Slay My Soul
Chapter 44 Acassus

Today we are burying our soul mate and I just don’t know how myself or any of us, are supposed to say goodbye. We have cleaned her body and put her in her battle gear. Eve was a warrior through and through. She would want to be honored as one. She would not want to be decked out in finery and honored as a Queen. We have laid her out in the great hall, where she is holding her favorite curved swords and is surrounded by gently scented flowers. Beautiful even in death. We stand guard over her body while our people come to pay their respects. Each of us keeps our faces expressionless, lost in our thoughts, and holding in our pain. The Fae have woven her a beautiful casket of vines that they will seal once we place her inside. The dragons have created a glass pane, so we can gaze at her face, as we lower her to her final resting place, beside Reece.

As I watch the Fae bring forth the casket, I feel the ache in my chest grow stronger. I’m not ready to let her go. I’d rather wrap my arms around her and be buried alive beside her than be parted from her side. A finger gently wipes a rogue tear from my face and I flinch away, seeing Poppy smiling sadly in front of me, through my blur of tears.

“Stay strong hound, you still have work left to do. Eve needs you to keep trucking,” she tells me. I suck in a steadying breath and nod. “Keep Max and Sirus close to you.” I look at her confused and she looks at me intently for a moment before she walks away. I scowl after her. More fucking riddles. Movement at the door takes my attention away from the Oracle. A dragon enters and hands the glass pane to one of the Fae, as they lay the casket beside the table where Eve waits. All of the mates stiffen. We know what this means. The Fae bow to Eve and turn to bow to us before they step back to give us space. Max stands carefully up from his chair, his body weak from the absence of half his soul. Carino steps forward and supports his weight, helping him over to our girl. I don’t want to step forward. To step forward will be the start of our final goodbyes. Devlin and Garret take a step forward, then Garret freezes. His eyes meet mine, swimming with unshed tears. He looks terrified.

“I can’t,” he says shakily. Another rogue tear runs down my cheek and Poppy’s words echo in my mind. I straighten my shoulders and stride toward him. Leaning into his ear I whisper; “We owe it to Eve to give her a warrior’s send-off and let her rest. We can fall apart after. Just hold on a little longer, we can join her later.” Garret nods and closes his eyes, trying to wrestle his emotions and his murderous dragon under control. I throw an arm around his shoulder and help him step forward even though my mind screams to move away. Darius is shaking so violently with a mixture of rage and devastation that my brother has to assist him to move. Slowly we all force ourselves to Eve’s side and place our hands under her to lift her into the waiting casket. We lift her gently, Lysario supports her head as we carefully lay her in the woven coffin. The Fae step forward and guide the vines to weave over Eve’s body and one holds the thick glass above Eve’s face and guides the vines to hold it firmly. We again step forward, lifting the casket with shaking hands and tears flowing. Carefully we carry our precious cargo out of the hall to the grave we dug early. Poppy’s voice carries in the wind as she sings the words to the warrior’s last farewell

Sworn by the sacred blood of a warrior’s pride.

I scream a final battle cry.

Fates above embrace

the battle slain

With sword in hand.

All those who are still seen

Raise high your hands to bid a last

Farewell to the warrior queen.”

We stand with the casket hovering over the hole in the ground. With a wave of a Fae’s hand the vines in our hands elongate and lower Eve into the ground. I fight the urge to grab at them, to halt her descent. Then she is at last resting at the bottom, safely encased in the vines, her face showing through the glass. She looks peaceful as if she is simply asleep. She doesn’t look dead, which makes this so much harder. The pack elder steps forward to perform the last rites. My eyes never leave Eve’s face, committing what I can see to memory for the very last time. The sound of the shovel hitting the dirt startles me, as the pack elder tosses the first load of dirt into the hole before passing the shovel to the next person. Lysario clenches his jaw as he accepts it and gently drops the next load down. He hands it to Garret who shakily gathers some dirt and looks down at her face. He yells in surprise and drops to his knees, leaning over the edge.

“Her eyes! Her eyes are open!” He hollers. My heart thumps uncomfortably in my chest and an excited murmur runs through the crowd. Carino swiftly lowers himself into the hole and his hands light up as he runs them over the coffin by her head and chest. His shoulders sag.

“Just muscle spasms, there is no life spark,” he tells us tonelessly as he turns and lets Mikyda help him climb back out. Garret growls as Darius sends a shovelful of dirt over. He remains kneeling, looking into her unseeing eyes as the others send more dirt in. Sirus blurs beside the grave.

“She’s not dead!” He screams. He’s looking more manic than I’ve ever seen him. “Stop it! Get her out of there!” He lunges forward trying to throw himself in the hole, but Luka knocks him aside and restrains him with the help of Mikyda and Darius. He kicks and punches at them while spouting gibberish about his baby girl still being alive and something about limbo. I shake my head sadly and finally place my own load of soil in the hole as the guys drag Eve’s distressed father away. I help Garret to his feet and hand him the spade. Garret reluctantly scoops soil into the hole and we step back.

“From the earth we came, and to the earth we return,” the elder drones. He gives a nod to the Fae and the hole begins to fill in by itself.

“Wait, I can’t see her face!” Garret pleads. I wrap my arms around his chest, holding him in place while he begs them to stop. I also use him to distract myself from digging away the soil and freeing her myself. My body screams at me to go to her, while my soul bleeds from its loss. Our bond is still shriveled and lifeless inside me and serves as an undeniable reminder that our mate is lost to all of us.

“We are going to mourn our loss and then we are going to kill those who still oppose us. Once our people are safe, then we can join our girl. Get your shit together dragon, we have work to do.” I hiss in Garrets ear. He slumps in my grip.

“I’m going to stay with her tonight and guard her,” he says at last.

“I was planning on doing the same,” I admit. He steps away from me and transforms into his huge dragon and I ease back into my hound. Garret is careful to circle around the grave, avoiding stepping on it, then he curls himself up to begin the night’s vigil. I trot over and plonk myself between his massive claws. We have always been Eve’s key protectors and we always will be. Fuck the Fates! They won’t keep us separated for long.