The first thing that I heard the next morning was the sound of a few small birds chirping gently from just outside of my window.

Then, slowly, I began to lift up my head, and to look around.

I was laying on a small cot in the same little wooden house that I had been sleeping in for these last three weeks. But, I had no idea how I had gotten here, or why my body hurt so terribly.

Then, the memory of everything that had happened the night before raced through my mind. And as I remembered what had happened to Praxa, I began to almost lift myself out of the bed, looking around to see if she was anywhere near by, and if she was okay.

And then… I saw her laying down on the ground, as she breathed slowly in, and out.

She was bandaged up, and there was a nasty cut along her forehead, and some dried blood around her lips. But, she was breathing, at least… and as far as I could tell, she didn’t seem to be in any sort of mortal danger.

Right then, that was about the most that I could have asked for. And I felt waves of relief and of sadness washing over me, as I realized that I hadn’t lost her yet, and that the two of us might really be okay.

Then, I looked around a little more to my side…

… and I noticed that Praxa and I weren’t the only people in the room.

In the same bed that they’d been sleeping in for the last few weeks, Aaron and Lily were curled up together, as they held each other close.

Each of them looked very, very sad. And I imagined that last night must have been very hard for both of them – and that each of them must be pretty exhausted, after what had happened.

For a moment, I felt very confused, as I tried to figure out how all of us had survived.

But then, I noticed that there was one more person in the room.

Seated at his table, and slowly drawing a large, and beautiful sketch of a bowl of fruit just in front of him, I saw Roger, dressed in a long, brown robe, that was soaked in blood.

He must have heard me moving around in my bed because a few moments later, he glanced back towards me, and smiled gently in my direction.

“Hello, there,” he said.

“Hi, Roger.”

And then, the two of us began to laugh a little, as he came over, and took a spot by my side.

“I hadn’t expected to see you again so soon,” I said.

“I’m sure that you hadn’t.”

Then, his features took on a much more serious, and a much more thoughtful expression.

“I heard that the army was on the move about a day and a half ago,” he continued. “I rushed back towards here as fast as I could… but by then, it was too late. It was as much as I could do to get you and the young girl to safety, before anybody realized who I was.”

“Who won the battle,” I asked.

“We did,” he said, quietly. “Although I wouldn’t say that there were any winners out there by the end.”

“Were you the one who found us?”

“No,” he said. “You owe that much to the two of them.”

And then, Roger pointed off Aaron and Lily, who were still laying fast asleep on their bed.

“I found them out in the woods, right on the edge of the battlefield,” he continued. “They were standing over the two of you, and shielding you with their bodies… and they were screaming out in rage, and in sorrow, and waving small sticks and rocks at anybody who approached. I don’t think that any of the soldiers really knew how to handle that situation. But, since neither of you were moving, nobody decided to attack them… and they were able to protect the two of you for just long enough to keep you alive.”

“That’s when I saw you, and rushed over as fast as I possibly could. From there, I took the two of you back home, and began to tend to your wounds. I would have left to go back to the battlefield… but I knew that the girl would probably die if I stopped healing her for even a second. And, after what you did for me before… it was the least that I could do to keep her safe, and to make sure that she’d be here for you when you woke back up.”

“Thank you,” I said, quietly.

He nodded his head slowly. And then, he laughed a little, as he gave me a somewhat mischievous smile. “But, I consider my debt paid to you now, you know. I’ll help you to look after the children, still, of course. But, the next time that I have to choose between your life, and the greater good… you may not be so lucky, William.”

I could only smile a little, as I tried to sit back up in my bed.

“That’s alright. I certainly don’t plan on ending up in a situation like that again anytime too soon.”

Then, I noticed that Praxa was just beginning to stir a bit, as she rolled over in her bed.

I found myself absorbed by the sight of her… and I felt my heart overflowing with warmth, and with tenderness, as I looked towards her peaceful, and gentle face.

“Would you like to be alone with her when she wakes up,” Roger asked me softly.

“I would,” I said. “If that’s okay with you, I mean.”

“It is,” he said. “I needed to go back into town as it was, now that my magic’s begun to replenish, in order to try to do some good there. At any rate, it looks like she should be up soon, so… I’ll leave the two of you alone for now.”

“Is she going to recover completely,” I asked, as the old man knelt back up from the ground.

