FHC B3 Chapter 61: Saying Goodbye

(Sorry for the chapter mixup. This is 61 which probably explains chapter 62 ALOOOOOT better.)

Nobody moved, and his eyes flickered around the room.

His smile faded and he stepped into the brightest part of the room. Where the moonlight shined, a brilliance it paled his already white hair into ethereal locks. The moon has moved closer, sinking lower as if it was the eye of a vast creature looking in.

“Tonight, we lay our pack to rest. Our brothers and sisters return to the earth,” Grim’s voice boomed. He extended his arms and clawed at reality. It broke away and the light created strands that morphed into silver flames as he flexed his claws. “We return the iron, so they may be equipped in the next hunt. We return their cloaks so they are forever wrapped in our bond. And to the earth their bones shall lie, so no regrets may weigh their limbs.”

As he spoke the moonlight flames rose into swirling pillars that broke free from his skin and snaked into the air.

From the flames, runes appeared carving themselves in a way that stung my eyes. A headache crept into the back of my thoughts, pulling at me.

I didn’t look away, but I caught the reaction of the others in the room.

Kimms and Arthur didn’t look up, but merely at the Prime’s feet.

Astra and Garret were drawn to the runes, but I could tell they felt the same sting as I did. Their eyes were narrowed but neither looked away.

Alice watched, a frown on her face but looking only mildly put off by the power etching itself into reality.

And finally, there was Devon.

His body remained the same. Unmoving, impossible to if he even breathed. But his eyes were once again alive. And they were furious. Wild-eyed, his face a mask of rage that made no attempt to hide in.

I followed his gaze and looked toward the center of the flames. As I focused, the headache dug further, slamming into my thoughts with jarring force.

It… Looks familiar.

The rune didn’t translate to anything I knew, but I recognized it, or half of it. I had seen it once, on a page inside an underground vault. It wasn’t entirely the same, if anything the rune on the page had been little more that a piece of the puzzle. The rune in the air above, expanded upon it and then some, connecting to the other runes that had filled the ceiling.

Grim lowered his hands and the flames broke off. The runes still existed, hovering unmoored by gravity. They were connected by a vine of characters that joined together into the central rune, the one Devon continued to stare at with rage.

Strangely enough, they were readable, not from recognition of the characters themselves but I knew what they meant in my mind.

Illeth Atrokorm. Elias Ironhart. Julius Craznul.

“We release you from your prison. We return you to time so your bodies may wither. From roots you came and to dust you go,” Grim whispered.

His voice still filled the room, sounding almost as loud as if he spoke directly into my ears. His cloak flapped, on an unfelt breeze and he closed his right hand.

The runes spelling out Illeth’s name collapsed into motes; ball of flickering flames that slowly sank onto the lumps below. Cloth burned away and revealed the mummified remains trapped in black roots. Where root met fire, it crumbled to dust, consuming the flame but showing little resistance.

As the roots burned away the bindings, they left the bones untouched, as well as the cloak underneath. They looked as I last saw them, old yet whole. I doubted anyone outside of perhaps Quinn besides Alice and me knew who it was.

That didn’t stop the other Grimms from lowering their heads once Grim turned to face us.

“As she has no kin, I shall be the one to speak,” he stated. He paused, long enough to observe the room before continuing. “A quick hunter who knew her prey. She was fierce. Illeth was strong. But beyond her capabilities and prowess she had a trait that I respected more than anyone else I’ve ever known. Loyalty. Even in the face of death, she never wavered, never backed down.”

He lowered his head and for the briefest moment, the world stilled. The very air in my lungs froze, and it took a second for them to respond to my commands to breathe. As I inhaled, Grim raised his head and motioned to Alice.

“Her iron.”

Alice unsheathed the knife and presented it, hilt first. Grimm ran his fingers along the blade, resisting the edge as it failed to cut his skin.

With precise movements, he stooped over the skeleton of Illeth and positioned her hands to hold the knife over her chest. Once she remained locked into position, he reached for the cloak and ripped a scrap free.

The scrap slipped from his fingers but it curved as it fell and landed at the edge of his cloak. Almost seamlessly, it attached itself, adding a new peak to the tattered end.

Grim then picked up the skeleton and placed her atop the circle of dirt, toward the left side. He proceeded to back away and nod toward Quinn.

The runes hovering in place that contained Julius’ name slipped into the roots and turned them to dust. He was handsome, if plain. With dirty-blonde hair and tanned skin, he was neither a muscular giant like Devon nor as thin as Astra.

Quinn had her hood up, covering her hair and most of her features. But her face reminded me of a porcelain doll, smooth yet rigid. She stood next to the table and raised her chin, looking at no one in particular.

“As his next of kin, I shall be the one to speak,” she started. Her brown eyes flashed red but it quickly settled. “Long have I served. Once a lost child, given a family and a home. Julius was quick to befriend and even quicker to love. Partners, pack mates, and more. From the tundras to the plains and even across the lands of fire. His arm was there to guide and support. And his presence will be forever missed until eternity ends.”

Nobody said a word, but Grim raised his head as Quinn held out her palm. Atop her skin, a glowing red marble slipped from her flesh. The marble spun placidly but upon Grim’s attention, it jerked toward him, as if almost alive.

“He wanted to return this, to remind you of his duty and promise. And to apologize for his failure, Prime,” Quinn explained.

“Nonsense,” Grim muttered. “He did no such thing.”

But he raised his hand and the marble zipped into his fist. I wanted nothing more than to question him, and her about the marble but I held my tongue and watched.

Quinn did as Grim did and approached Julius’ corpse. She tore a piece off his cloak and then a second. The first she kept clutched between her fingers, but the second piece she handed to Grim. The bit of cloth did as the first, and joined his cloak as a new end of the fabric.

She placed his body atop the dirt and stepped away.

Beside me, Alice stiffened and I tugged her sleeve. She looked my way and I nodded.

She nodded in return and stepped toward the final corpse.

“Are you ready,” Grim asked as Alice stopped.

“I am,” she answered.

“Then proceed.”

The final line of runes balled together and sank down. I watched the flames push the air aside as it began to congeal. Alice watched with balled fist as the flame touched the black roots.

It burned, but my eyes widened.

“No,” Astra whispered.

Alice said nothing, but Garret snarled and a clawing in my gut dug its fingers into my spine.

“WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!” Grim demanded.

The other Grimms except Alice and I dropped to the floor as their heads were forced low by the wave of pressure released by the Prime.

“EXPLAIN! NOW!”

I swallowed and tore my eyes away from Grim to stare at the final pedestal. Where should have been a corpse, was nothing but dust on empty stone.