Ky'Mera: The Next Generation (Sequel Series to the Ky'Mera Adventures Trilogy)

Chapter 6: Surface Invitation

Surface Invitation

The burial pyre for the dead was a solemn and sorrowful event, though to say there was not happiness for our victory would have been a lie. Everyone was ecstatic about driving away the pythons, though the cost had been high. Eight in total had been killed in the fighting, five Delvi including Helios and two Dracos along with Rona. The pyre was built on the far side of the oasis from Kioko, and in all it was a truly magnificent sight. Twenty feet of wood and farewell offerings made a perfect pyramid as the gathered Delvi and Dracos bowed their heads. Mom had been given the honor of lighting the pyre, and she slowly walked up from our left with a burning branch in her hand. The timber had been doused in liquid sap from the forest trees known as flashwood, and as soon as mom touched the smoldering limb to the wood, the entire pyre went up in a bright blue flame. The heat was so intense that most of the gathered Delvi had to back up, but the Dracos never missed a beat and stood their ground. The pyre slowly shifted from blue to the traditional reds and yellows as the flashwood sap ran out, and for several minutes we stared into the flames, watching our loved ones and friends slowly turn into little spots of color within the great conflagration. Flashes of purple, green and blue marked the bodies as their clothing and flesh caught flame, and for an instant I almost could imagine those little dots of color being their spirits.

It took several hours for the pyre to burn down to ashes, and by that time only Gabby, Chiara, Koni, our parents and I still remained. The coals glowed white and red under all the grey ash, and I still couldn't bring myself to look away from where Helios and Rona had remained. Chiara placed her hand on my shoulder, and as I looked at her she tilted her head back towards Kioko. I nodded, too choked up with emotion to answer verbally, and followed her and the others back around the oasis to Kioko. Once Chiara and I had closed the door to our tent and blocked it with one of the beds, she lay down on the remaining bed and silently shook as she wept. No sound gave away her pain, but I could see the tears shining on her face and the shifting of her body as she sobbed. I lay down behind her and wrapped her in my arms, and she flipped over instantly to bury her face in my shoulder as she gripped my shirt like a vise. I pulled her close and just held her as she slowly stopped shaking with grief, and when I looked into her eyes she had closed them and fallen asleep. I kissed her eyes lightly and then her lips, pulling her close to me again as I closed my own eyes and tried to sleep myself. For a while I lay there in a half-stupor, but eventually the rigors of the day caught up with me and I slipped into slumber. The last thought that crossed my mind before I slid into unconsciousness was who would become the leader of the Delvi and Dracos now that Rona and Helios were dead? It remained unanswered as I fell out completely and together Chiara and I rested for the first time in weeks.

As I woke up the next morning I noticed that the sadness from the night before was no longer making my chest feel like a tight spring, and that Chiara was loose in my arms instead of curled up in emotional pain. I let go of her and slowly moved off of the bed, I realized that after a night of rejuvenating sleep, the pain of Helios' and Rona's deaths was still there, not that it would ever leave, but it did feel like it wouldn't control my entire life like a ball and chain. I stretched and heard at least six of my back bones pop, and then several more as I shifted the stretch to my arms and legs. I groaned quietly as I found that my limbs felt like someone had turned them into taffy, but I shrugged off the feeling as best I could in order to move the bed away from the door. I pulled open the flap and was nearly flattened as Gabby shoved her way in, her shoulder landing a direct hit against my breastbone. I fell to the ground with an "Oof!", waking up Chiara as Gabby fell on top of me. Gabby pushed up and pulled me to my feet, gibbering on about something so fast that I couldn't understand a word of it.

"Hold it Gab! Slow down!" I said as she took a breath to continue, "I can't understand you when you talk that fast. Now what was it you needed to tell us so bad that you nearly broke my ribs?"