Scrambling backwards from the source of his fall, Ishk peered into the poorly lit hallway behind him to get a better look. It was a body, of that much he was certain. Once his heart stopped pounding quite so furiously, he leaned in close enough to discover it was a vorcha.

His eyes widened at this revelation, and he didn't even bother to check if the man still lived. He jumped back to his feet, terror lending his tired muscles strength as he sprinted towards the interior of the school. The further in he went the more he fought to keep some semblance of sanity.

The once beautiful academy walls were pockmarked and chipped from mass accelerator rounds, the asari tapestries and carpets that adorned the supports charred beyond recognition. A thin cloud of smoke hung over the rooms from the fire that had apparently spread, and bodies littered the ground all around him. Some were familiar faces; asari teachers and students he'd grown up around, dock workers and miners, even a dead krogan Blood-Pack recruiter at one point.

Ishk slowed in his sprint, coming to a walk and then a standstill as his mind reeled.

I wasn't here. Left them all...

His eyes roamed over the destroyed entry hall, and he went into a state of mental shock. It took him a moment to realize he was moving, that he walked through the center of the isle amongst the dead as if on autopilot. His mind seemed far too blank, his body too numb for it to be normal, but he no longer cared.

Walking over broken glass, burnt bodies and spent thermal clips, Ishk finally entered the learning center. The circular room seemed oddly intact considering the damage outside, and he deadpanned around with his eyes half lidded. The ground beneath his feet felt covered in a layer of ash, and the sound of his clawed feet scraping across the ground filled the room.

He walked past the rooms that had housed him and the other vorcha with a kind of detached indifference. He couldn't have explained the feeling he had that moment if his life depended on it, but he wanted- No, needed to see what had happened. His body seemed compelled to walk through every room, look at every cold, lifeless face that looked up at him. He ingrained every tormenting sight into his brain with a brutal kind of determination. Somewhere deep down, he felt he deserved it.

When he finally came across Allyna's personal quarters, he stopped and ran a hand down the shattered door frame. It had been forced open by something of incredible strength, and his glance inside drained what energy he had left.

The office was a mess. The desk in the middle thrown to one side, cabinets smoldering and clouding the room in smoke and books scattered everywhere. He hardly saw any of it over the carnage on the floor near the back. Dead vorcha students, all in a haphazard pile of limbs and silent screaming faces that spoke of horror in their final moments. Next to them, lay Mama Ally.

Or at least, what was left of her.

Ishk stared at the corpse, and wondered what the shrill noise he heard was until he realized it as himself. He screamed in pain, a wordless shriek that brought him to his knees beside her body. Before he even registered moving he was cradling her torso, ignoring the missing limbs and horrible gashes that marred her beautiful face.

He only stopped for a quick breath before wailing again, losing control of all his motor skills and brain functions. Mucus poured from the olfactory senses on his forehead, and drool began to puddle on the bloody clothes his mother wore. He tried to squeeze his eyes shut and block out her rictus of pain, but he could only stare back and rock her in his arms.

"I tried to get back! I-I fight to save you! But, but …."

He lost the ability to speak over the pain and screamed until no sounds came out. His throat ached, and his jaw worked soundlessly. His fiery red eyes remained dry as he stared back soundlessly, looking into her glazed expression as though his sheer force of will could bring her back.

His hands were covered in purple blood, and he brought his head down to rest on her chest.

"I sorry, Mama," Ishk rasped into her dress with a muffled sob. "Ishk sorry."