“Welcome home, Rhodes,” the carriage driver greeted me as the door opened. I stepped out and was met with all too familiar sight. A desolate town, charred buildings, ruined stonework. My fingers twitched as I rested my hand on the pommel of my sword. I left behind ruins and came back to ruins.

“What are you gonna do?” the driver asked as he stroked the horses before letting them off to graze on the grass growing from the ash rich soil.

My shoulders slump and a sigh escapes, “I have no clue, maybe build a house, work the ground back into shape by the start of the next season,” I was lost.

The driver must’ve read my mind with his next statement, “Didn’t the King offer you a dukedom or the hand of his daughter or something?” A grimace came over my face. Disgust filled the pit of my stomach.

“I’ll stick with the monetary rewards and the lifetime favor.”

“Was she that bad?”

“Worse...so much worse.”

“Can’t be all that bad, I mean, you could’ve…”

“I can’t stand nobles. I’ll stick to plowing fields. No more swords and shields for me, and no more favors for nobles.”

The driver shrugs as I set down my pack and strip off my armor. It clangs as it hits the ground without a care. “How much for you to bring back some supplies?”

“What you asking for?”

“Hmmm mostly house supplies, tools, and the like. I can only do much with a axe and whatever I can salvage from the ruins,”

“Uhhhh…” That pause was enough to drive the point home.

“Take my sword and armor then,” I said without a second thought.

I could hear his jaw hit the floor as I began breaking the charred wooden remains of houses. Ash billowed out as the bones of buildings came crashing down. “Well?” I asked before I began to rummage through my pack, finding a bottle of blessed blood.

“I’ll bring back whatever you need. This is enough for a lifetime’s worth of carting,” he paused as he carted the armor and sword, “Are ya sure ya don’t need this stuff any more?”

“Thanks,” I said before I began using the blood to purify the ground. Whatever spirits haunted the town, began to dissipate even with a few drops of blood hitting the ground. The chill in the air was gone by the time I began gathering wood for tonight’s fire. “No, I don’t need it.” Not like I could even pick up a sword again.

The driver wheeled his cart around after I gave him a list of the things that I needed. After he left I managed to craft a small hut from the piles of stone and a few pieces of salvageable wood. Rolling up my sleeves, ventured to the nearby river and gathered several pails of water. By the time the sun was setting, I was rubbing off caked mud and grass from my arms and legs. Grabbing a torch, I lit it before returning to the river to bathe and wash out my clothes. As the mud and dirt washed out my clothes, it flashed red in my eyes, feeling syrupy in my hands. My clothes had nearly floated away by the time my vision cleared. “It’s over,” I whispered out loud to myself, as I made my way back to the riverbank. Once I was out, I dressed myself in my other set of clean clothes and returned to camp.

The typical nighttime animals began their nightly concert, crickets and owls were the stars of the show, as I laid out my bedroll and went to sleep, or at least tried to.

Muscles spasming and cramping were the first signs that a restful nights sleep was not in the cards. By the time the sun rose I had given up on getting more than a few minutes rest at a time.

I returned to my grim duty of attempting to restore my hometown. There was more to be done. More purification of the soil, more knocking down whatever remained of the houses.

“Great, can’t make use of any of this. Shit “ Panels and flooring crumbled to dust whenever I removed them or stepped in the wrong place. Between fighting with the ruins of the town, and purifying whatever spirits lingered, I collected whatever fresh food I could find.

The forest remained pretty much the same, despite the fires that ravaged the town. Trails used by the hunters long since overgrown and reclaimed by the wilds. “Left from the faerie ring,” I repeated my mother’s reminder over and over as I continued into the forest.

It wasn’t too long that I found the faerie’s ring. Remembering my mother’s words, I kneeled before the ring looking towards the little stone hut that sat in the center. “Sorry for being gone for so long...everyone’s gone...I think...I was the only survivor...I think….I think a lot….sorry…”

Silence

I looked to the left and the berry bushes my mother would send me to pick from. Pleasant memories brought a smile to my face as I collected a small pouch full of the purple berries. Even after taking my full, I grabbed a handle of berries and brought them to the faerie ring. “I’ll try to remake my mother’s pie as an apology and bring you a piece...if you’re still here.” I set a finely embroidered handkerchief down on the ground inside the ring and set the berries on it. “I hope you’re okay,”

I rose to my feet and began my walk back to camp.

“Thank...you,” An ethereal voice spoke in my mind.

Without looking back I gave a wave while with my other hand I wiped the tears welling up in my eyes.