Apocamus Dradius walks towards the stake, his face expressionless.

    “Melga Folgore asked me to speak on behalf of the Ranger cadre, but the first image that came to mind was that empty seat on my tenth birthday and my resentment of those Rangers who were distracting my grandmother from her own and absorbing her entirely.
    I almost said no and then I thought about it. I remembered that it was her very involvement that made her so alive and that I am here with you today.

    She was very young when she took over from Svaldi Bucci, but her dedication to the Ranger cause was already evident. An only child, her parents both in the Fyros contingent of the PMA's intended armed force, she had been bathed in the Ranger spirit since birth.

    She had no illusions about what had led to her being chosen. Her appointment came from the top brass's desire to keep a low profile in these troubled times and continue to exist as an organization, but that didn't stop her from giving it her all. She was always committed to the precepts, but the ones she held most dear were service and diligence.

    She found it difficult to resign herself to growing old, even though her fatigue was becoming more and more evident. Yet diligence always came back into her mouth when I asked her to rest, and it was still in the name of that diligence that she went off alone into the Kitin's Lair.”

    Apocamus pauses for a few minutes then dries his eyes with the back of his sleeve: “Please excuse me. Emotion!”
    He resumes in a clearer voice: “Orphie, you were an example to us all.”
    “We will find the cause of your death and keep the homins out of this danger, for that is our duty to protect.
    Your body is dead but your spirit will live on forever among us.”

    Apocamus bows deeply to the pyre, then returns to his seat.

Melga Folgore is grateful to Apocamus.