“She will,” he said. “If it had been only a few minutes more, she might not have… but she’s going to be completely fine. The only lasting damage will be that scar that’s on her forehead. But given how much worse it could have been… that’s not too bad a price to pay, in the end – although obviously, we aren’t out of trouble just yet, after what has happened...”

I nodded.

“I’m glad that she’s okay, at least,” I said. “And myself? Do I have any lasting wounds of my own?”

“You’ll be fine, too,” he said. “There’s nothing to worry about there at all. We can talk about that a bit more later… but, for now, I’ll just leave the two of you to yourselves. Take care of yourself for now, William… and I’ll be back to talk with you some more in a little while.”

Then, Roger grabbed a few things from his table, before he slipped out through the door, and closed it softly behind him on the way.

And then, a few moments later, I saw Praxa beginning to stir from her rest.

At first, she rubbed her eyes, and looked around, in some confusion...

And then, her eyes locked onto mine… and each of us smiled gently at the other, as I slowly raised myself up out of bed, and knelt down by her side.

“Hey, there,” I said.

“Hey,” she whispered. “Are we okay?”

“We’re both fine. Roger was able to find us, and left just a few moments ago. You have a small scar on your forehead… but that’s it. Other than that, there’s nothing wrong with you… or with me.”

“Oh,” she said. “That’s really good.”

I nodded.

“Yeah, it is… it’s really good.”

“It’s really, really good,” I whispered.

And then, the two of us held each other tightly, as I laid down by her side, and pulled her towards me.

For a little while, we stayed like that, as we held each other close… but then, I leaned back, and looked down into her soft, green eyes.

“I really, really like you, Praxa.”

“I really, really like you too, William… I like you so, so much.”

“I was so scared back then,” she added softly, as she began to cry.

“I was scared, too,” I whispered.

“Would you just stay here and hold me for a while,” she asked.

“Yeah… yeah, I will,” I said. “For as long as you like…”

And then, I wrapped her once more in my arms, as she nuzzled against my body, and pressed her soft, red hair against my chest.

I don’t really know how much time passed like that. But, I imagine that I must have ended up falling back asleep for quite a while… because when I finally opened up my eyes again, I felt Praxa gently running her fingers through my hair, as Aaron and Lily sat in front of us, and talked with her excitedly.

Lily was resting herself on Praxa’s chest, and holding her friend very tightly… and Aaron was sitting by her side, as well, and holding Praxa’s hand, as he told her about everything that had happened, and about how Roger had come to save us, and about what it had been like for them to watch all of the events unfold.

Then, a little while later, the three of them noticed that I had woken back up…

… and after that, Aaron and Lily leapt over to embrace me… and for a while, we talked about everything that had happened, and about how much we had nearly lost.

For a while, the time passed like that in the little wooden house, as each of us woke back up from our slumbers, and took in the whole weight of the events. And then, I heard a soft, and gentle knocking on the door.

A few moments later, Roger came back inside, and greeted each of us, and said hello.

The children seemed as if they could hardly have been any happier to have seen him. And at once, they ran towards him, and embraced him in their arms, as they thanked him over and over again.

It was clear that Praxa wanted to thank him too. But she was still very weak right then, and it was hard for her to move, or to find the strength to get back up. So Roger came over to meet her instead… and then, he introduced himself to the young woman whose life he had saved, and she introduced herself to him as well, as she thanked him for everything that he had done.

For some time, we stayed like that together and talked.

But then, after the five of us had spoken together for a while, Roger asked me if I would come with him into town.

I was a bit confused by that request. But after he told me that he would like some help with some of the recovery efforts in Westfall, I agreed at once. It was a little hard to leave Praxa right then. But, after what Roger had done for me, it was the least that I could do to go with him, and to help out a bit in town.

And so, the two of us stepped out into the cool, fresh morning air, as we took a few steps out through the woods.

Then, Roger stopped in place, and glanced back towards me.

“I should tell you… what I said to you back in there was a lie, William. But… I didn’t know if any of them knew quite yet – so I wanted to wait until we were outside to begin to talk. Let’s go this way, if you don’t mind. It should be private there, and it should give us a good bit of time to discuss something of importance.”

I followed after him… but I felt my blood turning cold as he spoke. I didn’t sense any malice, or ill-intention in his words – but I felt very, very afraid, all the same.

“To discuss what, exactly,” I asked.

“To discuss just how you were able to recover so completely from your wounds, without my intervention,” he said, slowly. “And also… to discuss that rather interesting mark that you have beneath your glove… exactly on the palm of your right hand.”