I couldn’t watch as my sister drained Ereshkigal of her life force. Time seemed to pass far too slowly but finally, Nishalle gently placed the now-drained corpse of the former Queen of the Underworld beside her sister’s remains. Nishalle hadn’t changed much physically, the only real physical difference was that her crimson eyes now glowed, much as my violet ones did.

She was trying to keep it from the others around us, who were now free of Ereshkigal’s fear aura, but she wasn’t quite her old self. I knew her better than anyone though and there was a weight there in her glowing eyes. As much as Nishalle had leaned into the whole dark elf femme fatale thing that she had going since starting the game, I could see that this death was going to haunt her. She might never forget this, and maybe that was for the best. Inanna and Ereshkigal deserved to be remembered.

I turned to Xixie and found that the now depressing atmosphere around me included her and the other Sül’shael as well. It hurt seeing their usually smiling faces looking so sad. “Xixie… did you…?”

I couldn’t finish the sentence but the Sül’shael Priestess seemed to understand what I was asking and shook her head sadly. “No, Inu’Mahair, I tried. Their life-sparks were different… I couldn’t hold on to them. I don’t think that they would have been able to bond with one of my people’s seeds.”

I gave a despondent sigh and nodded. “Thank you for trying, Xixie, we should give them a proper burial. Are there any high hills nearby? Maybe somewhere that overlooks the meadow and the lake?”

“There is, Inu’Mahair. Would you like us to take you there?” the Sül’shael Priestess asked.

“Perhaps later tonight, Xixie? They deserve a proper send-off and I would like to make some preparations. I have a favor to ask of you and the girls though. Could you have one of the girls keep watch over their bodies while I’m gone? And there’s something that I would like you and the other girls to create at the site if you could.” I quickly whispered my instructions and Xixie gave a solemn nod. “We would be happy to, Inu’Mahair. We’ll have it finished when you return tonight.”

Xixie quickly spoke with the other nearby Sül’shael who were learning to make weapons and armor from Hadrick. One of the teens was left to watch over the pair of deceased Goddesses while Xixie and the others went to gather more Sül’shael to work on the task that I had requested. I turned to Hadrick, Yola, and Shaoli who had been watching, and gave a weak smile. “Sorry, Hadrick, I kinda co-opted your apprentices without asking.”

“They’re only here because you allow it, Yer Majesty. Those girls would do anythin’ fer you, an’ I think I have an idea of what you have planned. I have plenty of other work that I can be doin’ while the girls do yer good deed,” the Dwarf Smith replied with a brief nod of his head.

“We should get you measured now, Your Majesty,” Shaoli suggested gently. “Yola and Hadrick want to start working on your armor as soon as that dragon hide is properly cured, and from the looks of it, you’ll need new clothes too. I’ll make sure to pass on your updated measurements to the Brownies for when they have material to work with. They’ve been itching to make you some ‘proper’ Fae clothing since we got to Varüus’kiel.”

“Sure, Shaoli. You may need to measure Nishalle too though,” I agreed after a moment to clear the cobwebs from my mind. “If she has an Owl aspect, then she may need openings for her wings in her Lindwyrm hide armor. It would be nice if she could avoid destroying the back like I did and still use hers.”

Hearing her name seemed to snap my sister out of the daze that she was in. “Huh? We can’t even be sure that I gained all of her aspects. She made it sound like I would but I might have only gotten one or two. Even if I did gain that aspect, I have no idea how to use it.”

She was in rough shape, and I knew how she felt to some degree. We had both just killed people who didn’t deserve to die and who seemed to be genuinely decent. Sure, I had just struck the finishing blow to prevent Inanna’s power from falling into the wrong hands but that didn’t make my hands any less bloody. Ereshkigal wasn’t even dying though. She probably would have found someone else to do the deed if Nishalle had refused but Nishalle had been the one to sink her fangs in and drain the life out of her. All so she could protect me.

Was I worth it? Was I worth my sister killing her? Was I worth Inanna’s sacrifice, or Ereshkigal’s? People that I didn’t even know were willing to give me and Nishalle their power but did I deserve it? I had willingly thrust the knife to take that power, so what kind of person did that make me? I needed to shake this off, pretend that everything was fine. Nishalle probably had enough on her mind right now without worrying about me too.

