AN: A little something angsty with Garrick for your day.
Garrick x infantry reader.
As a soldier in the infantry quadrant, it is a requirement to take the course 'Rider and Infantry companionship', which you and your unit cruely renamed 'death by dragon 101'.
It was true, the entire course, while on its face was rooted in understanding the logistic of an infantry unit fighting alongside a dragon, had a rather dark curriculum of understanding the mass and force of a dragon - so when they land you know how far away you need to be so you dont get crushed or swept up by the force of their wings when they launch.
You understand the specific uniforms to wear when in a unit with a dragon; fun fact, there's a reason riders wear leathers and metal HURTS when it’s near dragon flame.
Speaking of flames, lets not forget the hours spent with the healer unit on how to treat 'secondary burns' from dragons because, lets be honest, their aim isn't that great when it comes to 'burn all the gryphons at all costs' Infantry, sometimes being the cost.
But nothing, nothing prepared you for the size, scale, and heat of fire from the creatures you heard only in rumors and whispers.
Wyvern fire.
You stood on the scorched grounds of the Poromish city, now turned into a battle of fables, your eyes staring down the gray creature, its wyvern body lurching forward, wings flexing as the scales of its' throat began to warm. You could already feel the heat press against your face like a invisible force.
This was it.
Ash filled your senses, stabbing at your eyes. But you would not let them close. If this was your fate, of fire from a creature of lore, let you enter Malek's arms as the fabled champion.
As the wyvern fully opened its mouth, you too unclenched your jaws, taking a deep breath and sucking in all the Sulphur and foul air that began to burn at your lungs. But you stood ready to scream a flame of your own -
But, as you began to feel the heat and what you'd assume to have been the unimaginable pain, you feel your body be pulled, no, forced with such a speed that a strange pressure began to build within your ears.
Confusion swarms you as your senses are clustered with the sting of the battlefield, but a familiar voice surrounds you, strong hands holding your shoulders steadying you.
Your hands instinctively reach for your burning eyes in hopes your vision could confirm the man that you believe stands in front of you-
“Don’t.” He says , his voice breathless and graveled as he gently pushes your hands to your sides, “don’t rub them, it only makes it worse.”
That confirmed it, “Garrick?”
Everything hurt and was blurred, but you could tell that voice from anywhere.
“Yeah,” he responds between breathes, “Here. Keep them open, yeah?”
You let out a gasp as your force your eyes to open, the pain radiating across to your entire face. You make out Garricks tall frame, the black of his riding leathers, curl of his hair.
Your head jerks back as cold water is poured over your eyes, rushing down your cheeks and onto the floor.
“Sorry,” he murmurs, “Wyvern breath feels like standing in a forge, fucking hurts your eyes. I should’ve gave you my spare goggles.”
Another round of water hits your face and honestly it feels so, so good. You instinctively move your hands again to rub your face and Garrick is once again holding you back.
“Hurts” you mange to say.
“I know. Fuck when I knew there was a hoard headed your way I just,” he sighs, “I thought I wasn’t going to get there in time.”
The weight and context of his words begin to settle in your mind, and your vision becomes clearer. The fields of battle are stone floors and tapestry filled walls, “Garrick, where am I?”
You can hear his swallow, “Aretia.”
“But…I was halfway - my unit was in Poromiel. How did you?”
“I almost didn’t.”
The room slowly becomes more clearer, it’s just you and him in what appears to be one of the many rooms of the fortress that served as the base of the makeshift 2nd rebellion. You see more of Garrick, the concern on his face, the singed fabric of his leathers.
You look around, “where is everyone, where is my unit?”
His mouth opens and shuts a few times, “you. I wasn’t fast enough. My signet could only,
I only had time for you.”