[ It might well have been brutally unfair for Zaveid to be left with the task of killing Eizen, but he had taken it upon himself years and years before his friend finally turned. He had promised it as his vengeance, as the last thing he could do to honour Theodora, and he had kept his word - because that was who he was. It was a part of him, something intense and real, as deep as his own name, and there was no ignoring it. It's who he is, after all, and how can he shrug that off? It's what made the struggle all the more real.

Was he meant to just go and do it? Was he meant to just go and find Eizen and put him down, all by himself? Probably, and he knows it, deep down. He tried, so many times. He climbed the mountain so often that Edna started trying to turn him away, recognising him but refusing to let him get close to the dragon they both knew was her brother. She couldn't see Eizen die and, really, neither could he - but it was his duty. His promise. He had to do it, and she wasn't going to stop him.

That doesn't mean he didn't try, and Eizen is right. Zaveid looked, for years and years, for some way to bring a dragon back. That's why he had been so sure when he had met Sorey - so sure that there was no option, no means for him to bring Eizen back from that edge. He had done the searching, running across the world on his own. Nothing would work.

Bowing his head, Zaveid closes his eyes. ]

You think I wasn't gonna be? That it'd be easy? [ He closes his eyes, letting them sting with unshed tears. Turning his head away, Zaveid leans back against the side of the door again, trying to manage his emotions. ] I tried. I searched for so long, ever since that day. She and I didn't have time, but you - there was... You had only just turned into a dragon. [ He's close to walking out the damn door again - this hurts, too damn much. ] The Shepherd helped. I couldn't do it alone, and Sigfread... There was nothing left.