With that in mind, I considered my sister’s dilemma for a moment before offering, “When I’m near one of my aspects I can feel a sort of connection to it, each one feels a bit different. Magick I can feel all around me, especially here in Varüus’kiel, Nature is similar but not very strong in the city, the Moon feels like a cool comforting touch when I’m in moonlight, and the Sea is like I can feel the ebb and flow of currents and the tide. Focus on the different things that she mentioned and see if you can feel a connection.”

Luckily there was plenty of earth and darkness around for her to try to connect with. Probably death too with the two dead goddesses so close. Nishalle closed her eyes and tried to focus on them while I let Shaoli attempt to measure me again. I kept my wings manifested so that it would be easier for anyone making my armor or clothes to know where they would need to leave space for them. By the time we were done, Nishalle had opened her eyes. “Okay, I could sorta feel the darkness, earth, and death but nothing on the owl thing. Maybe I just don’t have that one.”

“I didn’t really feel a connection to my dove aspect before, but it’s easier now since I manifested my wings the first time, and I was in raw panic mode at the time. Just get undressed and think about your owl aspect and how it would be really nice to have wings right now. Think about soaring through the air,” I told her as I looked over the headless clay statue of me.

Shaoli was right, I was going to need new clothes. I didn’t seem that I had lost any of my height, in fact, I may have gained an inch, but I was a lot curvier than I used to be. Nothing that I had was going to fit me properly anymore. My figure was no longer slender and athletic like most Fae. Well except maybe a Nymph’s, it was pretty close to that. Now my body was much like Inanna’s had been, all feminine beauty and raw sex appeal with long legs, wide and shapely hips, a waspish waist, and abundant breasts. I wondered briefly if my face had changed any as well but I was quickly distracted as Nishalle let out a startled, “Eep!”

My sister was naked, as I had suggested, and staring at the pair of large wings that had sprouted from her back. They were different from mine in both shape and color. Where my wings were starkly white, hers were a mix of dark brown and bright gold that went better than white would have with her dark coloring. Shaoli burst out laughing at the look on my sister’s face. “Well, I guess that answers that question then. Hold still, Nishalle, while I do my thing.”

Once Shaoli had created a headless clay copy of my sister she was allowed to de-manifest her wings and get dressed again. I did get a glimpse of her back as she was doing that and saw that she now had what looked like a tattoo of a pair of wings on her back. It was bright gold and really stood out against her dark blue skin.

As soon as she was dressed she summoned her Lindwyrm hide armor so that Shaoli could use Yola’s dragon skinning knife to cut slits for her wings in the back. The Nyiir’dhraí seamstress had her stand side by side with her clay likeness so she could determine the right placement and length for the slits. Hadrick was going to work with the Sül’shael to make her a chest piece similar to the one they were planning for me with spring-loaded flaps to cover the openings for the wings when they weren’t manifested. He was worried about someone trying to stab us in the back otherwise, and that was a very real possibility given how Inanna had been attacked.

Getting dressed was a lost cause for me. There was no way that the clothes that I had worn before were going to fit and I had to peel off what was left of my Lindwyrm hide armor when I tried summoning that because it was way too tight in places. I had to hope that nothing was going to attack me for the next few days because the new armor was going to take time to make. And that was after the dragon hide was cured.

It was almost eleven-thirty by the time Nishalle and I got back to the safe house. Thankfully, Rei, Lissany, and Pete were all getting some much-needed rest. Whisper and Grell were both passed out in the living room as well, so I had to assume that they had been up late again working on the tasks that I had assigned them the day before. Daenyss, Venika, Kinara, and the Wisps were the only ones awake in the house and they were in the kitchen preparing lunch.

Almost the instant that we stepped out of the portal, Willow zipped out of the kitchen to land on my shoulder and start trying to snuggle. I gave the pink and black Wisp a tired smile and some affectionate petting as the others followed her out of the kitchen. “Oh good, you’re back. We were starting to get worried about you two. Rei said you’d be coming in a few minutes, did something…” Venika’s inquiry was cut off as she, Daenyss, and Kinara stopped where they were to stare at me.

Well, this was awkward. But at least this couldn’t get much worse, right? Wrong. Because that was when I caught the very strong scent of Daenyss’s desire. “So, yeah… stuff happened. Oh, look! Nishalle is a demi-goddess now!” Okay, so I maybe threw my sister under the bus there. It didn’t quite work out how I was hoping though since it was like the three of them were watching a tennis match, their eyes darting back and forth between me and Nishalle.

