Veil of Shadows

Chapter 31. A Grave Matter

Ranger sat on a rock, watching the fire.

The forest was utterly silent. Only the muted crackling of the flames was audible. She didn't look up for a long while. The light of the fire reflected in her eyes, turning them orange-red.

Lost in thought, the Ender Hybrid didn't notice the fire dying down until it was only darkened ashes, and by then it was too late to add more wood. And so, she stared off into the darkness, not even trying to fall asleep.

A flash of movement, and Ranger looked up.

Zero stood beside her, still carrying Patch. "She's dead." Zero said quietly. Ranger went still. The sounds of the night turned to a deafening roar that drowned out all other sounds.

"Who killed her?" Ranger asked, strangely calm. Zero shook his head and replied "One of Shadow's guards. It was an unauthorized action." Ranger seemed oddly unaffected by that.

"I see." She said, more to herself than Zero.

"You're taking this development rather well." Zero said, a hint of confusion in his voice. Ranger looked up at him, and he could suddenly see the barely restrained rage in her eyes.

"I assume that the guard responsible for her death has been punished." Ranger said, her voice not betraying any of the anger she felt - as a matter of fact, her voice didn't betray any emotion at all.

"Yes. When Shadow found out about it, he flipped out. Apparently he was put in a bad mood by a previous meeting." Zero replied, gently placing Patch on the ground.

Ranger only nodded. "Thank you for trying to get her out of there. If I could, I would have gotten there sooner, and she wouldn't have ended up dead." Her voice cracked at the end of the sentence.

Zero lowered his head slightly, understanding that he couldn't do much other than wait. Ranger cleared her throat slightly and said, trying to change the subject "Might I have your name?"

"I go by Zero." He replied in his usual monotone manner.

"Well, thank you, Zero." Ranger said. Zero nodded and vanished, as there was nothing left to be done or said. Leaving Patch's body at the temporary camp, Ranger walked into the forest.

After a few minutes, she picked up a relatively large rock and carried it back to the camp, where she used a small pack of metal tools to carve a message deep into the surface.

Plunging the rock into the ground, she read aloud "Patch. Apprentice, Friend, Hero."

She grabbed a handful of small, round stones. It was a custom in the End that a grave be marked with stones, not flowers. Flowers could wither away into nothingness; stones were eternal.

After burying Patch, Ranger knelt before the headstone in silence. There was nothing she could say that could put what she felt into words. Patch had barely been her apprentice for two weeks, and yet...she was dead.

Ranger quietly recited a short saying.

"Let your soul be free and take you where you will be safe from harm, where the hearts of thousands beat with the same rhythm. Let you feel no hatred or regret, let you feel no fear or anger."

The Ender Hybrid didn't sleep at all that night.