The Ravenshore Cemetery had never seen such a crowd.
It was as though the earth had drawn every student out of the Academy’s walls, compelling them to gather here.
It stretched endlessly under the grey autumn sky with old headstones that created an atmosphere of grief that seemed to swallow the light itself.
Today, it was filled to the brim with mourners, all dressed in black, their faces etched with sorrow and tear-stained. Eamon’s death had shocked everyone. It wasn’t as though he was the most popular student, nor was he too friendly...
It’s just that within the short period of time he came to Ravenshore, if you didn’t know who Eamon Riggs was, you have to be living under a stone. Behind his back, girls from Ebonvale argue that he was the most handsome Ravenshore student they’ve ever seen.
The air hung heavy with the scent of dried leaves and fresh earth. At the centre of it all lay a simple wooden coffin, positioned beside a freshly dug grave. The sight of it was the final, brutal reminder that Eamon Riggs would never walk the halls of the Academy again.
Would never sit in another class, nor laugh with friends at the dining hall.
Standing closest to the grave were Slater Riggs and Rhett Thatcher. Slater’s eyes were red and swollen with unshed tears, which was an indication that he had been crying for so long. His shoulders shook as he sobbed silently, clutching a white rose which trembled in his hand.
It was Eamon’s favourite flower.
Beside him, Rhett swayed slightly, his face was pale, and his lashes were heavy with unshed tears. His tall frame was curved with grief. His hazel eyes, which were usually so bright and beautiful, were bloodshot and hollow.
Every few minutes, he would lean heavily against Slater for support, grabbing onto Slater’s arms as if he was afraid Slater would disappear too. There was no way to tell that the boys were in deep sorrow.
Everyone was present except Kael, even though everyone was mourning, a few people earlier had speculated that Kael didn’t want to come because he felt guilty for betraying his friend, after all, he was the one that had gone to identify her body when it was found one month after the accident.
The bodies of the other warriors were found within a week after the accident, except Eamon. Everyone had speculated that she survived and ran away until one cold evening, an ambulance drove in with the swollen body of Eamon. Fresh chapters posted on novel✦fire.net
An autopsy was run, and it confirmed everyone’s worst suspicion that the dead body was truly Eamon’s.
The moon priest stood at the head of the grave, his voice carrying across the cemetery as he performed the traditional burial rites. His words were in the old tongue, a language that spoke of honour and pack bonds and the eternal hunt that awaited all wolves in the afterlife.
"We commit this soul to the Moon," the priest intoned. "The boy known as Eamon Riggs, that his spirit run free in the eternal forests, that his howl might join the chorus of our ancestors and that his memory might live on in the hearts of those who loved him. May his journey be guided by the stars and may the moon shine upon his path and grant peace to the restless."
The student bowed their head, sniffing back tears and trying to muffle their own tears for those who were crying.
Rhett pressed his forehead against Slater’s shoulders, whispering. "She can’t be gone. She can’t."
Slater swallowed; his throat was raw, and his eyes were fixed on the coffin, but he didn’t answer. He couldn’t.
As the coffin was slowly lowered into the ground, the sound of muffled sobs rose from the mourners. Classmates who had shared classes with Eamon, classmates who had barely known him, felt the loss because it was so strange that one minute, Eamon was hale and hearty and the next he was lying lifeless.
At the back of the crowd, standing apart from everyone else, was a lonely figure in black.
Kael Winters watched the proceedings with an expression that was impossible to read. From the moment Eamon had been declared missing, Kael had done everything in his power to help find her, and it finally worked.
Her body had been recovered in the river of a faraway pack after a month, but it had been too late. He refused to move closer and mingle with the others. His dark eyes were fixed on the coffin as it disappeared into the earth, and something flickered across his features: pain, perhaps or regret, or something more complicated than the grief everyone felt.
As the first handful of dirt hit the wooden surface with a thud, Kael turned quietly and, without saying a word of comfort to Slater or Rhett, he walked out of the cemetery.
He’d left, as if he couldn’t bear to watch another moment of Eamon Riggs being laid to rest.
By the time the last spade of earth sealed the grave, it was time for the traditional howl. A ceremony is held at the end of each burial as a way to send off the soul of the dead person.
Dozens of voices raised together in a mournful howl that echoed across the cemetery and beyond, carrying their grief to the edges of the Academy ground.
By the time it was done, it was mid-afternoon.
The student began to leave the cemetery, glancing nervously at Slater and Rhett, who were among the last to go. Both boys waited patiently until the cemetery workers finished their job and the tombstone lay perfectly on top of the grave.
As soon as they alighted from the car that had driven them to the cemetery, Rhett’s eyes became wild. He jumped out of the car, slamming the door so violently that he startled Slater, who was still unbuckling his seat belt.
"Rhett!" Slater called after him, but Rhett ignored him, marching towards the quarters where Kael lived.
As soon as he reached Kael’s room, he pounded on the door several times, but there was no response. He tried the handle and was surprised to find it unlocked, which made him even more suspicious.
When he walked into Kael’s room, he discovered that the place was empty. There was a note on the coffee table addressed to him and Slater from Kael asking them what they wanted him to do with Eamon’s clothes.
Alongside the note was the key to the room.
That seemed to infuriate Rhett more. He burst out of the room and grabbed a passing student.
"Have you seen Kael? The first-year coordinator?"