Prompt: Vhenadahl
Tamlen's body was lighter than it should have been. She remembered a day when his arms had been lean with muscle, but the darkspawn taint had seemingly drained his body of health, leaving a ghastly shell where her beloved friend had once been.
Still, it was unwieldy and she had to carry it far from camp, away from the water lest it taint the land around it.
"Kadan," Sten's voice caught her up short, "the pyre for the other darkspawn is that way."
She didn't stop, forcing the large qunari to take a few steps to keep pace with her.
"This isn't a darkspawn," she said in a soft voice. "This is my friend."
He didn't respond for a moment. "Do you require assistance, kadan?"
"No," she said, looking over at him with a small smile, "but I would like it all the same."
He said nothing, but continued at her side. When she arrived at a suitable spot, she laid Tamlen down carefully, folding his claw-like hands over his wasted frame. The few wisps of hair he had left on his skull she smoothed over so it wasn't so wild. Sten helped her gather wood, bringing back a burning brand from the other, larger fire to help start this one.
She and Sten watched as Tamlen's body burned and she murmured the traditional words, tears streaming down her face: "Lethallin na melana sahlin emma ir abelas sourver'inan isala..."
Sometime later, when there was nothing but a pile of ash left of the pyre, Sten stood back and watched as she dug a hole in the ground, scooping the ash inside. On top of that, she placed a seed. It was from a tree in the Dalish camp that she'd gathered the day before she and Tamlen had found the cave. She'd kept it in her pack ever since as a reminder of home, but it seemed right now that it should fulfill its true purpose here in this lonely clearing: a Vhenadahl.