WHEN THINGS FALL APART

Summary: Destiny's Edge explore and learn to navigate the Maguuma Jungle, discover Rata Novus and Tarir, and formulate a plan to kill Mordremoth. Unfortunately, for this plan to succeed, Mordremoth needs to stay sleeping, otherwise, Caithe and Trahearne will die with the dragon. And this dragon is a fan of 'early bird gets the worm.'

Chaper five: The Decomposition Gene

Author's Notes:

I should not be writing this. I should be writing the Tassof Series. I haven't posted anything in almost a month. But I'm stuck, and when I do post that chapter, I have all my excuses for you to read if you care. (They're actually really good reasons, so don't blame me quite yet.)

Oh this chapter ... if I talk about it I'll give you spoilers.

But anyway, sorry for the long wait between chapters. I've been busy with the Tassof Series.

Okay, here's the story now:

As Destiny's Edge make their way west into the previously unexplored jungle, a sylvari known as Scarlet Briar launches her plan, bringing her many alliances into the view of the commoners of Tyria.

But Destiny's Edge are roaming off the radar, deep into Elder Dragon territory.

Eir is speaking to the chieftain - kaana - of the Jaka Itzel, trying to get information on the lay of the land and how to traverse it, as well as what the strange, twisted husks of creatures formed of sinister-looking foliage are, exactly.

Kaana Miatli does not know what they are; but one or two seem to have come to life and attacked their village. They were quickly killed, of course, but in conjunction with ancient legends - myths as old as the sun - of a powerful jungle master, and newer but still very old stories of creatures that Destiny's Edge recognize as asura, and some glowing constucts, telling them of the Elder Dragon Mordremoth, the Itzel have taken to calling the planty abominations 'Mordrem.'

About this time, Destiny's Edge split up, each finding a way to help in their area of expertise. Trahearne asks about the ancient myths, while Caithe inquires about the Mordrem. Zojja is interested in the technology - little of it, true, but different and new - that the Itzel use. Eir interrogates Kaana Miatli further about the lay of the land. Logan helps the village bolster their defenses against the Mordrem, in particular, utilizing knowledge of their weaknesses and strengths passed from Caithe, while Rytlock is shown the location of the fights where the Mordrem had attacked, and is instantly gleeful at the sight of dried-out plants being their enemies.

When Caithe asks how that makes sense, he explains that, while an Elder Dragon sending plants to battle them is rather insulting - no offense to sylvari, of course - they'll easily burn from Sohothin's flame. This information is told to Logan, who uses the information to set up defenses around the village.

In return for the help, the Itzel show the adventurers how to use gliders, as well as the mushrooms, which are tricky.

As Destiny's Edge venture further and further into the jungle, more and more Mordrem are active, rather than dormant husks. Rytlock's theory of fire being an excellent weapon is proven true, and Zojja enchants the group's weapons with heat-based spells.

Destiny's Edge spend the next year or so learning the ways of the Maguuma Jungle - becoming familiar with its inhabitants, which include the Nuhoch, which seem to be cousins of the Itzel, chak, increasing amounts and types of Mordrem the further south they venture, dormant glowy creatures in a golden city, and even some skritt scratches.

And a ley-energy map, which the group spends some time trying to decipher. Eventually they hammer out which glowing dot - tiny, true - is where 'here' is, that the largest dot is (of course and obviously) Mordremoth, and that, based on the scale, one of the other dots must be the golden city.

So, of course, Destiny's Edge set out to find out what the last dot is. It is in an area wholly infested by chak, but the Nuhoch help them, and even some of their warriors aid the adventuring group.

Zojja nearly faints of delight when she figures out that it is Rata Novus, before rapidly explaining to them what the significance of it is.

The rest of Destiny's Edge pretty much stand back and watch while Zojja zips all over the lost city, figuring things out, powering things on, activating asura gates and unlocking their labs. Oh, and they defeat all the chak that Zojja doesn't absentmindedly douse in water (the least conductive element for ley energy, it is found).

Eventually, though, the rest of the group get irritated at not having anything to do except beat up chak (not that Rytlock was complaining) and Garm elects to stay behind and protect Zojja, while the others continue exploring.

