16 Dioros Funeral (1/2)
Ania comforted her son, ”Oli, it's going to be okay. I know it's hard, but it's going to be okay. We can get through this together.”
”I know Mom. It's just that…” Oli couldn't bring himself to say anything else.
He thought, ”Why did he have to do that? He should've let me die, it's not like it's my first time… I finally had a real father who took care of me like a son, who loved me like a son. And before I even have a chance to grow up, he's gone because of stupid me.”
”Oli, this isn't your fault. If anything, this would've happened at some point later on,” Ania tried to speak like Dioro would. ”Your father's past wasn't an easy one, and it was filled with sworn rivals and enemies. He kept traveling and not settling down because he was afraid of being hunted by some of his old foes.”
Then Oli remembered what Brak had yelled earlier and asked, ”Mom, that dragon said something about Dad being a wanted man. Does that have anything to do with it?”
She got a little angry after hearing that and explained, ”If that's so, then no wonder the dragon wanted to kill him so bad. Your father was always one to shine above the crowd, the only problem is that he shone a little too brightly and made some enemies of powerful people. One thing led to another and he was forced to flee, gaining a hefty bounty in the process.”
”What did he do?”
”Well…” Ania caught her tongue a little too late after letting her emotions run wild. ”We can discuss that when you're older. For now, grab that and never let it out of your sight.”
Oli grabbed the item off the floor and held it up for her to see. He inspected it carefully and wiped off most of the blood in the grass.
It was round and made of a precious metal similar to gold. Hieroglyphs of a long-forgotten language were etched throughout the surface of the metal. At its center was a large piece of flawless jade that dimly glowed. Unsure of what it was, he looked to his mother for an explanation.
”I don't know much about it, Oli,” Ania paused to wipe her eyes, ”Your father never told me anything about that item; I've never even seen it before. But seeing that it was in his chest, he must have fused it with his core long ago without me knowing. Normally, even if he died something like that would stay fused with a core but since your father destroyed his core to ignite and burn his soul, I'm guessing that this was left behind.”
”Wait, what did you say? Ignite his soul!?” Oli had a tiny understanding of the soul arts, but he knew enough to understand what happens after burning your soul. ”You mean he… Dad ignited his soul to… save me?”
With Oli about to break into tears again, Ania hugged him tightly and let out some tears of her own.
The other gorillas had all huddled around Ania and Oli but said nothing out of respect for them and their fallen chief. The clan waited for Ania to give the order to begin Dioro's burial, as was custom for the wife of the fallen to issue the order. It took over half a day for Ania to finally order Dioro's burial.