Eloria

Chapter 4

"How can you be so sure?" I asked. Without her, life had felt pointless and I didn't have the motivation to keep going some days. Darius didn't break his gaze from the path ahead, but his words grabbed my shoulders and held me steady.

"If we gave up whenever life felt hard or not worth living, there wouldn't be any reward in the happy moments. Yes, it may be hard right now, but if you continue on, it will be the greatest feeling you could imagine. When you find the reason to keep living, you won't be able to remember how you felt before." Although I thought some of what he said was strange, it made sense in my heart. He seemed to speak from experience and that comforted me.

"What is your reason?" This broke Darius's gaze.

"Excuse me?"

"What is your reason for living? You seem to be so knowledgeable on the subject so I'm curious."

"Her name was Kaya." Darius adverted his gaze to the sky and slipped a small yet said smile.

"Was?"

"When you live as long as I have, sometimes you have to watch the people you love leave before you." 

"I'm sorry." 

"I consider myself lucky. All I have to do is live a life that I think she would want for me and be proud of so I can tell her about it one day." 

"I think that's a nice way to look at it." Darius turned to look at me.

"It's what you should be doing. Make her proud. Live a life that she would be begging to hear about." I took in a deep breath before exhaling. Everyone told me I needed to move on, but they never told me why. Darius somehow made it make sense. I stayed silent even while he seemed to be waiting for an answer. He looked away before speaking again. 

"What was her name?" I stopped. Ever since she had died, I hadn't dared to utter her name. It felt like a curse. Constantly surrounding my every thought. I was afraid that if I spoke it, I would meet the same fate. It was an impossible possibility but I couldn't help the way I thought. 

"Well?" Darius had stopped now too. We were close enough to the town that I could see the stone tower of the church. 

"Well... I think it's been a long day and we're almost there. If we hurry, I can get you to where you need to go before sunset."

"Avoiding pain will only make it hurt more." Darius stared into my eyes. They carried sadness and understanding. I wondered how many tears had stained his long beard. 

"Let's just keep moving." He looked disappointed but he nodded and continued forwards anyways. Our conversation was kept brief afterward but it was better than letting the curse consume me. 

————————————————————————————————

"Well here we are." I opened the door to the carpenter shop. Her father was standing in the corner of the workshop, possibly working on some decorations for a client. As soon as Darius saw him, something in his eyes changed. I couldn't tell if it was happiness, or excitement, or something else. 

"Sorry, I'll be with you in one moment. Let me just finish this last cut." Her father was focused on his work and hadn't seen Darius yet. Darius turned around to face me.

"Aria, why don't you go home now. It's been a long day and I'm sure you need your rest. Thank you for your help and your willingness. I enjoyed your company." Darius turned away again.

"Wait, that's it? You haven't even told me why you're here or..." Darius spoke before I could finish my sentence.

"I will find you in the morning. For now, just prepare yourself and let me handle some business."