It took five days for the rest of Immanu to pull itself together. The Mutant-Class had been slain, and without it, the Crawl that’d infested the northern end of the glacier would gradually recede over the course of the next few months. The brood nest was effectively destroyed, and unless a second Mutant took command, the Boreus would slowly die out. The village simply needed to hold off the sporadic attacks here and there.

  The Boreus remnants may or may not be drawn to the Mutant’s carcass, which was being stored in one of the village’s communal kitchens, but they hadn’t found the time to attempt to butcher it properly. Between fending off the attacks, bolstering their defences, and tending to the wounds Sparrow and Minki and the elders had sustained during the siege, none of the children talked to each other much at all—and it wasn’t until dawn of the eleventh day, the final week of Sparrow’s fifth month in Immanu, that all of them gathered under the bell tower to send off the bullet ant soldiers.

  It was three coffins made with crystal wood, the lids woven with river reeds, and the sides of the coffin etched with the insignias of Immanu.

  Inside, each of the children laid down one of their favourite pillows to make the fluffiest bedding any soldier could dream to rest on; pink cushions for Peregrine on the right, blue cushions for Crow on the left, and fierce vermillion for Harpy in the middle. All three of them were cleaned, wiped down, their wounds patched with thin fabrics and their gashes stitched together with quartz crystals, but their uniforms and rifles were left untouched. Apparently, it was Immanu tradition to lay the dead to rest the way they were found lest they couldn’t cross over to ‘the other side’. Now, Sparrow had no idea where that was, but… like with most things related to the Worm Mages, it was less about ‘understanding’ and more about ‘accepting’.

  For his part, he simply stood at the back of the crowd with Minki as the children knelt next to the coffins one by one, whispering their prayers and offering crystal flowers for the departed.

  Minki whispered, lowering her head as one of the children stepped away, letting the two of them catch a glimpse of Harpy’s resting face before someone else filled in the gap.

  he said, shaking his head softly.

  Minki whirled on him, eyes twitching, lips quivering. she breathed, her warping voice shaky like never before.

  A few heads turned as he raised his warping voice, perhaps a bit much—Minki flinched and reeled away a little—so he clenched his throat and forced himself to breathe, closing his eyes for a good few seconds.

  he whispered again, as Ninmah and Utu waved the two of them forward; everybody else had finished offering their prayers.

  Their hands held wooden cups of quartz crystals that threatened to slosh out the sides as they walked. It was only their pure and simple-minded focus to walk in straight lines that prevented it. The children parted, the elders that stood at the heads of the coffin bowed. Minki knelt between Peregrine and Harpy’s coffins, while he did the same between Crow and Harpy’s—and he forced himself, once more, to look his former leader in the face as he poured his quartz crystal onto her face.

  With the three of them gone, he was the only Bullet Ant Soldier remaining in the Hagi’Shar Forward Army.

  After everyone said their farewells to the soldiers and the lids were tied over the coffins with flower cords, Minki immediately attached chains to each of the coffins and handed them to Sparrow.

  While the rest of the children blinked in confusion, he double-checked the chains to see if they might fall halfway through, but… Minki had been a scout. She knew how to attach chains properly. He could probably drag the coffins all the way down to the bottom of the blackrock mountains without having to worry about them slipping out of his hands.

  Ninmah asked, arms crossed as he started dragging the coffins to the edge of the village. He didn’t want to strain himself by warping now when he’d be doing plenty more warping down the slope.

  He glanced back at her, Utu, and the rest of the Worm Mages pointedly.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  It was Ninmah’s turn to twitch her eyes.

  he said, shaking his head as he slung the chains over his shoulders, dragging the coffins slowly forward.

  Ninmah and Utu warped in front of him, spreading their arms, blocking his way forward. she snapped, gritting her teeth.

  He furrowed his brows.

  Then he warped past them with the coffins in tow, continuing towards the edge of the village.

  he said, ignoring the rest of the children shouting after him, chasing after him. Ninmah and Utu and the elders kept trying to warp in front of him, but he washe warped past the fences in just a few long strides.

  Utu said, scowling fiercely as he grabbed one of the chains Sparrow was holding onto. Sparrow looked back, irritated. Minki immediately warped in and yanked Utu’s hand off, allowing him to continue pulling the coffins forward.

  he muttered.

  He didn’t have to look behind him to know everyone was staring at Minki, and, for her part, Minki wasn’t handling the angry glares very well. They’d talked about him being the only one to meet the General a few nights ago, and decided not to tell everyone until the day of. Their attempts at intervention was why he hadn’t wanted to tell them. Even if Minki was starting to regret agreeing to stay behind now, this was just something he to do, and something only he could do—

  Ten steps before reaching the edge of the village. Ninmah warped in front of him, arms crossed. The morning winds howled and blew her hair every which way, but he could still see the silver tears wringing out the corner of her eyes.

  And he couldn’t look straight at her as he paused, screeching to a halt.

  It was too ‘painful’ for his chest.

  she whispered.

  It was ‘painful’ because he knew she was right, and he knew he was betraying her by wanting to go at this alone.

  But what other option was there?

  Trying to negotiate with the General was only an option if the Bullet Ant Soldiers were still alive, and they weren’t. He was going to show up in front of the Forward Army with three coffins. Surely, if he just stared and gritted his teeth hard enough at the ground, Ninmah would understand—it was for any one of them to show their faces in front of the General.

  He to do this alone as ‘Sparrow’, designated marksman of the First Bullet Ant Battalion—

  she breathed, and his head shot up. Her hands were trembling as she opened her arms, beckoning him forward. He didn’t oblige immediately, and that meant the children had to push him from behind, knocking him right into her hug.

  She started caressing his head.

  Pinching his earlobes.

  Her fingers were so soft, so tender; his lips parted slightly as he gave a shaky breath.

  she whispered, her voice just as shaky, just as quiet. to promise you’ll come back. This won’t be the last time we’ll see you. You’ll be back here tomorrow for breakfast, and then you’ll have breakfast with us from there on out. You hear me?”

  Then, the rest of the Worm Mages moved. They warped around him, forming a large circle hand-in-hand, and Ninmah pulled away to grab him by the cheeks.

  she said, pushing a smile onto her face though it was evident it hurt her incredibly, so.

  With that, the Worm Mages all bowed, leaving only him and Ninmah standing upright.

  Ninmah gave him a small kiss on the forehead, and she had to stand on her tiptoes to do so.

  she said, her cheeks quickly taken over by a rosy blush.

  ‘Enki’.

  ‘Enki’.

  ‘Enki’.

  He’d no particular thoughts about the name itself, but when it was Ninmah saying it, somehow it just sounded a whole lot better.

  So he returned a small kiss to her forehead and immediately stepped past her, covering his face as he began sliding down the slope.

  he said, feeling heat in his face; he couldn’t help but wonder what this emotion was.

  He didn’t dare turn and look up at the Worm Mages as they waved him down the slope, shouting and yelling at him to keep his promise—they’d be waiting tomorrow, and if he weren’t here, they may just decide to starve themselves out of breakfast.

  And that just wouldn’t do.

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