Servitude: The Hydrangea Chapters

Chp 12: The First Lost Soul

As Elek guides the braxl, aware that it depends on him to lead the way as they ride, the rising heat of the desert soon made Englias harder to see through the shimmering air. Even before they reach the slain hekoska, Elek covers his nose with the scarf, spotting its carcass on the horizon. As they approach, Marlina notices several more braxl crawling over the carcass, acting like carrion creatures. While some surround the hekoska with their fan-like ears close to the ground to listen for any shifts in the sand, others focus on Elek and the sled, soon shifting to a more defensive stance. 

Elek lets out a loud whistle, which his braxl mimics. The others then return to their meal, even letting Elek's braxl approach and eat some of the carcass to regain strength. The wrinkles around Elek's brow and the bridge of his nose reveal that being near the foul-smelling carcass is unpleasant, but the braxl takes pleasure as it uses its barbed tongue to clean a few ribs. Stepping into the sled and signaling for Marlina to stand, he opens a compartment beneath her and retrieves a pair of well-worn thick leather gloves and a box. As Elek approaches the carcass, he takes one of the knives sheathed at his lower back, gripping its grooved handle with the blade facing away from him. A few feet away from where his braxl is feeding, he carves out chunks of maggot-infested flesh and places them in the box, food for the braxl during their trip. Once the braxl has its fill and cleans the blood off itself, it flicks its tongue at Elek's now-sealed box while he rubs its nose.

With a compass guiding them west, the surroundings fell silent, broken only by the sound of sand shifting beneath the sled and the wind sweeping across the landscape. In just a couple of hours of travel, some distinctly shaped cacti that Marlina remembered quickly pass by, much faster than when she had trekked on foot. It seems the sandstorm had erased her footprints, so she needs to stay vigilant and observe her surroundings. 

Once she spots a cactus with a section torn away, she calls out to Elek. "We're getting close to one of them, Sir Elek!" It isn't long before she points to a nearby low-sloping rock formation that juts from the ground, creating a small shaded area beneath it with a freshly shifted mound and a piece of cactus featuring a flower marking the grave. 

Guiding the sled, Elek takes a sip from his canteen, grabs a rolled-up leather case, and follows her as she crawls under the stone due to its low position. The rock seems to hover just above the ground, perhaps a half-buried stone slab. With enough weight on top, it could easily tilt, meaning the remains might never have been found if it collapsed. Thankfully, a group of braxl hadn't chosen this spot as a morning perch. Remembering the disappointed look on Marlina's face from their conversation yesterday, Elek doesn't dare criticize her decision to bury the remains in such an inconvenient location. Although she is a lifeless construct, she has emotions, and he doesn't want to upset her. Instead, he aims to understand her reasoning. 

"Where did you find this one? And why did you decide to bury it here?"

"As I passed by, I noticed the sparkle of a bracelet on the wrist, with only the hand visible at the time. The rest was buried in the sand, and it took some time to dig everything out using just my hands and bring it down here. They seemed tired and laid on the rock to rest, succumbing to the heat. I moved their resting spot to the shade so they wouldn't be in the sun anymore, facing the sunset. It was sunset by the time I finished, so I sat with them and watched before moving on."

How strange, yet also kind, to have her sit there with them before she laid them to rest. "Perhaps they died of dehydration. Regardless, we won't know for sure until I examine the bones."

While Marlina pushes the cactus aside with her arms, using the holes in her wrists as makeshift shovels to scoop up the sand, Elek rolls out the leather case filled with neatly organized excavation tools. Knowing Marlina wants to help, he takes a trowel and secures it to her arm with some twine. Just as she is about to drive the spade straight down into the biggest pile of sand, Elek stops her.

"Shallow, level scoops. You could damage the bones. It might upset people when we return the remains." To illustrate the proper technique, he used another trowel to show her. 

While Marlina thinks it might take a long time to approach it that way, she also needs to reflect on how someone would feel if a spade had been driven through their loved one's head. She nods in understanding and follows his lead. Once they find the head, Elek has Marlina dig for the lower half of the remains in case she is too careless with her trowel. Brushes are used to loosen the sand surrounding the bones, and it takes a little while before enough is uncovered for examination. 

Elek mutters as he inspects the bones, just as he did yesterday. "Male... Colonial... approximately between 36 and 45 years old..." While Elek starts dusting off the larger bones before individually wrapping and binding them in cloth for protection, Marlina begins to clean the clothing off.

"Do you return the clothes with their belongings?" Marlina asks.

"It depends. We do our best to respect their belongings, as some items can hold sentimental value for those who are still living. Occasionally, we're fortunate enough to receive permission to keep anything that is useful to us, which we negotiate along with the delivery price. It's an exchange that helps lower costs for those who may not have the funds to cover the delivery of the remains," Elek explains.

Upon hearing the clang of tools from a belt that Marlina pulled out, Elek gestures for her to show him. As he examines the tools, he notices they are similar to his own but appear crude. "It seems this one might have been an archeologist..." While searching for one of the arms, he finds the bracelet Marlina mentioned. Using a bit of water to wash off the excess grime, he uncovers a familiar engraving. It depicts a broken column with slender leaves of plant fossils on either side, all set within a mountainous backdrop. "He was from the Seekers of the Forgotten guild." 

Marlina isn't sure what that means, but Elek clarifies. "Colonials, at their core, crave all kinds of knowledge and will pursue it in any way possible. They use organizations known as guilds, and this particular guild searches for long-forgotten ruins or civilizations to study—what enabled them to thrive and what caused their downfall—and employs that knowledge to their advantage. I was part of this guild years ago, learning about the knowledge of bones from their only expert before she passed away. However, it eventually turned into a haven for grave robbers. I didn't learn what I did to steal from the dead, and I wanted no part of it when others asked me to help identify lords and monarchs to see if their riches could be uncovered. Colonials insist that their members be marked by anything from a tattoo to a crest to matching jewelry, depending on which organization they belong to." 

Marlina absorbs the information like a sponge; it significantly differs from what she experienced in Urush. Urushians are divided into territories based on one of the four elements they are born to control, and many are separated from their birth families. For them, their spiritual family is where they belong, and they are content with that. These guilds seem to focus on the individual's pursuits and interests.

"If I may ask, Sir Elek, what prompted you to observe bones as you do?"

When most people ask such a question, they often do so to mock or show distaste. By now, Elek has learned that her many questions stem from a genuine curiosity. However, this may distract them from the task at hand. "I don't think this is the best time to discuss this. Would you mind waiting until we find shelter for the night?" 

Marlina is not without her disappointment at having to wait, but at least he didn't refuse. She is responsible for uncovering the rest since she has no hands to help wrap and tie the pieces. It's for the best, as Elek meticulously handles the remains, labeling each wrap with the names of the bones inside. Marlina knows none of them except for 'skull.' Once everything is wrapped, Marlina assists Elek in carrying the packages to the sled, where he carefully organizes them in one of the long compartments, leaving the bundle of personal items on top so Elek can catalog them later. The process took several hours, but Elek paused to eat in the shade and check on Marlina's form before heading west again.