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“So, look within, when you my absence cry,
I'm not gone. Our love will never die.”
The last couplet of the poem rolled heavily off Leonard’s tongue, yet he forced himself to finish it. It had been one of Belinda’s favorites, and he would do his best to honor her memory.
The cold wind of the last days of winter blew harshly around him, sending his blonde hair flying back. Humidity was high, and had it been any other day, Leonard would have hurried back home, knowing that a storm was coming. But his vigil was not complete, and until that moment arrived, he would not leave his post. His bright green eyes did not leave the grave of the woman he loved.
How vibrant she had been, so in love with life. Her long brown hair, tied in a graceful braid. Her doe-like eyes, staring up at him above the smattering of freckles he liked so much. A gentle smile stretching over her full lips.
If Leonard had less self-control, he would have reached towards her grave, futilely attempting to touch her one last time. Instead, his arms hung heavily at his sides. His hands clenched tightly. He had not worn his armor for the funeral, and so the simple dark fabric that made his clothes would have been shredded to pieces had he been a little less careful. Even in the depth of his grief, however, Leonard retained enough control not to destroy the clothes that Belinda had sewn for him.
For all the strength that to this moment coursed through his veins, Leonard was still impotent when confronted with her death.
Oh, he had tried to heal her. The Holy Light had answered his call as eagerly as it always did since his victory over the Void, illuminating their little cottage. But there had been nothing to do.
Belinda had been dead the moment the Void’s Dew-tainted tea touched her lips. She had gracefully folded into herself, the last vestiges of life allowing her to sit back down. She was merely a Journeyman, and the blood of a Scourge was too much for her to bear.
Before he could cast the first healing spell after ridding himself of the poison, her soul had left her body. [True Resurrection] would not work with a tainted corpse, and if he cleansed it, little would be left.
Two days had passed from that moment, and yet Leonard could still see it repeating itself before him.
The woman he would have married in a few short weeks joyfully opened a pack that had arrived from the capital. Within, she found several goods that were hard to come by, as the town of Alpar was far from proper civilization. She smiled and puttered about, preparing the fresh new tea for the both of them, enjoying the simple task.
Alpar used to be a quaint little town before the Incursion, she had told him, and it would go back to that once the refugee crisis was handled. Then, she drank, and it was over.
“We should have left the kingdom like I told you.” He murmured, his words lost in the wind. “You always laughed when I said it, but you would have still been alive, and I could have been an adventurer somewhere in Brander.” The bitterness that colored his tone was something Leonard had done his best to conceal from Belinda, not wanting to spoil her mood with his recriminations for the way the Haylich Kingdom operated.
“She loved Alpar too much to let it go after fighting for it.” A voice came from behind, shaking Leonard out of his grief.
Turning around, he was faced with an elegant young man in priestly robes. His white cape with the golden trim covered his darker clothes, while the golden diamond affixed to his chest named him as one of the Temple of the Holy Light’s vicars. He had a handsome face, with clean, parted dark hair and intense brown eyes that were scrunched in worry.
“I know. She was too fixated on the idea of helping with the recovery of this town to leave. It’s one of the reasons I loved her.” Leonard answered, a sad smile worming its way on his elegant features.
“Belinda was the kind of person never to leave an unfinished project behind. You should know, you were her favorite one.” Vicar Damien said, turning his gaze to the grave.
A small chuckle rumbled through the graveyard, and Leonard was surprised to realize it came from him. For the last two days, he had felt nothing but grief. It had been so all-consuming that he had wondered if he was doomed to be forever caught in its grasp. But it seemed that even just Belinda’s memory was enough to save him once more.
“I was a mess when she found me, that’s true. I had been fighting the Incursion for two years by then, and there didn’t seem to be an end to the creatures that could spawn from the Void. She showed me there was more to life than constant, relentless slaughter.” He eventually said, thinking back to the long period that followed his arrival in this world. Years of training with the Whiteguard had turned him into a Master tier fighter in record time, but nothing had been able to fill the empty space in his heart. Not until her.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
“In doing so, she saved us all. Without the Hero there to fight for us, the Void would have reached far beyond Hetnia’s borders. Hassel would have fallen had you not been there.” Damien replied. He would know, having spent every waking hour of his day healing the soldiers returning from the provincial capital's frontlines. “And beyond that, she heavily contributed to the fight herself. Maybe not in as flashy a way as you, but her scouting skills allowed thousands to flee from the voidlings.”
Leonard nodded, golden hair swishing with the movement. The reason she caught his attention was the sheer grit the relatively weak woman exhibited. That she had initially been a slave and only been freed after signing a binding contract to serve on the frontlines for as long as the Incursion continued had been the first hint that the new world he found himself in was not as nice as the Royal Court made him believe. “She would have offered her services even without being forced. She was just that good of a person.” He replied, sighing wistfully as he turned to look at her grave.
White marble would not have been her first choice, he knew. She would have liked to be allowed to decompose in the ground. But the number of deaths that the Incursion had caused had made cremation a necessity, lest the graveyards start spawning undead.
