A Path Tread in Shame

The sun hazily seeped into focus with each slow, labored blink. Each thought quicker than the next, which wasn’t saying much presently. A labored, haggard breath escaped parched lips, voices and sounds happening all around behind a muffled veil. Hands grasped shoulders and heaved him from the ground onto his feet and back into reality.

Bruzog shook his head to clear his mind, taking in the sounds of footsteps trudging around him. He clutched his side, wheezing. He had been struggling with lightheadedness since his encounter with the Champion. Magic may have mended his wounds prematurely, but the unnatural acceleration of his healing left its mark all the same. Heavy beads of scar tissue stitched together into a life saving quick fix, but where his lung was pierced pained him greatly still afterwards.

His axe was as much a crutch as it was a weapon on this point, he leaned on it heavily with each step he took. He tried to keep pace with his compatriots but always found himself lagging to the rear within a short time, his pain was evident but his expression was rigid as ever. Internally he was struggling.

He had been defeated, publicly devastated as a warning to everyone who would hear of it. Bruzog the battered, the beaten, the weak one. The one who stood like a fool and fell the same, to the people’s Champion no less. He had been bested in combat before and bore those scars without shame, but this time was different, worse. He had failed his people. Everything they owned was now in the hands of the enemy, their homes and livelihoods, all of it. Because he wasn’t strong enough when they needed him the most.

He helped when and where he could along the way, but he felt unwelcome for the most part and chose not to linger with anyone one group or person for too long. When he had tried to check on Raine it stung dearly, being rebuked by a close friend cemented his suspicions of the newfound disdain for him.

He could not bear to look anyone else in the eye as they journeyed on foot towards Haven.