Behind her, dozens of mourners gathered in a semicircle—family, neighbors, skyfarers, and Council dignitaries.
Seren had to pull herself back to reality as the questions continued to swirl around her mind like a vortex.
Everyone wore the traditional Andaran mourning attire:
Indigo shrouds embroidered with silver lightning
Bare feet, symbolizing humility before the Veil
Skyglass beads glowing faintly at their throats
Stormbloom petals tucked behind their ears
Some wept openly. Others bowed their heads in silent respect.
A group of skyfarers—her father’s old crew—stood together, hands clasped over their hearts. Their leader, Captain Rhyden, a broad-shouldered man with a braided beard, wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.
“He was the best of us,” he murmured to the others. “The sky won’t be the same without Caelen.”
He looked to where Seren stood and with a heavy heart walked towards her.
“Little storm,” he said softly, using her father’s nickname for her. “He loved you more than the sky itself.”
Seren swallowed hard. “He shouldn’t have gone out that night.”
Rhyden shook his head. “He didn’t go out. The storm came for him.”
She looked up sharply. “What do you mean?”
Rhyden hesitated. “Storms don’t move like that. Not naturally. It was as if… something called him.”
Seren’s stomach twisted. “Called him?”
Before he could answer, another mourner approached—Lysandra, the healer from Aurion Vale and Elira’s former lover though Seren didn’t know that at the time. Her silver braids shimmered softly, her eyes warm with sympathy.
She placed a gentle hand on Seren’s cheek. “Your father’s spirit passed peacefully. I felt it.”
Seren blinked. “You were there?”
Lysandra nodded. “Your mother summoned me.”
Seren’s gaze flicked toward Elira, who stood rigidly near the pyre, her expression unreadable.
Lysandra lowered her voice. “You have your father’s heart. And his storm.”
She pressed a small stormbloom petal into Seren’s palm—a healer’s blessing.
Seren closed her fingers around it, feeling the faint pulse of magic.
Lysandra watched Seren with quiet sorrow, as if she knew this moment would shape the girl’s destiny.