When we make it to the house, the gathering of my first bones waits for us around the door. I raise a hand in greeting and let my magic shoot through the earth to curl with the cloud of their blended magics. I feel, rather than see, Antonio slow behind me. He was getting better as the weeks went on about not being so shocked around the bones, but I understood it took time to get assimilated to their… boniness. “Sybil,” Lasis raises a hand. They’re wearing well-tailored work clothes, and they hang around his white bones in pools of cloth. Over the years, some of the bones decided they enjoyed wearing clothes, while others preferred to embody their clothesless lives. Lasis was one that believed that the clothing gave them an edge of competence. “They wanted to go down the hill.”

I nod. “That’s a nice spot.” I glance down the hill toward the edge of trees, knowing the small wildflower clearing Jun probably decided upon. I inhale the sweet taste of the summer afternoon and gather myself. “Okay. Let’s do this.” I lead the procession down the hill, the clink of bones and the footsteps following solemnly behind me. The energies are quiet around me, but they gently touch against mine like hands pressed gently on my shoulder. It’s a comfortable weight that makes me feel more emotional about this than I would otherwise be.

When we make it to the clearing, Jun is laying in the grass, and I get the sensation that their eyes, though there is no skin or bones, are closed. They are taking in the last rustles of the summer wind and enjoying the scent of the flowers and grass. I reach out with my magic and curl it around theirs. I feel them smile. “Is it time?” They ask.

“I should be asking you that,” I tease, sitting down next to them. My hand slips into their phalanges, and the others wait at the edge of the clearing, watching. They squeeze my hand.

“I think it is,” they admit. “Today is a beautiful day.”

“It is,” I agree.

“You’ll be okay?” They ask, maternal magic gentle against mine.

I squeeze their bones. “You know me well enough to answer that.”

They chuckle, “I don’t know if that puts my worries to rest.”

I smile. “You’ll be missed.”

They nod, their head shifting in the grass. “I’ll be missing you all too,” They turn their head to take in the rest of our original troupe. In the last three years, many others had been raised or constructed, but Jun was the first to be committed. “It’s time, though,” they say with a contented sigh. “And I see no better day than today, surrounded by my family and the beautiful wildflowers.”

I fight down the grief that bubbles into my throat, the strain in my chest. I try to remind myself that all souls get tired at some point, it was just Jun’s time. “Are you ready?”

They nod.

I give their hand one last squeeze and press a gentle kiss to the brow of their skull. “Thank you, for everything.” I tell them. “Modder of mine.”

They chuckle and pat my back. “I’m honored to bear the title. Tell Haven and Soleil goodbye for me?”

I feel my eyes well up with tears. “They will have sent you their salutations, too.”

They nod. “Yes. They’re good for you.”

“I think so too.”

“Goodbye, my dear.”

I want to clutch their frail skeleton to me, but I know that I would not let go: I would not perform their last rites.

I swallow and stand, gesturing for Simon to approach. The man sidles up beside me. I nod to the rest of them, and they all come to squeeze Jun’s finger bones and say final words. Then, they all stand in a wide circle around me. I take a deep breath, nod to Simon, and close my eyes. I raise my hands above the Jun. Roderick has brought a small drum and he rattles his thumb bones across the top of it, and I hear the magical notes of Samantha and Amelia’s magic singing while the others sway. I let the sound ground me and let my magic flow out into the earth. I tap Simon’s green aura with my magic and feel him jerk beside me. With my physical hand, I take his arm gently. “Let your magic flow with mine,” I tell him in a low tone. I know that this will be tricky with his latent druidic magic, but I believe that he deserves to feel where his tradition has come from, even if it is a blended one. He nods beside me, understanding, and I open my mouth to sing.

“Blessed are you, great earth,

Who witnesses us here today, in our space.

Who fills us with her energy,

And guides our journey, and our pace.

This congregation commits to you,

O holy one of russets and green,

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

The same soul that you have shared,

To your embrace, serene.”

Simon’s voice and magic harmonizing with mine on the common prayer pieces. His magic feels magnifying and light, different. I realize I haven’t worked with druid magic like this before. It feels nice, like a gentle complementary color spread like velvet into mine. It smells of eucalyptus and tastes like sap and pine needles. I feel a third magic tentatively test against ours: gray and thorny, with the distinct scent of roses. It is also druidic. I’m tempted to feel back to see if the magic is Antonio’s, but I narrow my focus to the ritual at hand. It will bear investigation later.

“Blessed are you, great earth,

Of flowing and undulating grace,

Who fills us with her energy,

And hides her face.”

Via would have particularly liked the line about grace, though I would never tell her I had added it after watching her dance in the stream that bordered our property.

“With the power you have given us,

O Sister, O Daughter, O friend.

