Not wanting to let go completely of his wife's memory, Kael preferred to cremate her rather than bury. As logs of wood were arranged in a specific pattern to facilitate efficient and respectful burning, Kael picked up a smaller wood that was already lit with fire, took a few steps forward and threw the burning wood at the pyre in front of him, and in a moment, everything was lit and burning.
Despite being blinded the day Eryndor was born, Kael never had a problem moving around or navigating his surroundings. He moved about like his eyes were still functional and he has no need for a guide, all due to the powerful magic of Eryndor, his son.
A section of the people present could be heard humming some melody, dressed in all black and covering their faces with a black veil, their identities were unknown but a good guess suggested they were either from the birth home or the temple.
Following the melody, a greater part of the mourners intensified their cries, some sobbed silently, while some stared, indifferent. Some took it as an opportunity to leave, and as if waiting for each other, they started leaving one by one.
By the time the pyre was burnt to half, everyone had left except for Kael of course, and the maiden in charge of Eryndor care. Eryn as he was called for short, was asleep throughout the procession. He has been less active these few days, took most of his time to sleep through the day, and woke up at intervals to eat and sleep back again.
'He looks really peaceful, what a beautiful boy'.
The maiden kept her astonishment to herself as she took care of the boy daily. Sometimes she wished he was hers, but the circumstances surrounding his birth made her doubt if she wanted same.
"It's 7pm, Sire". The maiden spoke first time since the procession, reminding her boss to get ready to go home.
Kael sighed.
By the time he lifted his head, the pyre was already ashes, except for a wood that burned bleakly of red heat from its charcoal. Kael brought out a ceramic vase beautified by glazes and scoped some ashes into it. He wrapped a thin clothe over the brim and tied it.
"Let us go home".
Kael picked up his small bag with one hand while holding the vase to his torso with another, he looked at the ashes one last time, glanced at the maiden and started moving facing home.
The maiden nodded as if she was given a command, and followed Kael as they make their way home.
"How's the boy doing today?".
"He has been unusually asleep today. Not a cause for concern but worthy of notice".
"Really? What could have been the cause? Do we need to intervene?"
"I don't think so, Sire. He took a whole bottle of the goat milk I prepared for him. I bathed him and he slept. Been that goat milk might be filling and takes a lot of time to digest, he might not really be hungry, that's why he hadn't woken up".
"This makes sense. But once we get home, try to wake him up, so we can know if anything is wrong".
"Okay Sire".
It was getting darker as they continued the walk, crickets could be heard chirping within the grasses, unseen, periodically stopping when footsteps got nearer. They were treading a steep area of a hill before making a descent into the valley that spiral down into the community.
Morgana, the maiden stepped on a small stone while walking up the hill, and tripped. Kael reacted a second too late and Eryn was out of her Morgana's grip and was airborne.
Kael cursed.
He was stupefied at the event unfolding in his presence but could not do anything. His attempt had proven useless and could only observe everything happening within a few seconds.
Morgana stretched her hands to cover her face to avoid bruising it or cracking her skull from the fall.
'What!'
'What is happening?'
After a moment, she realised she was floating, catching a grip of herself, she steadily lowered her legs and landed properly on the ground while dashing towards Eryndor.
Eryndor had calmly slept through the fall. He was unbothered by his surroundings and whatever was happening. A sphere bouncy transparent shield had wrapped around him the moment he was airborne, and he had stayed afloat just like Morgana, waiting to be carried.
Immediately Morgana grabbed him, shaking violently at the unbelievable turn of event, Eryn snuggled himself into her warmth and fell asleep more deeply. His face looked serene and calm, like nothing in this world mattered.
Morgana was pale and her face as white as ice. She couldn't explain which one scared her the most, either the fact that she almost wounded her boss' son or of the unexplainable magic-like event that just happened in front of her.
Kael, stunned by what he had sensed, swiftly turned his head sideways, hoping that no one had seen what just happened.
A branch cracked, and everyone froze.
"Who is that?"
Silence.
"Who's that?" Kael lunged forward towards the direction of the noise but a woodpecker burst out of the woods and flew off.
Feeling relieved, Kael traced his way back to Morgana, moved his eyes like he could see the boy and sighed, then patted Morgana on her back before moving.
"It's been a long day, let hurry and go home now".
Lightning bolted across the sky and thunder rumbled through its void, it was about to rain. With no warning previously, the rain poured down like the gates of heavens were opened.
Almost like a response, an translucent barrier spanned over their head, acting like an umbrella with no one holding it. Morgana looked at the boy, who in his sleep smiled and his cheeks became pink.
'How powerful, yet so adorable and cute'.
'Whatever you're, I hope to see you grow and become a powerful sorcerer'. Morgana thought.
Kael thoughts was different. In his own mind, storms of emotions were welling up as he tried to chastise himself from crying.
'A powerful sorcerer indeed, playing with powers while in your sleep, huh?'.
'You took a whole lot from me, my lovely wife and half of my age. Yet you make me feel like it was a worthy sacrifice. I'm glad I paid and your mom would be glad to have brought an offspring like you'.
'But what else can you do'.
As if in response to Kael's thoughts, a carriage came out of a nearby building and galloped towards them, Kael smiled and muttered "You are one petty boy, I get that now".
He laughed as they climbed on the coach and galloped away.