Page 53 of Kingdom of Ashes & Bone
Zariah? Can you hear me?
I hated asking for help, but Shava deserved a quick burial, and not to rot out here like a piece of carrion picked over by the crows.
Mari. Is everything all right?
I wanted to tell him yes, but it wasn’t all right, was it? Instead of anything intelligible I sent a wave of misery down our bond. In turn, his alarm and worry rippled back at me.
Stay where you are. I’m coming!
Gods, I was such a mess.
Soon enough, my hair was buffeted by the shadow of large wings overhead. Zion landed next to me and shifted quickly. Dully, I thought we’d have to figure something out about them shifting and being naked. Could you do anything about that? Learning how to shift with pants would be really useful …
“Mari? What’s wrong? I—”
Zariah stiffened when he came upon Shava, turning around immediately and dragging me with him.
“Never mind, I see.” He took a deep breath. “Do you want me to take care of it?” he said in a softer tone.
My head shook back and forth furiously. “No, she’s my friend. I need to do it. I just … I can’t …” I held out my hands helplessly.
“I can help you dig a hole. Would that help?”
I sniffed and nodded, rubbing my eyes. I was crying again. You’d think I’d be all out of tears by now.
Zariah climbed out of the tunnel’s entrance and shifted, walking away. The sounds of claws scraping and dirt flying spurred me into movement. I took a breath, holding it as I summoned my courage and grasped Shava underneath her armpits and pulled.
A chattering sound had me stop in my tracks and crane my head behind my neck to stare back at the dark depths of the tunnel.
What was that?
I waited a few long moments, but my burning lungs forced me to turn away. I dragged Shava up the steep slope, and up onto the flat, ash-covered ground. Zariah turned his large snout as I emerged, already sunk five feet down into his hole.
Good?he asked.
I nodded and he backed out, remaining a respectful distance away. Breathing out through my mouth, I took another breath in while refusing to smell anything. It felt utterly wrong, but I rolled Shava into the pit, wincing as her body hit the bottom with an obscene thud.
I breathed out, gasping and choking. Whether it was from emotion or my gag reflex, what did it matter? Shava and I hadn’t been on good terms the last time I saw her, and now I’d never get a chance to fix things with her.
Just another small agony on my long list of trials.
Another odd sound caught my ear. Zariah’s dragon head tilted to one side, indicating he’d heard it as well.
Probably just more rocks shifting from the collapse.
“I need to get Ell. Can you take me to him?”
Please, allow me to bring him to you. You can still bury him on your own with your other friend, if that is your wish.
I nodded and sat down roughly on the ground as Zariah took off into the sky. The rumbling and strange sounds continued from the tunnel, an intrusive distraction that kept me from my morbid thoughts.
Zariah’s quick return kept me from investigating. Ell’s body was carefully grasped in his bottom claws. Gently, Zariah laid Ell to rest in the same pit as Shava, then backed away. With my bare hands, I began pushing the piles of loose dirt over them, my mind flooding with memories of the both of them.
There was that time a man had been chasing me down an alleyway, and Shava had broken his nose. He’d never chased me again after that.
If I closed my eyes hard enough, I could still feel Ell’s solid chest behind me as he drove the chariot, keeping me close and safe as we dashed across the desert.
Neither of them would do anything ever again, and in the end, the brief snatches of time we’d had together would have to do.
