![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexiel_hamonaTitolo: life is inevitable and death goes on
Personaggi: Commander, Braham, Canach, Rytlock, Trahearne, Kasmeer, Marjory
Lingua: ENG
Generi/Warning: Heart of Thornes spoiler, character death, angst, missing moment, trail of thoughts
Parole: 1868
Prompt: Oscurità
Note: scritta per la M2 della seconda settimana del CoW-T 9. Ispirata a Guild Wars 2, il videogioco, si tratta di un missing moments con i pensieri del mio main Revenant Commander Eileen Oleander durante la storia principale dell'espansione Heart of Thornes.
The jungle felt like hell.
There were fires almost everywhere, shipwrecks and spare parts had fallen all over Verdant Brink, filling the scenery with airship wreckage and debris. Giant Mordrem vines were spurting from the ground attacking what had remained of the pact, those who couldn’t glide had fallen into the depths of the jungle and none of them had come back alive, the soldiers were scared and afraid, and worst of all they were suspicious. They couldn’t trust each other as many among them were Sylvari and all over the Jungle Sylvari were turning against the fleet, following Mordremoth call.
The aftermath of the Pact’s disastrous assault was extremely visible in the entire region, with massive vines wrapped all around the still-burning airchip wreckage remembering them of their failure, remembering them their fleet had been defeated. Although the local Itzel hylek had been friendly and trying to help - mostly because she had been helping them herself for a while - they had been the only friendly living creatures around.
Lands and skies and the entirety of the jungle were filled with monstrosities, aggressive fauna and Morderm trying to kill anything that moved. A few pockets of Pact survivors, assisted by the Itzels, had been able to secure a few outposts, gathering other survivors and assembling new defences, but the Jungle was not a gentle place and Mordremoth had every intention of destroying them all.
The Commander wasn’t sure how, but they had been able of rejecting a couple of assaults, so far; they had discovered that Morderm only attacked the outposts during the night, with the complicity of the darkness. Yet they knew they couldn’t stand still, there was too much to do, and they had to proceed and move on in order to find those who had been missing: Eir and Garm, Logan, Zoja. Trahearne.
Eileen sighed, gazing into the distant darkness from the tree she was standing on.
Braham had been going on the entire evening saying they had to move faster, they had to find his mother and that was the priority. He never even liked her, the Commander thought to herself, feeling guilty soon after.
«Is everything okay?» a huge reassuring shadow approached her and she smiled, reclining her head on a side to show the newcomer his face.
«Is it ever, old friend?»
Rytlock laughed.
«Rough day, uh?»
«Rough year, Tribune, well all the last four years had been rough to be honest. But I’m starting to feel the weight of all this».
The charr approached her, gazing into the distance with her. He knew what she meant.
«That’s what the Pact is for, what Destiny’s Edge was for. Don’t you dare carrying the weight of the world on your own shoulders, Commander. Each of us has made that mistake, at least once, it almost destroyed our lives, our friendship».
She nodded, smiling.
«I’m glad you are back from the Mists, Rytlock. I’m not sure I could have faced this alone».
«You weren’t alone when I come back».
«Sometimes I feel like I’m directing a group of lost children, guiding them straight to their deaths».
Someone laughed.
«Not sure if I should feel amused or offended, Commander».
«Hei Kas. Thought you were inside with the others».
«Jory’s looking at some of the maps with Laranthir, Taimi is doing some of whoopy who on scruffy and Braham, well, he and Rox went to the outpost to help. Heard there was another Mordrem attack».
«What about Canach, where he’d run off to?» asked Rytlock, suspiciously.
«I’m here, Tribune, your faith me is a beacon of light illuminating this dark night».
The Commander chuckled.
«I don’t trust you» growled the charr, as grumpy as ever.
«Yes, Tribune, that was extremely clear».
«See?» Eileen whispered to Kasmeer as the returned into the small Itzel hut «Children».
Eir death was the first of a long series of losses and defeats.
Falling from the skies, losing the entirety of the Pact fleet was nothing compared to her death. Braham was devastated, Rytlock was devastated, the Commander herself was devastated, but they had to hold up and get themselves back together. So they moved on as the the striking sense of guilt and defeated started to build up inside Eileen’s earth: she hadn’t been fast enough, she hadn’t been vigilant enough, she couldn’t save her friend had she kept seeing her face, the acceptance and resignation on her face as the vinethoot pierced her.
She faced her nightmares and moved on, deeper into the Jungle, to Tarir where Glint’s Egg was preserved, saved and protected by the Exalted. That was indeed a beacon of light in the darkness, although the Jungle still enveloped everything and new and even more savage creatures patrolled that region.
«I swear to god, if I see another Pocket Raptor I’m going to burn this entire shitty forest to the ground» muttered Canach.
«That could actually be a good idea» sayd Marjory rousing her bone minions to face a Mushroom.
