Svampe wasn’t meeting Becky until later, so he came with us to the funeral. Agaroth was largely responsible for Svampe coming out of his shell, so it felt right for him to be there.

  The graveyard is technically just out of the northern entrance to town. It was a wise choice to place the grave yard outside of town because it can be expanded easily without encroaching on any of the houses. That being said… the town has expanded many times since that location was chosen and if the town wants to expand anymore to the north it will have to incorporate the graveyard. So, it would be best to expand in other directions.

  There were fewer people there than I expected. He had been in a few parties before ours, so I did expect the surviving members of those parties to show up. But they didn’t. Then again… he was kicked out of those parties for pissing people off… so I suppose it makes sense.

  My mum arrived a bit later than we did. We probably should have told her about the funeral last night instead of this morning. But we were so exhausted that it just didn’t occur to us. We didn’t really give her much time to plan or get ready, so she asked us to send Lucas to get her once we got to town. He was happy to oblige. He does anything she asks of him. Which is handy.

  Most of our party were in attendance… both past and present members. Chloe was present with her knights. Even Asmodeus was there. Although he stood in the distance, far away from everybody else. Looming more than taking part. Farrow looked to be quite emotional about the whole thing… which I wasn’t really expecting. Dietrich was comforting her. I know that he was technically never one of our party… but Alexander had managed to make his way down here from Fort Bracken. The only one from our party who wasn’t attending was Damecus. He had stayed behind at the gardens to look after Verity so that Cathy could come.

  Cathy is holding it together well… all things considering. Agaroth had done a lot for her and they had only just started properly dating. Hell, she is the first person that I have ever seen him properly tidy up his appearance for… so he obviously cared for her a lot.

  Big Bertha was also there… and I’m not sure whether I find that weird or sweet. Maybe a bit of both. I mean… your favourite prostitute coming to your funeral… where your girlfriend is present… bit weird. But at the same time… it is nice that she obviously developed a level of affection for him over the years. I did ask her if Jonty would be coming. She said that it would be best for him to stay at Madame Laurent’s because such a jarring change in routine would unnerve him. Which makes perfect sense… I have seen how Verity reacts to sudden routine change… so yeah, I get that that can be a massive problem.

  Smutisha had taken charge of proceedings. She had paid for him to have a place in one of the mausoleums that are normally reserved for knights of high regard. Which must have cost her a fair amount. The urn that he was being kept in was also extremely elegant.

  Everybody was assembled in front of the mausoleum and the urn was stood on a plinth at the front. Smutisha was stood next to the urn, casting her eyes over everyone.

  Smutisha: “Does anybody know if we are expecting others?”

  There was murmuring amongst the group and the general consensus was no.

  Smutisha: “In that case we shall begin.”

  She paused for a moment… composed herself… then once again looked out towards the group.

  Smutisha: “Agaroth Tinthalin was certainly a divisive man. But what nobody can deny, is that his presence was always felt, wherever he went. He was knighted for his services to this city… and whilst he did not serve as an acting knight… he earned the title many times over. His actions over the years have saved countless lives. Indeed, he died saving others from harm. Which I believe shows his true character.”

  There was a general nod of agreement from the group. Smutisha gestured for Phoenix to step forward.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Smutisha: “At this point I would welcome Phoenix to say a few words.”

  Smutisha stepped to one side and Phoenix moved next to the plinth. She raised her head and looked out towards the group.

  Phoenix: “Agaroth… Agaroth was a reprehensible human being, that I found deeply irritating to be around. He was vulgar… he was offensive… but he was fiercely loyal. Nothing stopped that man from doing what he believed to be the right thing. In a world obsessed with conformity he was unashamedly himself. There was no needless ambiguity with Agaroth. He was direct… and I respected that.”

  She reached into her cloak and pulled out a small piece of folded paper. Kiyui gripped my arm tightly and took a deep breath.

  Phoenix: “Many years ago. Two of our companions were badly injured. They were both unconscious and it caused Agaroth and I to discuss death. Specifically, what we would want to happen at our funerals. He told me that he would write something down for me and that if he were to die first, then I was to read it at his funeral.”

  She raised the folded paper up in the air and began to unfold it. She coughed slightly before she began to read it aloud.

  Phoenix: “Cheer the fuck up, you miserable cunts. I’m dead, crying about that won’t change anything. A funeral should be a celebration of life, not a bunch a morbid shite. So, piss off! Go get pissed or something. Fuck’s sake.”

  She started to slowly fold the paper and put it back in her pocket. Dietrich, Robert, Smutisha, Svampe and my mum all started to laugh. I have to admit… even I gave a muffled snort of a laugh. Kiyui’s grip lightened and a slight smile spread across his face.

  Phoenix: “As I said, he was quite direct. So, I’m not going to drag this out with a long speech. I believe his instructions were clear. So, let us get this over with and head for the tavern.”

  She walked back into the audience and Smutisha stood back in her original position.

  Smutisha: “Well, darlings. Hard to argue with that. The head cleric will say his blessing, place the urn in the mausoleum… then we can all get drunk.”

  The head cleric banged on about the Mother of Mercy for far too long. You know… I often found it odd that Agaroth was a cleric. He never really talked about faith… I never really saw him pray or anything. I never even saw him visit the temple.

  The cleric spoke of how boundless Agaroth’s faith was… and I don’t know… it just felt strange. His spiritual side is something that I just never got to know about. After everything that that weird little priest said to me the other day, I would have really like to get Agaroth’s stance on the whole thing. Because if the head cleric is to be believed… Agaroth’s faith was unwavering.

  When the cleric eventually finished, he raised the urn above his head, said a prayer, and carried the urn to its stand within the mausoleum. As everybody started to filter away and head for the pub, Kiyui requested to go into the mausoleum and say a final goodbye to Agaroth. He wasn’t the only person to have that idea. Cathy had gone in first. We stayed outside, so as not to pry. She was in there for a good few minutes. She emerged with a tear in her eye but was pretty solidly composed.

  Chloe went in next and placed Agaroth’s flail and sword on the wall. She had had them mounted on a display crest. Which was a nice touch. A couple of the chain links were rusted and looked like they could fall apart. Weapon maintenance was never his favourite part of the job. Big Bertha went in next… she had a rolled-up piece of paper. She opened the urn and placed it inside… it only just fitted in. Then she turned and left, without saying a word.

  Then… finally… it was our turn. I realised that I should probably say something. I’ve been so worried about Kiyui recently that I haven’t really been thinking about how this has affected me.

  Dwynfel: “Agaroth… you did so much for me over the years. You stood by me… you helped me… you gave me advice… even when I didn’t want it… or perhaps I should say I wasn’t aware that I needed it. You made me profoundly uncomfortable, but despite that… I still loved you. You were the first person to notice that I had feelings for Kiyui… you are the one who told me that it was okay… that these feelings were okay… you’re the one who told me that I needed to talk to him. If it wasn’t for you, I don’t think that I would have had the confidence to take that step. Because of you I have love in my life… I have a family… I have so much… because of you. So… thank you. Thank you for everything.”

  Kiyui took my hand and looked at me.

  Kiyui: “Is that true?”

  Dwynfel: “Yeah… when we were walking to that orphanage all those years ago. He could see right through me sometimes.”

  Kiyui laughed slightly and stroked my face with his hand.

  Kiyui: “We both owe him so much.”

  He turned to the urn, kissed his hand, then placed it on the side of the urn. He closed his eyes and kissed the orb on his little necklace and uttered a small prayer. He opened his eyes and simply said…

  Kiyui: “I’m sorry.”