Oh, Let's Go Back To The Start...

Eligos threw himself against the boulder again, claws digging into the rocks beneath him as he strained against it, and it finally gave way, rolling down the rest of the rockslide with a clatter as it released Aureus from its weight. Eligos staggered for a moment at the sudden movement, barely keeping himself from following the boulder from his own momentum. He reached out with a paw to clear the rest of the debris from his brother, then froze in place, swaying, his paw on his brother's bared shoulder. Pyrrhic's choked voice broke the silence that had fallen when Eligos stopped digging, but it sounded far away as though he spoke through a tunnel. Shaking, Eligos met Aureus' glazed eyes.

When the echoes of his voice washed over him, a grief-filled howl of loss he hadn't realized he'd given voice to, Eligos folded himself over his brother's... his brother's body, wrapping himself around the broken form and raising blank, white-rimmed eyes to Pyrrhic. Inside, he cringed, knowing. Knowing that Pyrrhic's twin was dead under Eligos' leadership, that it was his responsibility. "Pyrrhic - " Eligos' voice rasped out shakily. "Pyrrhic, I'm sorry, I couldn't - I couldn't - I should have..." but his gravely cry trailed off, because what could he have done to prevent it? And somehow that made it worse, that he couldn't have prevented his brother's death.

He pressed his forehead against Aureus', his eyes closing as his throat did. And slowly he stood, slipping beneath Aureus and lifting his limp form over his shoulders. He stood there a moment. "We have to bring him home," he said aloud to Pyrrhic, his voice dull beneath the rasp. "He deserves... better than this." He shivered beneath his burden, fighting against the urge to lay down. He would honor Aureus, as he deserved to be honored. But after that... he couldn't see past that. Just bring Aureus home. "Please, Pyrrhic - help me." With that last pleading cry he forced himself onto the path with his burden. One shaky step after another, leaving bloody prints behind to mark the way.