Everything seemed to come to a brutal, deafening stop. Theora blinked.
"...What?"
"Selvie is dead," Seaphen repeated gently. "I'm so sorry. Don't... Please don't look."
"You're f*****g joking," Willow rasped from somewhere near them. "Tell me you're f*****g joking!"
But Theora knew it had to be true. They could hear Lylesia's wrenching sobs and see her shoulders violently shaking in Elexei's embrace.
"...I-I found Jassob and Zelik," Themid croaked. "They were... Them, too."
Theora let out a loud sob, as if it only physically hit her then.
"Wha-..." Willow's voice broke. "B-but... Why..."
"They were on their way back," Theora muttered. "They would have... helped."
"What do we do?" Themid asked, swallowing with difficulty. "Can we... Should we bury them?"
"We didn't look i
