her wrist, she set the pyre alight.

Ann stood there for a long time. Most had left except Tarnu, Eyes, Eldest of All, and her friends. Once the last of the cinders had gone out, they carefully set the remains in a wooden box. His ashes and bones would be placed with the rest of the dead in an offshoot cavern used for those who died. Tarnu carefully carved “One of Bones” into the wooden planks.

The walk back was quiet and sombre. They all parted ways, making for their individual lodgings. It had been a very long day. Sleep came quickly to everyone.