Moments passed and on the brown earth, Spheris knelt with Linne's lifeless body laid in front of him.
His expression was still meaningless, blank, as though he was locked in a shellshock, as though he believed this was a nightmare. Linne was dead.
Somehow, inside of him, something felt disconnected. A link, a channel, a bond. Something. Ever since his father died, Spheris had never felt the pain of losing someone that close to him.
In fact, he had almost forgotten how it felt. But seeing her so still, so empty... so dead, he suddenly felt like that nine year old boy once again.
'Your pain wastes on her, Spheris,' Obsidian said. 'She chose her path and she has faced the consequences, just as you did for yours.'
Spheris's head remained low, he pressed his lips together, nostrils flared as he struggled with an internal turmoil.