A candle for all the souls that were lost in his battles.
A single candle, alit in the night. No words were said, just the flick of the match and the wick catching fire. He stayed where he was as the candle burned. He wasn't much of a prayer, so he thought of every unacknowledged soul that perished today. A soldier. A citizen. A child. Any and all.
A single candle that burned for every soul that left too early.
He blew out the bright flame when it reached midnight and watched as the smoke curled up in the starry sky. People might question why he did this every night. They would probably eventually understand, but this was a ritual of his own. No one had to know what it was about.
Imagine his surprise when someone was on the roof where he had the silent ritual. He remembered her. Someone died, someone who was close to her.
She held a small candle, a dwarf compared to his long thin one, but no less important. She smiled a small smile at him before looking down at her candle forlornly. There were slight tear tracks that stained her cheeks.
No words were spoken, only the sound of a match snapping and two wicks igniting. She left after a while.
Sometimes, people would join him. Silently mourning their own loss of the day. Some would bring candles of their own, or they would watch his candle burn with him. Either way, it was almost sacred. Even when he didn't have to light a candle, he would find a person in his spot, holding a ritual of their own.
He always offered a match to the ones that didn't have one.
Everyone participated at one point or another, either to support or mourn. They almost always had a candle of a various size, ready to light the night.
Some of the more confused people asked "Why do you always burn the candles?"
To send a message, was his answer.
A message to let the lost souls know that they're thought of and recognized, even after death. He didn't say this, however. He didn't need to.
So whenever a person experienced loss, they would light a candle. And some of the people eventually decided to join him in watching his own candle burn until midnight. It didn't matter if they knew the lost souls or not, they just wanted to be there and join the silent mourning.
It made him wonder, would they light a candle for him one day?
