It was slow and meticulous, each wound cut into their bodies was inflicted with the intention of causing as much pain as possible while still keeping them alive. The only one that hadn’t suffered was Delilah.
Her death, when it did come, was nearly instant.
Lucien couldn’t look away. His mind was hollow. His entire life had been taken away from him. He looked around in a daze, confused. Not knowing what to do with his life.
He sat there long enough for the day to turn to night. The rain had long since drenched his clothes, but he did not care. He didn’t even feel it. He stood up shakily, running on autopilot as he closed the door and joined his family.
He pulled them all together and fell asleep, squeezing them in a tight grip as tears streamed down his face.
~
Waking up in a daze an unknown amount of time later, he walked out to the tool shed and returned carrying a shovel. His eyes were glazed over as he took one more look at them before heading outside.
He spent the next several hours digging in the backyard until his arms felt like they would fall off. Wiping away the sweat, he plunged the shovel into the dirt and went back inside with puffy eyes.
Ignoring the screaming pain from his left arm, he carried them gently one by one to their graves and laid them to rest.
Taking out a small knife, he etched the symbol of Matron Stellara, a twelve-pointed star, onto the back of their hands, then filled in the graves. He was familiar with the rituals and customs surrounding burials, but he felt that he would grow intimately familiar with them.
Using the shovel, he marked out stars in the mounds, the amount of points marking the age of the deceased. All the while he chanted softly, his voice devoid of emotion.
“Today, you begin your journey to return to the stars above, where the Matron will coddle you once again in her loving embrace. And when she has absolved you of your pain, she will cast you back down to begin the cycle anew. May you find peace in however long that may be.”
Lucien leant against the shovel, using it as support as his chest heaved. Sweat dripped down his entire body. There was nothing he wanted to do more than fall to the ground and not get up. But he had one thing he needed to do before that could happen.
Ignoring the screaming pain in his body, he dragged himself out onto the street, the shovel trailing in the dirt behind him.
~
Days passed as he walked wearily through the village, giving everyone the burial they deserved. His body was burning, and felt impossibly heavy. He could barely drag himself to take a step, his feet skidding across the ground, but the last nascent fragments of his will forced him to keep moving.
He didn’t eat. He didn’t sleep. He wouldn’t rest until everyone returned to Matron Stellara. When he was done, he would join them too. There was no light in his eyes, and his soul was all but extinguished.
Graves lined the backyards of each home, each mound carrying their own personal star. He knew everyone by name, and knew how old they were when they died, down to the day. The village had a cemetery, but it was far too small to hold all of them, and Lucien felt that it was better to bury them in their homes.
Uther didn’t have any space behind his little command post of a home, having decided long ago to give up his backyard as a place for the children to play and for the guards to train. So instead, Lucien chose to bury Uther in the centre of the village, beneath the bell.
Uther was a leader of the people. He cared for everyone of them, and them him. Even if he didn’t always show it. But he was there for them, and was the reason everyone felt so safe. He was the very heart and soul of the village, so Lucien thought it fitting to bury him there.
Throughout all this time, there was one person that he wasn’t able to find, no matter where he looked for him. And that was Roddy. While he was relieved that someone potentially managed to escape, and was still alive out there, Lucien was worried for him.
He can’t survive out there on his own, he’s just a kid... What if Adam took him? Roddy’s situation had singlehandedly kickstarted his mind. He still felt trapped in that endless haze, where everything felt all but impossible. But now, it was like there was a light off in the distance, and he felt himself drawing closer to it.
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Maybe that light was his only chance at salvaging the wreckage that was his heart and soul. And so he clung to it desperately, and dragged himself through the abyss of despair. He was a broken man, and he knew that there was nothing that he could do to return to the life he had before. But if there was even the slightest chance that he still had some family out there, then he would cling to that hope.
After countless days of being a mindless zombie, he finally had a new lease on life. A new goal, no matter how broken and small that might be. Only when he found Roddy and made sure that he was safe would it be time for him to go.
But for now, he still had one thing left to do. He wouldn’t let himself leave the village unfinished. Returning to the schoolhouse, there was still one person waiting for him there. The elf Cassandra. She wasn’t a believer of Matron Stellara, and Lucien didn’t want to bury her as such.
Picking up her slender body, he carried her on his right shoulder. His left arm had long given up. After being put through so much stress, he could no longer feel anything in that arm. It no longer even had the ability to protest in pain. He knew in his heart that he would probably have to say goodbye to it too.
