Post-Legends manga, obviously. Poor skekTah just cannot get a break...

Graveyard

skekTah sighed. He couldn't believe himself. If anyone else saw him doing this, they might think he'd gone mad. Yet here he was, doing it like Gelfling did.

He was placing flowers on a set of graves.

They weren't out in the open field and there was nothing beneath the dirt. Most of the remains had been burned in the funerals, the ashes stored in clay jars that remained in the Room of the Dead. All the graves were nothing more than his broken tail spines stabbed into the ground in an empty dead-end tunnel in the castle's catacombs, where no sunlight could ever hope to reach.

Today, skekVar, his strongest ally…his final ally…was dead.

Slain by the Gelfling, who now carried weapons and waged war against the Skeksis. skekTah could do nothing to save his ally on the battlefield until it was too late. Even now, he could taste blood on his teeth, feel it crusted along his tail. He'd avenged skekVar…but it didn't take away the numbness in his chest.

He'd brought skekVar's remains back to the castle. He'd manned one of the corners of the casket during skekVar's funeral. He'd kept skekVar's sword, stowing it in his quarters. The rest of the General's metallic belonging—his weapons and armor—were melted down to create other objects and necessities for the Gelfling hunt, as ordered by the Emperor.

When all was said and done, skekTah crept away into the catacombs to his own personal Room of the Dead. There, he broke another spine from his tail and stabbed it into the ground. Folding his hands, he softly recited what he could remember of the prayers that the Ritual-Master would chant during the funerals.

Hopefully it would be enough to quell any anger skekVar held and let his soul move on.

The Schemer had clawed out this tunnel himself shortly after skekMal had died over a hundred trine ago. He wasn't satisfied with the funerals that skekZok held. He wanted to do something personal for his fallen ally. So he began breaking spines, ignoring the bloody cuts he gained on his palms and fingers from grasping the serrated spines so roughly, and using them as impromptu grave makers. Then he performed his own funeral service with what small items he had managed to rescue from his allies' bodies before the rest of the court, the Collector most of all, could steal them.

Today he rested skekVar's sword beside him as he chanted.

There were seven spines imbedded in the ground before him, one for each of his fallen allies or close companions. Though this tunnel had been made in the wake of skekMal's death, the Schemer mourned those who had died before him as well.

First was title-less skekYi, who died right after the division, burned to a crisp thanks to his urRu counterpart's plunge into the lava beneath the Dark Crystal. Though skekTah hadn't known him well, he had resolved not to forget the younger Skeksis. He had not received a funeral as those had not become commonplace at the time for the court.

Second was skekHak the Machinist, who was the first and last to die of old age after 300 trine of Skeksis rule on Thra. His death had incited the aging panic that inevitably led to many of the anti-aging discoveries that the Scientist made. He had been skekTah's first ally and his dearest friend. The first Skeksis funeral on record went to him.

Third was skekLi the Satirist, who was banished for mistakenly pranking the Emperor shortly after the Gelfling Gathering had occurred, when the Emperor's mood soured into the foul creature he now was. Last skekTah had heard, skekLi's remains were found near a Gelfling village that was raided by Garthim. There had been no funeral for him.

Fourth was skekGra the Conqueror, who had challenged the Emperor for the throne after he returned from conquering every land around Skarith and failed to win said challenge. He had been banished and was never seen again. He was presumed dead now, after so many dozen trine, and had also not received a funeral.

Fifth was skekMal the Hunter, who was slain by Gelfling shortly after the Gelfling Gathering. He had attempted to hunt the Queen down and was slain during his attack on her. His remains were recovered and he'd received a funeral in honor of the many Gelfling lives he'd taken in the Emperor's name.

Sixth was skekSa the Mariner, who had died after exterminating the last of the Sifa. He had been struck by a harpoon and his wounds had become irreparably infected while out at sea, killing him shortly after his return to the castle. He was honored greatly during his funeral for eradicating one of the more elusive Gelfling clans on Thra.

Seventh and thus last…was skekVar the General. The one that skekTah now mourned.

His allies were now officially all dead. skekTah the Schemer was alone again.

This was okay. He'd been preparing for this since skekMal's death. Once the Gelfling took up arms and had begun fighting back, he'd steeled himself for the possibility that Skeksis he knew may die.

He just hadn't thought that every death would be ones that he'd called his allies.

His chanting ended. The funeral was complete, to the best of his memory and resources. skekTah slowly rose to his feet, picking up the sword. He'd stow it back into his quarters, safely out of skekLach's greedy reach, and carry on with his job.

He left the empty tunnel behind. There were no torches to give this spot away. The catacombs were pitch black, letting skekTah's night vision take over and guide him back to the upper reaches of the castle. There was no chance of anyone coming across the makeshift funeral site.

Even if someone did, he doubted they'd know what they'd stumbled upon. There was nothing there but broken tail spines and withered plants. Nobody knew about the spines on his tail. There was nothing to fear.

skekTah dropped the General's sword off in his room, locking the door. Then he moved outside toward what had once been a garden. Most of it was dying now from lack of care. skekSa had maintained it for a while but once he'd died, the garden lay forgotten. skekTah had contemplated reviving it but did not quite know how. He certainly wasn't going to ask the Scientist for answers.

He had no allies. Maybe he had been cursed to remain alone and ally-less. skekHak had been his dearest friend and he was dead. Every ally skekTah had made, close or distant, was dead. There was nobody for him to turn to now.

He chuckled darkly. At this rate, perhaps skekLach would go next. He was the only other besides the Emperor that the Schemer had been close to.

…Would the Emperor die too?

skekTah couldn't help but chuckle. Funny, now that he thought about it, maybe he was some kind of living plague. Anyone that got too close to him would die.

Even better reason to cling to his renewed loner status. He'd simply remain a lone faction now.

The Schemer nudged a dying flower with his foot. Maybe he'd try and revive the garden. At worst, it would just die.

Nothing he hadn't witnessed before.