Vergil fell on his back after climbing to the top of the sand hill. His legs gave way.
His throat burned with thirst, but his hand felt too weak to get the last bottle of water from his backpack.
"Argh!" He suddenly screamed, bruising his throat. "We shouldn't have left…" he swallowed hard. "... Sir Benign. He was injured. We should've slowed down."
He rolled to his side. "What will we tell Lady Lyra? How do I live with myself?"
Stun stopped trudging forward to catch his breath. "You... started running first... I followed you… He never… should've left us either."
"Ugh. I knew how self-sacrificial he was, but I can't believe it." Vergil dragged himself off the ground. "We have to get his body back, right? We can't leave him there."
Stun lowered himself to the ground with a bottle of water in hand. Gulping down the water didn't make him feel less heavy for the disappointment.
"Those were firewings, weren't there."
