Chapter 175: Mind, Body, Spirit

Justin still remembered the Guardians' funerary rites from a time when he had witnessed them performed by Zechariah, in a stone tunnel at the base of the Shifting Mountains. Now, he witnessed them again-for the same man. It was the dead of night, and here, on the beach of a small island many miles from Esthean, the forty-three surviving members of the Ru'Onorath, including Cyaxares, Kallorn, Ezon, and Justin, paid tribute to their fallen brother.

The canoe sat on the edge of the beach. Ahlund's body had not been moved from it; he lay in the same position in which he had died. Around him in the canoe had been placed piles of fibrous palm fronds gathered from the island.

"He died in battle, a hero to his people," continued Cyaxares's eulogy. "And so, we offer provisions for his final journey."

She opened one of the few packs of supplies the Ru'Onorath refugees had managed to bring with them in their escape from Esthean.