Trahearne starts figuring out how Mordrem react to each other and different forms of magic. He had done this a lot, figuring out things about Risen and Zhaitan before Destiny's Edge came and obliterated that threat.

The Mordrem seem to be vulnerable - in an odd way - to mind magics like the laurel Snaff had used against Kralkatorrik. But the only Mordrem affected by it are the immobile ones - Trahearne can control those ones with the laurels, but the others fight back, in a way probably similar to how Kralkatorrik had fought back against Snaff. They fight back in a dangerous way - it gives him a sense of dread and the feeling that there is some ancient power pressing against his will.

When that topic is brought to Zojja, she reminds them that Mordremoth created sylvari, and that it would probably be unwise for Trahearne or Caithe to continue experimenting on Mordrem - at least mentally, or in any area that feels unsafe, or even in an area that feels suspiciously benign.

Trahearne and Caithe agree with Zojja, and Eir volunteers to use the laurel in any further experiments.

It is carefully noted that Mordrem seem to fight back against mental invasion together - when one is wearing the receiving end of the laurel, it tenses up and gets certain symptoms. The other Mordrem nearby get the same symptoms.

Rytlock wonders if the Mordrem have a hive mind, or at least one central one, to which Trahearne replies that one of Mordremoth's domains is mind, which means that is a very likely possibility.

Zojja retorts that is an even better reason for anyone - particularly sylvari - to mess with mind magic around Mordremoth.

But she begins running her own tests; she takes samples of magic from Mordrem, and, with their permission, Caithe and Trahearne. She sends Trahearne with a 'hole in your pocket' to find some flora outside the Maguuma Jungle, untouched by corruption.

He returns with the requested material, and also news of what is happening back at home. Apparently a sylvari known as Scarlet Briar had unleashed a monstrosity in the Shiverpeaks, and the Durmand Priory had been working on taking it down.

He had also visited Orr - of course he had - to see what the effects of cleansing the land had been. He had been pleasantly surprised to find the Priory there. They had already documented the new behavior patterns in Risen.

Zojja dismisses the Scarlet Briar problem, as the Priory seem to have the problem well in hand, listens interestedly to how the Risen are behaving after Zhaitan's death and the subsequent cleansing, before she begins running her tests on the samples of magic she had collected. They all had one common 'gene' of magic, that she surmises to be the physical plantiness of it. The Mordrem all share a common gene, and there is a dormant copy of that in Trahearne and Caithe's magic. The non-corrupted samples don't have a trace of that gene, and Zojja concludes it is Mordremoth's magical signature. But the sylvari have many unique magical genes that the Mordrem do not have.

The team carefully studies the difference between the active Mordremoth gene in the Mordrem and the dormant version in the sylvari.

The Mordrem actually all share several common genes, and when Snaff's laurels are used against the Mordrem, a certain set seem to from what Zojja calls a 'passive' state to a 'reactive' state, in sync with the laurel attacks.

After much consideration and discussion, and a lot of convincing on the part of the sylvari, Zojja finally agrees to let them use the laurels while under the scanner, to see what happens to their magical genes.

The results are startling. The dormant Mordremoth gene activates and deactivates as the sylvari use the laurels, and when they are active and connected to Mordrem, the responding genes in the Mordrem seem to reply.

The physical behavior of the Mordrem towards the laurel-using sylvari changes, as well. Instead of being mindlessly hostile, they act as allies.

When the sylvari use the laurel to take over a Mordrem, an entirely different gene activates in the sylvari, and the Mordremoth gene in the Mordrem 'super-activates,' and the Mordrem become physically hostile towards the sylvari even more than toward the others in the room.

After the experiment is over, Zojja scans the magic of the sylvari again, comparing it to the previous sample, and notes that the Mordremoth gene seems less 'deactivated' and more like barely awake. The gene that had activated upon the mental attack from the sylvari to the Mordrem somehow seems stronger.

After many more tests and experiments and analyzing, the team figures that gene to be the strength of a person's will. The Mordremoth gene is a common link between the minds of all Mordrem and sylvari.

