"It shouldn't have been this way."
Staring into the pool, [Traveler] didn't look much different from the images of the fallen that shifted through its dark waters, the view lingering dispassionately on sightless eyes, torn bodies, and the bereft wandering among the slain like ghosts themselves. After a long moment, they snorted. "When has that ever done anyone any good?"
The other watcher said nothing at all, only sitting stone still, shoulders straight but still somehow giving the impression of huddling inward, bowed with grief.
"What would you do for the chance to make it better?" The words rolled through the emptiness, reverberating down into their souls. "What would you give if you could change this path?"
"Anything," came one voice, overlaid with a second:
"Everything."
"So be it." [The voice] paused, shifting its attention to the last watcher, deeper in the darkness at the end of all things, silent and still. "And you?"
"I have nothing to give, but if you truly offer this then I will take that chance."
[The voice] bowed its head. "So be it."
Staring into the pool, [Traveler] didn't look much different from the images of the fallen that shifted through its dark waters, the view lingering dispassionately on sightless eyes, torn bodies, and the bereft wandering among the slain like ghosts themselves. After a long moment, they snorted. "When has that ever done anyone any good?"
The other watcher said nothing at all, only sitting stone still, shoulders straight but still somehow giving the impression of huddling inward, bowed with grief.
"What would you do for the chance to make it better?" The words rolled through the emptiness, reverberating down into their souls. "What would you give if you could change this path?"
"Anything," came one voice, overlaid with a second:
"Everything."
"So be it." [The voice] paused, shifting its attention to the last watcher, deeper in the darkness at the end of all things, silent and still. "And you?"
"I have nothing to give, but if you truly offer this then I will take that chance."
[The voice] bowed its head. "So be it."