An arm flopping lifelessly with every step he took. My eyes widened. The flames to the right of him raged higher, casting an orange glow on him. My stomach turned. That was long hair bouncing over his arm and I could just barely make out the curved outline of a feminine figure. He carried a woman, and I knew there was not a chance she was still alive. There was a coldness in the air around her. Everest’s hands gripped her body so hard his knuckles were white even through the blood caked there. A long white cape dragged the ground from her shoulders, yet somehow he hadn’t tripped over it. There wasn’t enough light to see her face, and the smoke wasn’t helping. But I saw him.

His eyes were blazing with rage and pain. They seemed to be bloodshot and red.

I watched as Everest carried the woman up onto the structure and laid her down—-OH. It was a funeral pyre. That was why it looked familiar. He gently positioned the woman with her hands over her stomach, her hands clasped together, with the white cape lying around her small frame. Everest stood and waved his hand over the torch nearest him—-flames danced around it instantly. He lifted the torch then slowly moved over to light the other four.

“NO!” A high-pitched wail erupted from nearby. “NO!”

A woman I hadn’t seen emerged from out of nowhere. Screaming. She sprinted for the pyre, scrambling up onto the top in a panic. Everest’s face scrunched up. He looked away from the girl and I saw pain in his face. The girl sank to her knees at the woman’s side and sobbed. She had long pale hair that seemed to be thick with blood and dirt. Her hands were just as filthy. There were raw wounds on her arms, cheek, and across her forehead. Blood was caked in her knuckles. Rivers of tears ran down her dirty face creating little tracks.

“Mother!” She wailed then threw herself onto the woman’s chest, her whole body trembling. “Mother, please.”

My pulse skipped. My breaths grew short and ragged. My eyes watered. This was horrible.

Everest reached down for the girl. “You have to go⁠—”

“NO!” she swatted his arm away.

He pulled her by the arm gently. “I am sorry, but you must go⁠—”

“No,” she screamed, gripping the deceased woman’s body.

Everest cringed then yanked the girl off the woman. “Auryn, you have to go, they’re coming.”

I gasped. Auryn? Auryn is Saber. That’s Saber. If that’s Saber’s mother, then that’s Everest’s wife. Oh my God. OH MY GOD. Oh no. No, no, no. Hindsight was slamming into me in real time. Everest was the soul in need.

“Auryn,” Everest pleaded. He held her shoulders and lifted her to her feet. “Your mother would want you safe.”