Zojja investigates the difference between the semi-passive-active Mordremoth gene on the sylvari and the active gene on the Mordrem, and finally concludes that they are different enough, as is, that they won't recognize each other without the laurel, something that the Mordrem's behavior seems to confirm.

The many dormant Mordrem husks throughout the jungle only have one difference to the active Mordrem - another gene that is is in a comatose state. The active Mordrem have that gene activated.

And the ratio of active Mordrem to dormant Mordrem is huge. If all the dormant Mordrem activated, Destiny's Edge would be in real trouble.

Eir insists that Zojja try to find a way to counteract that possible eventuality, and Zojja informs Eir that something special would have to happen to counter all the Mordrem at once.

Trahearne brings up Zhaitan's defeat and the effect it had had on the Risen, but Zojja replies they are nowhere near to finding a solution for Mordremoth.

Then, Eir realizes that the cleansing idea could help. If they could cleanse the Mordrem of the Mordremoth gene, it might help.

Zojja informs Eir that genes can't be cleansed or erased or anything - even the sylvari have the dormant version of the gene. Then, she realizes that the genes could actually help. Without explaining why, she sets Logan, Rytlock, Eir and Garm to work finding the quickest, most efficent way to kill Mordrem.

Zojja, Caithe, and Trahearne continue performing experiments and tests on the Mordrem, and cross-examining the results with past results and with Caithe and Trahearne's magical signatures.

One day, Logan, who had taken a break from Mordrem-killing and was watching the researchers, overheard one of them ask - for the millionth time, it seemed, from the tone (that or it was Zojja talking) - if any of them knew of something that would quickly wipe out the Mordrem.

"I might have something," Logan speaks up. "In Elona, the Scarab Plague wiped out all of the Primeval Dynasty and most of the population. I don't know how it worked, but - "

"But I do!" Zojja crows, dashing over to her terminal. "Some big-headed Order of Whispers asura wanted to take credit for the Order's discoveries, and since the Order was specifically not talking about it, the asura could take all the credit for himself. It was a gene-based pestilence that only infected humans. I'm sure I can reengineer it to work on magical genes - and the difference between sylvari Mordremoth genes and Mordrem Mordremoth genes is big enough that I will be able to exclude sylvari from the spread of - whatever we decide to unleash."

"Can't unleash the Scarab Plague - only infects humans," Logan comments. "And I certainly don't want to fall victim to it."

"Of course not, you ninny," Zojja scoffs. "What have you and the others found out about defeating the Mordrem?"

"Fire works best, but we only have Sohothin," Logan shrugs.

Zojja ponders a moment. "No, I don't think I can make them spontaneously combust... unless I put a bit of elemental magic into it, and then... okay, we'll try this. If this method doesn't work, who cares? It only infects Mordrem! We can field-test it all we like without negative results!" She lets out an almost crazy laugh, before getting to work.

The fire idea does not work. It makes a few Mordrem wither slightly, as leaves do when put in front of smoke, but nothing more.

Zojja frowns, blasting the Mordrem with fire from her fingertips, considering the way the magic works. She tries a magical gene that increases body heat to make the Mordrem combust. That doesn't work, either.

She closely examines how the Mordrem - and the sylvari - are constructed; how they hold together, how they move, etcetera. It's mostly magic. So she devises a way to cut off the Mordrem from the magic supply.

The result is better than the others, but still not satisfactory.

The cleansing idea is returned to again and again, looked at from all different angles, until Rytlock suggests changing the magical signature into something damaging to the Mordrem.

The team toss ideas back and forth, but ultimately settle on something to extremely hasten decomposition, using Trahearne's proficiency at necromancy.

The next day, they get started. The day after, the Rata Novan terminals pick up a gigantic surge of ley energy. Zojja wishes it had waited another week - such a power surge would be excellent to insert the magical gene disease into, giving it a boost in power.

But the repercussions of the energy surge are beyond their comprehension. Not five seconds after Zojja had remarked upon it, several things happen. Trahearne and Caithe stiffen in shock, the dormant Mordrem husks stir, and Zojja's sensors record the Mordremoth gene activate, followed by another gene, heretofore seriously in deep hibernation, wake up.

