Or, the Mourning.



Lord General Auren Shiro, stood where Laos' citadel was.

Was. Such a good term for a... slaughter like this. he thought. He hugged himself as though cold, and looked around the area reserved for the dead Wyverns. Out of four thousand Wyverns who rode with him, three thousand and three hundred were dead. With Laos' removal, his own massive powers were severely cut back. He couldn't bring any of them back.

Alhana was probably worried sick for him. He cut her off from their Soulstones, and left her in the charge of Toleranth's healers.

He was still going through the details of the battle. It was far worse then anything he had been in. Seeing guys kill eachother with lances and swords was one thing. That fight... was something different. The surviving Wyverns were scattered, grieving in their own ways. Meanwhile, 6600 corpses lay. Each Rider would be buried with their spear and bonded wyvern.

He looked at himself, and stared at the now purple armor. Originally it was a bright, steel blue, but now it was drenched in blood. He looked around at the other survivors, and saw the same thing. Everyone was soaked, and had the thousand yard stare that he had once upon a time.

He dropped to his sword, and sank to his knees, and took off his helmet. A single tear rolled down his face, and cut a streak through the grime. In all his years as a soldier, he had never seen this level of carnage.

“Nice to know I'm still human, somewhat.” He said quietly. He stood up, and called to Alhana. He opened a gate with considerable effort, and she came to him, with an attendant in tow. “Oh my god Auren, what happened here... What happened?”

“We won. We lost most of everyone we met along the way, thirty three hundred Wyverns are dead, I don't think I can call them back...” he took her by the hand, and led her through the rows of the dead Wyverns laid out. Each soldier was recovered with as many parts as possible, and laid in a peaceful pose, spear next to them, Wyvern curled up like a Cat next to them. Alhana knew the ritual, and realized they were heading to where the officers were. She realized there was one additional body next to the row, at the lieutenant level. She heard him go down on his knees and weep silently. She sat down, and ran her hand along Arkayid's armor, and recognized the design.

“Gods no. Why did this happen? Why? WHY? she screamed, and released the death croon of a Dragon. Auren stood up to catch her, but she fled, tripping over bodies, keening the death cry... and returned to her natural form. Her natural form was gutted, and she died almost immediately, Auren sprinting to her, to hold her head while she died.

Auren held her until she died, then screamed primal sorrow to the world at large, before collapsing. Two Wyverns ran up to him and held him as he cried, sobs wracked his armored body. They held him because they lost someone dear to them as well. Her kindness and warmth was one of the things that drove them to survive their next fight.

Except for the survivng Wyverns, Auren had no one left in the world.