I never imagined that the first thing I would have to do at the dawn of my final day in Apis was bury a friend.

Euric threw a bouquet of flowers into the open grave and gazed in somber silence as the petals spread across Balthazar’s cool body.

“Farewell, my dear friend. Gone, but never forgotten. We’ll make a statue of you in the square… facing the church. You’ll get to see all the children taking their test of manhood. I think you’d like that…”

Euric paused, collecting himself. “I’ll reach out to your family, let them know that you - you do have a family, right?”

“Not anymore.” answered Balthazar nonchalantly, shivering. “Hurry it up, it’s chilly out. I wanna get hibernating as soon as possible.”

“You sure he’s gonna be alright?” I asked Euric as he handed me a shovel.

“Yup, we do this every year. You’ll never guess why Balthazar’s people are called gravedigger lizards.”

“It’s starting to click, yeah.”

I dug my shovel into the heap of exhumed dirt and started filling the grave. “So everybody in the gravedigger tribe buries each other for the winter?”

Balthazar nodded.

“Who buries the last person?” I wondered aloud.

He cracked a painful smile. “Usually, an outsider would be hired to help. But traditionally, the last person would be someone who is elderly, or ill. With nobody left to bury them, they’d stay behind and become one with the winter.”

Cold…

Euric and I filled the rest of the grave in silence, patted the dirt down, and marked it with an outline of stones. We were in the woods just behind Euric’s cabin. Since he was going to help bring me and the other kids to Castella, Maggie had sent me over to help him prepare.

Just in time to bid a fond farewell.

I’d been eager for a while to get out of Apis and start looking for keys to my damn shackles, but now that it was time to go, the idea of leaving was bumming me out. I’d heard that Castella was a much larger city, full of people that I might only see once, rather than the same collection of kind faces.

I stood there for a second, brooding, contemplating, and -

Am I… shitting my pants?

Indeed I was. I could barely tell when my bowels were moving any more.

That’s it. Goodbye, Apis. It was fun. BUT THIS CHASTITY BELT HAS GOT TO GO.

* * *

Euric and I loaded a cart full of supplies and salted bee carcasses, to be consumed on the road and sold in the city. Not to brag or anything, but the church workouts were definitely paying off - without them I would have been cramping hard.

As I worked on my mini-pump, the other members of our troupe assembled and started doing their part. Owen arrived first and helped me with some of the larger boxes. He seemed slightly uncomfortable, like something was nagging at him. Finally, he spoke up.

“Why did you really want to see Clayton’s ring?” he asked. I hesitated for a second.

Can I trust this guy? He seems alright… not like the other guys…

“I saw something… strange. That night when I got stung by the bee.” I said carefully. “I remember Clayton taking his ring off for a second, and… he changed, twisted into something horrible. Is he always a fuck-knuckle, or is it just when I’m around?”

Owen took it all in and cringed. “Clayton is… well… I’m glad he sees me as a friend. I wouldn’t want to be his enemy.”

Just then, Allison’s figure appeared in the distance.

“Well, I won’t blow your cover then. Why don’t you go impress your lady friend over there?” I said, winking.

“She’s Burt’s fiancee!”

“Alright, alright.” I relented. “You know, I used to be skinny dork like you. Pack on some muscle, you could be strong as Burt some day - but with a better brain.”

“You’re still a skinny dork.”

“Back on earth, I mean! I’m serious. The Church of Iron knows how to test for strength, but I’m not sure they know how to train for it. They probably think it’s something you’re born with - you have God’s blessing or you don’t.”

“So me and Burt are the same?” Owen asked skeptically.

“Of course not. If you and Burt both trained the exact same way, he would probably become much stronger. But if you forget Burt, and train as hard and as smart as you can, after a few years… you’d be amazed how much an average person can transform.”

“Is that what you’re going to do?”

“Fuck around and find out.” I grinned, flexing a ‘cep.

“Hey Owen!” Allison said cheerfully, walking up. “And… you.”

“Bradley.” I said helpfully.

“Cool. Stella told me about gym cells or whatever, and it’s really weird and frightening. I hope you get someone to help you with your issues, but until then please stay away from me.”

What the fuck did Stella tell you?!

I shrugged and fucked off.

Burt and Clayton arrived next, followed closely by Stella and another villager who introduced himself as Tom, Owen’s father. When we were finished loading the two horse-drawn carts, we all piled in, and Euric and Tom drove them through town, stopping at the stone bridge so that a small crowd of villagers could send us off.

John stepped up and shook my hand enthusiastically, but when I caught his eyes I saw the same seriousness from last night.

“I’ll look out for Burt.” I muttered. It wouldn’t be my favorite job ever, but the man had just dropped some premium knowledge on me, so I owed him one.

“Thank you, and good luck.” John muttered back, equally reluctant to be overheard.

Maggie came up next, and I hugged her goodbye.

“How are you going to get your water now?” I asked.

“I’ll just get one of the little girls to do it.” she responded innocently, chuckling at my shocked expression. “Oh all right, I’ll do it myself. John wouldn’t like it if kids started getting eaten. Bad for tourism.”

As Maggie went to hug Stella, I glanced over at John and Burt. Mr. Briswell, Allison and a whole group of relatives were standing with them. I think I caught something about a spring marriage when they returned.

Those guys sure know how to turn the screws on their kids when they want something…

As they were speaking, Allison had her arm around Burt’s waist, making it clear that she was in on the plan as well. Several more villagers that I’d never spoken to wished me well, hoping that I could find someone to remove some of my shackles.

And just like that, my stay in Apis was concluded. We waved our final farewells and set off across the bridge.