Piece by piece, she unraveled in front of me until there was nothing but a pile of sand. Her death was quiet and about as anti-climatic as it could be. "You deserve no fanfare," I whispered. "You deserve to be forgotten like the leaves that fall from the trees to be replaced by others."
I stared down, feeling all the original elementals' power coursing through me, untapped and waiting.
A big mitt dropped onto my shoulder, the warmth from it shocking and showing me just how cold it was here.
"Ash was my friend."
I looked up into his eyes. "Thank you for being his friend."
He bobbed his head. "We could bury him for you."
"No, I will take him home." I would bury him next to my mother.
The ones I loved most would keep each other company in death.
I put my hands over my face and sank to the ground.
A pair of arms wrapped around me, and then the dark warmth of a cloak and the weight of Peta being placed in my arms. "Lark, we can go home now. They need us there," Raven said.
The world shifted and we were gone.
CHAPTER 26
Raven gave me a gentle push, sending me deeper into the Rim. "I am going back for the others."
The others. Ash's body, that was what he meant, and his son, if his son was still alive. Peta clung to me, her body swaying on my shoulder as I stumbled forward. The Rim was a bloodbath still.
They called to me, my family, my blood, my people.
I wove my way amongst them, healing people where I could, burying those I couldn't. I found River at the center of the Rim, Bella clutched in her arms.
I knew before I even stopped that Bella was gone.
That I'd failed her.
River looked up at me, her eyes awash with tears, rage twisting her features as she saw me. "You could have saved her!"
She rushed me and I didn't try and stop her. She tackled me to the ground and I rolled out of instinct more than any care to truly fight back. I deserved her hatred.
"Lark!" Peta called to me. "She's not gone."
River leapt off me and I crawled across the dirt to where my sister lay, Peta's head pressed to her chest. "Her heart beats, slowly, quietly, but it beats."
I didn't hesitate, just put my hands on Bella's face and wrapped her in the power of Spirit.
Easy, Lark, not too fast. Talan's voice whispered across my skin.
I slowed the flood of power as I repaired the damage to Bella's body. She'd been caught in the blast of something from the humans, and it was only her iron-strong will that had kept her alive … Her skin flushed pink before my eyes and she took a big breath, her eyes fluttering open.
"Lark."
I pulled her gently into my arms and just held her. We clung to each other, the last of our family. River put her arms around her mother, and I slipped an arm around my niece's shoulder. She stiffened and then softened against me.
The four of us were the last of my immediate family.
"Is the baby okay?" Bella whispered the question to me as her hand slid over her belly.
"Yes, your baby is okay." I sat back on my heels and looked her over.
Someone cleared their throat behind us.
We all turned at once to see Raven, Ash in his arms. Bella pushed to her feet first, instant rage in her eyes.
"You bastard, what are you doing-" She cut off short and gasped. "What have you done?"
I stepped between them. "It wasn't him, Bella." I didn't want to get into the truth of who and what Raven was and why he'd done things the way he had. I didn't want to explain what had happened. I didn't want to … feel anything.
I went to Raven, taking Ash from him.
"I can carry him for you," he said, his blue eyes all seriousness and filled with sorrow.
I shook my head. "No, but come with me. Please. All of you."
The three of them fell into step around me, a small entourage to the cemetery. I walked through the vine-covered archway, straight to my mother's grave. I went to my knees and laid Ash down carefully.
Peta sat beside me, tears streaking down the fur of her cheeks. "So much loss."
I closed my eyes. "I'm going to release him to the elements."
Peta nodded. "He would have wanted that, to be set free."
I put my hands on his face, and leaned in, brushing my lips against his one last time. "Be free, my love."
Slowly and with as much care as I could, I wove the power of Spirit through his body, breaking down what made up his flesh and bones piece by piece until nothing was left but a pile of Ender clothes and the earth he returned to.
A sob inched its way up my throat as I clutched at the shirt he'd been wearing. I wanted nothing more than to lie down next to him and-