Rock Bottom

1332 AE

 

A faint ringing was all Ospreii could hear when she came to consciousness. Everything else sounded like her ears were stuffed with cotton. Her body ached all over, like she’d broken every single bone in her body, and then some. But most alarming to her was that she was alone, and surrounded by brand crystal. Where was Aurene? Where was Ciaran? 

What had happened to them? Her heart skipped a beat, and the resulting surge of adrenaline had her fighting to her feet, trying her damndest to walk. To be the Commander. But her voice would not come to her, to be able to call out, or take charge.

In front of her, Tactician Zafira was kneeling in the rubble, mumbling numb disbelief to herself. Then she saw Braham. He was moving towards her, speaking things she wasn’t paying attention to. Where did they go?Why weren’t they with her?

Cutting through the fog was anguish. Somebody was wailing. Taimi. Ospreii picked up her pace, stumbling past Braham with wild abandon. And what she saw before her… She choked on her next breath, stomach turning to lead 

Ospreii dropped, unable to keep herself standing any longer. It was over. 

There was nothing she could do, now. 

Not when Aurene was… 

That fucking vision they’d all seen. It had come true. How foolish were they to think they could change the future. The emotions, her defeat, her anger clawed their way up her throat then, burning and painful. 

Right along with Taimi, Ospreii sobbed, heart splintering in her chest.

She had never cried before her team before. Had not allowed it, not even the day she lost Trahearne. But with the yawning chasm that was the end of the very world looming before them, what did any of that meaningless pride mean anymore? 

So she sobbed until she was cold. Until the pain in her heart had numbed enough that she could feel the wounds on her physical body. Her arm was certainly broken, but it didn’t matter. Blood on her face, nearly dripping into her eyes. Didn’t matter either. 

The others began hesitant conversation, but she wasn’t listening. Ospreii was too busy trying to make sense of what had happened. Kralkatorrik had been right there, at their mercy. Why did he… How? 

Aurene had been caught in his blast, but what about…

Right.

“Where’s Ciaran?” She suddenly rasped, lifting her face to the assembled tyrians. He wasn’t with Aurene’s corpse. He must’ve survived. It was such a thin, spider-silk hope, but if there was any last person in the world who could think their way out of this… Eternal Alchemy, he couldn’t be dead. He just couldn’t. 

The others shared unknowing glances. 

Unreported. 

She could work with that. 

She got up and staggered back down the way she came, panting with the effort it took. Braham called after her, but she didn’t stick around to see if he was coming or not. Breaking into a limping run, she called for her friend, trying to get a glimpse of him anywhere. She took her communicator out, somehow barely functional, and begged him to answer if he was alive. 

To her right, she heard static and the quiet echo of her own voice. It was another communicator. Stumbling over to the source of the sound, Ospreii found the communicator alone in a clearing, either thrown or blown back during the blast, far from its owner. 

Trying to keep rational, she gave the area a sweep with her eyes, trying to find any clue to suggest he wasn’t buried under a mountain of rubble. Coughing, she got to her knees and began to move loose rocks, on the verge of yet another breakdown. He couldn’t be. Not like this, She begged, chest heaving with a silent sob. “Ciaran…” She whimpered when the boulders got too large for her small frame to budge. 

She was just a commander. He was Aurene’s champion.He was supposed to be the hero! After she gave her life for him in the Riverlands, why was it now that she was the one who lived? She didn’t want to if it came at that price!

The hair on her neck raised, triggering her soldier’s sense of danger. But she’d left her weapon behind when she ran off, and she was far too exhausted to react in time. She fell backwards in a sloppy dodge just in time to see Braham appear behind her. “Commander, watch it!” He shouted, casting his shield. Purple electricity ricocheted in all directions, crackling with a vengeance. “I thought they all retreated!” He shouted with a grunt. 

Sitting up, she turned her gaze toward her assailant, opening her mouth to respond to her norn companion. She’d only let out a single formless sound when she froze to her very core. 

She’d found her missing champion.

But Ciaran… wasn’t him.

Swirling brand electricity, lashing dragon tail and curled claws aside, his face… those eyes that had become just a little lighter after years of nothing but bitterness… they were darker than she had ever seen them in all the years she’d known the sylvari. 

This was… the worst possible thing. 

Ospreii would’ve rather found him impaled like Aurene had been, or crushed under a mountain after all. But to see him twisted, and corrupted, more dragon than sylvari…? It was a mockery. A sick joke. A monumental sign to forget every last drop of hope. 