Nishalle put an end to that when she finally spoke, her eyes downcast and her voice barely audible. “I’m gonna go lay down for a couple of hours… try to get some sleep before we have to run errands.” Without another word, she headed off to the second bedroom where Pete was probably sleeping since Lissany was curled up on the loveseat in the living room.

Everyone was silent as my sister shuffled off until the door closed behind her. Then, all eyes were on me once again as I considered pulling a disappearing act of my own. I was about to excuse myself when Kinara muttered, “Bloody hell, you look like… umm… and Nishalle is… I keep missing the good stuff.”

“There was very little good about this, Kinara,” I said a bit more harshly than I intended. I quickly apologized. “Sorry, Kinara. I shouldn’t take this out on my friends. I’m a bit tired, I didn’t mean to snap at you like that.”

“What happened, Mistress? Is everything alright?” Daenyss asked in concern, making a heroic effort to clamp down on her desire and focus on my needs.

“If everything was alright, Nishalle wouldn’t be acting so down. There was no snarky comeback. She’s my best friend, and I’ve never seen her act like that before. You’re not really acting like your regular self either, Taelya. What happened?” Venika pressed, still looking toward the door that Nishalle had disappeared behind.

“Look, I… I’d rather not talk about it right now. I don’t want to have to tell this story more than once, okay? Can this just wait for a couple of hours?” I asked hesitantly. “I… I need to go to the bathroom, and then I need to rest for a bit and process things.”

Venika was concerned and looked like she was about to say more when Daenyss cut her off. “Go and rest, Mistress. I will call you if anything requires your immediate attention. What time would you like me to wake you?”

“Two o’clock?” I more asked than answered. “It’ll give me about two and a half hours of rest and still give us time to do errands this afternoon, I guess. Maybe the others will be ready to get up then too.”

“I will come and wake you at two then,” my Attendant agreed. Then she carefully guided the other two and their Wisps back into the kitchen while I shuffled off toward the bathroom.

I didn’t really need to use the facilities, I just wanted to get a good look in the mirror. It turned out that I looked the same and yet different. People would still recognize me, mostly because of my Danann’syr and the fact that I was the only Fae who had glowing purple eyes and black hair, but my face wasn’t all that different now. I looked like a much hotter version of myself. I had been very attractive before, I was well aware of that, but there were a bunch of small and subtle changes to my face that had made ‘very attractive’ become smoking hot.

My eyes seemed a little bit bigger, my eyelashes thicker and lusher, my features softer, and my lips fuller. I looked like, well, a sex goddess. Between the changes to my face and body and the obvious effect that I had had on Daenyss, I had to wonder whether I should start wearing a glamour all of the time. I looked like a freaking elvish porn star. With a sigh, I turned away from the mirror, shut off the bathroom light, and made my way into the master bedroom, where I placed Willow on the pillow beside me, curled up with Rei, and tried not to think about what had happened.

I awoke from a terrible nightmare where I was stabbing Inanna over and over again and couldn’t stop myself. Her golden eyes looked at me imploringly until finally the life left them and I was left with my hands strained red from her blood. Even as I awoke I knew that it was just my guilt eating away at my subconscious. I remembered the scene all too well. I had only needed to thrust once and there had been no blood, only the golden light of her bleeding essence.

I grabbed my phone from the nightstand and checked the time. It was 1:37 pm. Even if I did feel like going back to sleep, I wouldn’t get much more than I already had. I worked on controlling my breathing instead, I needed to pull myself together before Daenyss came to wake me. I needed to be the strong and decisive leader that everyone needed.

In truth, I wished that Mahair were here. She would have had some advice for me and Nishalle, and she would tell us whether or not we had done the right thing. In my heart, I thought that we had. Inanna had fought to stay alive long enough for me to kill her so that her power would go to someone that she could trust, she and her sister had practically said as much. Ereshkigal was going to look for death regardless but she chose Nishalle. They had asked for mercy and we had granted it, right?

There was one other that I could talk to. I picked up my slumbering Wisp and started to gently pet her for comfort, closed my eyes, and took a deep breath before allowing my thoughts to focus on Danu. “Great Mother, are you busy?”

~Do you know what happened?~ I inquired uncertainly.

