If she were to ask Michael what's so special about this tree, he'd comment on how ash performs as firewood. Good heat, good burn time. It still needs to dry first but either there's another ritual involved to take care of that or extra smoke is part of the ceremony. Despite being here a little longer, Michael's not any more knowledgeable about their funerary rites than she is. It's the first time since he arrived that a Council member has died.

"You're welcome," he says, and moves to start cutting the smaller branches away from the main trunk. He's slow at first, eyes not on his work but on Claire as she heals the stump to the best of her abilities. "It's not often they go to these lengths to build a funeral pyre, but I'm certain this can't be the only tree of its type."

Consecrating only one tree in an entire forest just seems like bad planning. There must be others that can serve the same purpose.

As he cleans up the main trunk, Michael sets aside the branches he separates from it. Maybe Claire can give them roots; turn this clearing into a patch of ash trees within the forest. Next he sets himself to the task of breaking the tree down into smaller sections, though 'smaller' is relative. 'Easy to carry' is bigger for archangels than for most others.