Take Me Down

Artorias felt nothing but dead numbness inside his heart. He had eviscerated that dire wolf and not felt a scrap of emotion. He had collapsed beside his mother's dead body and felt hollowness in his chest. The pain that had been gnawing away at him from the moment Resin had begun to slip from the world had finally finished its meal, and now nothing but emptiness lingered in him. He felt hardened, cold, detached from the rest of the world. When Ulric had come to remove the body, Artorias had sat unmoving, not acknowledging the alpha's approach while he kept watch over his mother. He helped Ulric lift and carry Resin's body off of the battlefield and over to a shady grove of birch trees, then sat beside her and Tamsyn, staring blankly into space while the world moved around him like a blur, an echo in time, simultaneously happening and not happening all at once. He wasn't sure when, but at some point someone had tended to the bleeding wounds on his shoulder, and although the blood no longer dampened his fur, the aching throb was a constant reminder of what had occurred.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed with him just sitting guard like that before Ulric's howl snapped him out of his brooding trance, and suddenly it was early morning. He had kept watch over Resin all night long. The Aegis had called for the Carpathius and Fatalis lines to come say their last goodbyes to Resin. He glanced over at his mother's corpse, which had now been covered by a cloth. When had that happened? It didn't matter, he was grateful for the shreds of dignity they were able to leave her with. She deserved better. So, so much better... He was still covered in blood, both his and his enemy's, a gristly reminder of the battle they had won at a terrible cost. There was no time to get cleaned up or changed out of his armor. As the others began to gather for Resin's small service, Artorias moved to seat himself at Tamsyn's side, standing sentinel for his grieving mother. She was all he had left now that Resin was dead and their father was still an unknown figure somewhere in the world. He would do everything in his power to protect her and keep her safe, as Baron and future Aegis, and as her son. Nothing would ever happen to her.


"Artorias" | Thoughts | "Corbin"