Her voice was gentle and soothing in my mind as She confirmed, ~Yes, I have been watching the current timeline whenever I can spare the attention, with everything that is going on. This turn of events was a bit of a surprise. In very few timelines did Inanna survive Zeus’s attack long enough for Ereshkigal to escape with her. Only in one of those did she seek you out. And so you have gained three aspects, and your sister Ereshkigal’s legacy. This is a positive turn of events.~

~Yes, I guess it’s better than Zeus gaining more power,~ I admitted reluctantly. ~Did we do the right thing though? Nishalle is shaken up by this and I’m not doing much better. I can handle killing someone in combat. With Tiamat, it was either her or me but this feels different.~

~Taelya, you are aware of the saying, “Mercy is for the weak,” correct?~ the goddess asked gently.

~Yeah,~ I replied, not quite sure where she was going with this.

~That statement couldn’t be further from the truth,~ She clarified. ~As you discovered today, showing mercy can be one of the hardest things that anyone can have to do, whether god or mortal. It takes great conviction and strength of will to show mercy when it is the right thing to do because, in doing so, you can leave yourself vulnerable. Inanna asked you to take her life because she trusted you with her power, she believed that you would use it to do the right thing. Had you not accepted, then her last moments would have been spent in anguish. By granting her request you allowed her to die at ease and with a clear conscience. There is nothing wrong with that, and I am proud that you had the strength and kind nature to do so.~

She sounded so sure, and a lot of what She was saying was echoing some of my own conflicted thoughts on the matter. I still wondered if there was anything that we could have done differently though. ~Was what Nishalle did a kindness as well? She crossed a line that she never would have before, killing someone who didn’t really deserve it, and I’m pretty sure that she did it for me.~

~Nishalle chose her own actions, my daughter. Her reasons and motivation were pure, even if her actions may not have seemed it. Sometimes you need to do the wrong thing for the right reasons. Ereshkigal believed in Nishalle, much as Inanna believed in you. They had much in common. You hold part of Ereshkigal’s sister within you now and she wished to protect that but she was too weary so she chose Nishalle to do so for her because she knew that your sister would do anything for you. In a sense, she manipulated her into doing it, though she did so for the right reasons,~ my God-mother said somewhat sternly.

She paused for a moment before adding, ~You know as well as I do that Ereshkigal would have found death at someone else’s hands had Nishalle not done so. Perhaps that person would not have been as committed to the greater good as you and your sister. She has offered the release of death to others for almost as long as mankind has worshipped gods and has longed for that release herself since long before I erected the Veil. Her siblings were the only thing keeping her here and with them gone she had nothing left to live for. This is no different than any other time that Nishalle has ended a life to ensure that someone does not have to suffer needlessly. Death too is part of the balance. Nishalle will come to this conclusion in time.~

~She’s not really acting herself, I think that this has hit her pretty hard. I feel like there’s nothing I can do for her,~ I admitted.

~You can do what you have always done, child. Be her sister, be there for her if she should need it. That is worth more to her than anything, or she would not have chosen this path. I should let you go now, my daughter, your Attendant comes to wake you. Remember what I said, and know that Inanna and Ereshkigal were both at peace when they died because you and your sister showed them mercy.~ With that, I felt Her presence fade from my mind as a gentle tapping sounded from the door.

“Coming, Daenyss,” I called out. I wouldn’t say that my heart felt lighter following my discussion with Danu, but it did feel less heavy. I kind of felt bad that I was going to have to wake everyone up to explain things though, especially since I had errands to do and I was going to need my bodyguard contingent with me. That, and I really didn’t want to explain this any more times than I absolutely had to. I turned to Rei and kissed him softly, whispering, “Rei, honey, sorry that I couldn’t let you sleep longer but you need to get up.”

He did get up, in more ways than one. It was as if the instant that my lips touched his own he was hard as a rock. “No! Bad sex aura! We don’t have time for this right now,” I thought frantically as his eyes fluttered open.

An instant later his eyes were wide open as he stared at me. “Tae… is that you, Babe? I’m… not having some weird guy dream am I?”

“I’m afraid not. Stuff happened after you left, I’ll explain once everyone is awake,” I replied with a sigh. Then I looked down at his crotch, “And as for you, down boy! We don’t have time right now.”

Nothing changed down there so I guess that what the sex goddess giveth, she cannot taketh away except by the more mundane means. That was a bit of a disappointment but not entirely unexpected. Rei chuckled and tried really hard not to stare at my breasts for a moment before finally deciding to try and get some clothes on. My keen and pointy ears could hear him quietly muttering something about baseball as I got up and left the room with Willow gliding over to land on my shoulder. Ow, I knew what it was like being left in that condition, I was going to have to make it up to him later.

