He nodded again and looked around the packed camps. “Not here, though. This is not the place for such things. Somewhere private and quiet, and it should be done soon before the soul has been gone from the body too long. I must ask you to not speak of what we do, either. This practice is not accepted by my people. According to our customs, the soul must be strong enough to return on its own.”
“And yet, you are willing to try anyway?” Jala asked, unsure why he would go against the customs of his own land for her. He barely knew her.
“I do not think his soul can return without help, not from her clutches. He is as trapped as the souls of those in Goswin. I will do what I can for him, to thank you for doing what you will for them,” Ash explained and gazed around the countryside once more. “Rest for now, Lady, and I will prepare for the ritual. Tonight, when the moon has risen we will find solitude and try to call him back.”
“I know the perfect place,” Jala said with a nod. She rose slowly and bowed with respect to the Soulreaver. “Thank you, Ash.”
“Don’t thank me yet, Lady. I will do what I can, but it may not be enough. I am not as strong as she who holds him. A lot will depend on him. I will open the gate back to life for him. He must wish to cross back,” Ash warned her.
“I can’t believe Finn wouldn’t want to come back. Is only Jala allowed there or may his friends come as well?” Wisp spoke with such hope in her voice Jala didn’t see how anyone could deny her.
“All who were close to him should be there if they will keep the peace and not disturb the ritual. Their presence will add strength to the call,” Ash replied, smiling as Wisp fairly bounced at his approval.
*
Winter was thick in the air as they gathered beneath the Jimpa tree. The only sounds were the bubbling of the brook and the faint stir of the leaves in the night breeze. Jala watched silently as Ash laid Finn’s body carefully out in the grass. The sight of Finn so still and pale made her throat tighten and she swallowed heavily, fighting back her tears.
Ash bent forward and examined the wounds on the body, then looked up to Jala. “This must be repaired before his spirit returns. He must be whole,” he said quietly and placed a hand over the knife wound under Finn’s arm. A soft white light began to emanate from his hand and he nodded his head slowly. “It took much to kill him. There are many poisons in his body,” he said softly. He moved with slow methodical patience as he turned the body over and removed the wounds from his back as well.
“I didn’t know you could heal the dead,” Jala said quietly.
Ash smiled and shrugged his shoulders as he carefully laid the body out once more. “It is not so much healing as it is mending. It is good that you preserved his body. There is no decay to mend.”
Valor shifted uncomfortably beside Jala and frowned down at Ash. “Are you sure that you trust a Reaver?” he asked quietly. He had been watching Ash with suspicion since they had arrived at the tree.
“I’m not sure that I would trust just any Soulreaver, but I trust Ash. He has always shown me respect and honor in his actions, Valor,” Jala answered him and nodded for Ash to continue, hoping he wasn’t offended by Valor’s behavior.
Ash moved to Finn’s head and carefully sat down in the grass behind him. Leaning forward, he pressed his fingers to Finn’s temples and looked up to Jala. “I will work the magic and you will feel the spell. When the magic touches you focus on him. Pour everything you can into those feelings, every memory you can summon. It will add your voices to the summons and he will know how deeply he is missed.”
Ash looked to each of them as he finished, his eyes lingering for a moment on Valor. “Try to focus on your friend instead of your distrust for me, Arovan. I know our people have difficulties and I understand your hate, but now is not the time to feel hate. You will damage the link with that emotion. If you cannot put it aside you should leave this place for now,” his voice was gentle, without a trace of anger or disapproval in it and Valor shifted a bit under his gaze.
“I can focus on Finn,” he assured the Soulreaver.
Nodding, Ash looked away from Valor and stared down at the body before him. Closing his eyes he began to chant softly. The warm white light rose from his hands again and Jala felt the magic brush against her.
Closing her eyes she summoned every memory she could. From their first meeting at the Spring Games to their long night in the Firym gardens as they forged the chain for their marriage. Her chest tightened as her mind recalled every kiss they had shared. “Finn please,” she whispered, her voice caught between a sob and pleading.
Vezradesh. The word was so faint it was almost lost in the breeze but she seized on it.
“Finn,” she breathed back and felt a flutter in the magic. Her breath caught in her throat and she squeezed her eyes shut tighter focusing on the memories with all of her will.
“No!” A woman’s voice screamed, and Jala felt the magic shred away beneath them. An icy wind rose, sending the tree above them quivering. Jala’s eyes flashed open, her head throbbing. Ash lay sprawled back from the body, his hands on his head and blood trickling from one nostril. The others were staggering as well, Jala realized, and even Marrow seemed to be stunned.
“Ash, are you OK?” she asked. Of all of them, the Soulreaver was the only one showing signs of physical harm.
He sat up slowly, hands still on his head and nodded. Lowering his hands slowly he wiped the blood from under his nostril and looked up to her. His expression held a bit of wonder as he regarded her.
“What?” she asked faintly. She kept her gaze on Ash, not wanting to look down at the still body in the grass. Rationally she knew the spell had failed, but actually seeing the failure was too much. He had spoken. He had been answering their call. That flutter in the magic just before the disruption. He had been so close.