191 Red Dawn (2/2)

And with that ominous note, I skedaddled out of her tent as quickly as I could and my way back down to the first gate of Fort Garm.

I know, I know. How pompous do you have to be to name your temporary fort after yourself?

Will I thought about Garm's bad naming sense, another thought popped up in my brain. It was nearly dawn again, and I hadn't taken off the ring on my finger that anchored me to the Fayne during the day.

I shrugged, ”One more day won't hurt… besides, I've got something to share with the crew.”

---

I wasn't the only Foolhardies visere who stayed in the Fayne that morning. Even Ty had asked to stay so he could join the unit as we said goodbye to our fallen.

How fitting it was that a red dawn had risen to greet us, for as fairy superstition believed, the red dawn was the result of the previous night's bloody battle.

”Um, then does that mean every dawn is a red dawn?” Ty asked. ”I mean, isn't every night a bloody night?”

”You've got a point there, chosen one,” Edo chuckled.

”Not you too, Edo,” Ty whined.

We were gathered in the oasis valley once more, all six-hundred-and-fifteen of us.

Since there were seven-hundred-and-fifty of us that set out on our mission, a total of one-hundred-and-thirty-five had died. Out of that number, we managed to bring back sixty-two bodies. The rest were still lying on the sand of Point Alpha's northern slope.

We'd built sixty-two pyres for each of our dead and laid them over it with weapons in their hands for it was fairy custom to give a warrior a weapon they could carry into the spirit realm beyond so that they might be ready to fight for the Eldar on the day of Ragnarok.

Aura led us all in prayer, and in her white robes and flames dancing in the palms of her hands, she looked to me like an ancient priestess from ancient times.

As a shieldmaiden, Ashley was tasked with the final rites. It was her hand that lit the pyres too.

When that was done, and we'd each said our goodbyes to our comrades of many months, it became time for the second half of mourning the dead — the revelries.

Fairies were like the Irish. They didn't weep over their fallen but celebrated the lives they lived.

This made Garm's gift — which I suspected was actually Llewellyn's own generosity wrapped in Garm's name to make her boss look good — was a timely gift indeed.

We brought out the caskets of Nymphorae and placed a cup in every hand that could hold one. And after all the cups were filled, we toasted the lives of the fairies and humans who fought alongside us and died to see our mission succeed.

Then, at Varda's insistence, platters of meats and soups were distributed to the soldiers, and everyone enjoyed a hearty breakfast together while people yelled out jokes and called each other names.

Much, much later when the merrymaking had died down and the sun was high in the sky and most of the fairies were hiding inside their tents, Aura came to sit by me and Luca while we looked down at the valley from the top of the eastern slope.

”You guys think I'll ever see the Mudgardian sun again?” Luca asked.

”Isn't that the reason we're here?” I reminded him.

Luca sipped his cup of ale which he'd been nursing since the revelries began. My little brother wasn't much of a drinker.

”Yeah, but…” Luca sighed. ”So many people died for us yesterday… I'm not worth that…”

”Luca,” Aura's tone was sympathetic.

And I'm sure she would have given him some nice platitudes about him being a good kid and how everyone deserves to be free, but I didn't want to coddle Luca when he was in a mood. He needed to hear it straight.

”They didn't die for you, bro,” I said. ”Each and every one of them fought for their own reasons just like we have… They didn't die for us… They died for their own dreams.”

I smacked Luca on the shoulder with my fist.

”So don't go thinking this is your fault,” I added. ”You're not big enough to take responsibility… that's my job.”

The three of us were silent for a long time after that. However, Aura wasn't one to quiet for long. She especially hated awkward silences.

”It's our job… all three of us,” she answered. ”We'll share that burden with you, Commander.”

”Y-yeah,” Luca agreed. ”You can rely on me and Aura, Dean…”

I looked over to the two of them smirking at my side and looking like they knew better than I did, and I suddenly recalled the legend of Atlas and his burden to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Somehow, I didn't think I'd end up like him. I had reliable partners in this adventure of mine — but if I knew then what would happen during this war, perhaps I would have asked them both to stay behind.