At last, its movements stilled and there was no more thump thump thump of his heart reverberating through the dirt. Their attention, though, stayed glued to its broken body for a while longer, as if adrenaline rushed through them. It was, of course, not adrenaline - they did not produce them. But They were at high alert, high attention, until it seemed, finally, that the deed was done and their enemy was dead.

They relaxed, and with the relaxation came confusion. Had they...just killed someone? The voices of the Chorus frantically began chattering with each other, questioning why they had done that, could they not have simply move him out of Eridanus? Chrysalized him instead of going all the way beyond the point of no return? Couldn't they have just scared him away?

Others pushed back - they had tried that, but he had refused to be afraid. He would have come right back here, wouldn't he? To destroy and corrupt and ruin again. They were just protecting their home, themselves, in the way they knew how. They had done it proudly, and would do it again!

Abdicus was silent, listening, considering. And when it moved to talk, the others listened. What we have done...is a shame. A shame that it came to this. But we saw him raging, destroying...we saw him refuse to listen. Should we have allowed him to continue? No...no, my friends. We have stopped him from hurting, not just us, but others. When others come, we will know what to do. And they will come. We know how to protect ourselves.

Other voices began to chime in the back, noting something it had left out - their own rage, how some measure of enjoyment had made it into their brutal assault. They had been so thorough not simply in killing him, but overpowering him. Abdicus firmly stated back to these queries, We have done nothing wrong. He was the aggressor. We simply reacted. All things we have done...were necessary and warranted. He deserved the fate he asked for." The dissenters murmured their agreements and went quiet as the network turned away and began the work of repair, slow, slow repair. Abdicus and a few others focused towards the place where Captain had fallen - a pit of dark crystals and a fallen tree. Hm...

Magic stisted into nearby roots that began to dislodge some of the earth and push it in to bury most of Captain's body. It wasn't perfect, and there was obviously still a bit of a dip in the ground, but at least the majority of its was gone. From the tree above, the Consul quickly moved as the tree beneath it shifted, standing instead beneath a nearby fern to watch.

Eventually, they knew the gembound's body would decay. And the oil would dissolve. That was when they would crowd in, when all was cleared - and his stone would be theirs. They would protect it, keep it safe within their mycelia, buried beneath the earth, until such a time came when they would make use of it.

*exit