In the dark room, only two candles -a six and a five- pierced the shadows, lighting dimly the faces of the many guests. The candles rested on a delicious-looking chocolate cake, facing an elderly woman with a bright smile. Around her, everybody sang.

“Happy birthday to you, grandma! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you, grandma! Happy birthday to youuuu!”

Then, just as the small crowd finished, she blew out the candles in one powerful breath, eliciting a round of applause. Some even shouted “Hurray!” or “Congrats!”, as one of the guests turned the lights on.

The small crowd then gathered around a big oak table the cake was resting on, eager to eat it. Some hid their gourmandise well, some did not, especially the children. The cake baker -the woman’s cadet- swiftly cut it in many slices to be shared, so everyone could enjoy the fruit of his labour. Then, he sat and turned to his mother to his right, who had already tasted a piece of her slice.

“How is it, mom?” He asked, excited to get her approval.

“My! It’s delicious! Thank you very much, Roland!” She exclaimed, her grin of enjoyment frank and happy.

“You’re welcome, mom. I’m glad you like it.”

“You know, at first, I was a bit sceptical about your bakery project. You know how I am, with my obsession for stability since your father left us. But now, I can see how dedicated and successful you are. You really established yourself. I’m proud of you.”

“Oh, mum… Thanks. Thanks a lot.” Said Rolland, his eyes bright with unshed tears.

“With pleasure, dearie. With great pleasure.” Livia replied, reaching for her son’s shoulder.

Suddenly, a high-pitched voice made itself heard to her right. “Grandmaaa! Grandma, I got a gift for you!” The voice belonged to a nine years old girl called Céline. She constituted a star worth of excitement and energy all by herself, in a way characteristic to young children still full of innocent wonder. Coincidentally, Livia had grown quite fond of the little girl, and often told her she was her favourite grand-daughter (a secret between the two of them, never to be revealed!) when they were in private. This did nothing to prevent her from saying something similar to each of her grandchildren, of course.

“Oh sweetie, it wasn’t necessary! Thank you!”

“You’re welcome grandma!” Replied the little ball of excitement, handing her the gift wrapped in a colourful paper. Livia opened it, revealing a noodle necklace covered in glitter.

“Sweetie, it’s beautiful!”

“Really?”

“Of course! Look! I’m going to wear it right away!” Livia replied, and as she did, she donned the necklace around her clavicle, adorning the top of her chest with flashes of colours. “I love it. Come here sweetie!” She said, while bending to catch the little girl in her arms, giving her a kiss on the forehead. Céline departed from the table to play with her cousins with a radiant smile.

The party went on, as the evening slowly took the place of the afternoon. One after one, guests left the family house, inhabited by more and more silence. Finally, only one guest remained: Rolland. Livia and her son embraced tightly as they made their goodbyes on the front porch. Then, he spun around and walked towards his bicycle, got on it and rode into the sunset, still waving at his mother with one arm.

Livia sighed deeply. It had been a nice birthday, and an especially nice family reunion. Although, there was still one guest left who had not come, whose she decided to visit herself. She grabbed her coat, put on her boots -it had rained recently, thus some places remained somewhat muddy- and locked the door, ready to embark on a little walk she knew like the back of her hand.

As she strode, she found Satigny to be truly beautiful at sunset, especially when the Geneva lake was visible.

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No more than ten minutes later, she reached her destination: the cemetery. There, she still walked for some moments, before stopping at a specific grave.

On the tombstone were written the words: “Levi Nando Wyler 1958-2019”

“Good evening, sweet heart.” Livia greeted the grave in a nostalgic tone. “It’s the fifth birthday I spent without you. Instead of you, there were our children and our grand-children to my side. How proud of them you would be! They all are so healthy and blooming. Roland has finally changed career, and I must concede to you that yes, an engineer degree was not made for him. He’s a baker now, and a pretty good one at that. Susi is still in Zurich, even though her studies are long over. She is working on yet another house project. Sometimes, I feel like I could be unstoppable with only half her enthusiasm. And Juna perseveres through her surgery studies. If all goes well, she will graduate in six months. You can’t imagine how excited and tenacious she is.” She smiled, marking a pause, then continued. “Of course, I’m not going to bore you with the grandchildren. Just know that we have a good chance of becoming great-grandparents in the not-so-distant future.”

