PART 4

A faint mumbling echoed from inside. Lia knocked again, but there was no response; only the incomprehensible mumbling continued. She cautiously

opened the door.

The old soldier lay on the bed, sweat glistening on his face. When he saw Lia, his eyes began to shine with a peculiar light.

“Mara... dear Mara, you've come back!” He whispered hoarsely, extending his trembling hand toward the girl.

Lia took the old man's hand, and he began to stroke it.

“Mara, my dear little wife, you are alive!”

Lia's throat tightened. He's not himself, she thought; he thinks I'm his wife. I wonder what could have happened to his wife.

“Come here beside me, Mara,” the old man coughed. “Stay with me for the night, like before...”

“Mattias...” Lia was about to start, but the old man interrupted.

“Wait! There's something for you.” He struggled to sit up and searched his bag. “Here it is. The best weapon I've ever acquired. It's a wizard's pistol.”

Another cough shook him. “If the Black Tunic ones come, you can protect yourself with this, you understand? Here's how to unholster it and then aim!

If you're not using it, relock it.”

Lia watched the strange weapon and the soldier's explanation with interest and slowly sat down on the edge of the bed. The old man pressed the

weapon into her hand, then lovingly gazed at the girl's slender little fingers.

“You look as beautiful now as the day we met, Mara. Your skin is silky smooth. I am no longer worried about you. Having this will ensure your safety.”

I can't tell him the truth, thought Lia, and she squeezed the old man's hand. For an hour, she sat there beside him, listening to the fevered stories he

told about the old days, their life together with Mara, and only let go of his hand when the old man dozed off.

“Don't go, Mara, my dear little wife! It's wonderful to see you again...” whispered the old man, as a cough shook his body. Lia stood up, observing the

soldier sympathetically as he slowly drifted off to sleep, his face now creased not from pain but from a joyful smile.

Lia walked thoughtfully towards the room she shared with Eszti. Before sliding the peculiar weapon into her pocket, she carefully re-engaged the safety,

just as Mattias had shown her. The girl had heard stories about the wizards' fearsome weapons – according to the rumors, they were capable of immense

destruction, and in people's imaginations, they lived on as large and extraordinary devices. That's why she was surprised that this pistol was such a simple,

lightweight little object.

Still under the influence of what had happened, she walked into their room. Upon her arrival, Eszti sprung out of bed, dashed over to her, and embraced

her tightly. In a panic, she asked, "Where have you been?" and began stroking Lia's back.

“What did he want from you? Maybe he scolded you or...”

“Mattias is dying, Eszti. That's why he called me,” Lia said, shaken, her words surprising even herself.

“And he just told you this?” The other one wondered.

“No, he didn't tell me.” Lia took Eszti by the hand, and they went to the bed and sat down on the edge. Lia recounted everything that happened in the old

man's room, but she carefully omitted the part where she received the magic weapon. Eszti listened with her mouth agape.

“So, the Black Tunics killed Mara,” Eszti concluded at the end of the report, her eyes glistening with tears. “Poor Mattias...”

"Yes, I empathized with him, as you do; that is why I permitted him to touch my hand." Believe me, I didn't feel like he was holding me ‘that way.’ I felt

more like...”

Lia's voice choked. Eszti hugged her, fully empathizing with the other person's emotions.

“I felt that if I had a man like Mattias in my life, I would hope that at the end of our journey, we would hold each other's hands like this – exactly like

this,” Lia said, looking into Eszti's eyes, who was already crying. The girl wiped her friend's face.

“Don't cry, my darling! I will always take care of our friendship!”

Eszti smiled, then shivered with cold. Outside, the nights were getting cooler, the room had also cooled down a bit, and she was only wearing her little

nightgown with holes at the shoulders.

“Well, it's time to get into bed!” Lia spoke with a hint of cheerfulness, and Eszti quickly hid under the blanket. Lia went to the washroom, washed her face,

undressed, washed her upper body a bit, and then put on her nightgown as well. By the time she reached the room, Eszti was already fast asleep.

She carefully snuggled up next to the girl, embraced her as usual, and thus, in complete harmony, they fell asleep.

The next day, the old soldier was already waiting impatiently for them in front of the inn.

“While the apprentice was sleeping, I already had breakfast, packed my bag, and have been waiting here for half an hour!” he grumbled. Lia curiously

scrutinized the old man, but he showed no sign of remembering what had happened between the two of them in the room.

