Accountable Science: Part 9
Grief. It was Trayâs ever-present companion. From the moment he rose from his bed every day, it followed him. It was unwavering in its suffocating attention to his mind and soul. Â It squeezed his hart, cracked his mind, and harmed the very meat of his body. He was a ruin of a man, wasting away as he drank and smoked himself into a numb stupor. His muscles were shrinking, the twinkle in his eye was gone, and the confident man had long since left to leave a ruin of a man behind. Â He sat now, as he did most days, at the edge of a cliff near his home, drinking and smoking and trying to keep his mind lost in a daze. Â He couldnât focus on the loss of his son. He couldnât. Â It hurt too much! Â He put the bottle to his lips and took a long, hard pull of the whiskey before he took a long drag of moko and looked back at the ocean. âTwelve fucking, you look like shite.â Â came a gruff, hard voice. Â Tray rolled his head and saw Askier Mergrey, standing in all his red-coated, metal-armed wonder. Â Those golden eyes were piercing Trayâs and he had too look away. âFuck-hic-fuckyewant?â Tray slurred, taking another drink. Â Askier took a long inhale and shook his head. âFuckin hells. Â This what you are gonna do with your life? Piss it away?â âDonât tell me what tuh do..â Tray growled. âThis wonât bring your son back.â Â Askier said calmly. Â Tray shrieked in rage and rose to his feet, throwing the bottle at Askierâs head. Â The middle-aged garlean side-stepped the bottle with ease and began walking towards the red-haired smuggler. âYe shut yer whore mouth, ye-â Â Askier seized Tray by the collar with one of his magitek hands and slapped him with another. âTray.â Askier said calmly, seeing blood oozing down Trayâs cheek from the blow. Â âGrow up. Â This is pathetic.â Â Tray said nothing, he just hung his head and sobbed as the walls of numbness fell from Askierâs physical blow. âJust kill me.â Tray said, utterly broken. âI got muh son killed. Â The damn Garleans that worked for Frandrin-â Â âOh shut up!â Askier rolled his eyes. Â âShut up and look at me!â Askier paused and then repeated: âLook at me!â Tray did so reluctantly through his tear-filled eyes. âYou wanna drink your life away or kill the bastard that killed your son?â Tray blinked. âHuh?â âI know who did it you dumb git. And I canât find him without your help cause I donât have allies like you do.â âI-â Trayâs mind was so drugged, he was having trouble processing all this. âWe donât have time for you to act like an idiot, Estinoch. Your contacts and us have a short window before he gets out of Erozea with the Oriensang codes and then itâs too late!â Tray gurgled a snot bubble and Askier shoved him to the ground as he made a disgusted face. Â He knelt there, motionless as tears kept falling from his chin as he hung his head. âEstinoch, I ainât got all day. Either you in or you out!â Askier yelled. Tray suddenly threw up, all over Askierâs boots. Â The Garlean tensed, snarled and turned to leave. âWait.â Tray gasped, bile dripping from his nose as he rose shakily to his feet. Â He looked between the curtain of his unwashed hair at Askier and there was a new light in those eyes. Â Eyes of hate. âYe sure yuh can give me this bastard?â Askier shrugged. âI can give you the name and appearance.â âAll I need.â Tray growled as he began to stagger down the road, Askier following behind, still trying to clean the vomit off his boots by dragging his boots through the grass.