Until then, the Mordrem had been wandering aimlessly around their containment cells. When that last gene activates, they instead seem to lost the mindlessness that had been prevalent before.

Zojja's eyes rake her display terminal. "Okay, looks like we've run out of time. Mordremoth is awake."

Trahearne and Caithe haven't moved. They are staring into space with strained expressions.

"Hook them up to the magical signature scanner, now!" Zojja snaps. A moment later, the display flickers to life. "Mordremoth is definitely awake - their Mordremoth genes are on. There's a battle going on between the will gene and the Mordremoth gene - and it doesn't look like stopping anytime soon. We need a change of plans. The decomposition gene we were working on will now also affect Trahearne and Caithe."

"Can you do anything to make it go dormant again?" Eir wonders.

"Not in enough time," Zojja replies, frantically scanning her display. "I'm willing to guess that with Mordremoth awake, the decomposition gene would affect everything corrupted by Mordremoth - but that does still leave Caithe and Trahearne vulnerable."

"You can't build in an exception based on their unique magical signatures?" Rytlock suggests. "Make a certain gene that both of them have, but that the Mordrem don't, immune to the decomposition gene."

Zojja shakes her head. "That wouldn't work. But there's a new gene - the one in deep hibernation we saw on the Mordrem. It was hidden so far in Caithe and Trahearne's magical signatures that I didn't notice they had it, too. It's active now. It's... wait, hold on."

"Anything to bolster their focus or will?" Logan wonders.

Zojja doesn't reply. "Alright, yes. The new gene is the real Mordremoth gene. What we thought was the Mordremoth gene is just a network linking all the Mordrem. Logan... I could - it would be dangerous, particularly if they didn't know about it," Zojja frets. "If we put a double-laurel on them - both receiving and sending - they could help each other in their battle, but if they didn't know about they could attack each other's minds."

"So it's either a big help, or a big hindrance, and we don't know which," Rytlock summarizes.

"The battle seems to be even right now," Zojja reports. "Neither side is winning. But the will gene does get exhausted."

"Can you scan Mordremoth itself?" Eir asks. "We could put the double-laurels on two Mordrem, and if you can observe Mordremoth's will gene, we can take them off if it's benefiting him."

"I can scan Mordrem we have here, but not Mordremoth itself," Zojja replies.

"The Mordremoth gene is direct link to the dragon, isn't it?" Eir checks. "You could probably follow one Mordrem's Mordremoth gene to Mordremoth."

"I'd have to figure out how that works, though," Zojja frets. "I've never done that before, and every moment we're talking about it - they're losing! We have to do something!"

Eir makes a decision. "If they're losing anyway, them fighting each other as well will only hasten the process. If it might help them, we have to try."

The team hesitates for a long moment, before Zojja nods resignedly and goes to retrieve the laurels.

"They might recognize each other's minds, though," Logan offers. "They're connected through the Dream, right? They should be able to tell."

"Let's hope so," Rytlock says somberly.

Zojja returns with the laurels.

She hands the laurels to Eir to deal with while she navigates her two displays to show their will gene vs Mordremoth gene battle.

The five companions watch the display anxiously for a minute. The laurels seem to be working.

"Alright, let's finish that decomposition gene," Zojja decides. "Might as well have it ready to use - or edit, or modify, or something. We'll keep a close eye on the readings."

The group works feverishly in an anxious silence, one or the other of them checking the terminal every ten seconds to report progress.

Finally, Zojja throws down what she is working on in a motion eerily reminiscent of what she had done shortly prior to her latest invention spinning time backwards.

"I can't stand only seeing one side of the battle," she announces. "Not when we could do something to hinder Mordremoth. I'll figure out how to trace the Mordremoth gene to Mordremoth itself."

"How are the Mordrem's Mordremoth genes behaving?" Eir wonders.

"Mordremoth has complete control over the Mordrem. It's securing the jungle, I would imagine. I'll know more once I can trace the Mordremoth gene network. You can finish that decomposition gene all right?"

"We can handle it," Eir replies.

They work in silence, Zojja reporting the progress of the sylvari at short intervals.