She couldn’t take this anymore. 

A horrified sound slipped out of her mouth, and she raised a shaking finger, pointing at him. “Braham…” She whispered, unsure if he realized who they were looking at. “Braham… what do we… We can’t… We can’t…” 

He seemed just as stunned as her. “Boss… shit… Boss we have to- '' Braham was cut off as Ciaran finally moved, teleporting through space and bending time in his wake, movements all too similar, yet far too erratic to be him. Ospreii could do nothing but watch as the two fought, each blow going for the kill on both sides. 

“Don’t kill him!” She wailed, crawling forward as if she could change this outcome. Useless, useless, she was always so useless. Her sobs renewed. Why was she alive if she couldn’t do anything! “Braham. Braham, if you kill him, I’ll never forgive you!” She screamed herself hoarse. Then Rytlock was there, helping Braham fight. And somebody else - Canach - was pulling her away. “Let go of me, Canach, let go! Don’t let them-!”

Canach didn’t loosen his grip. “It’s for the best, Commander. For his sake.” His usual sarcastic voice was colored in new shades of sadness, defeat. Rytlock landed a blow with Sohothin, and Ciaran cried out in pain. He staggered into a wall, so hard it cracked, and appeared disoriented. Seizing the opportunity, Rytlock restrained him despite powerful wingbeats of protest, and shouted for Braham to take aim.
Ospreii couldn’t watch. Canach pulled her close as she screwed her eyes shut, sobbing in anguish. 

Braham’s bowstring groaned, and hesitated for just a second. 

Someone new shouted, heavy bootsteps filling the air in a sprint. “Braham, you jackass!” Selene’s voice ripped through the heavy air of the Auditorium. “Listen to your damn Commander!” And hit him with a powerful tackle right at the waist. The arrow flew as they both took a hard tumble to the ground, but missed its mark just barely, ricocheting into the darkness. Rytlock cursed, nearly losing his grip on the branded Sylvari. 

“Selene, stand down!” He commanded, snarling.
“I refuse!” She snarled right back, pushing herself up off of Braham. “Don’t you dare harm him, Rytlock. Don’t you dare give up just like that. Aren’t you two ashamed?” 

“I would expect the same treatment for myself,” Hissed the charr. “There’s no way to bring back the Branded. Every charr knows this-” Ciaran’s spined tail smacked him across the shin, causing Rytlock to grunt in pain. 

Braham sat back up, reaching for his bow. “There’s no other way, Selene,” Braham reasoned, meeting her hot glare with an even one of his own. “Anything else would only make him suffer longer.” 

“Try. Harder,” She spat out, syllable by syllable. “I am not giving up.” 

Ospreii tried to lift her shaking voice. “The Mordrem sylvari,” She said, hardly above a whisper. “Some of them have come back to their senses… maybe the Branded could too…” 

“All due respect, Commander,” Interjected the smooth, unruffled voice of Lightbringer Aurelia, calmly looking on, “Do you still have a plan to kill Kralkatorrik?” Ospreii couldn’t face her. She felt so incredibly heavy.

Selene turned back to Ciaran, grief undeniable beneath her mask of anger. She gripped the hilt of her torch and smacked it hard across his forehead, effectively knocking him unconscious in Rytlock’s arms. “The keep has crypts… can we just.. decide when we’re all thinking a little clearer? Please?” She asked, lip trembling. “Not… do anything we can’t take back?” 

Ospreii understood. The what-ifs would torment Selene for the rest of her life if she didn’t see for herself that it was impossible. That he wouldn’t be a miracle. For the awakened woman, her heart cracked further. Their shared pain from Gandarra had brought the two closer at last after years spent dancing around each other. Years that surely felt like wasted time now.

“I second that,” Ospreii said, gaze downcast. “As your Commander, I second that.” 

The others fell into an uneasy quiet, turning to look at the Tribune, who sighed a grand snarl. “Fine, but I don’t like this. There’s nothing noble about locking him up like a beast.” 

Ospreii shook her head, to herself only. 

There was nothing noble about any of this.

As if that mattered anymore. 

With the danger passed, Ospreii couldn’t keep her heavy eyelids open for a moment longer. Slumping backwards onto Canach, she let exhaustion take her. The day had been… so long. So horrible. She could hear Braham distantly calling over to her in worry over her collapsing, but she couldn’t care anymore.

Her last thought was of hope that when she next woke, all of this would be no more than an ill-fated dream. But she knew… luck had a way of evading her right when she needed it most.