OathBlade (Wattys2015)

50. The Underground City*

There were no celebrations when the runics joined the group. There were a few warm exchanges of greetings, but the silence cast over the group remained well after reaching the Gailmooth Juncture. The screams of surviving aglithi faded behind them as the group passed beyond their territory. Jesset spoke with Gaidel briefly at the head of the group but otherwise the group remained quiet and kept to themselves.

They ate, they slept, they walked, and so the pattern went uninterrupted until the moment she dreaded since the decision to bring the corpses was made.

"We cannot keep carrying them!" one of the knights barked. "The stiffness is gone, yes, but now they weigh us down beyond reason."

"We've no idea how much longer we must walk," another said. "But we do know the bodies have begun to stink. Much longer and they'll bloat. None of us wishes to carry that burden upon our backs any longer."

"Burden?" Taelin snapped. "You consider your own fallen comrades a burden?" He carried Zethir's body on his back, as he had the past three days, allowing none other to touch him.

"Our comrades are dead," the first knight said. "Your bondmate is dead. The longer we leave them like this, the longer they suffer. I would send them off to the homeland gods now and be done with this, rather than carry them along trapped in their rotting prison!"

Gaidel raised his hands. "I understand, but we cannot burn them here. The fumes—"

"Then set them to burn and collapse the tunnel behind us." A woman stepped forward and dropped the body she carried. "I cannot bear his weight any longer. Even trading duties as we have, there are too many dead to take to a proper pyre. They will not be bound by rock and dirt so release them now and let us be done with it."

"They deserve better!" Taelin stepped back, but his position within the crowd made it difficult to move away. "Casters would need to control the heat, otherwise the bodies will not burn!" He looked around, then to Elery. "Y-you can't possibly accept this."

"We have no choice," she said. "In a few days time they will begin to bloat and stink beyond tolerance. They will cause illness. We risk that even now as their wounds fester. I was soft and did not speak out when I knew I should about this matter, but it is time we put an end to this. There was no hope of carrying these corpses back to Ortuna."

"So you would leave them half-burnt and sealed in a tunnel like...like refuse?" Taelin's eyes narrowed and filled with tears. "After all he's done for you, you would—"

"I would prevent the rest of you from meeting the same fate!" Elery snarled. "Carting these bodies around slows us down and wastes our energy. The homeland gods will receive them whether the bodies are completely burned or merely damaged enough to make them unusable by Celestine!"

"Then burn the others so haphazardly if you wish," Taelin said. "But leave Zethir to me. Let me give him an honorable pyre! He will be my burden alone, I—"

"We haven't the time for this," Gaidel said. "We cannot take him further. I grieve for your fallen bondmate. Believe me, I truly do grieve, just as I grieve for all those we've lost. But this cannot work. You will be slowed by his weight and we will be forced to match your pace." He held up his hand. "All who carry bodies, move to the back of the ranks."

All but Taelin obeyed. They rested the bodies in a large pile and stepped back, leaving only Zethir's body absent.

"Lay him down," Elery told Taelin.

"I refuse! This is barbaric!"

Two knights grabbed his arms and held him as Dakkan walked over. He lifted Zethir's limp form off Taelin and silently walked to the pile to deposit the body atop it like a gruesome crown.