“Excuse me, sir!” replied Lia. Eszti was still munching on the last bite of breakfast as she sleepily descended the stairs.

“I managed to find out that there are a few villages just a few days' journey to the north from here, and our friend might be in one of them!” Mattias continued,

turning his back to them, stepping out of the yard, and heading down the road. The girls hurriedly followed. They left the village, and the brisk walk felt

beneficial in the cool morning.

“It would be best to go by coach, don't you think?” The old soldier, who was limping even more than usual that day, pondered this.

“As I already mentioned, sir, we wouldn't want my father to find out...”

The old man suddenly stopped, turned towards the two girls, and his face became serious. “Off the road, apprentice!”

Lia and Eszti saw nothing in the area, but they immediately obeyed the command and hid behind the bushes by the roadside. The road climbed up a

small hill. A small one-horse cart appeared, with a young man and woman sitting inside and two smaller children huddled together in the back, shivering.

The old soldier stared off into the distance, and it was then that Lia also heard a sound.

Twelve blue-coated horsemen galloped after the cart; the foreign soldiers shouted for the cart to stop. During the chase, they didn't even notice Matthias,

who waited for the cart to pass by him, then jumped into the middle of the road and struck the first rider in the chest with the hilt of his sword, causing him

to fall off his horse. The riders quickly stopped and surrounded him.

“Dirty rebel bandits! What are you doing in our country?” He yelled so loudly that the soldiers looked at each other in confusion.

One of them, a short, gaunt-faced soldier, dismounted his horse and stepped in front of the old man.

“Man, we have come to restore order in this state, and we are not rebels; we represent order!” he said, emphasizing each word distinctly.

“We will catch the Red Bandit, who has been pillaging our area and is now heading towards village Bushy! But who are you to block our path?” he asked.

“I am Commander Mattias, a soldier of the King!” replied the old man proudly, and as he straightened up, it turned out he was taller than the other.

The blue-uniformed soldier drew his sword and raised it to the old man's neck. “Do you know who you're talking to, man? We are Lord Kevin's soldiers;

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the King does not command us! If I wanted to, I could cut off your head right here and now!” He hissed, a twisted smile on his face. Mattias also

started grinning.

“It would be better if you went back to your damned lord!” he said.

The man in blue shirt angrily pressed the blade against the old man's neck.

“Don't you understand, man, that I can kill you here and now?”

“Go ahead, rebel!” replied Mattias.

The soldier in blue raised his sword, but as he was about to strike, the old man swiftly grabbed his scabbard, parried the blow, and then struck him hard

on the head.

The soldier collapsed, and his comrades, shouting, charged at Mattias. It seemed that the old man was at a disadvantage against ten horsemen, but

the girls only saw that no matter how hard the Blueshirts tried to hit the old man while sitting on their horses, he dodged the horses and swords, drew

his own sword, and struck at his attackers with either the sword or the sword's scabbard.

Among the Blueshirts, four or five fell off their horses; one clutched his stomach after a stab, another grabbed his throat, and blood gushed from the cut.

Eszti covered her eyes in horror, having never witnessed the slaying of people with swords. The horses' neighing, the clanging of weapons, and the

groans of the wounded completely paralyzed her; with her small hands, she could only cling to the branches of the bush.

However, Lia's rage grew stronger and stronger as she watched the conflict. She drew the short sword from Eszti's belt, rushed out of the bush, and

charged at the nearest horseman with a loud shout. Eszti's heart nearly leaped out of her chest as she reached for Lia. She wanted to shout,

‘Don't go,’ but no sound came out of her throat. With trembling knees, she watched as her friend's blade glinted in the morning light. Lia fiercely

slashed at the Blueshirt's hand and leg, causing him to fall, crying out, onto his horse's neck. The horse then galloped away with him.

“That was a nice hit, Corporal Radik!” shouted Mattias, and Lia watched in horror as the old man's steps were no longer steady, his strikes not as

precise. She surmised that he might be experiencing another intense dream.

“Watch out, Commander Mattias! Sir!” She yelled and attempted to strike another rider, but her sword veered off course and struck the horse's

hindquarters instead, causing the animal to neigh and fling its rider off. By this time, most of the riders were either dead or had fallen off their horses,

lying unconscious or injured on the road. However, four of them managed to pull themselves together. Despite their injuries, they continued to fight

and made their way toward Mattias.