Lissany, Grell, and Whisper were all awake now, and pretty much everyone but Pete, Rei, and Nishalle were in the living room, likely waiting for an explanation. Grell’s jaw had dropped at the sight of me, Whisper was trying very hard to keep her expression neutral, and Lissany was staring until I realized that I was still naked and cast a quick glamour to cover myself. I sighed and walked over to the second bedroom to knock on the door and call out, “Sis! Pete! Wakey wakey, we have things to do!”

It was roughly ten minutes later that we were all sitting in the living room as I explained what had happened and those of us who had just woken up ate some sandwiches that Daenyss had prepared. I added the stuff that Danu had told me as well as how conflicted I was feeling. As much as I thought that they needed me to be a strong leader, they also needed me to be honest when I was having doubts so that they could support me if I was going to be a true leader. I needed that too.

Nishalle was quiet throughout the whole explanation though sometimes she cast uncertain glances at the rest of us. She was worried about what we all thought of what she did, it was written all over her face. Usually, she didn’t give a fuck about what anyone thought of her, but we were her friends and family.

Venika was the first to speak. “I think that you both did the right thing. Not only are you both more powerful now, but you also eased their suffering and stopped that power from going to someone who wants to eradicate us all.” Then she fluttered over to get right in my sister’s face. “You can protect Taelya better now too, Nishalle. You are two of my best friends, we’re practically family, and the health and safety of my family will always be the most important thing to me. I think I speak for everyone here when I say that, so stop looking at us like we’re going to hate you because you made a judgment call, especially when it was the right call.”

The others were quick to agree with the Sprite so Nishalle’s mood perked up a bit. She wasn’t back to her normal unrestrained self yet but it was a step in the right direction, and that made me feel better too. With that dealt with, we were able to get to our errands for the day.

While Grell would be continuing his artificing, Whisper would be doing website design work and trying to hack a certain three-letter agency in the United States that was likely to be operating black sites for non-humans. Kinara would be acting as my secretary, making calls to wholesale businesses for food distribution, lumber and hardware, sewing needs, electronics, and everything else on our list of needs to make appointments for the following day. She was also going to try to contact some businesses directly to enquire about large orders of things like monthly supplies made from natural fibers. The rest of us had some running around to do.

First, we had to go to buy three caskets. Two were of course for the deceased goddesses and the other was for my grandmother Seshaire, the former Queen of the Winter Court. She was in stasis but she still needed to be put to rest. As per Winter Court traditions she would be entombed beneath snow and ice so that she could return to the element that the original Winter was formed from. My Pájar planned to do so in the mountains north of the forest where the new Winter Court Glade would be set up.

Sadly, with the way the world was going, the casket-makers were doing pretty good business. I went for the nicest caskets that I could find, I could afford it after all. It was probably silly of me but I wanted them all to have a comfortable eternal rest. I chose a nice white one for my grandmother and a matching pair of black ones for Ereshkigal and Inanna. They offered to send them to the funeral home of our choice but I told them that the burial would be on a private plot and that we would take them with us. The moment that we were outside and I was sure nobody was watching, I sent them through a portal to Varüus’kiel.

The rest of our time was spent getting me some new clothes, again. All that I had to wear that would fit me were socks, shoes, and glamours. I would need some regular everyday wear as well as some business wear if I was going to be going around to wholesalers and businesses to spend obscene amounts of money. Everything was going to have to be made of natural fibers too which meant that Daenyss and I were going back to the high-end specialty clothing stores.

We managed to get me some underwear, casual stuff, and business wear that Daenyss approved of for my image. It took almost three hours though and almost half of that time was finding undergarments. Much to my chagrin, I had gone from a B cup to a double D. I wasn’t happy about that, I liked when they were small and didn’t get in the way. I was going to have to be careful trying to fight until I got used to their new size.

We actually got Daenyss some underwear too. Venika had started her period and even Daenyss had to admit that it would be a good idea for her to have something to place panty liners and such in when hers came along. My Attendant was a little jealous of Salem and the other Liyun’shael not having to deal with that problem every month and I had to agree with her there.

Once we were finished shopping, we made our way back to the safe house where Kinara informed me that I had a very busy schedule the next day. I was hoping that after the funeral we could just come back and get some rest without something crazy or anger-inducing happening. We all needed proper rest and I needed a somewhat normal day, even if it was all business.

