Consuming Fire

Chapter 59

The view from the jagged mountain on top of the compound was more beautiful than anything Hunter had ever seen. The colors of pink and orange across the sky as the sun crept closer to the horizon were spread out before them. A warm breeze danced over the large group of people who stood before the three bodies of the lost, wrapped in white sheets and lying down atop a pile of stones.

Hunter looked to her left at those she'd met in ICE – injured or not, they were all there. On her right were Jenny and Joshua, arm in arm, and Eli and his new friend Amelia holding hands. Oddly enough, it did not bother her. They had each found new love. Behind them was the Captain and every other member of the SSS, stretched out across the toothed mounds. Too many to count.

Will was there. He slept for a few hours, showered and came out for the funeral, not hungover in the slightest but still drowning in depression. She was proud of him for being there.

One of the SSS members – a girl called Ella, who was apparently a writer and a blogger – volunteered to read a passage she'd written to open the funeral. Hunter and the others had no problem with it; even though these people didn't know who the dead were, they still respected them.

Ella stood before the bodies with a crumpled piece of paper in her gloved hands. Her hair swept across her face. She cleared her throat and spoke clearly.

"There are many things a hero is. Loyal. Honorable. Courageous. A light. Sometimes they are victorious, facing monsters like fear with their swords held high. Sometimes they fail, but they learn to get up and keep fighting because no one else is brave enough. But always ... they are there for those in need. We cannot all live forever. But their sacrifice will not be forgotten.

"I don't know much about life or death, but I know that in between we do the best we can to be remembered. The world did not know who they were, but we did. So we will remember Benji. We will remember Mosi. And we will remember Fearne. We will remember our fallen heroes."

Ella hung her head, folded up her words and turned around, touching the paper to her chest. Hunter was entranced as the girl she did not know wedged her personal goodbye at Fearne's feet between two stones where it fluttered in the breeze. Then she walked back into the crowd.

Ryo stepped forward, a tattered copy of Peter Pan in her hands. She placed it carefully beside Benji's head, her shoulder's shaking.

"To die," she said, "would be an awfully big adventure."

Hunter's heart ached. Tears swarmed in her eyes as Ryo ran back to her brother's arms.

Marcus approached Mosi's body, also covered in a white sheet so no one could see how torn apart he was. Hunter hated seeing Marcus so distraught. He put a hand on Mosi's chest and closed his eyes.

"I never had much of a brother but ... you were all I could have asked for. Goodbye, brother."

He walked back to the crowd, hunched and broken.

Will was gazing at Fearne's body, his brow furrowed. Hunter wasn't sure if he was going to say anything, so she reached for him and squeezed his hand. He gave her a nod.

The walk to Fearne's body felt like a mile. The wind blew against her left side, the sun nearly gone.

She took a deep breath and spoke so everyone could hear her. "Fearne once told me that ... we can never truly move on until we have said goodbye. And today we say goodbye to Benji Givens, a boy who once never believed in himself. But in the face of danger, Benji didn't back down. We say goodbye to Mosi Sofano, who was strong and hard on the outside, but had the softest heart any of us had ever known. And we say goodbye to F-Fearne Matherson. She thought of others above herself, she always knew exactly what to say and-" Hunter met Will's tear-filled eyes and said, "she lit a light in our darkness that could not be diminished. We say goodbye to three beautiful people today and hope that we will never forget the blessing they were in each of our lives. They were ... they are ... a light in the darkness."

Hunter clenched her fists, proud that she didn't break down. She turned her back on the crowd and stood before Fearne's body in the middle pile, the valley below her. It was the hardest fire she'd ever had to light. With one breath, she raised her hands and the three bodies burst into flames. From the back of the crowd there were gasps of surprise - some of them had never seen her power in action. The three fires burned and the bodies melted and Hunter held the fire but she couldn't for very long. Tears were flooding from her eyes and she found herself sobbing as she stared into the bright flames.

Then a hand was upon her shoulder. She looked behind her to see Will, his face a mix of sorrow and release. Hunter dropped her hands and curled into his chest where he wrapped his arms around her and they cried together. She didn't know for how long, but when she pulled away, the fire had died and the ashes of those she loved blew away, carried across the valley and into the orange glow of the setting sun.