The old soldier straightened up, gripping his bloody sword tightly. “In the name of the King! Forward, soldiers!” he shouted towards Lia, raised his sword,

parried the first blow, and countered. After that, he stabbed the second man, then used the sword's scabbard to strike the third man in the head. Lia struck

the fourth Blueshirt's back with her sword, and blood splattered into her eyes. The man dropped his weapon with a scream and fell face-first onto the road.

“Well done, corporal!” smiled the old soldier, looking around. The Blueshirts lay around them, dead or moaning in pain, while the soldiers' horses wandered

aimlessly along the roadside. “Just like at Rock City, right?”

“Yes, sir!” Lia spoke, feeling her hand begin to tremble, so she tightly gripped the hilt of her sword.

Mattias let out a deep sigh. “These ones won't harm our people anymore!” he said, wiping his bloody sword with a rag he pulled from his pocket.

Lia sheathed the short sword into her belt and then took a rope from one of the horses. She quickly began examining the soldiers lying on the ground.

She took the weapons from the soldiers she found alive and tied their hands. She reached the third person, the unconscious, wizened-faced, short, bluish

man whom old Mattias had knocked down at the very beginning. Lia reached for the man's hand to bind him, but he suddenly lunged at the girl's eyes and

jumped up. Lia gasped, touched her eye, and fell backward.

The Blueshirt screamed, "Death to the King!" as he grabbed a sword from the road and slashed at Mattias, utterly surprising him. The man in blue initially

struck the old man's shoulder, and then, in a subsequent move, stabbed him in the chest. The King's soldier slowly collapsed.

“This is what happens to those who defy the Lord!” He shouted, then pulled his bloody sword from the old man's body and turned towards Lia. To his

greatest surprise, he saw the strange object in the girl's hand, and in fright, he dropped his sword.

“Good heavens! Is that a magic device?” he shouted, looking around desperately. Lia unholstered the pistol and took aim at him. The gaunt-faced man

screamed and began to flee.

He shouted, "Wizard!" as he ran, but the thunderous sound of the gun firing drowned out his voice. The man in the blue shirt fell forward, his body

thudding loudly on the road.

Lia could still barely see, her ears ringing from the gunshot. She hurriedly put away the pistol, then jumped up and ran to old Mattias. Eszti also emerged

from the bushes. Her legs were still trembling, and tears were streaming down her face. She rushed over to the old soldier and knelt beside Lia.

Although she saw that Lia had used the strange weapon, she didn't ask anything.

Lia did not cry. She tore a piece from the old man's shirt and pressed it against the bleeding wound.

“Eszti! Run to the village for the doctor!” She cried desperately.

They could hear hooves and wheels. That little cart stopped next to them, the one Mattias heroically saved from the attack of the Blueshirts.

The man sitting on the box spoke to them.

“Girls! What happened to the fighter? Was he injured? We would like to thank him for what he did for us!”

Eszti ran up to them. “Please, take me back to the village! We need to get a doctor!” Without hesitation, the family picked her up and immediately left.

“Mara...” whispered the old soldier, and with his trembling hand, he gently stroked Lia's face. “Don't cry, my dear! I knew you would come back...”

“Mattias, please, hold on!” Lia's voice choked. “The doctor will be here soon.”

The old man's gaze was hazy as he looked at Lia's face. “Do you remember when we first met? At the market square... you looked lovely in your red dress...”

Lia attempted to smile as the elderly hand caressed her face, and then she took it and kissed it.

The old man smiled, then unexpectedly continued in a sharp tone:

“Apprentice!” he spoke clearly, and his gaze also cleared. “I know that you are not Mara. You can't be her... Mara didn't come back. Death is unreturnable."

Lia nodded but did not let go of the old man's hand.

“Go to Bushy! There... go there.” A cough shook Mattias's body. “Do you understand, apprentice? Our friend will be there; he will be there.”

The rumbling of the cart aroused Lia. Eszti and the doctor quickly returned. The middle-aged, overweight doctor leaped from the coach, surveyed the scene

with horror, and rushed to Lia and the injured Mattias. Lia stepped aside as the doctor hastily attempted to treat the old man's wounds. However, Mattias

suddenly yelled out, his body tightened, and he collapsed back, lifeless.