It was raining hard as I opened the portal to the site that Xixie had chosen for the burial of the two goddesses. We hadn’t seen much rain since arriving on Varüus’kiel and it seemed appropriate in a way that we would get it now. For now, the camp with all of the F.I.Ts and other important equipment and projects had been covered by a small shield generator that Jhuras had scavenged from Atlantis but the burial site had no such protection. We were going to get wet but it was well worth it to give Ereshkigal and Inanna a proper sendoff.

Xixie and the Sül’shael had completed their task by the time we arrived and I had had her take me to the burial site once we arrived back in Varüus’kiel so that I would know the location well enough to cast the portal. I didn’t really know what customs the gods might have for such things, but Ereshkigal had asked that they be entombed so I figured that a standard funeral would be appropriate. They did want to live peacefully among the mortals after all.

With the portal cast, we lifted the caskets and made our way through into the pouring rain. I was bearing Inanna’s along with Rei, Kinara, Lissany, Daenyss, and Harley, who had emerged from her Guardian training in a F.I.T earlier that evening. Nishalle bore Ereshkigal’s casket along with Pete, Grell, Whisper, Hadrick, and Shaoli. It was a good thing that I had the power to keep that portal open for a while because we had quite the procession following us.

Word had traveled fast among the residents of Varüus’kiel about the arrival of the pair of goddesses, what they had asked of us, and why. Almost everyone on the island who wasn’t in a F.I.T or watching over one had wanted to come in a show of support. I had had to limit the number of people coming because there just wouldn’t be room for our fast-growing population of twenty thousand people. Others who wanted to pay their respects would be able to do so when they wished later. The Sül’shael had even offered to gather flowers for those who were interested.

The hill was high, overlooking the lake and from the sight of the iridescent Moon Palace growing in the distance, I was sure it would afford a great view of our future capital as well. The plateau was maybe fifty feet across and there were a pair of large trees with pale blue luminescent leaves that bathed the hilltop in peaceful radiance. At the center was the large hole that I had unearthed with magick during my previous visit. At its head was the monument.

My girls had done an amazing job in such a short amount of time. I knew that the Sül’shael were artistic, but they had truly outdone themselves. The detail of the Nythrin statue was amazing, almost lifelike. Ereshkigal and Inanna stood side by side at the head of the grave with sad smiles on their faces as they looked toward where the city would someday be. There was an engraving at the base, written in Elvish. “Here lie Inanna and Ereshkigal: Sisters forever.”

It took almost half an hour for everyone to exit the portal and even though I had limited the numbers, a mass of people soon covered the hilltop, the slopes, and part of the surrounding area. Even the sky above was filled with the fiery-winged forms of the Sül’shael. Both caskets were lowered gently into the hole and then I reached out with Nature’s call to make my voice heard by everyone, even those still at the camp. “We are here today to say farewell to Ereshkigal and Inanna, may they rest in peace. They were goddesses and I did not know them well but I think that they were good people who just wanted to live out their lives in contentment.”

I took a deep breath before continuing. “They weren’t all that different from us and they came here because Inanna was dying and did not want her power to fall into the hands of those who would exterminate us. She wanted me to have it. She trusted me to have it. Honestly, I’m not sure if I’m worthy of that gift but I will do my best to be. Ereshkigal gave her power to my sister so that she could protect me and so some part of them could always remain sisters. They believed in us and they believed in different peoples living together in peace. They are gone, but we will never let them be forgotten.”

A murmur of, “Gone, but not forgotten,” ran through the crowd and I had trouble keeping back my tears.

Another use of Nature’s Call shifted all of the muddy soil back into the hole to cover the caskets. Once that was done I carefully dropped the luminescent purple flower that I was holding atop the grave. The Sül’shael called them Jyn’kiara, the fading light. They grew like weeds in some parts of the forests during the night months but only bloomed for two days before dying. There were always Jyn’kiara blooming and dying in an endless cycle until the daylight months. It was common for the Sül’shael to place them around the deceased when available, as they had earlier with the pair of goddesses.

Everyone here had such a flower, gathered from where the Sül’shael had placed them around the bodies earlier. That was how I had limited the numbers, by how many that my girls had been able to gather before and after finishing the monument. Once I had dropped my flower, Nishalle dropped hers. And so followed the others who were gathered until the grave was awash in violet light. Only once the last flower had been placed did I reopen a portal to the camp and lead the silent procession back home.