AN: Short one-shot on a character only ever mentioned, almost never seen in fanfiction. Struck while on camp, so really the product of an overtired, hyped up 16-year-old. Forgive me for writing more angst, and for not writing any Tammy fanfics over the past... year? Has really been that long?:blushes: Sorry.
Set sometime during the Immortals War, during the time Port Caynn was under attack.
Disclaimer: I own an unnamed healer apprentice, and the name of one characters But the characters themselves are not mine, they just aren't named in the books.
Enjoy.
He was past the point of no return, and he knew it.
Jasper coughed weakly, blood coming up into his mouth. He opened his eye wearily, forcing himself to look around the place he knew he was going to die in.
It was your average field hospital, he supposed it must be around Port Caynn, where he had been posted.
A young man, who seemed to be an apprentice, rushed up to him, working healing magic on Jasper's battered body.
"Go work on someone you can save," he growled as loudly as he could, and that wasn't loud at all.
"You're not past saving," the apprentice said stubbornly. Jasper cursed mentally, obviously this apprentice had dealt with stubborn and morbid patients before. Growing up with a healer as a father, and having a very slight gift of his own, he knew that his internal bleeding was too bad to work on now. He thought about trying to tell this annoyingly reassuring apprentice that, but it all seemed too much effort.
"My master went to get Duke Baird, to heal you, it's beyond our magics to do so."
Jasper's mind filled with all the swear words he had learnt off various soldiers and knights. How could they be so stupid?
The last thing Jasper wanted was to have his father blame himself for not being able to save him.
He closed his eyes again. He hadn't even realised that his father was in Port Caynn, unless he'd only just arrived.
Where he'll lose yet another one of his children. The pain of Graeme's death was still raw in the minds of the entire family, least of all Jasper, who had the misfortune of seeing his younger brother cut down by stormwings.
His musings were cut short when he came to the realisation that there was a very familiar shade of green magic on the edge of his awareness.
Dark green eyes opened wearily to meet eyes the same shade. But this pair spoke of age, worry, grief and shock.
"Sorry, Dad," Jasper croaked. "Tell everyone I love them for me."
"You can tell them yourself," the Healer Duke's response was shaky.
His son glared weakly at him. "No I won't, and you know it. Tell Meathead to be sensible for once," The urge to close his eyes was growing stronger but the second. Jasper struggled to keep his father's face in focus. Looking at his father, he added one last thing.
"Don't blame yourself, Dad," he rasped out.
Then he submitted to death, the last sensations not relating to his pain being tears falling on him and the sound of sobbing.
The Dark God was waiting for him, and beyond him, Jasper could see Graeme behind him. His physical pain was disappearing, and after giving one last look behind him, he entered the Realm of the Dead.
A/N: Yep, one of Neal's unnamed brothers. I'm cruel aren't I? But I figure, as a healer, even if Baird wasn't there, there would be this part of him saying that he should have saved his sons. Double bad if he was...
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Misha
