I stood at the edge, as frozen as the glacier supporting my weight. My gaze wouldn’t let go of Tharaêl’s body. I couldn’t comprehend at the moment that he was gone. Blood smeared across the hard ice, freezing in the Frostcliff’s bitter air. Tharaêl’s blood. I’ve seen it countless times now, but this will be the last. Time didn’t exist to me as I continued to stare at my companion, lying dead and twisted at the bottom of the glacier. I don’t remember how long I stood there. My hands grew dry and stiff, my face unmoving and cold. I knew I needed to move soon, otherwise I would freeze to death. I had to remind myself I was standing near the peak of the mountain, and the frigid air spared no prisoners.
Forcing my gaze to separate from Tharaêl, I looked to my left and saw the body of Brother Sorrow. The cognitive dissonance I felt after seeing his dead body raptured my mind. Tharaêl had just killed him minutes ago, and yet I tried to convince Tharaêl his sins could be forgiven, and that he could be given a second chance. It was hard to keep myself from hating Tharaêl as I saw the holes in Brother Sorrow’s body, burrowed by Tharaêl in cold blood. Why…? Why did it have to end like this? Everyone is dead, except for me. I would be lying if I said I didn’t have an urge to throw myself off the glacier like Tharaêl. After so much death, what is there to show for it? I am the only survivor, and I’ve accomplished nothing. Everything was for nothing. And yet, for some reason, my legs began to move. I needed to go, and my body knew that, even if my mind was fractured. I gave in to my instincts, grabbing a teleport scroll from Brother Sorrow’s body.
Beside the scroll were Tharaêl’s bloodied swords. It took a lot of strength, but I managed to grab them and affix them to my belt. The weight of their sin was almost too much for me, but I continued, opening the scroll and reading the incantation. In a few moments, my body dematerialized and appeared in Ark’s marketplace. The freezing air turned to a warm breeze. My fingers were red and cracked, with almost no strength left. I took a look around me to watch the people passing me by. They paid no mind to my appearance, as I had often used scrolls to come here multiple times a day.
For some reason, in the moment, none of them seemed real. I didn’t even seem real. I had just gone through hell and failed every aspect of my mission with Tharaêl, and I ended up losing him in the end because I kept telling him what he already knew. I should have sympathized with him more. I should have been there for him more. I should have minced my words. Tharaêl thought I hated him… but that couldn’t be further from the truth. But he wouldn’t believe me, and now he is dead. After all that, I stand here in Ark, with people bustling around me as if nothing had happened. I gathered a few stares because of the blood covering my face and armor. It was much more than normal, thanks to the exploding bodies of those… things in the temple, and Zar’Ah. Oh god, Zar’Ah… I’m so sorry.