Spirit of hope

At the foot of the burial rock, the funeral procession stopped, and when everyone was full, the ascent began. Even the weak were pulled up, supported or even carried on your back. Up on the small, hand-leveled plateau, the community gathered around a cone-shaped pile of stones in the uncomfortably cold wind. Prayers had been artistically carved into the stones of this heap, which were in turn decorated with gold leaf and which shimmered gently despite the overcast winter sky. The five vessels with the remains of the dead were placed on the cairn by the high priest while his assistants began the monotonous funeral prayers in the ancient Hy language. After the ritual was over, Roman, Farna's only child, stepped forward and took the jar with her ashes. The children of the other deceased did the same and together they walked to the edge of the plateau. He looked carefully into the depths and then into the distance. The circular choir, the territory of his clan, spread out before him. Th