"Alright, I've got it," Zojja says, several hours later. The will vs Mordremoth gene battle is fairly stable. "I can trace the network between all the Mordrem in this room, and Trahearne and Caithe. Now I just have to figure out how to trace it beyond the lab..." she trails off into mutterings.

A few more hours, and Trahearne and Caithe start losing the battle. Zojja finally figures out how to trace the Mordremoth gene past the Mordrem hooked up to her machines. It is quite another thing to follow the network to Mordremoth.

"Mordremoth is securing the jungle," she reports. "I have no doubt he'll come for us soon."

"Does anyone possess a spark of necromantic ability?" Logan asks slowly. "We don't have quite enough decomposition magic - and Trahearne is... well..."

There is a beat of silence.

"Necromancers are always emitting a faint, necromantic aura," Zojja says after a moment. "There could be some necromantic residue floating around. It could be contaminated or worse, but I should be able to detect that. Better, I could just feed off the aura he's emitting right now, although what that would do to the battle I don't know."

"The equipment should be tuned enough to show whether you're altering the battle," Eir reminds her. "We have to try everything."

Zojja nods and gets to work. They're still losing the battle.

"Mordrem heading this way," she reports, ten minutes later. "Looks like Mordremoth found us."

"How's the battle?" Rytlock asks.

"Not well. Do one of you want to use the extra laurel?"

"I'll use it," Eir says quietly. She fetches the laurel, hooks herself up to Zojja's scanning mechanisms, and joins the battle.

Zojja moves the displays around and pulls up Eir's magical signature sheet. Due to the signal-emitting nature of the other two laurels, she is showing a faint outline of the Mordremoth genes, telling Zojja that she is taking part in the battle. Zojja reports this to the others.

After a brief moment - a dip on the sylvari side of the battle - the sylvari and Eir manage to hold their own. But they are not winning.

Zojja's worry is at its peak. She glances at Garm. The two time-travelers hope they all survive. Garm, unable to help in any other way, sits vigilantly by Eir's unconscious form, nosing her hand as if to say, 'it's alright. I'm here.' Zojja only hopes it helps.

Logan and Rytlock return to preparing what they can of the decompositional gene, and Zojja uses the Rata Novan's advanced magical tech - this city had been alive centuries ago, and were using things as unheard-of as ley-energy maps! - to scan for, decontaminate (if possible) and store the faint necromantic aura in the room.

Doing the same to the aura around Trahearne shows an ever-so-slight dip in the will gene. 'He must be used to always feeling that aura - it missing would unbalance him,' Zojja realizes. "Is it enough?" she asks Logan and Rytlock anxiously.

Logan frowns. "Enough to get the job done, but... not quickly enough."

A soft beep comes from the terminal, nearly giving Zojja a heart attack wondering what it signified.

"The outer perimeter of Rata Novus has been breached," Zojja reports. "Mordrem incoming. I'll work on the decompositional gene, and once they get here, you can defend this room. I've activated the defense mechanisms, so that should give us some time. Let's get to work." She whirls to face the corner of the room. "Mr. Sparkles, guard that door," she orders. Garm follows suit. Zojja activates all the locks on the door, and Mr. Sparkles and Garm stand in front of it, waiting.

The three Destiny's Edge members work with renewed vigor on the decomposition gene, the status display for the three locked in mental battle forgotten for the moment.

It takes a long while for the Mordrem to find them, in the large, underground city. It is several hours before the door shudders with impact.

Zojja checks the display. "They're still even," she reports worriedly.

"This thing's almost done," Rytlock replies. He looks up hesitantly. "Should we use some of his aura?"

Silence.

Slowly, Zojja shakes her head. "No. It's the last thing we need to do in the making of this gene. We'll wait until the last possible minute - if we decide to use it, it'll impact Trahearne and Caithe as well."

More silence. The door shudders in impact again. Mr. Sparkles readies his weapons. Garm growls.

"I'm an idiot."

Rytlock and Logan stare openmouthed at Zojja.

"I am such an idiot. I should've thought of this sooner." Zojja scrambles back to the display. "I can communicate with the wearer of the laurels. I'm not sure if Trahearne or Caithe even could respond, but Eir is helping them."

