Chronicles of Valor

A triumphant return

Flamma lost most of the feeling of his body as he fell to the ground. Fortunately William caught him and hoisted him onto his back. flamma's clothes were singed but fortunately for his dignity. He still had the top part of his pants and most of his shirt.

"You're late," Flamma said as William began walking out of the cavern.

"I didn't want to steal your thunder," William said. "Plus I don't look so good with a tan."

"I do pull off the crispy look better than you." Flamma said.

The two of them have been friends since they were kids so this between them was pretty normal. William had only ever seen Flamma this injured a few times in his life, but he could recover pretty quickly.

_____

William carried him back to town easily enough, and the sight was to be expected.

"What do you mean we have to start evacuating," a woman was yelling. "You people were called to deal with the problem."

William walked up to the crowd and all eyes were drawn to them. The number of gasps couldn't be counted as everyone took notice of Flamma's severely burned arms.

"By the gods!" Yuri said as she and Suzuran ran over to help Flamma off of Williams back.

"What happened?!" Suzuran asked as she helped set him down on the ground.

"I managed to take it down, but I had to take off my ring." The two of them looked down at his left hand which had his ring set on his burned finger.

"Ulfred, get some burn ointment immediately." Lord Brighton said to an older man who didn't hesitate before he began running to a building labelled, "Ulfred's apothecary."

"Did they tell you what was happening?" William asked Lord Brighton who is coming over to check on Flamma.

"They did," Brighton said. "But because you both made it back, does that mean that we don't have to evacuate?"

"That's right." William said. "My companion here managed to defeat the frostbane, But at a bit of a cost."

"I see that." Lord Brighton said staring slack jawed at the severe burns and charred clothing running up his legs and arms.

He's lost most of the feeling in his arms and legs, but he wasn't in any danger of dying now that his internal mana has begun healing him. Suzuran and Yuri had never seen him that beat up before, But more than anything they were concerned about the burns. He was a fire mage and one above your standard variety. For him to receive burns he must have had to use a lot of power.

"Gareth, come take a look at the boy!" yelled Lord Brighton.

An older man came out of the crowd. He had a bag with him and William stepped back to give him room to work. The man took a look at his wounds and began applying an ointment that Ulfred brought back. He then gently wrapped the injured appendages in bandages while William spoke with Brighton.

"So we have nothing to fear?" asked Brighton.

"The chill should dissipate after a time," William said. "But more than that the necromancer is dead and all his creations taken care of."

"That's the best news we've heard in months," He said, wiping a bit of sweat from his brow. "But there's still the business with Marcus's remains."

"There shall be no further business with that!" yelled a woman from the crowd.

She stepped out with a girl younger than herself. The two of them look like they haven't slept in years. The whole town looked pale and tired but they had a whole new shade of white on their faces.

"My husband will be buried like the good man that he was!" yelled the woman.

"That's right, My papa was a good man and doesn't deserve to be burned!" said the girl next to her.

Half of the town began murmuring to each other and it started to grow louder as people were disagreeing and agreeing with them. This must be due to the town being so close to the port. In all likelihood many of them trace their roots back to not only this continent but also the Western continent as well.

William was the one to walk over to the two women. This got the whole town's attention. It went from rising arguments to immediate silence. The two of them wanted to say something, but they honestly feared what he was about to say.

"I understand, because I'm also from the Western continent." William said giving his best smile.

The woman breathed a sigh of relief and seemed to regain a bit of color before saying, "then you understand that we can't go through with the cremation."

"I do," He said. "But that being said something must be done."

"Is there another way." asked Marcus's wife.

"I do know of one other method." William said.

"Really?!" She said, looking as if a massive weight was pulled off of her back.

"It's not a pretty method, but you will be able to bury him right afterward."

"What do you mean by that?" She asked, her face sinking again.

"Me and my companion Yuri will make an item known as a stake of whaling night and then plunge it into his heart to draw out all of the negative energy." The two women went from looking relieved to looking like they were going to pass out.

"Will it work?" asked the wife.

"I already said it wasn't going to be pretty, But if you don't want him to be cremated then this is your best option." William said, as the two women processed this information.

"Ok," said Marcus's wife. "But please try to be respectful to my husband."

"It'll be quick and easy." He said, as the woman walked off with her daughter."

______

It took a day to craft the stake of whaling night. It was just a plane wooden stake with runic engravings on it. They traveled up and down the sides with a spiraled engraving going up the length of the shaft. Yuri despite being her first time making one, was extremely proficient with the intricate rune work. This was William's first time as well but he at least made a few practice versions when studying them.

After it was finished. The wood was smooth and white with the runes engraved with charcoal and salt. They brought it into the church with all eyes on them. The altar was set up with the woman's husband wrapped in sacred cloth.

The cloth was ordinary however it had symbols stitched into it. These symbols in particular were the symbols of the all father, the primary deity of worship on the northern continent. this was more or less ceremonial as the cloth and symbols did nothing for the preservation of the corpse. A lot of times they'd be placed in salt, but that was pointless given that he was already a rotten corpse.

William looked over to Marcus's wife and daughter who were standing beside the altar. They both nodded their heads and with that William placed the tip of the stake at Marcus's heart. It plunged in easily with next to no force. William was strong enough to do it even with a fresh corpse but is already rotten flesh and brittle bones gave way easily.

The two women flinched and Yuri didn't fare any better. This was a grizzly scene and to make it worse a sudden disgusting oder filled the room. Given that he was rotting, it would be a surprise if there wasn't gas built up from his festering organs. The people in the front rows honestly look like they were going to be sick.

The crowd watched as a black mist began floating up from the corpse. It circled his body before arriving at the stake. although the actual cleansing only took about 10 seconds, the crowd would swear it lasted an hour. The body was still throughout the entire event and everyone Even William himself thought there would be more convulsions. The stake had turned black except for the glowing white symbols carved into the side.

William removed the stake and held it up to Yuri who quickly wrapped it in oil soaked cloths. He put it into a box that had runes carved into the sides and he gave a nod to the priest to get on with the funeral and get him buried. Him and the rest of their group excuse themselves and went to the inn where they were staying to wait for their payment.