Chapter 30

William was not sure how long the two sat in the massacre, but morning light drifted over their heads. Neither had slept yet each felt as if the past few hours would keep them awake for the days to come. Evera’s eyes seared with pain and lack of sleep. Though she felt safer settled in William’s embrace, she freed herself from his arms and walked over to her fellow Fae.

Tamesis was sprawled on the ground, the broken branch still sticking from her chest where Evera had thrust it. Her green eyes stared into the sky and her bloodied lips hung open, as if to speak words she was never able to utter. Though Tamesis and Evera rarely spoke to one another, Evera mumbled out a prayer to the Angels. She did this for each of the Unseelies as William watched in silence.

The moments of their passing flashed before Evera’s eyes. Though she was no Oracle such as Gwydion, she felt compelled to perform the Faerie Funeral of Warriors. If she was the one who had fallen, they would have had no choice but to do the funeral for her.

Evera picked a leaf for every Fae that lay on the ground. Each leaf had to be large, whole and with lavishly decorated veins. They represented the lives of the Fae, though being one leaf, they were part of a whole and each was gifted beyond what a glimpse who show. The blood of each body was collected, each on one green, and positioned in a pile in the middle of the trees where the battle had taken place. The violent dagger was wiped clean of Ilayda’s blood and held dangerously in Evera’s hand. She pressed the blade to the cut in her arm and let her blood trickle down.

“What are you doing?” William tried to take the knife away but Evera eyes gave such a stare of ferocity, her stopped before he came any closer.

“The Fae’s version of death must be paid with blood.” She stabbed the dagger into the leaves with force enough to keep it sticking into the ground without her grasp.

“Take these Fae into the wind.” Evera swept her arms in circular motions around the knife as wind fluttered her tangled hair into her face. “Release their souls into the night. Let the Unseelie warriors feel true flight.”

Kallima, the Fae Evera had first struck down, stirred. William watched as her head face the sky, still unable to see. The blonde girl’s back arched, heaving her chest into the air. A lavender mist withdrew itself from where her heart would be, and her body settled back to where it lay. It swirled over to Evera circling around her arms before disappearing into the morning air.

One by one, each body repeated the trail of vapor, wrapping Evera’s arms before stealing away. William saw hues of violet and blue. Zahi, the muscular man who had wrestled Evera into submission, let off a midnight green. His soul seemed nothing more than a strand of smoke, no glitter or considerable amount, just a whisper of what little spirit he had.

When it was Tamesis whose soul it was to rest, a pause came before her back lifted from the ground. Her soul swelled in the crisp morning, colored with different shades like that of the lightening sky. Pinks swirled with lilac and indigo. Her mist wrapped around Evera like a blanket, warming her to her soul, muttering her plea of forgiveness. The young women dispersed into the air, finally claiming peace.

Evera got to her feet and kissed each Fae. Her lips lingered on theirs, each time her hair would dance behind her with the wind. Tamesis was kissed twice with respect and honor before the green eyed woman returned to the dagger.

“Take these bodies into the earth.” Evera kneeled forward, letting her forehead touch the ground and her hair tickle the leaves and knife. “Let their feet take root and their arms reach the sky. Let them become life, and let life grow from them.” She sat back and closed her eyes.

William watched as each Fae began to curl in upon themselves. With their peaceful faces, they looked too much like children but their muscles and scars reminded him otherwise.

Roots from the surrounding trees split open from the ground, slowing enveloping the corpses. The spidery roots cracked and popped as they wrapped around hands and feet. The bodies seemed to both shrink and vanish beneath the wooden vines. When the ground took them in, soon nothing was left but the roots recoiling into the dirt. William stood, amazed at the magic that had taken place.

“With our Father’s blessing and our Mother’s guidance, we ask for peace. Amen.”

William held Evera’s shoulder’s and took her away from the center to lean her on a tree.

“Your mother and father?”

“God, our Father. Earth, our Mother.” She slipped onto his chest, tired from grief and the magic of the Funeral. The man sighed and grasped his love tight.

“We must bury Ilayda.” William held Evera’s hand to his chest and refused to look at the cover that held Ilayda.

“William…”

“No, we must. She was Human once, was she not?” Evera nodded solemnly, too tired to argue. “Then we must bury her. She needs a proper Human Funeral.”

“We cannot.”

“Why?”

Evera pointed to the blanket that lay folded in disarray on the ground. The Angel’s body had vanished, leaving no trace but darkened soil and the bloodied knife.

“Her soul has already left.”

It was a hard thing for the man to take. Ilayda was never a true being, but an opaque soul. After wiping away strong tears, William nodded, unable to accept Ilayda was truly gone.

William and Evera left the battle scene, bringing the weapons that scattered the ground where the Fae had once been. It felt proper to have a bow and quiver strung on her back. The young man belted a sword and one of the fallen Fae’s knives. He had no skill with bow and arrow, but nevertheless, they took all weapons with them in Taipa’s saddlebags.

The day seemed to mock the two, being bright and beautiful. Clouds were perfect white and the sky was the purest blue. Birds chirped gaily in the trees as they headed to Ceilidh, home to the High Assembly. There, Elish, Slone, Taneisha, and Orlaith waited in tranquility knowing nothing of the outside world until the Ownah festivals.

The two happened upon a stream and William helped clean Evera of blood and filth. She released her wings from her back. They had changed from the shimmering beauty they had once been. No longer were they lucid and shining. Over the course of the night, they darkened in color, replacing the pale light colors to grey, dismal shades. The hint of a glow had faded and the blood that had covered her back now spotted the wings wickedly.

Evera held a ripped piece of her black dress and dipped it into the stream. She cleaned the wound on her arm and paused.

“I cannot reach.” She held the rag to William and cast her gaze down in a childish shame. Her took the piece to her wings and stroked at the crimson stains from her unusual skin.

“What will happen?” William was as surprised by his own question as the Fae he was cleansing. The young woman supposed answering was to be expected but she still let the uneasy pause linger before she tentatively replied.

“As to what are you referring to?” The Human stopped scrubbing the blood stains. Both Evera and William had many thoughts on their minds but neither could form their words.

“What will happen once we find the High Assembly in Ceilidh?”

“I do not know.”

“Then what of the warriors? Will there be more?”

“I do not know, that either.”

“Well, who is there left to remove the necklace?”

“I…” Evera could not finish her sentence. She felt as if she answered her uncertainty enough already.  “There are other Cursed ones.”

When William finished wiping her wings clean of grime, he removed his shoes and sat next to her, both of their feet dangling in the water. He wrapped one arm around her waist and let her head rest on his shoulder. The two were worn out, ravenous and emotional. She needed rest and he knew that.

The man gathered their things together again, packing the weapons into the mare’s pack and refilling their wineskin. When all was set, he picked the young woman up and carried her across the water, Taipa in tow. The Fae was too tired to even speak out against her being treated as a babe. Instead, she nuzzled her head into his chest and shut her eyes.

Within minutes, she was fast asleep. Finding a small clearing not far from the waters, William set her down on a worn but soft patch of grass. He carefully laid her wings out behind her and covered her with a blanket. Taipa nipped at her pack all the while, wanting to be cleaned and fed. He obliged and held out an apple for her to eat before he took the brushes to her coat.

The red-haired man reminisced on the past weeks before settling next to Evera. As he brushed the loose brown strands from her face, she sighed in her sleep. This is what he wanted to remember. Before all the misfortune and heartache and dismal adventure, he had fallen in love with the mysterious woman. He had fallen for her courage and beauty and above all else, he had fallen for her spirit.

He made a vow in that moment to keep her safe, and her spirit unbroken.