A few minutes and several more pounds on the door and Zojja has access to Eir's laurel. Images flash across the screen, reading her brainwaves and translating them.

"It's hard keeping up with Mordremoth, but they're still even," Zojja reports. "They can hold like this for a long time - but we don't have that long. And the decomposition gene may be the only thing that can kill Mordremoth."

Logan freezes for a brief second. Then he laughs. "There's no need to be worried about Trahearne beyond the battle with Mordremoth," he realizes. "His magic is the center to the whole decomposition gene - his own magic. He's in no danger."

Zojja and Rytlock nearly laugh aloud in relief.

"But what about Caithe?" Rytlock asks after a moment.

Silence descends. The door shudders, buckling.

"We... might have to put our hope in Faolain," Zojja realizes. "Remember, after defeating the Destroyer of Life? That... poison seems to me very similar what we're using. Let's just hope Caithe learned to fight it off, at least a little. If... we need to get working on a counter. We can apply it as soon as the Mordrem are dead. She just has to hold out a little longer. Let's go."

The words fall flat. What counter is there to fast-decomposition? None of them know how to heal a sylvari. Trahearne might know - it's his magic - but he's out of it. The door breaks in two, and Mordrem pour through, fighting Mr Sparkles and Garm. Logan and Rytlock run forward.

"We can try. No use not trying," Zojja tries, and makes her way to the display. The fight is still fairly even. She turns to her extensive notes on the decomposition gene, keeping a watch on the mental battle out of the corner of her eye.

What is the opposite of necromancy? Life. What magic is life? More specifically, life to a sylvari? A tree, a plant? Water, sunlight. Nutritious earth. The elements.

"The elements," Zojja says aloud. "It'll be magical, but we can attune it to Caithe, not all beings with the Mordremoth gene. You two keep them off of me, I'll see what I can do. Even a partial healing... we'd need to reverse the decomposition gene somehow..."

She returns to the display and checks her notes. Once unleashed, it will spread to anything that has the Mordremoth gene. She can't logic out anything, in her panicked mind, that will counter or stop it. She'll have to rely on healing. Perhaps if she can shield Caithe from the decomposition gene until Mordremoth dies and the gene goes dormant or even dies...

"Isolate her from any contact with any Mordrem, mentally, magically, physically... just keep the Mordrem away from here!" Zojja says in desperation, forgetting that Logan and Rytlock are engaged in the fight with the Mordrem. Frustrated, she shouts, "back!" and blasts fire at the leafy mob, immolating them. But that is only the first group.

If they're lucky, the transmission of the gene to the sylvari will have to come through Mordremoth, but Mordremoth having it would mean the dragon was dead, deactivating the Mordremoth gene.

"I need to modify that slightly," Zojja says, turning to the workstation. "You lead the Mordrem away from here."

Half an hour later, the miniscule modifications needed to change the target gene - the Mordremoth gene and link gene are very similar - are complete.

"Garm, bring this to Logan," Zojja says, handing the magical injection needle to Garm. Once injected, it would spread magically.

Garm carefully takes it in his jaws, and sprints out of the room. Zojja sets about making sure no trace of the Mordremoth gene is anywhere, destroying all the samples of Mordrem magical signatures, even Trahearne and Caithe's magical signature samples, everything. When she is quite sure that there is no hint of the Mordremoth gene - or the decomposition gene, for that matter - is anywhere near, she checks the display to see how the fight is going.

Mordremoth's display includes a million identical genes - the links to the Mordrem.

After about ten minutes, a new gene appears - the decomposition gene - and the Mordrem gene links start winking out. From the first Mordrem, the origin point bounces to Mordremoth, infecting the dragon, then to anther Mordrem, then the dragon again, and repeat. Mordremoth's will gene fluctuates wildly, and, after a few minutes, the sylvari and Eir start slowly inching ahead in the mental battle.

As more and more Mordrem decompose, the battle of wills gets easier and easier for the sylvari and Eir. The Mordrem dying must hurt Mordremoth somehow. Rytlock and Logan arrive, no longer needing to hold off the Mordrem.

Eir awakens, no longer needed by Trahearne and Caithe. Their side of the mental battle wobbles ever so slightly, but they keep climbing as fast as ever.

