by Kyrii Rayne
The pyre of whole logs had already been built at the end of the outcrop, a square edifice like half a tiny cabin, stuffed with fresh straw. Jake and Gray walked the bier over and laid it across the top, Helga's body settling into the straw with gentle crackles. The bundle that held her corpse looked so small.
She had never struck Anna as small in life. It was as if her soul had been so enormous that her flesh had shriveled like an empty sack the moment the one had fled the other.
Jake turned to the crowd.
“Ladies and gentlemen, if you could all find a seat, we should get started.”
His voice was dully businesslike, and the others obeyed with tired looks, settling onto the ranks of folding chairs that the staff had set out as well. Anna took a chair in front, saving a seat for Jake, and heard the chair next to her creak under a heavy weight as Gray sat down. Julia was on his other side. Both of them put a supportive hand on one of Gray's arms, and the big guy shivered, his dark eyes filled with sadness and confusion. Jake watched them settle, and then took a deep breath.
“We are gathered here today to mark the passing of our Lodge Mother, Helga Thorsdottr, co-founder of the Lodge and its heart and source of wisdom since its creation. I know a lot of you have something to say. Please come up in the order in which you are seated. But meanwhile, I have something to say myself. It's a given that I'm going to miss Helga. She was our protector when my father went off the rails and tried to kill us. She was our advocate when we had none, our teacher when we needed one, and to many, she was as close as family.” Jake looked around at them, his eyes dark with sadness. “Ladies and gentlemen, Helga's loss is a great one. And though she knew she was ill, and tried to prepare us for the possibility of her passing soon, you know that none of us could ever truly be ready for this. How could we be? Helga, her kindness, her wisdom, her knowledge of the old ways, all of these things, the Lodge needs. We always needed her. And God knows, I need her now.”
Beside her Gray shuddered again, hands flexing, and Anna saw her vision blur with tears. Some of the others were nodding, and she heard quiet weeping from a few people.
Jake swallowed and pinched the bridge of his nose, a tremulous frown deepening on his face as he struggled against his emotions. He finally looked up, blinking rapidly but his expression determined.
“But Helga wouldn't want to see us paralyzed by losing her. She'd want us to move on. To get back to the work of settling our differences, protecting each other, and building the Lodge back up to something great. And as the Lodge's owner, that is exactly what I plan to do— in her memory.”
Quiet muttering. Jake took his seat beside Anna, and she squeezed his hand and petted his arm before getting up and walking to stand in front of the pyre herself.
“I only knew Helga for a little while,” Anna admitted quietly to the assembled crowd. “But when Anthony Matson and his followers tried to kill me in their human hunt, she was the one who gathered the Lodge and came to save us. To her, I wasn't just a 'mere human', and I sure wasn't her enemy. My life was just as valuable to her as anyone else's. I don't... you don't see someone who is willing to jump in for others that way very often. I wish I’d had a chance to know her longer. I wish that I could have had time to repay her, somehow, for everything she has done for me, and for Jake.”
Mutters from the crowd, most of them approving. She turned and went back to her seat, feeling the tears starting to spill. There goes my mascara.
They all went up, one at a time.
Over two dozen of them, some weeping, some stoic, some trying to be stoic and breaking around the edges. They spoke Helga's praises to the rising sun, and then to the gathering dark. And when they were done, and the sun had vanished behind the mountains, Darrin lit the pyre, and they sent Helga's body away on a cloud of smoke.
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Other Books from Kyrii Rayne
The Bear Lodge Shifters Series
Hunting Party
Bear Brother
Bear Hunt
Bear Trap
Bear Territory
Coming Soon:
The Ember Dragon Series
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