The Burial

I finished burying them this morning. I forgot to say farewell, but I do not think I will – we no longer talked in life, there is no need to do so now that they are dead. I think they wanted to leave the isle, leave this place… leave me… so completely, that the isle honored their wishes and let them sleep. Afterward… I returned here, to the workshop, to put down my thoughts while they were clear in my mind. I failed them, yes. But they did not die by my hands, and I will not fail others. No other family will be lost to the Corrupted. All we sought on this isle shall not be lost with them. This tragedy has only renewed my purpose. I shall bring every Withered beneath the knife, see them exposed to every formula, and I shall see their sickness driven from them. Then, the isle shall know peace. I shall know peace. -M.H.