Page 104 of Angel in Absentia
“Look at it,” she whispered to the quiet of the woods. “It’s all calm. Balanced. Do you hear it? Silence. Rest.”
“Rest,” Dae repeated, and the word seemed to linger over the world.
†††
It took Iris and the scout team commissioned by the king several weeks to find Salanes. They were in wonder of the vacancy of the woods, not a single beast daring their path. The ancient city was beautiful in its mystery. Iris explored every inch of it and found evidence of the battle and the beast they’d slain. She found marks from the fight and Ryson’s weapon resting over the coffin in ceremony, a sign that they had won.
Iris walked through the ruins, scouring every inch of this mysterious new world, and was relieved to find no signs of Ryson or Clea.
“Iris,” someone called.
She turned from the coffin and walked up to see several gathered around the discarded ashes of a campfire. Iris smiled softly, adjusting her gear as she looked down at the ashes, remembering Clea’s stories about campfires.
She sighed, looking off toward the woods. “I guess that’s it,” she said, looking over the ruins.
“That’s it?” one of the scouts said.
“That’s it,” Iris repeated. “They will be found when they want to be found, but I think they deserve their peace. Though we might as well take a look around since we made it all the way here.”
The teams split up and explored the ancient and overgrown city of Salanes.
The expedition lasted several days, capturing drawings, notes, and observations about the culture of Salanes, uncovering and collecting valuable books, and even discovering their royal catacombs. A smaller group perused through the inner catacombs, deciphering the graves and the histories inscribed on the walls in great detail.
It was several hours before they arrived at Prince Eras’s tomb.
“The hero of Salanes,” one of the scouts said, drawing the attention of several others in the room.
Iris chuckled to herself. “Open it,” she said.
“Open it?” one of the scouts said, horrified.
Iris offered a hand, gesturing for a crowbar and promptly receiving one.
“Iris, this is highly irregular. I don’t think the king—”
“Dae will let me do what I want on this venture, trust me,” she responded, sinking the crowbar into the top of the grave and prying it open. “But this is nothing, trust me. Just watch.”
She heaved the grave open, and it scraped against the stone, dust spilling into the air. She held her breath as she stepped back and waved her hand through the air with a cough.
When the dust gestured, she gestured to the tomb. “See? Empty. The heroes all became Venennin. No bodies were ever actually returned to their cities.”
The scouts looked into the tomb and then back at her, back and forth hesitantly.
“What?” she asked, and then approached. She stopped dead over the tomb, looking into the tomb at the mummified corpse inside.
She checked the coffin, confirming the details of the person who remained inside. They all watched her in silence as she traced a finger over the coffin.
“This says the Prince of Salanes’s body was returned to his city just when Vanida’s was returned to hers. Both dead,” she whispered. “Vanida gave her life for the cause, and Prince Eras gave,” she stopped. “No, this isn’t right.” After a few moments, she backed away and eased down on a bench in the corner.
“Iris?” one of the scouts asked.
She stared at the ground thoughtfully.
“What is it?”
She took a breath, leaning back as she crossed her arms and looked up at the ceiling.
“I’m not sure,” she whispered, but didn’t know how to speak the words. More obscure lines of the legend spoke of how Prince Eras, in his final moments, had made some kind of exchange, reaching beyond cien and ansra.
