Free Web NovelChapter 9: The Graveyard of Love and Sacrifice
"Graveyard?"
Oh... of course it would be a graveyard! There was no way Cerus would bring her here to see his parents’ souls.
Still... this place didn’t look like any graveyard Maeve had ever seen before.
"Yes, this is the place where we let our beloved families who have withered away rest," Cerus explained excitedly. "But I’m sorry if my parents look a bit dirty, we haven’t had time to change their clothes."
Maeve nodded slowly, though her mind felt a bit blank. She rubbed her eyes a few times, just to make sure she wasn’t imagining things.
But no matter how many times she blinked, the sight didn’t change. freēwebnovel.com
Skeletons.
There were a whole row of them, carefully placed against the wall of a cliff.
Yes... that was really what she was seeing.
The cliff stood about a mile away from the settlement, deep in a part of the forest that had already started to dry out.
All of the skeletons were lined up along the wall, and each of them wore clean clothes, a sign that their families still came here often to take care of them, even after death.
Maeve swallowed softly.
"How..." She paused, tapping her chin, unsure if her question might be too sensitive or not. After a moment, she forced a small smile. "They look... incredible."
"That’s kind of you, wife," Cerus replied, smiling warmly. "Maybe I should change their clothes now that I have some free time."
As Cerus began carefully changing the clothes of the skeletons, Maeve turned away and looked around the forest, and only then did she truly see how lifeless it was.
The leaves had long dried up and fallen, leaving nothing but thin, brittle branches. The ground beneath her feet was cracked, though a faint dampness still remained from the earlier rain.
"How can they live in a place like this?" Maeve murmured. She stepped forward and lightly touched a dry branch and it snapped the moment her fingers brushed it.
"They don’t have any choice, Host," Pinky said as it flew up from her shoulder into the air, moving forward alongside Maeve.
[The Azuryn tribe is a race that lives in forests, so they can’t just move to another place freely,] Pinky explained gently.
[They could move to another forest, yes. But what’s the point? In the end, every forest will slowly dry out and die.]
Pinky paused for a moment before continuing more quietly, [And leaving isn’t easy. They would need a lot of resources... and most likely, they would have to leave behind the elderly and the sick ones.]
"Sick?" Maeve stopped in front of a small bush that was still faintly green. "They can get sick?"
The reason Maeve doubted that was because they all looked so fit, even the older ones still appeared strong and muscular.
[They don’t get sick easily, and their bodies are stronger than normal humans, but...] Pinky let out a soft sigh. [...the older ones—the ones who have lived for more than two hundred years—have already used up most of their Aether Energy. They poured it into the Voryn Stones.]
Maeve frowned, thinking for a moment. "Voryn Stones? Aren’t those the things Axan and Ikarus were talking about a while ago?"
Pinky bobbed up and down, like it was nodding. [Yes, Host! The Voryn Stones are relics left behind by the elders! For Axan to create a large shield for the whole tribe, he needs a huge amount of Aether Energy, and he wouldn’t be able to do it without the help of the Voryn Stones.]
Maeve didn’t answer right away. She slowly turned her head and looked at Cerus, who was climbing up the cliff to reach his parents’ skeletons.
"Did... their parents do that too?" she asked in a low voice.
[You mean giving their energy to the stones? Yes,] Pinky replied. [They gave everything they had... just to give their sons a chance to live longer.]
Maeve let out a slow breath and dragged her hands over her face. "Why... why do they always do something like that?" she murmured.
[Like what, Host?]
"Selfless." Maeve let out a small laugh, but it didn’t sound happy at all. It sounded empty, almost like she was laughing at herself.
"They never hesitate to do something selfless to save their children," she continued softly and lowered her face. "But they don’t realize... their children will have to carry the burden of that choice."
Her voice grew softer as she lowered her head. "Just like... my parents."
[They only wanted what was best for their children, Host.]
Maeve gave a small chuckle. "I know." She paused for a moment before adding, "I’m grateful, but still... sometimes, I think it would be better to just die together."
Pinky was about to say something, but then Cerus shouted toward Maeve. "Wife! Do you want to come up here?!"
Maeve lifted her head, looking at Cerus, who was almost at the top of the cliff. He had changed her parents’ clothes, and honestly, she didn’t see any significant difference since they were wearing the same color.
"No! I’m good here!" Maeve shouted back. "And... that’s way too high!"
"Don’t worry! I’ll carry you up!" Cerus called out.
Maeve hissed softly. Just imagining climbing something that high already made her head spin.
Oh, right!
She could still use the excuse that she was sick!
Maeve was about to fake a cough, but before she could do it— fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
"Achoo!"
She sneezed.
"Achoo! Achoo!"
She kept sneezing until her nose turned red and felt a bit hot.
[Ding! Ding!]
[Illness detected!]
[Chance of getting a fever due to the rain: 92%]
Maeve was completely speechless because she hadn’t expected to actually get sick. She swore she wasn’t the type of person who would fall ill just from a little rain!
[The rain was heavy, Host. And just a while ago, you were thrown into the sea.]
[The fact that you’re still standing here is already amazing.]
On the other side, Cerus immediately jumped down, sending dust flying everywhere. Without saying anything, he lifted her up and ran as fast as the wind toward the settlement.
"Wife, please, don’t die too soon!"
She was just sneezing, not getting cancer!
