Healing is a Process

The old woman just stood there, staring off into space and refusing to face me. From what I could see of her, she almost appeared ashamed to see me. I inched closer to her. She blocked the view of a nearby window looking outside Freehold. A little bit of sunlight still peeked through.

“Aren't you happy to see me?” I asked her.

“Of course, I am…” was her immediate answer. “I just wish it was under more favorable circumstances, Halliyah.”

As I got closer to her, she turned to face me slightly. The entire left side of her face had become dark and charred, much like volcanic cinder. The left corner of her mouth and her left eye had sealed shut due to what looked like massive burn damage. Much of her hair had been burned off as well. The hand she offered me had similar charred marks. All of these were telltale signs of fire attack. In spite of all that, she gave me a very weak smile. She had been attacked by something, most likely demons, and got hurt badly, but she lived.

“Dear gods, what happened to you?” I asked her, though I suspected I already knew the answer.

“Demon ambush,” she replied, confirming my suspicions at once. “Once I located the necklace, I got attacked by a bunch of them. Seems they wanted the necklace for themselves.”

“What actually is the necklace, anyways?” was my next question. “Ipas and I poured over every scroll you had, and -”

“Ipas?”

“A friend I've been traveling with,” I explained. “None of your scrolls provided an answer -”

She smacked my hand like she was my mother. “It's not polite to go through someone else's stuff!” Hilami now scolded me like a child. “Do you know how many dark secrets could spill out like that? A good witch never reveals her secrets for a reason!” What did she mean by that? I just wanted to know what this stupid piece of jewelry was! None of her scrolls revealed the answer, and now she refused to give the answer as well.

“You were gone for twenty-four days!” I replied. “You only left a single note saying what you were running off for. No other messages, no news, nothing!”

“Now you know how the rest of the world feels,” a man's voice said, coming from behind me. I turned around to find an elf dressed in purple royal robes with yellow accents standing in the doorway. Perhaps he was this Elf King that Giorg told me about. He stood much taller than me, with long white hair and a brilliant golden crown atop his head. “At long last, after fifteen years, you have returned.”

I did not recognize this Elf King in the slightest. “I'm sorry,” I said to the elf, “but have we met before?”

“My apologies,” the Elf King answered. “I believe we've only met once, in passing, during the early days of the war. I am Edagri the Guardian, First of My Name, King of the Elves in Niwalos.”

“Your Highness,” I said while attempting to kneel. One must always remember their manners. “But I must confess, I cannot fight in this war. My body is frail and my sword…” I showed him what remained of my blade, just the hilt and one jagged piece of bronze still attached. “My sword is no longer.”

“Unfortunate…” Edagri replied, staring down at me with a sorrowful look. “Do you recall what happened on the first day of the Endless Summer?”

“No one, not even I, would allow me to forget,” I answered. “King Hattu traveled to my farm in person and said I was chosen to defeat the Demon Lord.”

“And you still are chosen,” Edagri replied. “I assume Hattu never told you what Choosing actually entails?”

“Only that I was chosen by the Council to fulfill a single task,” I told him. The elf had blocked the entire doorway, and Hilami, as I found out upon getting closer to her, had blocked the room's only window. No path to escape, no opportunity to run away.

“Choosing is a magical ritual that binds the soul of the recipient with the task they've been assigned to,” Edagri explained. “The ritual grants the recipient a solemn responsibility. They must complete their task, one way… or another.”

“I've been cursed…” I realized. The horror came crashing down upon me all at once. I nearly collapsed under the imposing weight. Breathe… Breathe? What was that? I could not breathe…

“Cursed is a rather strong word, Halliyah Zikatta,” Edagri told me. “Hattu, may peace find his soul, was desperate. The world needed a hero, and the world chose you. I'm sorry you had to find this out fifteen years later.”

Dizzy… So dizzy. I could feel the vomit burn the back of my throat. Hattu, a man I considered my friend, someone I held near and dear to my heart, why would he do such a thing? Why did he do this to me?

"...but worry not, for Freehold has some of the best forges..."

“Why? Why me?” I asked.

Now I had to fight the Demon Lord again.

"Halliyah?"

The world itself had conspired to make it so. I could not keep running forever. Giorg and Ipas were correct about that much.

"Is he going to be alright?"

Hilami was also right. The gods themselves had come to collect their payment.

"He looks a bit off..."

Fifteen years of running away from one regret…

“I can't…”

… just to run into more and more regrets. Old wounds reopened, even though I could not see them. All of them at once. Pain. Absolute pain. My body could not take any more of this. I fell to the floor.

"Oh, gods! He's fallen over!"

Nothing.

•

“Halliyah…”

“He's still asleep. Let him rest.”

“He must drink. The elixir will grant him strength.”

Hilami… King Edagri…? Gods, how much time had passed? How long was I knocked out? I decided I did not want to know. That was none of my business.

“Please, Hilami. He needs rest. That is the only way he can restore his strength.”

“The only way he can restore his strength is to drink. I don't care if you're the King of the Elves. My potions and elixirs have been keeping him alive for all these years. I know what's best for him.”

I felt a strange urge to go back to sleep.