Breed and Burn: Faceless

chapter 22- death do us part

Silently, everyone watched Roman and Archer lift down bodies from the main carriage to Thorne who carried them to the dark room. He held them like he was trying to put a broken thing back to together. Tightening his face, Axel watched Thorne struggle to hide the battlefield of emotions on his face.

The silence made Axel's blood run cold. Silence was a poison for them for it laid bare the conversations that should have been had they lived. Silence also allowed the rotting smell to press further into the skin for it travelled naked and alone. Most pressed their bodies against the wall as if death was contagious but Axel couldn't find it in him to move. Axel felt his eyes threaten to prick with tears.

He hated how death didn't pretend to care. He hated how it snatched where it could, taking people far too young and far too good. He hated how it didn't pretend to distinguish. They didn't deserve this fate after suffering for so long, especially when their friends lived. Death was a monster; not him. A curse.

There were three dead bodies. The first two were people Axel barely recognised- Ares and Grae. The last body made his stomach twist in several knots. Chane. He hardly knew him but he took command when Thorne couldn't. Thorne trusted him and could be called second in command. His skin was sickly white- whiter then a sheet wrapped tightly around a bundle of sticks. As if taking a mental picture of them, Thorne would stare at their faces unblinking. Then, Axel realised how they had no pictures of them. When the visual memory faded, they would become faceless. They would be forgotten. Body jarring at each thought, he felt his walls that blocked out Seven lift a little. As strange as it sounded, Seven distracted him from reality.

In peace, may you return home. Safe passages on your travels for your journey is not yet over. We only part to meet again. Even Seven found it in him to respect the dead and said that words that seemed to come from a ritual.

"In peace, may you return to our home. Safe passages on your travels for your journey is not yet over. We only part to meet again," repeated Axel, softly. A soft serration of voices repeated what he said like it was a prayer. Like it was the only thing holding them together. Although he felt Sage give him a weird look, Axel didn't break his gaze from the lifeless bundle of sticks Chane had become.

Someone began to pale considerably, clutching his stomach and become mouth dry. Watching him stagger to the bathroom with his limbs working all wrong was a pitiful sight. Others followed him.

The air was thick with the same question- when would Thorne stop carrying bodies back and forth. When he finally returned from taking Chane into the dark room, his cheeks were glistening with tears but his eyes were rock strewn. Everyone watched him, waiting for his orders. It seemed like death had snatched away the part of their brain that allowed them to function for themselves.

After the silence became thinner and thinner like a balloon blow too big, Thorne gave in to the temptation to rupture it. As everyone listened attentively, the room became still like snow. "We have lost five of our people at the hands of Faceless. We all grieve in own ways and do not think you're weak when you cry or feel like you can't get out of that pathetic makeshift bed. Push past this, find your own way to grieve but do not let your grief change your morals and make you give up. Wars with hot heads and cold hearts were never won." His voice wasn't one that belonged a mourner but as nonchalant as someone waiting for a friend.

War? Axel felt his breath solidify as it lodged itself in his throat.

Promptly, his tone changed like a wind waved flame. Stronger. "It could be you next. The trouble is we think we have time but our friends are dying all around us so we have a better chance. Make no mistake, it wasn't their choice they gave up their tomorrow for our today but that does not mean we should waste it. That doesn't mean we shall not honour them. We can never fully repay for the fallen soldiers in this war but we shall honour them. We shall honour them by finding ways for others not to join them. There are only sixteen of us left. Do not let their death be in vain. Instead of separating as our ancestors did, we shall come together to avenge those we lost. Do not just utter those words but live by them.