Misery County

Chapter 17 - Part 2

"She – she rolled the dice, you know," Eric stammered. "She was always so results-oriented. It was – it was inevitable."

"Is that what you think happened?"

"No, no, I didn't mean it like that. I know I pressured her into this one, but..." Eric was at a momentary loss for words. "I just think that, the way she did things, you know..."

"Some might say she was reckless," Fflur said, "but I think we both know that was not what led to her death here."

"Yeah, I know, I know. It's just that... I think... I don't know." Eric wiped the tears from under his eyes with his sleeve.

"It's natural to want to find blame, Eric, but the truth in this matter is that no one is to blame. Neither you nor Cassie did anything wrong here. It was just how it happened. No war exists without its casualties, and Cassie was one of them tonight."

The words of comfort did no such thing for Eric. Instead, he curled up on top of the grave and descended into his thoughts.

"I don't mean to be insensitive," the fairy said, "but could you move off the grave? There's something that I need to do."

"What is it?" Eric said as he forced himself to his feet.

"Just a bit of insurance," Fflur said as she fluttered to over the grave.

"What are you –" But Eric was cut short by the spectacle before him.

The fairy was hovering over Cassie's grave, and with each flap of her wings, a glowing pearlescent dust was coming off them. True, the dust seemed to follow in their wake anyway, but this time around, it was thicker, denser and brighter than Eric had ever seen before.

"Are you –"

"I'm blessing her earthly remains to protect her spirit. She died at the hands of a monster, and an infectious one at that. She deserves better than to rise up as one of them."

"Will what you're doing – will it protect her?"

"I couldn't tell you where she'll go, but I can tell you that her soul is safe. It won't be stolen nor corrupted. She will be at peace."

"Thank you, Fflur. I wish there was more I could do, but I feel like I've already done enough where Cassie is concerned."

"You're right, Eric. You have done enough. You've done more than enough, and with your modesty that you so rarely show, I fear you'll never know just how much you've done, but I'm nonetheless thankful that you're here. We all are."

"So where do we go from here?"

"I can't force you to do anything, but you know what's right. You know that this fight isn't over."

"But what am I supposed to do? All the information I've collected has been useless at best and planted at worst. I've lost two people within the past week, and I've got no one left. I can't fight this alone. I can't. It's just too much," Eric pleaded.