“I’m sorry for wasting your magic.” He whispered while carrying her deeper into the forest to the south. He made no effort in trying to hide himself. For he ultimately still didn’t care too much if he died. But for once, the forest was silent.
As if the forest was mourning the loss of one of its own.
He travelled for an unknown amount of time, walking further and further south. Time felt meaningless to him now, much like everything else. Nothing mattered.
The deeper he went into the forest, the larger the trees grew. The forest was densely packed with mana, thrumming with life to such an extent that the average person could feel the mana. But Lucien could not. If it wasn’t for the trees, he would have had no way of knowing that he was getting closer to his destination.
"Stop!” A voice called out from above.
Lucien followed the person’s instructions, not moving any further, clearly showing no ill intentions.
Two towering figures leapt down from the treetops, their bows pointed at Lucien and ready to fire at any moment. Both were lithe and graceful figures, with long blond hair that was tied back. They seemed like they were in their mid-twenties, but Lucien knew that was probably far from the truth.
From Lucien’s dishevelled and bloodied appearance, to the clearly injured arm and the fact that he was carrying someone, they felt that they could easily take him down if something was wrong, but they remained wary just in case.
“What brings you here?” The elf that spoke before said.
“I bring important news. The village of Locham is no more. Uther is dead. Everyone is dead.” Lucien said.
The elves were surprised. Although they weren’t too familiar with the village of Locham, they were familiar with Uther. If what Lucien was saying was true, then this was a matter of great importance that needed to be relayed to the elders.
After a bit of discussing back and forth, one of the elves rushed deeper into the forest, while the other stayed with Lucien. The remaining elf lowered his bow slightly, finally noticing the long pointy ears of the person Lucien was carrying. “An elf?”
Lucien nodded, finally letting his body give out as he collapsed into a seated position. He lowered Cassandra gently to the ground in front of him, as the elf came over to check on her.
The elf ran his hands through the air over her body, a faint green glow coursing through the air as he scanned her body. “What happened?” He asked.
“It was a bandit attack. It all happened too fast. She died protecting the kids.” Lucien said, his eyes glazed over and staring off into the distance.
The elf looked at him suspiciously. “How did you survive?”
“I was scouting the forest when the attack happened. It was already too late by the time I got back.”
The two sat in silence for a while until the elf from before returned with someone else. The new person didn’t look much older than the other elves, looking to be, at most, in her early thirties. She too had long blonde hair, but chose not to tie it up, instead choosing to let it cascade down her back. It was kept out of her eyes by a laurel wreath that marked her as one of the elders.
A being that has existed on this planet for more than a thousand years.
“Return to your posts.” She said to the two elves, wanting to be left alone with Lucien. As they returned to the treetops, she knelt down beside Lucien. “It must’ve been very hard on you. Allow me to help.” She reached out for his injured arm only to be rebuffed by him.
“There’s more important things to talk about right now.” Lucien said.
“That can be discussed in due time. Right now, you are hurting. And I will not allow a friend to stay like that when I can help.” She said gently, coaxing Lucien until he finally relented. Removing the old bandages, she frowned.
Lucien’s entire arm had been bruised black from all the stress he had put it under. To the point where it had necrosed. It was by far the worst state she had seen an injury in for a long time. She looked at him in concern when she realised that he didn’t even seem to register the pain.
Much like what the other elf did earlier with Cassandra’s body, she pushed her own mana into Lucien’s arm. Her face turned grim, as the more she saw, the more concerned she was. There wasn’t much of a difference between Lucien’s arm and Cassandra. In fact, Cassandra’s body was in a far better condition.
“There’s not much I can do I’m afraid.” She said, looking into Lucien’s eyes. “For all intents and purposes, your arm has been dead for a while. I haven’t seen anything like this before. It’s remarkable that you’re still alive.”
Lucien nodded, having long since accepted this outcome. He looked down at his arm with a sad smile before asking, “Can you help me?”
“That’s the least I can do.” She nodded, knowing exactly what he had in mind. She helped him lie down and unsheathed his sword. The grass coiled around him, spreading a scent that calmed his body while it held him tightly to the ground.
For the first time in a while, Lucien felt relaxed, as if all his worries had disappeared. For a moment, he allowed himself to forget, and simply existed among the grass, the dirt, and the trees.
She lined the sword up above his arm, knowing full well what could be saved, and what couldn’t. Wanting to end this quickly, she brought the sword down with all her strength.