Zagiri’s scream rips through my ribs, splintering whatever stoicism I’d been working so hard to acquire. There is defeat along with agony mingled in the sound of her scream. It curdles my blood and echoes through my psyche as her shout ripples through the forest in a last cry for us to leave her be.
But we cannot do that. Undead things do not belong among the living.
No exceptions.
23
ZAGIRI’S MOTIVATION
The moment Sevan finishes a job well done, flames race up Zagiri’s body in a flash of blinding light. The sight throws me backward onto my butt while I scrub the pops of light still going off behind my eyelids.
When I blink the world back into focus, Zagiri is gone, and along with her, the fire that was consuming her bones. Though the bones are still there, they hold only a physical reminder of her time on earth, not a spiritual one that will ever again require us to deal with the fallout.
The wind stops, and nature calms in an instant. The shift is so quick from chaos to calm that for a second, I worry I might have gone deaf in the exchange.
When the sound of Sevan’s whimper catches my attention, I turn to her, relief flooding me that we actually did it.
Sevan’s lashes flutter as she sags against a weary Avet.
It’s physically exhausting to get through the chant of the undead. Not only is it hard to remember everything perfectly and deliver it in the middle of nature’s fit, but the chant marries itself with a portion of your essence, stealing a bit of your spark temporarily, leaving the harbinger weakened after the victory.
Avet and Sevan both tilt as I scramble to my feet. I race to them on weighted legs, my back protesting movement of any kind. It’s an effort to catch them before they both collapse in a heap of limbs, but I manage to lower them both to the forest floor without further injury.
“Tell me where you’re hurt,” I say to Avet after it is clear Sevan is experiencing the normal fatigue that comes from sending a spirit to the afterlife. I snatch at the flashlight and shine it in his eyes, willing them to focus.
“I’m alright, Keran.” He offers up a wan smile. “Just took a few blows to the head. But I know my alphabet and whatnot.”
I make him prove it, then I make him tell me the alphabet in reverse, to which he responds by spelling out several swear words just to calm me down. I hold onto his hand until I am certain he will be okay.
I wonder how many times he was left bereft just like this. I wasn’t there to watch over him while he recovered.
And I’m about to leave him all over again.
But before I do, I turn to the remnants of Zagiri’s body, which now hold no trace of her essence. The funeral dirge of a trapper isn’t said over a normal person’s body, but Zagiri has more than earned her stripes.
My head bows as I offer up the respectful poem to mark the passing of a trapper.
“The water goes, the sand remains;
The person dies, the memory remains.”
Zagiri has been given the send-off of a true trapper, which is the most any of us can hope for in the end.
I move back from the two, giving them the space to gather their bearings and sit up on their own when they are ready for the challenge. I gather up our things, making sure to keep Zagiri’s journal tucked under my arm. I help them both to their feet, taking notice of how much sway is in their gaits when we amble out of the woods in the dark together.
Avet’s actual compass guides us slowly to the car. It takes us forty minutes to get to the parking lot, and when we do, it is clear the two of them need to sleep off the night on a firm mattress without interruption.
Sevan hugs Avet, then pushes him into the passenger’s seat of the car. “I’m driving my motorcycle this time, cutie pie.”
I catch her eye. “You sure you’re okay to drive?”
Sevan shrugs, leaning heavily on the frame of the car once she shuts Avet inside. “One way to find out.”
I narrow one eye at her. “That is less than reassuring. Seriously. Just leave your bike here and I’ll drive you back to it in the morning.”
Sevan’s mouth firms, but then her shoulders drop. “That’s probably safest. Thanks.”
I can tell she relishes the idea of parting with her bike about as much as she loves her need to be taken care of being brought to light.