Finding Loss, Losing Loss (Botgd 2)
The only thing that could be heard was the drones and shrills of the marshland insects, and the quiet sniffs of the man who sat alone among them. The fire had burned down to a warm bed of coals as the rising dawn finally broke apart the chilling night. Mud streaked and cold, Blunt's shaking hand gripped Tezz's as the man shuddered out another quiet, sigh-like sob. Tear streaks lining his face, the larger man turned to look down at Tezz's remains, the body still leaned against him from where it had fallen asleep, and never woke up.
It hadn't worked.
He tried. He swore on his life he had tried.
But the man's injuries had been too extensive. The terrain too uneven under their feet, and the night too eminent for extractions. Despite telling himself and Tezz every lie he could think of to compensate the truth poured from Blunt's mouth until finally, finally, reality couldn't be put off...and a camp was made instead.
Blunt told Tezz every story he could about Clover and his children before the man finally passed, and Blunt was left alone to survive the night. He kept talking to him long after he was left alone. Stiff and heartbroken, Blunt finally shifted back up to a kneeling position, and took Tezz's other hand in his as well. "I'm sorry Tezzeret...I..." His chin trembled as he blinked out further tears as he look up at the sky, and then scanned the wildlands around him. "I can't take you with me...and I don't know what's going to be left of you to take home by the time I can get back..." He slowly slipped his arm around the body to hold it close. "I'm so sorry. Non of it should have happened to you...you were the best of us who suffered the worst of it all..." He laid the body down gently and stood over him. "I'll give a toast and see you on the other side one day buddy..." His teeth gritted together, his body too exhausted to continue to cry out, but forcing tears out nevertheless. "And I'm going to miss you...I've always missed you..."
He looked down at the object he now held in his palm. A shard of the metal and ice from Tezz's altered form. He covered his eyes with his other hand. "And thank you...you can't hear me...you're not even here anymore...but you're still going to save lives."
In his final moments of lucidity, Tezz had been able to convey to Blunt of where and how Akkey, the Nix's and rebel soldiers he had faced while still under Kezia's control, had been teleported. With a little help, such as the material behind the teleportation magic, and in the right hands, more could be saved. The man turned away as he picked his rescue supplies back up, his gaze now distant. "Goodbye..."
-
It had taken some time getting out the terrible terror messenger to the base camp, but not as much as blindly searching. Soon, Blunt knew the Warden would find him...and his blood was chilled just as much as it had been the night before. For twenty years he had avoided her, ever since he had first tricked the demon into betraying her inner feelings. Her being in such close contact with Stonegit and Akkey had made that difficult, but he had always found a way to make himself scarce with very rare exception. Now there was no other choice. Now it would just be them. He stood in wait, hand already positioned outward with the tiny shred of Tezz he had been able to take with him.
