Chapter 22: Where Hope Walks
1135 Words
The scream echoed through Greenhollow.
"Please! Somebody help!"
Echo instinctively took a step forward.
His hand tightened around the wooden sword hanging at his side.
Before he could move any further...
A gentle hand rested on his shoulder.
"Echo."
Dorothy's voice was calm.
Not loud.
Not commanding.
Simply calm.
He turned toward her.
"Take a deep breath."
"...But someone—"
"I know."
Her warm eyes met his frightened ones.
"If you let panic control you..."
"...your hands won't be able to help anyone."
Echo inhaled deeply.
The pounding in his chest slowly settled.
Dorothy gave a small nod.
"Good."
"Now..."
"...let's save as many people as we can."
---
The village square had become a place of desperate hope.
Wooden carts had been turned into makeshift beds.
Blankets covered the ground.
The smell of smoke lingered in the air, mixed with herbs and blood.
Healers hurried from one patient to another.
Children cried in the arms of exhausted parents.
Some villagers silently prayed.
Others simply stared at the sky.
Echo stood frozen.
He had imagined adventures.
He had imagined monsters.
He had never imagined...
This.
---
The moment Dorothy entered the square...
Everything changed.
One healer looked up.
"...Lady Dorothy..."
Another nearly burst into tears.
"Thank goodness..."
"You came."
The worried whispers spread quickly.
"Lady Dorothy is here."
"We're saved..."
"She'll know what to do."
Echo looked around in surprise.
Nobody celebrated.
Nobody shouted.
Yet every face carried a little more hope.
It was as though the village had been holding its breath...
And had finally been allowed to breathe again.
---
Dorothy observed the entire square with a single glance.
Her voice became firm.
"You, continue treating burns."
"You, boil fresh water."
"Prepare clean bandages."
"Move the lightly injured beneath the shade."
Every healer immediately obeyed.
No one questioned her.
Edric quietly smiled.
"...Just like before."
---
Then Dorothy turned.
"Mira."
She didn't explain.
She didn't give instructions.
She simply called her name.
Mira immediately understood.
"Yes, Master."
Without another word...
She walked toward the injured.
Echo blinked.
"...That's it?"
Edric noticed his confusion.
"...Lady Dorothy doesn't need to tell Mira what to do."
"...She already knows."
---
A young boy lay unconscious beneath a torn blanket.
His breathing was shallow.
His frightened mother knelt beside him.
"Please..."
"...Please save my son..."
Mira knelt beside the child.
Unlike Echo...
Her hands didn't shake.
She gently checked the boy's pulse.
Examined his breathing.
Carefully cleaned the wound on his forehead before placing her hands above it.
A soft emerald light bloomed around her fingers.
Gentle.
Comforting.
Like spring leaves swaying beneath warm sunlight.
The child slowly inhaled.
His breathing became steady.
His eyelids trembled.
"...Mother...?"
The woman immediately embraced him, tears streaming down her face.
"You're awake..."
"Oh, thank goodness..."
Mira smiled softly.
"Don't let him move too much."
"He'll recover."
She stood and quietly walked toward the next patient.
As though this wasn't the first life she had helped save.
---
Echo stared.
"...She's incredible."
Edric folded his arms.
"...She always has been."
Echo looked at him.
"...Has she done this before?"
Edric smiled faintly.
"...More times than most adults."
---
Nearby...
An elderly woman noticed Mira.
Her wrinkled hands trembled.
"...That girl..."
Her eyes widened.
"...Could she be..."
Before she finished...
Her husband gently touched her shoulder.
"Don't."
"...If Lady Dorothy hasn't said anything..."
"...Neither should we."
The old woman quietly nodded.
Echo caught only a few words.
"...What were they talking about?"
Edric remained silent.
"...Another time."
---
Meanwhile...
Dorothy treated a wounded guard whose arm had been deeply slashed.
"Echo."
"...Yes!"
"Grind these herbs."
Echo immediately accepted the pouch.
His movements were clumsy at first.
Leaves scattered across the table.
He frowned.
"I'm making a mess..."
Dorothy smiled while continuing to clean the wound.
"Everyone does."
"Just don't stop."
Echo tried again.
Slower.
Carefully.
This time...
The herbs formed a smooth green paste.
Dorothy accepted it with a nod.
"Well done."
Those two words somehow felt more rewarding than winning any sparring match.
---
"Kodie."
A quiet voice answered.
"...I'm here."
Echo looked around.
He hadn't even noticed Kodie disappear.
Dorothy continued.
"Watch the forest."
"If anything moves..."
"I want to know before it reaches us."
"...Understood."
Within seconds...
Kodie vanished among the trees.
Echo scratched his head.
"...Does he ever actually walk?"
---
The afternoon passed quickly.
Echo carried water.
Prepared medicine.
Helped calm frightened children.
Mira moved tirelessly from one patient to another.
Sometimes beside Dorothy.
Sometimes completely on her own.
Dorothy rarely corrected her.
Instead...
She quietly observed.
At one point, Mira finished healing a farmer's injured shoulder.
Dorothy simply smiled.
"Excellent judgment."
Mira lowered her head respectfully.
"...Thank you, Master."
Echo noticed something.
Dorothy wasn't teaching Mira how to heal.
She was teaching her...
How to make decisions.
---
Several hours later...
A little girl hugged Mira tightly.
"Thank you..."
"My brother woke up."
Mira gently patted her head.
"I'm glad."
The little girl looked up innocently.
"...Are you really the Saintess?"
Everything became quiet.
Echo blinked.
"...Saintess?"
The girl's mother quickly pulled her back.
"I'm so sorry!"
"Children say strange things."
Mira simply smiled.
"It's alright."
She neither confirmed...
Nor denied it.
Dorothy continued preparing medicine as though she hadn't heard a thing.
Edric quietly looked away.
Echo felt curiosity bubbling inside him.
But seeing everyone remain silent...
He chose not to ask.
Not yet.
---
As evening approached...
The cries of pain slowly became conversations.
The conversations slowly became laughter.
Not because everything had been fixed...
But because hope had returned.
Echo sat beneath the shade of a large oak.
His arms ached.
His clothes were stained with dirt and crushed herbs.
"I..."
"...Didn't fight a single monster."
Dorothy sat beside him.
"Do you regret coming?"
Echo looked across the square.
Children smiled again.
The wounded guard was joking with his companions.
Families reunited.
He slowly shook his head.
"No."
"I think..."
"...Saving people is harder."
Dorothy smiled warmly.
"It always has been."
---
Suddenly...
A rustle came from the forest.
Kodie emerged from the shadows.
His expression remained calm.
Too calm.
"...Master."
Dorothy immediately stood.
"What did you find?"
Kodie looked toward the dark treeline.
"There are tracks."
"They've stopped hiding."
A heavy silence settled over the village.
Echo instinctively reached for his sword.
His heartbeat quickened.
Not because he wanted glory.
Because...
There were now people behind him.
People he wanted to protect.
Dorothy slowly turned toward the forest.
The gentle smile she always wore...
Disappeared.
"Everyone."
Her voice echoed across the square.
"Prepare yourselves."
Far beyond the trees...
A deep, unfamiliar roar shook the evening air.
The monsters...
Had returned.
---
End of Chapter 22
«A sword can defeat an enemy...
Healing can save a life...
But true heroes must learn when the world needs one more than the other.»
- Writer
