The two corpses no longer resembled what they had once been.
Withered, yellow flesh hung loosely from their bones. Most of their bodies had rotted into the dark red soil, leaving only two heaps of remains that barely retained a human shape. White mist drifted over them without stirring a thing.
Several figures stopped before the two heaps of remains, their heads bowed for a long time.
Their expressions were somewhat strained.
They had seen this kind of death many times. Far more than two of their companions had been swallowed by this land, yet every time they stood before a companion's remains, that indescribable feeling still welled up from deep within.
"They've returned."
Someone in the crowd spoke first, their voice low and as hoarse as if it had been scraped by gravel.
"Yes, they've returned," another replied quietly. "They have offered themselves entirely to the Holy Sovereign."
"We thank them for their sacrifice."
No one said anything more.
The figures slowly lowered themselves onto one knee around the two heaps of remains. They extended their palms and pressed them gently against the dark red ground, murmuring some kind of recitation.
Their voices were soft and slow, as though they feared disturbing something.
Yet the moment their recitation began, the flesh on their bodies started to churn.
Beneath their loose, worn clothes of coarse fabric, something moved under their skin, raising one writhing ridge after another. The growths of flesh and bone around their necks swelled and contracted as well, as though they had come alive.
The ground beneath their feet churned too.
Slow ripples spread through the dark red earth from the places where they knelt. The scattered bone fragments and rotten flesh around them began to squirm and sway, little by little, as if something had awakened