The Return

Everyone froze.

«The only way to save Liam is to urgently move him to a special place... You have no more than three minutes, but I do not want to give up my sweet fiance so cheaply...»

The head immediately dropped to his knees.

«Take my life,» he said doomfully.

Brigitte held out her hand, and suddenly the Head was beside her. She squeezed his throat tightly until his face turned white and he fell at her feet.

The dagger was still in Liam's shoulder, causing his eyes to go dark. Taking advantage of everyone's shock, Brigitte left Liam, walked over to the Head, and ripped out his heart in a swift motion.

Without waiting for the audience to react, she did the same to Mistress Glinier, and Liam lost consciousness. With two hearts in her hands, the girl jumped up on the windowsill and disappeared into the darkness of the night.

The first to come to consciousness was a round-faced man. He was Mrs. Glinier's brother and Liam's uncle. He ran up to his nephew and carefully retrieved the blade. After examining it, he was convinced that the Spirit was telling the truth; the blade was poisoned.

A frightening blue web spread across Liam's body. Without delay, the man took his hand and touched the strange crystal on his chest with the other.

In an instant, he and Liam were gone. Cal, who everyone had forgotten about, stood motionless in the corner of the room.

As has become an unkind tradition, when the performance was over and all was quiet, the worried people finally entered the room and saw first the corpses on the floor, and then the young man frozen at the side.

Needless to say, they shouted and grabbed Cal and dragged him to the commissioner. The young man did not say a word. A few days later an unidentified man who identified himself as a witness showed up and according to his testimony, Cal was released.

The young man stood in the bright sunshine and squinted at its warmth. After three days in a damp, cold cell, he was cold and had a lot to think about. Turning toward the city, he froze.

There was no place left for him to go back to. He stood hesitating for a moment and wandered to the city well to quench his thirst and wash his face.

...

Liam opened his eyes but saw nothing but milky fog. He blinked and tried to move. It became excruciatingly, terribly painful, so much so that he almost wet himself.

He froze, not even breathing, and waited until the acute pain had passed before he regained his breath.

Images of recent events flashed before his mind's eye and hot tears flowed from his eyes. He cried and involuntarily shuddered, causing himself more pain.

«Mom... Dad...» he whispered, longing for an immediate death for his worthless self.

A few hours later, he was still crying, though there were no tears left, and his voice was completely gone. Besides the fact that his shoulder hurt, the constant crying made his head swell and hurt, and Liam hoped that he would still drive himself to a stroke and die.

He was cursed forever! His stupidity and naivety and carelessness had killed his dear parents, how could he go on living? His heart was bursting with pain and anger. At that moment a cool palm rested on his flaming forehead, and he heard:

«Enough crying, child, sleep...» and Liam drifted off to sleep.

While he slept, a sad old woman came by. She changed the bandage on his shoulder and gave him bitter potions. The white fog around Liam drained the poison from his body and soul and at times turned a dirty gray.

The young man would periodically regain consciousness and cry bitterly inconsolable, but he was not allowed to stay awake long, sending him straight into a dream world.

His uncle came only once. Through sleep, Liam listened to his parents being buried. After gaining the power of the two elders, the creature became powerful and fled.

Cal could not be found; he did not return to town and disappeared as well. Liam listened, and he felt like he was having an unpleasant dream that he couldn't wait to wake up from.

About three years had passed on earth, while in the Aether time had not moved at all. Liam got help, but it proved impossible to remove the poison completely. One day a new man visited him. He called himself the Twelfth Elder.

The man looked unusually calm, his silvery hair flowing like silk, shading his intelligent blue eyes. He paused and said.

"Child, you must come home."

"I don't have a home anymore..." - Liam replied sorrowfully, clenching his hands into fists.

"You don't think so, it's the grief that speaks to you," the man with the silver hair replied.

"I don't know how to go on," Liam confessed after a few minutes of silence.

The man sighed and looked away.

"The loved ones you lost will always live on as a memory in your heart. Like it or not, you're a lot like your parents. It's up to you to decide what kind of person you will be tomorrow."

"It's all my fault..."

"Don't say that. If you think it over carefully, you'll realize that you're the victim of an insidious plan. You almost got yourself killed."

"I don't want to go back, I'd rather go to sleep forever..."

"As Glinier's heir, you must be responsible for the city and a lot of people. They are poor now and need you. So put aside your self-pity, there is no time for that now."

Liam fell silent.

The Twelfth Elder took hold of his crystal and the next moment everything was gone.

For a moment he thought nothing horrible had happened. He stared at his unfinished drawing and wished fervently that everything was a dream.

The pain in his shoulder, however, was eloquent. Liam looked out the window and saw a sad landscape with ruined houses and traces of fires.

He went downstairs and out into the courtyard. Here and there sat beggars, hungry townsfolk, begging for alms. The castle had been looted, but these poor people had received nothing.