The Mordrem links are nearly all gone, and, remembering how many there were before, Zojja shakes her head. They had invented a very influential lever of the Eternal Alchemy.

The last of the Mordrem wink out, and the gene returns to Mordremoth, before traveling down to Trahearne and Caithe.

It gets to Caithe first. The display showing her magical signature indicates that the decomposition has quickly spread to every part of her, magically and physically.

Caithe's back arches and she screams involuntarily as her body begins decomposing rapidly.

Mordremoth isn't gone yet, despite the gene having plenty of time to decompose him.

The signs of decomposition are evident on Caithe's body, and she has stopped screaming and flailing. Destiny's Edge are paralyzed in fear and incapability to do anything to stop it as she decomposes the rest of the way, leaving a film of decomposed material and the laurel on the bed she had been placed on when Mordremoth awakened.

The display registers the gene bouncing back to Mordremoth and then to Trahearne. Trahearne's magical signature absorbs it, effectively killing it. The only parts of the gene left are the bits already spread to Mordremoth.

And said Elder Dragon is still not decomposed yet! Zojja snarls in frustration and expands its display as large as it will go, and sees something that freezes her core. Mordremoth is the jungle. The jungle itself is rapidly decomposing around them, and will continue to do so until every scrap of anything Mordremoth ever corrupted is decomposed.

No wonder it is taking so long.

"I should have looked at this before I counted on Mordremoth being dead by the time the gene reached Caithe," Zojja whispers in shock, watching Mordremoth's display crumbling as the decomposing necromancy works its magic.

"Because the Mordremoth gene would deactivate, and the decomposition gene wouldn't have taken hold," Eir realizes.

Logan curses. "Trahearne absorbed the decomposition gene. It stopped spreading after that. If it had gone to him before it went to Caithe..."

Zojja's eyes widen in sync with the others. "We can't tell him what would have happened. He'll blame himself if he finds out."

Everyone nods emphatically.

The five - including Garm - stand in solemn silence as Mordremoth fights to gain enough mental control of Trahearne to escape its impending doom - Trahearne is the only thing corrupted by the dragon that isn't decomposing - but Trahearne had literally just absorbed some very, very potent magic, and was feeling very much up to the task of keeping an Elder Dragon's mind out. Not to mention said Elder Dragon is quite distracted by literally decomposing.

A minute later, the last traces of Mordremoth's corruption leave the display, and Trahearne wakes up, the mental battle over at last.

He glances around, getting his bearings. His eyes widen in shock and horror as he sees Caithe's remains.

And Caithe's death crashes with its full weight upon the group.

The room is deathly silent for several minutes.

Finally, Zojja gently, carefully, performs the same ritual she had for Snaff when he had died - she had cremated him and used one of Big Snaff's gauntlets as an urn. Zojja nearly cries when she realizes the cremating part is already done.

Trahearne doesn't recognize the ritual, but the rest of the team are standing in a somber circle as Zojja finds a suitable temporary container for Caithe's remains - Big Caithe is in Glint's sanctum, their headquarters, and they can finish it properly there.

The portable asura gate is deployed, and the group steps into their headquarters, the gate compressing into itself as the last of them pass through.

Zojja completes the ritual and places Big Caithe's gauntlet on a special shelf that already holds Big Snaff's.

The group stand in somber rememberance of those lost in the fight for the freedom of Tyria.

Author's Notes:

Yes. I killed Caithe. No way around it, you see. And defeating three Elder Dragons (Kralkatorrik, Zhaitan, and Mordremoth) with only one death (Snaff, two if you count Glint) is kinda unrealistic.

I would do Primordus, Jormag, and Bubbles, but I want to know their strengths and weaknesses in-game before I do that. Until that is revealed (which'll be a while as we're focused on Kralk atm), this fanfiction is done.

I hope all the talk about 'genes' wasn't too confusing...

And the reason Trahearne and Caithe, working together, were losing against Mordremoth, despite keeping him out alone in the original... well, in the original, Mordremoth was also fighting a bunch of other sylvari. Here, he could focus purely on those two. It's a miracle they didn't give in.

I hope you liked it.