HBH IV: Forges Of Hellfire

XX: The Aftermath Of The Blood Bath

The coppery smell of blood filled the air. The wolves began to clear. I sat up and winced in pain. I looked down and saw Claudia still in my arms. "Thank goodness." I felt a blanket being draped around me. I closed my eyes and blacked out.

I woke up to the bright lights and smell of antiseptic. I rubbed my eyes. I turned to my left and saw Claudia beside me. I opened my eyes to say something. My throat felt dry and it burned. "Help." I rasped out quietly. Aria looked up and stared at me. "Kendra." She went to my side. I looked down and saw I was in a hospital gown. I was lined from head to toe in bandages. "Is Claudia alive?"

"Yeah, she's alive. She's not conscious yet."

"How many casualties?" I asked sadly. Aria wiped her tears away. "Forty." I gasped. "No, that's half of the camp."

"Half of the camp is gone."
"No." I closed my eyes and let the tears fall. "Can you bring Claudia closer?" Aria pushed Claudia's cot beside mine. "Hey Clauds, you okay? I know you felt those deaths." I brushed the hair away from her face gently. "Kendra!" The door flung open. Mark came running in, his eyes were bloodshot. Zane pulled a hoodie over his head. "Didn't you feel the deaths?" He shook his head. Zane nodded his head. "Forty campers, gods and goddesses up there are rioting."

"Wait, why didn't you feel the deaths?"

"The feeling lessens when you're in love." He smiled. Zane wiped his tears away. "Aspen is two cots away from you." I sat up. "Where is he?" I gripped Mark's arm while I walked to the next room. He was in a cot lying down. He was sitting up and playing Pokemon with Arin. "Kendra!" He waved his hand up. I sat down beside him. Arin hugged me. "You're alive." He had a few minor scars here and there. "Did you see what happened to Zane?" Aspen set his cards down. "Take off the hood." Zane slowly pulled his hood off. Along his left eye he had an eye patch. "What happened?"

"A wolf got to his eye."

"Oh, I'm so sorry."

"I don't mind." Zane said quietly. "I'm like Mark, he also doesn't have a body part." He joked and nudged Mark. "Kendra? Can I walk to you alone for now?" I nodded.

We sat down on a bench. "About what I said about Claudia, you were right." He paused. "I should've seen her more as a replacement for Cynthia. It was wrong and-"

"Why are you apologizing to me? Apologize to Claudia." He opened his mouth to say something but closed it. "Okay." I followed him back into the infirmary where Claudia began to stir. Mark stepped in quietly. "So Claudia, I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For making you feel like you were just a replacement for Cynthia."

"Who told you- wait. It was Kendra."

"It was Kendra." I waved behind him smiling. She looked away sadly. "Yes, you made me feel like I was a replacement for Cynthia, like you never really cared."

"And I'm sorry, I'd be willing to try and work out a better sibling relationship." I raised both of my thumbs at Claudia. "That would be nice."

"Then we can start today."

Arin kicked the door open and slung his arms around us. "Guys, time for a celebration of Mark and Claudia's sibling redemption arc." He dragged our butts out of the infirmary. "Oh, I didn't ask this but how exactly did you get to camp?"

"Oh, that's easy. Kaira picked us up and sped us back to camp." Mark nodded slowly. He looked around and turned to Cara. "We'll start their burial ceremony today. Including Pandora." It felt like a stone was dropped on my chest. Her words would echo in my mind in the most unfitting moments. "Kendra?"

"What? Did I miss something?" I spaced out. I do that alot, even in the most important moments. "We were talking about Claudia helping me with the burial rites. We can't perform them for Mebh properly because the Fir Bolg have their own burial practices."

"Oh, okay."

"I've done most of the burials for the campers who died in the raid."

"Yeah, must've been a lot without any help." He nodded slowly. "I've prepared a grave. We can pass by the tribute wall, put a few messages for them."

"That would be nice."

He walked all of us to the tribute wall. It wasn't anything too special, it was a cork board filled with flowers or pictures. Forty pictures were freshly pinned. On the top right corner two pictures of Croix and Cynthia were pinned. In the very center there was a picture of Rowan. I didn't have any way to commemorate Mebh so I just wrote a quick note and pinned it to the wall. I found two notes pinned near Rowan's. Both were signed by Saoirse and Sadie. They'd sailed off after helping with the raid damages. Pandora's wasn't so popular. I sighed and turned around. "They're burial will start in an hour."

"Huh?"

"Yeah, their burial ceremony."
"Today? So soon."

"Soon? Kendra it's been a week since the raid and since you can Claudia came back."

"A WEEK?!"

"Yeah, I mean you've been knocked out longer-"
"A WEEK?! I haven't been moving around and living for a week?"

"Kendra, it's time for the funeral." I looked up and saw Brigid standing over me. Her eyes filled with sadness.

The funeral had started later in the day. It was time for speeches. Claudia was in no shape to give a speech so I was going to give it. "When me and Claudia were in the tunnels, we were really lost and it took time to convince Rowan. He was still human and he still had a heart so we convinced him to help us. I made a promise I would bring him home safely, but now he's gone. I broke my promise, I couldn't bring him home. I'm so sorry." I felt tears spring to my eyes. Mark walked me down the stage. We left flowers for them while he brought me to my cabin.

"I got a gift for you and Claudia." I smiled at him. "It's a bird." I burst out laughing. "It's an owl. This is a screech owl, would you like to name him?" I stared at the owl which stared at my soul. "I'm gonna name him Benjamin." He stared at me. "You're going to name an owl, Benjamin?" I nodded happily. He smiled and hugged me. "If there's anything you want to talk about, I'm always free."

"So are you really that free?" I looked up at him. "I mean, maybe."

"The truth-truth."

"For you? I'm always free." -... . - .-. .- -.-- .- .-.. / -.. --- . ... -. .----. - / -.-. --- -- . / ..-. .-. --- -- / -.-- --- ..- .-. / . -. . -- .. . ... --..-- / .. - / -.-. --- -- . ... / ..-. .-. --- -- / .--. . --- .--. .-.. . / -.-- --- ..- / - .... --- ..- --. .... - / .-- . .-. . / ..-. .-. .. . -. -.. ...