She had stopped talking, and yet, she remained standing, as if waiting for a miracle to happen. One she knew would never come. So she resumed talking.

“As for me, well… I kept the good old six shooter, and I train once a month at the firing range with Selma. I’m now nicknamed “the sheriff” because of my good aim by almost everyone. You should see their faces when I’m in an intense mood! Newcomers never expect an old lady like me to be so accurate. And I also go on walks, of course. These knees aren’t going to maintain themselves, after all! We both know immobility is for the octogenarians. Anyway. I bid you goodbye, darling.”

Without a single look back, she left the cemetery, almost as quickly as she had arrived. She returned to her house with hasty steps, eager to come back to her home. And yet, as she faced the front porch, she stopped dead in her tracks. Just before her door proudly stood an albatross. A magnificent and august albatross. It took her breath away.

It could not be, could it? Surely, they did not need help anymore?

There was only one way to find out. She stepped towards the large bird, who did not move in the slightest, and found a letter encased in a metallic cylinder around its neck. She took the cylinder, unsealed it, and began to read.

Dear Levi, dear Livia,

I hope this missive finds you well. I am sure that people as resourceful as you have many projects and occupations, however, Arlos needs your help once again. I am truly sorry, for we could not find a replacement to your title. Indeed, we were unable to find any new suitable candidate for the Herald of Light or their companion. I know that it has been ten years, and that you may not find yourselves up to the task, yet I am begging. You two are our last hope. Please, come back to us for one last mission, and we will never bother you again. Arlos is in great danger. Should you accept this mission, you should be able to find us through our usual means. May the Light guide your path.

Your ever-loyal friend,

Zaori

“Well, well, well… Looks like I’m in for another ride. Once again.They must be desperate to seek help from me.” She turned to the Albatross. “I’ll be ready by noon tomorrow. Now please get out of the way, I have a pack to prepare and arrangements to make.”

The bird complied, stepping aside with phlegm. She entered her home, and quickly went to work. First, she went to her computer, and sent emails -not text messages, mind you- to her relatives, pretending she had planned in advance a trip across the European continent that could take her anywhere from five days to three months to finish. Of course, she also expressed her most sincere gratitude, in order to calm the suspicions of the most perceptive relatives. Then, she shut down the machine. Where she was going, high-tech such as this was useless. Therefore, she packed only the essentials in a big tactical backpack from her years in the military. In it went: a manual toothbrush with two tubes of toothpaste, a first-aid kit, a bath glove, a solid block of soap, a rechargeable flashlight, a water canteen, a poncho, a second pair of hiking boots, two walking sticks, a sleeping bag, a single set of cutlery with an iron plate, a lighter and one hundred rounds of .357 Magnum cartridges.

Then, she opened a suitcase from which she pulled a holster holding her only firearm: a Smith and Wesson Model 27 revolver. It constituted a rather antiquated gun, but she loved it nonetheless. Its 270 millimetres-long barrel -the longest possible- gave it an air of hand-held cannon she relished: It was a true Big Iron. She put the holster at her hip, attaching it to her belt. Whatever crisis the Arlos kingdom was entangled in, she would solve it.

Livia then attached a second holster to her belt, this one containing a swiss army knife.

She was ready. Therefore, she opened a small wooden box that appeared truly ancient. Light emerged from it, similar to a video projector. The gunslinger turned the box around so the light could face a blank wall, and placed it on the floor. Soon, the rays took a circular shape on the surface, their colours morphing into a uniform and intense blue. Then, just as the phenomenon reached its paroxysm, the inside of the circle turned white.

“This is it.” She thought. “The moment of truth. What did Zaori say? Ah yes, may the Light guide my path…”

Then, without any other afterthought, she entered the portal.