Author's note: I'm sorry
[EDIT: 06/02/22] gosh I remember finishing this illustration and sending shivers down my own spine, and then having Alli squeak at me when she saw it (she loves Tygren too much); but imma be real, I redrew this only a week prior to this edit and... hhhhhh I can't even- XDI haven't edited the illustration because I like the improvement mark. I can come back here and be like "thank the lord I can draw better than this." also because, in the wake of the sequel development, I have redrawn Tygren with his new style for the sequel, thus it would make my art in this fic even more inconsistent XD
***************
Ingressus awoke in a shock on the floor of his quarters, dazed and confused. He felt his head swim and his heart pound as he tried to reacquaint himself with his surroundings. Everything seemed so peaceful. The streets below were quiet, and the breeze was weightless as it flowed around the room, mimicking the ocean's waves. The moon was still rising so he hadn't been out long, and it still shone bright against the icy night sky. He squinted against its glow, his eyes taking their time to adjust to the light around him, his vision still blurry.
He held his head in his hands as he desperately tried to remember what had happened before he collapsed.
Tygren...
Ingressus' gut wrenched as he remembered that he and Tygren disagreed over Achillean's presence in Hailstone and the last that he saw of Tygren was as he stormed out of his quarters. He remembered his desire to chase after him halted by that feeling in his chest that he couldn't shift – the feeling that only got worse as time went on.
Time...
"Either you kill him, or I will."
He didn't care if his head was still spinning as he stood up, Ingressus shot onto his feet, grabbed his broadsword, and ran straight for the Prison, stumbling as he bolted through the cobblestone streets, almost skidding around the corners. His first thought went to Achillean and to let him know that he wasn't mad about those words anymore – that they were all in the past.
"Maybe we should just kill him – he's Voltaris, after all..."
"Is it true?"
"Yes."
His eyes watered against the cold air as he ran. His mind drowned in thoughts – 'what ifs', 'buts', 'if onlys' – all the thoughts he wished would stay buried. All the thoughts he had suppressed for so long... All the thoughts the Prime Songs had hidden from him, stolen from him...
He wouldn't. Would he?
He slowed and his steps were light and careful as he walked towards the cell where he had left Achillean. There was still time to make amends. Ingressus had not failed in his duties as a brother, yet. He would put a stop to the feud. He would stop the pain and anguish. He would create a new path for the Ardoni – exactly as Aegus had always said they would. He had it in him. He always did.
Everything will be-
Ingressus entered the cell and saw only his worst nightmare, slumped lifeless on the bed, still bleeding onto the floor, his blood spilled across the surface on which he lay and around him, puddles splattered on the ground and up the walls.
What had gone on? Did he-
He could see that his glow had not long been stolen and he fell to his knees in the door, suffocating in his own fears, angry. Hurt. He couldn't even cry. He just knelt there before the lifeless Ardoni, empty. His lips trembled in anguish ten-fold and his knuckles turned white with tension.
YOU ARE READING
Aftermath
Fanfiction"I do not wish to kill you, Achillean. But if you refuse to surrender..." But what if Achillean did surrender? What if, on that fateful night atop Mt Velgrin, Achillean laid down his staff? 154 years is a long time to wait for plans to fall into pla...
