赤裸裸的滑稽故事

Remi knelt beside Sofia and Soren just as the latter let out his final breath.

Caleb could see that he, too, was overcome with emotion.

Remi reached his arm around Sofia and pulled her to his chest. She didn't resist; her sobs had taken control of her.

After several minutes, Sofia seemed to calm down. Her sobs became soft breaths and sniffles, and the tears that stained her face were no longer flowing.

Caleb stepped forward.

"He saved us," he began. "Saul and I were trapped. We had been pushed back into a small cave without escape."

He paused, but there was no reaction from anyone.

"Feral wolves, bear creatures, surrounded us and backed us into that small space. We managed to move a boulder to block the entrance just in time, but we realized there was no other way out. We thought we would have to try and rush them, knowing we would never survive the assault."

Caleb swallowed.

"That's exactly what we planned to do when we heard sounds outside. Snarls and growls. We realized that the beasts were no longer waiting at the door, no longer pinning us down. So we pushed aside the boulder and ran out to see him, fighting them all at once."

Sofia closed her eyes and swallowed. Remi held her tighter.

"He attacked with such ferocity that, for a moment, I thought he was a rogue or a Ravager."

Sofia took a deep breath; Soren had been a Ravager. He had left his family as soon as he was old enough. Fearing what he would become if he stayed. He found Burning Ember by chance and found that the anger that had been trained in him could now be used on a forge.

He made beautiful things.

"Saul and I joined the fight, trying to pull the beast away from him, we all fought hard, and in the end, we won," Caleb said, his tone taking a noticeable shift.

Sofia clenched her jaw. She knew that what came next would be the beginning of the end of Soren's story.

"We didn't know," Caleb began again after taking a deep breath. "We didn't know these bear things would have tendrils when they fell, just like the hybrids. They stabbed his leg and then his stomach before we could even react."

Remi squeezed Sofia and took a shaky breath as he listened to the final hours of his best friend's life.

"One of the feral wolves, it had gotten away from us," Caleb continued. "As Saul and I focused on cutting down the tendrils, it took advantage. It jumped on Soren and tore at his chest. He fought hard and killed it, but he already had so many wounds and lost so much blood.

"Saul and I offered to treat his wounds, to try and ease his suffering. But he insisted. He said that he needed to bring us back to you. That he couldn't be late."

Sofia closed her eyes. The painful tightness in her throat and the burning in her eyes told her that she would cry again.

"He wouldn't let us help him until he couldn't walk anymore, but he wanted to finish his mission. Until his final moments, he did everything he could to–"

"Take my people south," Sofia interrupted coldly.

Caleb was silenced and stunned by her sudden iciness.

"What?"

"It was your plan. Take them south. We are already behind schedule."

"Sofia–" Caleb tried again, wanting to offer her support. To ensure her that her wolf had given his all.

"You are the one that was late!" Sofia growled. "If you had been here on time, my people would have been safe, and I wouldn't have had to send him–"

Her voice cracked and fell. She swallowed and sniffled. Then she turned and lifted her head to look at Caleb.

"I was worried," she said. "I knew you came here because of the promise you made me, the promise to protect my people. And when you didn't arrive the day you were supposed to, and I thought of your wife. Of your people. Of all those that cherish you. You took such a risk to keep a promise. So, I sent him."

Sofia motioned toward Soren but did not look at him.

"I sent the person that I cherish," she said weakly. "I sent him to bring you back. To send you back to them."

Caleb swallowed and looked at the man on the ground. He had no idea who he was to Sofia until this moment.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"Don't be," Sofia replied, wiping her tears and standing up. Remi stood with her. "We all have to go at some point."

She straightened her dress and took a deep breath.

"My people are waiting for you to take them south. I will stay here. There is no discussion," she stated flatly. "My smiths will not be finished with the final shipment until the morning. I will stay with them, and then we will join the rest of you later."

Caleb looked at her with concern.

"We don't need to leave in such a rush," he said. "The beasts that attacked us in the pass were a patrol, not a sign that the war party was on the move. So we can afford to wait a few hours."

"Can we?" Sofia asked. "These are not your people to gamble with, Alpha Caleb."

"I am not gambling with them," he replied with a soft growl. "I am just trying to offer you and your people the chance to honor and mourn for Soren."

Sofia gave a wry smile.

"There is no time to mourn," she said. "All I can do is return him to the fires."

Sofia turned and walked away.

Remi approached Caleb.

"She appreciates you coming," he said. "She knows the risk you took, but she is right. Even if they are not moving now, every moment we remain in the shadow of the war party, the people of Burning Ember are waiting to die."

Caleb looked back at Soren's body.

"Sofia and I will honor him," Remi continued. "If you wish to do so, do what she asks, and lead our people to safety. Because that is what Soren would do."

Remi and Caleb nodded to each other, and then Remi followed after Sofia.

"So," Saul said from behind Caleb. "Are we heading south?"

Caleb let out a sigh and nodded his head.

Within the hour, Caleb and Saul led most of Burning Ember away from their home as Sofia watched them leave. She and Remi stood and watched until they were entirely out of sight.

***

Silently they returned to Soren's body.

They removed his gear and washed his body. Then, putting him in simple robes, Sofia kissed his forehead before they wrapped him in a white sheet. Finally, they placed him on a stretcher, placing two of his favorite creations on his chest.

The first was a roughly made figurine of a horse. He had told her once that he had dreamed of riding a horse when he was a child, and this figurine was one of the first things he had made on his own after joining the pack.

The other was not made by him but by her.

It was a dark steel cuff with one small, brilliant shard of obsidian in the center. Each of them wore one. It was Sofia's way of committing to them both without the pomp and circumstance of an actual wedding.

They carried him a long way to the lava tubes. Deep inside, a distance only the wolves of Burning Ember had ever dared to go. Finally, they found what they sought.

A hole in the ground, with a soft red glow.

This was how wolves of Burning Ember moved on to the next world. By returning to the fire.