Most likely, the town had been robbed by outsiders, Liam surmised. He went out of town through the west gate and walked for a long time until he climbed a hill.

Below him, the River Meuse meandered and flowed. Soft and calm at times, swift and dangerous at others. On the knoll beneath an old plum rose two mounds of earth with a single cross. Liam lay down between them and closed his eyes. He did not notice how he cried again and fell asleep.

In the morning he woke up as if he had slept in the best bed.

«I promise to be as kind and responsible as you are. I will do my best to right this wrong. I know I will never earn forgiveness, but I will do what I can for the people around me,» Liam said at his parent's graves.

The promises were pouring in, but my heart wasn't getting any better. Liam sat down and looked at the city below.

It was early spring, time to sow the grain. If wheat could be grown, all these people could be fed. And we'd also have to rebuild the houses...

The first thing he did was to walk through town and say hello to people. Many remembered Liam and gladly responded to his invitation to work together to save the city. He announced a rally for all able-bodied men and women in the square and went to check the warehouses.

Fortunately, there was still some usable seed and some tools. After separating some of the grain for the people's food, it was decided to sow the rest. For the first time in days, the people work together with hope. Tomorrow their new life would begin.

Since dawn, Liam had been in the field. Using a few more or less fit horses, they managed to plow the loose soil. The next day, grain was delivered to the field.

Once the land was sown, the people cheered up even more and enthusiastically set about rebuilding the dwellings. For a time, Liam housed women and children within the castle walls.

A few elderly women stood at the stove, and the aroma of fresh food wafted into the castle. People shared, caring for the sick and weak. Liam carefully counted the food consumption and lamented that they would barely live until the new harvest.

Slowly about thirty houses were rebuilt. Families were returning to their homes, their once dark and empty eye sockets glowing again, bringing life to an almost extinct city.

Liam worked tirelessly, despite the pain in his shoulder. When he found it particularly difficult, he would simply go up the hill to his parents and talk to them, as he had never done before. Filled with peace and confidence, he would get down to the next thing, and so quietly a few months passed.

That morning everyone gathered in the field as early as dawn and the harvest began. Working nearly twenty-four hours, the men, led by Liam, harvested almost all the fields in a few consecutive days. After the harvest had been harvested, it was divided into several portions, leaving a portion for sowing.

The rest was put into storage, gradually being processed. Liam arranged to sell some of the surviving items from the castle to rebuild the farm. Having purchased small and large livestock, he appointed people in charge of taking care of the animals. Thus a large poultry house and barn appeared in the town.

As Liam continued to rebuild in town, he gradually prepared for winter by stocking up on firewood from the neighboring woods. Working many hours a day, he often stayed the night outside by the fire or at best on the straw with random people. With an abiding dislike for himself, he never complained or demanded special treatment.

He forbade calling himself a lord and suppressed any groveling before him. By showing people his industriousness and simplicity, he won their hearts even more, and when he was not heard, they called him «that saint».

Toward winter, a dozen families returned to town, and the church, market, and school reopened. Gradually the dreary streets came alive again, and children's laughter and singing could be heard. Liam hired several men to patrol the town and fortified the city gates.

People still vividly remembered the attack of the robbers and helped protect the town in every way possible, working to repair the walls or helping builders. The town was still very poor and that is probably why it was not attacked.

After all the work, only the castle was left. It had suffered quite a bit from fire and looting, but Liam had postponed its restoration until better times. His first Christmas without his parents was approaching. Cheerful voices could be heard everywhere, and there was a joyous excitement.

Afterward, everyone gathered for a communal dinner in the town square. It was also people's idea, knowing that Liam lives as a hermit; they wanted to support him and not leave him alone on a day like this. Raising their glasses of fresh wheat beer, people congratulated each other on rebuilding the town.

After walking around until morning, people went home almost at dawn. Liam stayed the night in the guard's house. Unpretentious about comfort, he slept on bales of straw, and in the morning he heard someone looking for him.

Still sleepy after his night's walking, the young man washed his face with ice-cold water and made his way downstairs.

A man was standing in the hall with his back to him. He was looking out the window, his silhouette blurred against the sun-drenched window opening. Liam squinted at the visitor. The man took a few steps toward Liam, and Liam was speechless - Cal was standing in front of him.

The men stared at each other and said nothing for a while. Liam was confused and not particularly happy to meet someone from his sad past.

The lingering silence was broken by the richly dressed servants. They entered the house from the street and asked:

«Sir, where do you want us to serve breakfast?»

Cal didn't turn around and ordered it right here.

The servants scurried around like ants. A table and chairs appeared, and then a fine tablecloth and many dishes of great fragrance were laid out on the beautiful tablecloth. The servants were bringing it all in from the street, and Liam involuntarily looked out the window.

He caught sight of a huge covered wagon, with four fine horses in it.

Finally, breaking the lingering pause, Cal invited Liam to join him for breakfast. The men sat down at the table, but Liam couldn't eat a bite.