That was it, it was all over. There was no mistaking his face, the rough features and the coarse skin. The hair that in youth would have been as fiery as his daughter's, now softened by the strands of intermingling grey. Even his clothing, which at one point had been immaculate, was no obviously worn. The years had not bee kind.

He slumped against the dirty stone wall and looked up into the eyes of a figure who now kneeled before him. Even though the man's hood concealed most of his face in shadows, as close as they were, it was easy to distinguish his features.

"Son."

The word was uttered from the lops of the once red-haired man. He reached up to take the hand of the hooded one, who came closer to where he sat.

The hooded man looked down at the growing blood stain on his father's shirt and knew from experience that wounds such as those were a death sentence. And in that moment of realization, Talon knew he had failed his mission.

All of the years Talon had spent looking for his father, all of the slim leads he had chased to the ends of Valoran and back, all nothing now. He had come so far, and yet while he began to think more and more that his father was already deceased, the more his heart hoped he was still out there.

Talon had been raised to never show emotion, but now, with the gravity of his situation weighing down upon him, he felt his eyes grow misty.

"Father." The words caught in his throat, and he fought the tears that threatened to come. He knew that General Du Couteau would not want him to cry for him. "I'm sorry."

The General looked into his adopted son's eyes, and a faint smile appeared on the dying man's lips. "You have nothing to be sorry for." He paused as he took a raspy breath. "I'm proud of who I know you've become." Again his breath rattled in his chest, Talon knew he didn't have much time left. "Tell Kat and Cass that I love them, and that-" His last words were cut off by wheezing, which led to coughing. The General coughed into his hand, and Talon saw the blood on his lips and fist. Talon took his other hand and kept his grip until he felt his father's go slack.

Talon let go of the General's hand and finally let the tears he had been holding back come. He cried out in anguish, for there was no honor in the death that had claimed his father, no one left for him to take his revenge, for their corpses littered the chamber where he now sat.

After nearly ten minutes of sobbing, he finally stood and dried his eyes. At least he deserves a proper burial. Talon thought, and picked up the man's corpse. He carried his father's body all the way home.