Grigory's Gadget
Page 25
“I'm so sorry,” she cried, placing a hand on his cold face. “I'm so sorry.” She sank to the floor, sobbing.
After a few moments, Lilia said, “We're going to give him a Drevnih funeral.”
“Drevnih?” Zoya asked.
“That's what Pavel's religion is called,” Lilia said. “Some of the refugees follow it. They told me about the funeral rights, and they just seem—”
“They seem like what Demyan would have wanted,” Nikolai said. “Unlike in Lodninsk where his body would have been thrown into an industrial furnace.”
“So we won't burn him?” Zoya asked.
“We will,” Lilia said. “But, with more dignity. With more respect.”
Zoya and her friends remained in the cabin, silent, for half an hour, at which point Zoya stood and nodded. She and her friends lifted Demyan's body, gently, onto a nearby wooden plank. Then, they carried him out to the main deck.
The rest of the crew had already prepared a dinghy for him. The small boat was filled with cloth and broken wood, soaked in oil and tar. The crew parted so Zoya and her friends could place Demyan into the boat. The friends stepped back, joined by Alexi, who grabbed Anya by the hand. Then, Lilia grabbed a bottle of Kraken Ink and soaked Demyan's clothing with it.
Lilia looked to a member of the crew, an elderly woman with long, gray braids, who nodded and smiled.
“If I'm not able to get through this,” Lilia said, “Alisa will take over. I am new to Drevnih, so please pardon me if I don't do this entirely correctly. However, Demyan was my friend, so for him, I'll try my best.”
Lilia shifted her weight, staring at Demyan then out over the ocean. She nodded again to Alisa, who instructed other members of the crew to begin lower Demyan down to the water.
“May Vozh give his soul courage on his journey to the afterlife,” Lilia began, tears running down her face. “May Vestnik guide and protect him on that journey. May Dimka burn away any pain he suffered in life, and may Zhelena bring him to his peace.”
As Lilia finished speaking, the dinghy finished its descent to the water. Alisa handed her lit torches, which she passed to each of her friends.
“With this fire, we end your bondage to this world and free your spirit.”
Lilia nodded to her friends. They each dropped their torches into Demyan's boat. As the fire spread across his body, catching the soaked cloth and wood, Alisa released the dinghy from the ship. By the time the fire consumed the entire tiny vessel, it was behind the stern. Zoya and her friends moved to watch it float away.
“That was really lovely,” Nikolai said to Lilia. “I think Demyan would have appreciated it.”
“Me too,” Zoya said. She took a deep, shuddering breath and looked at Anya.
“I realized I hadn't asked,” she said. “What's the name of this ship of ours?”
“New Life,” Anya replied, smiling slightly. “I thought it was appropriate since it's what we were looking for when we got into this mess.”
“It's perfect,” Zoya said. “So what's our first destination?”
“A bad idea,” Alexi said, giving Anya a stern look.
“We've discussed this,” Anya said to him. “We have to bring them home, and better to do it now, before the war gets even worse.”
“Maybe we'll find their princess while we're there, and the war will end,” Nikolai said, shrugging as Lilia shoved him.
“Starzapad?” Zoya asked, her eyes wide.
“Yes,” Anya said. “We're going to Starzapad.”
Zoya Orlova's mind was a manic, swirling fog, but she knew what lay ahead would be new, exciting, and better.
Thank you so much for embarking on that adventure with me. I hope you enjoyed my book. You can look forward to its sequel coming soon! Want to be the first to know when it will be available? Sign up for my newsletter at:
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E. A. Hennessy is an author of fantasy and science fiction novels. Since childhood, whenever she happened upon a wishing well or other wish-granting object, her wish would be the same: she wanted to go on an adventure. And so, she wrote the types of adventures on which she’d like to embark. E. A. Hennessy lives in Buffalo, New York where she works as an environmental engineer. When she isn’t writing or working, she can be found dancing and making nerdy-themed candles.
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