Loss And Resolve

The sun sets over the Black River valley. It has passed behind the mountains, but the clouds above it are glowing red--an omen, Nadia is sure, of what she cannot say. The valley has finally fallen silent--no guns, no engines, no train, no bombs. But the valley is terribly empty.

Nadia sits on the temple steps. Ever since the battle ended, the villagers have been carrying the dead up here--their own and their enemies, they wanted to bury them all, except for the wizards--the union opted to throw them in the river rather than inter them in holy ground. With both of their heads blown off, there was little to learn from them.

All the workers look exhausted as they line the bodies up across the dead garden. At this rate it will have to be replaced with a graveyard expansion. Here the union would learn its first harsh lesson about war--there are few victories worth celebrating.

Nobody took a proper count, but the word has been spreading that one hundred defenders fought the Deliverance in the Battle of Korben. It’s probably wildly inaccurate, but Ketha is probably already writing a song anyway. They have their way of processing things.

Kalen has been illegally performing priestly duties. Nobody else is more qualified after all. The people want proper death rites of course. Kurri went straight back to the temple, saying there were a lot of patients to see to. He hasn’t come out ever since. Some people are quite confused and keep calling him Eliana. Kurri offers no comment.

Nadia thinks maybe she should have also found some work to bury herself in, rather than being alone with her thoughts. But she can hardly think at all. The day still feels unreal. The town has the quality of a dream. She doesn’t feel real either. It won’t be a good night, and she’ll be facing it alone now.

Nadia gets up, feeling dizzy and weak. She walks out to the original graveyard. Maris and Annia are digging a deep hole--they’re the sort to bury their grief in hard work too. The union offered them a nice grave plot. Traditionally, Janikans are given water burials, but nobody would even think about leaving him anywhere near the Black River. At least he can rest here on Helbender Mountain. Few are being spoken of more than Lein Koronova tonight, the outsider who laid down his life for Korben. There will probably be songs about him too. He would appreciate that.

Elliv hasn’t left his side. He’s hardly spoken a word. He’s sitting there now, where Lein is lying so still on the ground beside his grave, with a grey bandana over his face and a rifle in his hands. Everyone in town has come up to lay a mountain flower on his body. Elliv just watches as they come. If people ask, he tells them they were brothers. He’s lucky to have Ketha by his side through this, holding his hand.

The old gate creaks open, and Nadia looks back. It’s Krev. He walks up and takes a seat on the ground.

“Hey old man,” Maris says.

“Thought I’d come and pick y’all up. It’s a long walk back home,” he says. “They, uh, they told me what happened already.” He looks down at Lein. “Poor guy.”

Annia pokes its head out from the grave. “Zal?!” it signs.

“Ain’t got news for you, sorry,” he says. “I left as soon as we were done carrying them to the medic tent. Filla’s gonna stay with them all night she said. She’ll do everything she can.”

Annia just looks down and returns to its work. It hasn’t said much. It’s been distant, not even looking at other people. That isn’t too out of the ordinary, but it seems different. When Zal wakes up, someone will have to tell them about Razha. Annia said it would, they’d take it best from it. Maybe having bad news to deliver somehow helped it stay hopeful that Zal would wake up.

“He liked it here,” Elliv says. “I think he’d much rather rest here than in a city. He liked the quiet.”

Lein is easy for everyone to dwell on, when he’s lying right here beside them. Zal is harder, sitting up at Helbender Commune at Chi’s mercy. But nobody is ready to talk about Razha. If she’d died she would be lying here next to Lein as a hero. But when she’s a prisoner, the people here want to pretend it’s different, that she’ll be back someday. Her comrades know better.

Razha won’t be imprisoned. She’ll fight them to her very last breath, and she’ll hold it to get one more punch in. They might lock her up, but they’ll never cage her. Nadia knows they won’t put up with her for a week before they get tired of her. So the collective knows she’s as good as dead. They’ll grieve her in their own ways.

But the fight will go on. They have only struck the first blow, and the real work is still to come. Nadia feels grateful that there will be so much work ahead for her to lose herself in. What she isn’t looking forward to is the dark nights ahead, all alone.

END