Damien, being a talented and attentive vicar with access to Expert tier holy magic, would not have allowed it, but the laws were still active, and no exception could be made until they were amended.
A long moment of silence passed until the priest gathered his courage to say something. “It’s not good for you, being here for too long. I know I won’t get through to you if Amelia hasn’t convinced you, but you should look after yourself. Hero or not, you just went through something traumatic.”
Leonard sighed again, though a small smile tugged at his lips. “She didn’t even try yet. Amelia is not the kind of person to fight a losing battle. She’ll find the perfect moment to convince me. But until then, I will keep my vigil. The third day is almost done anyway.” It wasn’t like he was trying to hurt himself. Leonard just needed to be here in a foolish attempt to grasp the last essence of his greatest love.
After this is done, I will need to face the consequences. What happened cannot go unanswered. But for the moment, I just want to be here for her.
Shoulders slumping, Damien nodded in defeat. He was smart enough to know that Leonard wouldn’t budge, and his duties were never-ending anyway. There was always someone sick in the slums that had grown outside Alpar, and if he didn’t tend to them, they would all weigh on Old Lia and her gaggle of mages.
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The third day’s dawn had just broken, and Leonard finally allowed himself to step back from the grave. His vigil had been difficult, but it had allowed him the time he needed to sort the worst of his feelings out. He still wanted to rage, to call upon the mighty power that resided within him and force the world to suffer for his loss, but that rage had cooled.
Leonard lifted his hair from his eyes, pushing them back. His green gaze swept over the rest of the cemetery, and he couldn’t help but draw comparisons.
Belinda’s grave was as spotless as when it was first laid, having been enchanted directly by him to be impervious to damage. It shimmered in the morning light, the pristine stone reflecting the barest hint of the purity of the woman it contained. It would remain like that for eternity unless a fourth-tier ability was used on it.
Why exactly anyone would want to desecrate the grave of a woman who had spent her life working for others, he didn’t know, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
The rest of the graveyard was in much worse condition. Despite Damien’s and his congregation’s best efforts. And since the town now served as one of the main refugee camps in Hetnia, the number of duties they had had also swelled with the population.
There must be about five to six thousand people outside the walls by now. I don’t understand what the Royal Court is doing after all this time. I closed the last rift four months ago. They should have been already well into their reconstruction efforts, but it increasingly seems they have no intention of touching the southern lands.
“With the way things are going, they might just be hoping Hammerfest starts sending raiders here to enslave everyone. It would probably solve their problem better than they can.” Leonard muttered to himself, finally turning around to leave the graveyard with one last, long look at where his better half would reside for eternity.
The cool air would have been downright uncomfortable had he still been as weak as he was when he had been summoned, but the training the Whiteguard had put him through and the long years of the campaign against the Void had transformed Leonard. Where at his arrival, he was a baseline human, with the weakness that entailed, his body was now made of corded muscle, his every movement capable of shattering his surroundings if he wasn’t careful.
His first class, Hero, had only been the beginning. From there, Leonard kept growing, surpassing barriers his teachers didn’t know existed. His Heroic Blessing, the skill that distinguished Heroes from the average being, allowed him to perceive the invisible System that governed these lands. It made his growth unstoppable. And yet, all that power had meant nothing when the woman he most loved needed him.
His spiraling thoughts were interrupted as four men approached. Their clinking armor identified them as members of the local garrison if the presence of Sir Gerard Dortmund leading them wasn’t enough. They all wore the same set, which was meticulously kept clean, despite the hard times the Corps in the most derelict of the provinces, Hetnia, were going through in the aftermath of the Incursion.
“Sir Gerard.” Leonard greeted, inclining his head toward the commander of the 105th Army Corp. Rather than answer back, however, the man only grunted grimly.
He had the look of someone being forced to do something they really didn’t want to do, but who would still go through with it, if only because it was an order from a superior.
Leonard had seen the same look many times during the Incursion, as soldiers sacrificed themselves to grant fleeing civilians the time needed to reach safety. That a man he respected like Sir Gerard would wear such a face meant that things were dire.
Before he could ask, the three men accompanying the captain fanned out, covering most retreats. They couldn’t stop Leonard if he wanted to keep walking, but out of respect for the knight leading them, he stopped and waited for an explanation.
“Leonard Weiss, Hero and commander of the Heroic Party. You are under arrest for suspicions of the murder of one Belinda Tholum, a ranger in the service of the realm, through the use of poison. Do not resist, or we will use force. In consideration for your services to the kingdom, you have been granted an attorney whom you’ll be allowed to consult once we take you to the courthouse. I suggest you keep silent until then.”
Anything beyond the accusation went completely unheard as Leonard allowed himself to be taken and marched away. He could have torn the men holding him apart with a twitch, but he didn’t. He couldn’t. His mind kept looping, struggling to understand what he had heard.
Deep within him, something broke.