I commit this sweet, loving soul to you,

May never again their energy lend.

Allow Jun rest, my goddess,

And passage through your pine gate

Into the next world, the next lifetimes,

Whatever their fate.”

My voice hitches at the end, and I feel Jun’s energy twist around the clearing, wrapping around my shoulders in a final hug before fading away. My eyes remain squinted shut as Rod’s drumming reaches a crescendo and the vocalization fades off. I choke back a sob, feeling out with a tendril of my magic to the empty bones and recoil in surprise, eyes popping open. Jun’s inanimate bones are covered in wildflowers and beautiful vines, twisting in through their ribs and sprouting through the mandible, wrapped in a grassy embrace.

Before I realize what is happening, I am on my knees, crawling to their body, fingers hovering over the singing mushrooms that tickle over my magic, excited at the sudden new growth. I throw myself over their ribcage and cling to the vacant frame. They are truly gone, now, but in their place, the druidic magic has brought life. It’s a beautiful manifestation of painful and peaceful loss. My sobs echo into the forest around us. This is exactly the commitment Jun deserved, and they would have been so pleased to see it. I know the others are watching me, but I spare them no thought, letting my anguish crash over me in waves.

Once the breeze cools on my neck and my throat is too sore, my eyes too tired to cry, I fumble with the vial at my belt and haul myself away from their body. I wipe my face sloppily across my forearm and cough. I pop open the container and dribble a droplet onto the corpse. “Sleep easy, my dearest friend,” I whisper hoarsely as it disappears into the grass cascading over their ribcage. “If I see you again…” I can’t finish the benediction. The words catch in my throat. I don’t know what to say. I don’t think I’ll have another life, but I am so thankful for the life I got to share with Jun.

I reach for their hand, but the magical adhesion is gone, so the metacarpals fall apart, and I am left with a proximal phalange. I set it back in its place and pat it into the ground, knowing it is better served with its sisters. I clear my throat and wipe my wet face again before I stand and face the rest of them.

Their eyes follow me as I excuse myself into the forest, and begin to take turns saying their final farewells.

Henry catches up to me, and their large arms fall around me, pulling me into their clay body. They are silent, there is no signing into my magic. I melt into them, exhausted from my sobbing.

Why is it that you are not tired? I sign into their magic, my lips not moving.

They squeeze me tighter, large hand taking up the whole of my back, but they are silent. I think I’m glad they don’t respond, because I don’t know that I could handle the passing of Henry, too. They hold me for a little while longer until my magic stills, and the shaking in my shoulders eases. I pull away and wipe my face again, standing on my toes to pat the side of his massive mandible. “Thank you.” I say aloud.

They nod.

I pat my hands on my pants legs and stretch out. “Jun would want a celebration, I think.”

Yes, I think so, they sign.

All that’s left to do is get the group of skeletons and the two humans up to the farm house for some music and food. When we return to the clearing, they are chatting amongst themselves already, the clacking of teeth bones and finger bones a gentle cacophony. Antonio and Simon huddle together, silently watching the rest of them. “Thank you for coming,” I call out to them, my voice still hoarse. “Let’s go celebrate.”

The skeletons cheer and gather their things to head back up to the house, this time Lasis leads them.

I hang back with the other two humans–druids. I take Simon’s arm, effectively stalling both men. “You did well,” I tell him.

Even in the lowlight of the evening, I see his eyes light up with pride and he bows his head, “That was wonderful to witness, Priestess.”

“Please don’t call me that,” my lips quirk in a painful grimace. “I’m no priestess.”

He opens his mouth to disagree but I narrow my focus to Antonio, “You.” His eyes dart to mine in surprise, and I continue before he can say anything. “You have more power than you’ve let on.” I cross my arms and frown at him. “I understand the latent magic, or whatever, how long have you been able to manipulate the ether?”

He frowns. “The what?”

Simon nods, turning to the prince. “The ether, I felt it too. Yours was the energy that grew the flowers around Jun’s body.”

Antonio’s eyes flicker between us, his black eyebrows stitching together over his angular nose. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” His frown eases as he looks at me with a soft gaze. “It was a beautiful ceremony.”

“Thank you,” I say dismissively. I fight the instinct to offer to help cultivate the magical affinity in him, Arceme’s deal swimming in my head. I chew on my lip and turn to Simon, “Help him.” It’s braver than I expected, and I half-expect my life to end.

But nothing happens, and Simon regards me thoughtfully. He nods slowly. “Okay, my lady.”

I step past them, taking up after my family, “Let’s get on to the wake,” I tell them over my shoulder. “It’s a lot more fun than the ritual, anyways.”

I hear their quiet debate and then they pick up speed behind me, following me to the farmhouse.