[Child of the 7th Age]

The company worked steadily through the better part of the afternoon until a great mound of rocks and soil slowly rose up on the spot where the body of Merenwen lay. Elentari had finished with the perusal of the maps and came over to join the others in their work. There was little conversation and none of the usual joking as they went about the solemn task.

But, just as the sun was sinking low on the horizon, they put down their shovels and dismantled the simple sledge they'd been using to drag the rocks over to the burial site. Then they stepped back and looked up, survying their work.

"It's done," Vrain whispered, with some small satisfaction evident in his voice, but still shot through with grief. "And as fine a barrow as any I've seen, despite our lack of real tools."

Elentari glanced over at Vrain, and nodded her head yes, reading the strong images that were pushing through his mind. Then she spoke to the company as a whole, "We will stop and eat and rest now. After dinner, we will say our goodbyes to our companion, sharing our remembrances of her and her deeds alongside the grave. Then, as the moon rises in the sky, one of us will stand guard for the first shift, while the others lay down and sleep. We will rise at the first hint of dawn and make our way westward along the Great East Road in the direction of Bree.

With that announcement, Lostlondwen and Ewinda skinned and boned two brace of conies that Callo had brought back to camp. The women cut up the meat and placed it in a pot over the glowing coals, stirring in an assortment of mushrooms and onions and other wild vegetables gathered earlier that day. Within a short time, dinner was ready.