"I burned the notes."
Grizzek was so shocked that he almost stumbled, but he managed to keep their rhythm.
"You...what?"
"I tore out all our notes and burned them." Hop. Hop. "There's no way Gallywix can re-create our experiments. He has a few prototypes and a couple of already-mixed potions, but that's it. Whatever awful thing he intends to do with Azerite, it won't be on us."
Hop. Hop.
"Saffy...aw, you're a genius!"
At that moment, Grizzek's left foot turned on a slippery sand-covered stone, and he heard something snap. They toppled over, and this time, he knew with sick horror that he was not going to be able to get back up. Lying facedown in the sand, he couldn't determine how much distance they'd put between them and the bomb, and in the darkness, he hadn't been able to identify the kind of explosive Druz had wedged between them. Were they far enough away to survive if it went off?
He gritted his teeth against the pain as he said, "Saffy, my ankle's snapped. We gotta crawl, okay?"
He heard her gulp. "Okay," she said bravely, though her voice wavered.
"Roll over so we're both on our left sides; that way I can push with my good leg."
They did and started squirming away. "Grizzy!" Saffy gasped as she panted, "I still have the ring! My engagement ring!'
The ring, made of commonplace ugly metal. And adorned with a small golden, glowing drop of Azerite.
"It might be enough to protect us!" she said.
"It might at that," Grizzek said. Hope, dizzying and wonderful, flowed through him, and he began squirming in earnest. "I got a confession to make too, Punkin."
"Whatever it is, I forgive you."
He licked his lips. All these years, he'd never said it. Wasted, stupid years. But all that was gonna change, starting now.
"Sapphronetta Flivvers...I lo-"
The bomb exploded.
