Grieving Souls

Ninakami struggled to recover from the events of the previous day. The stigma of the clashes lingered in the narrow streets of the Higashito people's capital. The sobs of grieving families echoed through the city. Sons and daughters had been torn from their mothers, and children wandered the streets searching in vain for their parents.

Some were turned into Aarhèns and slaughtered one or more of their family members. Few people did not experience tragedy on some level.

The Kawasaki clan was one of the hardest hit. Eiji himself could hardly believe it. A man had murdered his mother and sister before his very eyes, claiming that they were the cause of all the misfortune that had befallen the town. And there was nothing he could do about it.

Beyond the sadness of losing his loved ones, he was angry. At himself. He had failed to protect the city, let alone his own family.

As much as he wanted to hate their murderer, he couldn't bring himself to do so. Deep down, he knew it was the only thing to do. The result proved it: after their death, the Aahrèns ceased to exist, and the corruption that inhabited them and animated their bodies lost its source.

What he feared now was his father. He didn't know yet if he would manage to look him in the eye. He suspected that he already knew, even though he couldn't go home, probably too busy leading the armies and organizing meetings.

Eiji himself did not have the strength to wander the streets and hide in his house. He stayed there for several hours until nightfall.

While the curtain of stars was covering the sky, someone knocked on the door. The sound repeated three times before Eiji deigned to open it. He expected to find his father, but he was a completely different person.

Tahrren, recognizable by his long blond hair and his sylvan irises, stood before him, stoic. Immediately, anger spoke for Eiji.

"How dare you? After what you've done!"

Tahrren flinched a little. He knew he didn't belong here. That he had no right to show his face like this. But he had no choice. He felt it was his duty.

"I wanted to warn you, they are about to burn the dead. And... I'm sorry. I'd like to say that I was just doing my job, but no job can justify killing. But... I had no choice. They had to die. For the city, for the survival of all..."

Eiji slammed the door with a loud bang. The impact was so hard that he scraped his knuckles.

"Shut up! You don't understand anything! Go away. Go away!"

Eiji did not wait and slammed the door in the elf's face. Overwhelmed, he collapsed with his back against the wall, his eyes dead. He stayed like that for a few minutes before he got up. He changed his clothes and put on a white kimono. With a pitiful look, he walked across the porch of his house, and down the main street.

Many other people, like him, were walking toward the funeral site. Many recognized him. They watched him, but none of them dared to approach him. The Kawasaki family, as a clan of generals and majors, had the distinction of being very influential even though they were not related to the Maeda clan.

Of course, a dramatic event like the one the day before could not be kept secret, the whole city already knew about it.

Eiji didn't care about these glances. Only his sister was on his mind. He could see her peaceful face, interspersed with visions of bloody horrors, like her mother's body.

Finally, he arrived near the burial site. The surroundings were incredibly quiet, yet there were hundreds of people present.

It was a huge garden, several hundred meters long and as wide. There were bridges, and bodies of water like rivers or ponds.

Many plants and flowers flourished in one of the brightest places in the city during the day, always exposed to the sun. At night, guardians lit hundreds of torches that danced under the sparse canvas of the night.

Everyone present had lost one or more loved ones. In the beliefs and customs of the eastern steppes and specifically of the Higashito, the men and women who lived on the easternmost grassy plains, cremation of the bodies was an unavoidable part of the funeral.

In times of war or tragedy, fires, called yakurei or spirit fires, were lit and controlled by wooden structures designed by the skilled hands of architects specializing in funerals.

The bodies were first undressed and cleaned with clear water before being draped with a white cloth. The purification by fire helped the soul to find its place in nature in search of a new destiny by returning the ashes of the body to the earth.

The ceremony was led by a Great Oracle who spoke his prayers on a shinin-jo, a wooden tower erected in front of the yakurei.

When Eiji arrived, the fire was already lit and the oracle had already spoken his words. He sat down on the edge of a bridge over a stream.

"... May these souls be freed from their fleshly bondage and, Amerei, welcome them into your domain. May their spirits rest in peace."

The priest untied the torch lying beside him and lit the yakurei. The wooden structure and the hundred or so bodies inside quickly caught fire.

Tears gathered in Eiji's eyes, but none flowed. He had already cried all the water out of his body, and only a deep, dry, and bitter sadness remained.

He stayed like that for several tens of minutes. The flames swirled and warmed the air. Finally, he decided to get up.

He approached the yakurei whose flames were beginning to extinguish. The bodies were reduced to ashes. The surrounding area was also partially burned, even though all the grass had been cut.

"Ruka... Mother... Rest in peace. May your next life be filled with happiness."

As he remembered himself on the yakurei, a shadow crept up behind him.

"So you were there... Eiji."

He turned around. Immediately, he recognized the person who spoke to him.

"Father..."

Eiji didn't know how to face him. He didn't even dare to look into his eyes.

"Listen, Eiji. I know everything. The elf told me everything."

Eiji remained stoic.

"I should have protected her, it was my duty."

Sympathetically, the Major put his hands on his son's shoulders.

"Listen, Eiji. Sometimes, the world is cruel."

Sadness was written on his father's face. He swallowed his saliva, searched for his words, then continued, his face serious and his voice slightly hesitant.

"You blame yourself for not protecting her. But look at reality from a different angle. Yesterday, you protected hundreds of people at the cost of two lives. Unfortunately, those lives were dear to us. But I don't think they would want you to abandon them. Eiji. It's not your fault. Your fight was honorable.

"Maybe they were meant to die?"

A third person arrived, light and unobtrusive in his stride but with a presence that is uncommon in this region. His calm but stern voice echoed between the crackling of the smoking wood and the last of the yakurei's flames.

"I wish you both to understand. We truly are at war. These misfortunes are hardly unique to this city. Every year, whether in the desert reaches of the Giant Empire or in the small peasant villages of Rahelinn, families lose loved ones to Anima, the corruption of the Immortals."

"What more do you want from us, Tahrren? Don't you think you've already taken everything from us?"

"I have not come for you, Major Kawasaki, but for your son, Eiji."

Eiji threatened him with an accusing look.

"And what do you want from me?"

Tahrren twitched a little. He knew that in some way, he was the source of both people's misfortune.

"The immortals are growing more and more every day. The plague is becoming more and more entrenched in the land of these lands. Ancestral creatures are arriving from the western lands, causing devastation and destruction, and the dragon blood trade is growing even more, driven by human greed. Eiji, the Soul Chasers need men. You have all the necessary qualities to join us. What do you say? Would you like to become my disciple?"