Lightbearers

After a brief lunch in the Meditation Room, Xia Lun and Renee left.

Outside, Abby's mangled, dismembered body had dissolved in the warm sunlight. Apart from a few brown stains on the ground, every trace of her existence was gone.

Tina's body remained. She lay facedown and motionless, as though asleep in a pool of blood.

Warm, dry sunlight reached every corner, and much of the sharp smell of blood had faded from the air.

Squelch.

Xia Lun's boot came down in the blood, and he stopped.

He looked down at Tina's body for a moment, then said, "Let's find somewhere to bury Tina."

"The public cemetery will do." Renee slipped her arms under Tina's and hooked her at the elbows. "I know a good spot." "The public cemetery?"

"It's close, beside the Grand Cathedral." Fighting the searing pain in her leg, Renee dragged the body slowly backward. "They should have shovels and coffins there too."

A body grew heavy after death. Tina had not weighed much, but Renee still struggled to drag her.

She had gone only a few steps when the clear ring of metal striking stone reached their ears.

Clink, clink, clink.

Xia Lun looked down. A gleaming silver ring had fallen from Tina's pocket, rolled across the ground, and stopped right at his feet.

He picked it up between his fingertips, called up the Information Panel in his mind, and glanced at it.

``` [Item Name: Her Ring (Left Hand)]

[Item Description: One of a pair of rings that originally belonged to a high-ranking member of the Annihilation Cult. She gave one ring to her younger sister. When her sister escaped the fate of becoming a sacrifice, she took the ring with her and later gave it to the person who saved her.]

[Note: This ring