Ademar’s back ached, but he wouldn’t stop digging. The umgar didn’t have the physical strength needed to help him, as they had spent most of their life studying books, and Ademar had ignored Frensia’s pleas to go for help. He was driven by a need to give Tace a proper burial; he didn’t want to put it off. The faster he buried her body, the sooner she could make the trek to her god, Drothu.
Though Ademar had spent the last few years studying the god of the orcs, and he and Tace had often discussed religion, he wasn’t sure where she stood. Still, if her beliefs mirrored those of the faithful orcs, he knew her body had to be underground before sunset. It was their way, and he would honor it.
Only one thing stood in his way—Raseri. He knew the little dragon hated him. That had been clear from the moment they met. Ademar had tried everything to make friends, and he had thought the dragon was getting closer to at least tolerating him, but ever since he’d started digging, Raseri had done nothing but get in his way.
Shooing her away for the hundredth time, he turned to the dragon, who was clearly agitated, her wings flapping erratically. “I’m angry she’s gone, too,” he said, not knowing whether the beast could understand him. She seemed to understand Tace easily enough, but perhaps that was due to their bond. “But if I am to honor her religion, she must be underground before sundown. Please, please let me work. Let me do this for her.”
Raseri flew into Ademar’s face, scratched his cheek with one of her sharp claws, and flew off before he could knock her away.
Ademar lifted a hand to his cheek. His fingers came away wet with blood. “Damn dragon. At least now I can finish what I started.”
He grabbed the shovel again, stabbed the earth as hard as he could, and flung a scoop of dirt over his shoulder.
When at last he’d dug a hole deep enough to hold Tace’s body, he looked over at Frensia, who sat off to the side, paging through a book they had found in the rubble. Ademar cleared his throat, unsure what to say.
Frensia looked up, realized what Admear was about to do, and put their book down. They joined Ademar at the edge of the grave.
Ademar picked up Tace, holding her body in his arms for the last time. This wasn’t how it was supposed to end. She was supposed to cure the orcs of their insidious infection. She was going to unite everyone to stand up against whatever power had decided to wage war on them. She had so much to do.
But right or wrong, she was gone, and Ademar would do the best he could by her.
He laid her gently in the grave, blood dripping from his cheek onto the dirt. Thanks to Raseri, he would leave a little part of himself in the ground with her. It would never be enough, but it was something.
As Ademar picked up the shovel to toss dirt on Tace’s body, Frensia began to sing a strange, lilting tune. The finality of the situation kicked Ademar in the gut. He gasped for air, and tears spilled down his cheeks. This was the end. His adventure with Tace was over, even though he felt like their book still had many pages yet to be written.
He gathered himself and returned to his work. He was determined to finish before the light of the day was gone. It was the final thing he would do for her, and he wanted it to be perfect.
When he threw the last bit of dirt on her grave, he threw the shovel to the side and fell to his knees, spent. Frensia’s cool palm rested on his shoulder. The umgar hadn’t stopped singing since Tace’s burial, and they continued to sing even now. Ademar found a strange measure of peace in the tune, even though he couldn’t understand the words. Somehow it spoke directly to his soul, tending to the open wounds.
A roar filled the sky, and Ademar looked up. A magnificent dragon was flying above them—and Raseri was flying beside it. For a moment, he thought the huge dragon was Pesha, Raseri’s mother, but another glance told him the coloring was all wrong.
To his surprise, the dragon circled and landed right beside Tace’s grave. Ademar studied the gentle curve of its spikes and the purple swirls on its scaled body. It was truly breathtaking.
The dragon bent its head down toward Tace’s grave. It looked at Ademar, its eyes strangely knowing—and then it opened its mouth and let out a long breath of air over the grave.
Ademar stepped back. He didn’t understand what was happening, and he didn’t want to be within fire-breathing range.
The dragon nodded once, nudged Raseri with its snout, and took off again, heading north.
Raseri settled around Ademar’s shoulders as if it were her favorite place to be. Perhaps the other dragon’s visit had given Raseri the calm she so desperately needed. Ademar didn’t argue. They both needed comfort.
He walked to the edge of the grave once more and knelt on one knee. “I loved you, Tace. I’ll never forget you.”
He bent his head, and to whatever gods were listening, he asked for her safe passage to her next destination.
A rustling sound made him raise his head.
A fist had thrust itself out of the dirt.
Tace’s dragon ring glinted in the waning light.