«At least they die easily» replied Kas,setting a chaos storm on.
«Arrowhead and Stonehead are way worse» agreed Rytlock «Let’s not mention that Octovine».
«The sooner we finish this the sooner we proceed» noticed the Commander.
Proceeding was a must but as they went on nothing really changed. The Jungle got worse, thinker, deeper, even more layered. Taimi was excited as any Asura genius could be at the prospect of finding the legendary Rata Novus. Eileen, on the other hand, had started the get even more worried.
There were no signs of her friends, no signs of Trahearne, and as the Jungle grow and Mordremoth draw closer, her heart started to grow colder and her hope to diminish.
She soon found out she wasn’t able to sleep, dreaming was out of the question and as they proceeded she discovered that probably it was better way, so that she would avoid seeing the faces of those she had let to die.
Tangled Dephts was the worst place she had ever been to, it would fill her nightmares for years to come, remembering her how lost had felt in that maze. They left Taimi in Rata Novus and moved on, as the pressure was high and there was no time to lose if they wanted to save the members of Destiny’s Edge and the Marshal.
What they found, in the depths of Dragon’s Stand broke them, but more than everyone else it broke the Eileen.
The fight against Mordremoth felt like dancin on shattered glass in the darkness. All those she had loved came back to her, remembering her how much she had failed them. They also remembered her how much they loved her and trusted her, and seeing Tybalt again brought to the Commander a bittersweet sensation, she felt like at peace and once again a member of the Order she had chosen years ago.
As fast as they had appeared her friends were gone again, back to the dream, back to the mists where they belonged. The battle was over, the dragon was death, but Eileen could still feel the shadow of the Jungle towering her, an omen menacing her and those she loved. And right when she thought they were safe, then he spoke.
«We did it! Mordremoth is death».
«Truly death» said Canach with relief «I can’t hear his voice in my head anymore».
«Commander… I»
Eileen looked at him, she was smiling and in her head she could hear the soft voice of the Marshal continuing the phrase “Commander, a word”. That was not how he proceeded.
«My sword… Caladbolg… is nearby. It was a gift from the Pale Tree. I am connected… bonded to it. Only its power can free me from this. Please bring it here».
She looked around, concerned, that was a weird request, but he was still fused and tangled with the vines, besides he had always been the smart one.
«I’ll be right back, and get you out of this mess, love» she smiled. She wasn’t always that explicit about her feeling for him, about that unusual relationship they had built in the last couple of years, but she was so glad she had finally found him. So glad it was finally over.
Trahearne said nothing, he looked away: how could she had known?
She came back quicker then he expected.
«Here. I have the sword, Marshall».
«Quickly now: use it on me» he said. He was finally looking at her, right into her eyes and he saw the exact moment when she finally realized what he was asking «Kill me, Commander».
«What? No! Mordremoth is death! We destroyed its mind from the inside».
She stepped back as confused as only a human could be.
«Eileen, please» he whispered, knowing only her could hear him «I still hear his voice. Mordremoth is alive. One last hateful vestige, a terrible seed planted deep in my mind».
The Marshal looked at the small human standing in front of him. Her armor was scratched and ruined, she had bags under her eyes and he knew she hadn’t been sleeping, he lower lip trembled as she raised her arm to touch him in an unperceivable gesture. Of all the creature that walked on Tyria he would have never expected to fall in love with Eileen Oleander. He spoke again, saying the words what he had hoped he would never had to ask to anyone, most certainly not to her, but she was the Commander and he was the Marshal and there was no one else in any other land he trusted more than her.
«You must kill me, Commander. Before that seed grows...before Mordremoth reclaims what it has lost. What's left of me can't survive on its own. Strike now, or—»
He felt the darkness as the dragon got the best over his broken body and he heard it talking through his mouth, using his voice.
«Commander… Eileen. Please».
She stood there, for a second, fighting back the tear that were about to fill her eyes.
«I love you» she whispered, getting closer «Always have. Alway will».
Trahearne smiled one last time.
«I won't let all this be for nothing. Stand back. I'm ending this...now!» the voice of the Commander of the Pact echoed in the heart of bitter harvest.
She raised Caladbolg and never before had a sword felt so heavy.
«I love you» she heard him saying as the long blade pierced his body.
The dragon's death sent an enormous wave of magical energy across the entire jungle, the light and explosion that followed almost blinded her. She turned around, without saying a word and walked out. No one dared speak to her. No one dared saying anything for there was nothing that could have been said.
The Commander had faced loss before, she had grieved dead friends, and she had stood in the face of danger and killed an elder dragon, but she was never alone.
Dragon’s Stand and the events of that day broke her in ways she wasn’t able to describe. The sense of impotence and loss and guilt and pain shattered her heart and the Commander knew she would never be the same again.
