Duis stood motionless in his arms.
"What will I do? I did this to him. Because of me... What should I do?" he thought. Just then, something like a plate appeared before him, and he heard Kima's voice:
"Put the crystal on this, let no one touch it… Only… the statue should touch it, or else everyone wi—"
Neim had no idea how Kima was speaking. He couldn't see what was happening; his vision was blurred. But this time, he had truly heard Kima's final breath. Slowly, he took the crystal with the plate-like object and placed it on Duis's stomach. Then, he held Duis by the leg and back, lifted him up, and started walking out of the cave.
When he reached the cave's mouth, his eyes burned with pain. He had been in the dark for too long. Were they burning from all the crying, or because he had been inside the cave the entire varma? He didn't want to think. He just had to replace that crystal with the pouch.
He didn't even realize he was staggering down the mountain or how easily he had descended...
When he noticed he was approaching the village, he saw people gathering around. Even after the darkness lifted, the crystal still glowed faintly; that must have drawn attention. Hol suddenly broke through the crowd, reaching out to grab the crystal. But Neim shouted with all his might:
"DON'T TOUCH IT! DON'T YOU DARE! YOU'LL DIE! DUIS DIED BECAUSE OF THIS! DON'T TOUCH IT! NO ONE TOUCH IT! NO ONE COME CLOSE!"
Everyone flinched. That voice filled with agony had frightened them.
At that moment, Gelan was buying some tomatoes. Curious about the crowd, he walked over. Then he heard Neim's "NO ONE COME CLOSE!" He rushed forward, wondering if something had happened to someone. The villagers, scared by Neim's voice, had stepped back. Trying to understand what was going on, Gelan found himself alone in the middle of the road. He saw Duis, motionless in Neim's arms. And at that moment, Neim also saw Gelan.
Neim was shocked once more. Gelan's knees buckled, and he fell to them. With great fear and sorrow, he screamed his son's name. He ran as fast as he could to Neim and looked at Duis.
"Not again… Not again… My son… No… Why? Why must I always lose hope? Why?!"
Gelan began to cry, muttering those words.
Neim was completely consumed by guilt. He had caused not one, but two people to die. Why had he been so curious? He wished he had died instead of Duis. Just then, an idea came to him. He held Duis tightly. It felt like he should cry a little more, but no tears came. His eyes began to tremble.
At that moment, Fahg the Village Chief, thinking, 'Did they really do it? I knew it! This will be so good for the village! I must reward them for achieving what no one else could!' stepped out from the crowd and started to speak loudly:
"OUR HEROE—"
But his sentence ended before it began. He froze at the sight in front of him.
Gelan was kneeling, crying. Duis lay motionless in Neim's arms. Neim was trembling. But the crystal was there, glowing. They had succeeded, hadn't they? They were proud, weren't they?
Fahg looked at Neim's face again and realized it wasn't pride. A hollow feeling formed inside him.
Neim barely managed to pull himself together. His vision had returned to normal. He looked to his left and saw the village chief. He approached him and handed over Duis.
"Don't move, and don't do anything to him," he said, then picked up the plate and walked toward the statue.
Everyone watched him with curiosity. 'I hate all of you... All of you... You're just looking at this thing. Not a single one of you cares about Duis? But I love you all… I'll place this crystal… for all of you… so you won't die…'
He whispered that to himself.
He finally reached the statue. Fahg the Village Chief had followed him but that was better; now he could keep an eye on Duis. Neim held the plate in his left hand and carefully took the pouch from the statue's hand with his right. It was full probably with seeds. In a sudden motion, he dumped all the seeds out, adjusted the pouch to his hand, and slowly took the crystal.
Just as he was about to place it into the statue's hand, he noticed a small indentation clearly made for the crystal.
Neim carefully placed the crystal in. At first, nothing happened. But then, the crystal began to glow several times so brightly that everyone watched in awe...
When the crystal shone, a thought came to Neim. He shouted loudly:
"DON'T TAKE THIS! DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT TAKING IT! THE LAST PERSON WHO TOOK IT KILLED DUIS! AND HE WASN'T LIKE US! HE HIT EVERYTHING! THE ONE WHO TAKES THIS WILL TRY TO KILL EVERYONE! DON'T TAKE IT! IT'LL STICK TO YOUR FOREHEAD AND NEVER COME OFF!"
Neim muttered to himself, 'I hope that's enough...' and stepped down from the statue, walked over to the chief, and took Duis back into his arms. He started walking toward Duis's home.
The chief called after him.
"YOUR HEROISM WON'T BE FORGOTTEN! I WILL DEFINITELY HELP YOU!
But Neim wasn't listening.
His head was lowered, eyes on Duis, when suddenly Neim's family blocked his path. They were about to speak, but Neim passed them by. He was sure he would do something wrong if he stopped. Just then, his brother stood in front of him.
"Well, finally you did something useful, brat! You can work for your big brother now! Start by kissing my hand!" he said, extending it.
This time, Neim snapped. He kicked his brother's leg with his right foot, making him kneel, then gave him a full-force kick to the head. His brother fell. Neim wanted to spit but then he saw Duis. He calmed himself and kept walking.
Behind him, only Gelan followed, crying.
When they reached Duis's house, Neim gently laid him on the bed. Gelan sat by his son, consumed by grief. After looking around, Neim spoke:
"Duis's dream was to see outside the mountain. I'll bury him on the mountain's summit. That's all I can do. I'm sorry."
He couldn't even look Gelan in the face. Gelan was surprised. Was Neim really going to do that? But that would mean he couldn't return to the village again...
As Gelan looked at Neim's face, he wanted to say something, but the words stuck in his throat. The fear and shock inside him had merged with the pain of losing his son. 'No one else could've done this...' he thought. If Neim climbed that mountain, maybe he'd never come back. Did he not care about himself?
Still, all he could say was, "Thank you."
Neim nodded silently. Then he went to the well, grabbed his blankets, and returned to Duis's house. He struggled for a while to lift him. Darkness had already begun to fall, but at last, he managed to carry Duis on his back. Gelan kissed his son's forehead one last time.
As Neim stepped out of the house, he paused. He wanted to say so much why Duis was like this, how it happened, how it was all his fault... He wanted to tell everything. But the only words that came out were:
"Goodbye, Aunt Gelan."
Without even trying to wipe her tears, Gelan whispered:
"Goodbye..."
Neim looked at her face one last time. He saw that sorrowful expression again. He had to do something he couldn't ease her pain completely, but... He gently laid Duis down and ran to retrieve fifty red potatoes he had hidden all his life.
He placed them in front of Gelan.
She stared in confusion. "What are you doing, child? I can't accept this."
Neim smiled faintly, but his voice trembled. "I won't be needing them anymore, after all..."
Gelan shook her head. "No, I can't accept. Please."
Neim's eyes were firm. "Th-then... Sell me the dagger. Duis's dagger. I'll buy it for fifty red potatoes."
Gelan hesitated, but she knew Neim wouldn't give up. "Alright," she said quietly. She had no choice but to accept.
Neim took Duis's dagger, carefully placed it beside the load on his back, and set off.
The streets were empty. Slowly, with Duis on his back, Neim opened the door to the town hall. Immediately to the right, he saw the tools exactly as he'd hoped: tools for digging new wells. He loaded them onto his back as well. Just as he was about to leave, he saw the execution sword hanging on the wall.
A voice inside him whispered, "I'll take this for Duis's father. This village must never again kill someone like him…"
He placed the sword beside the dagger. His burden was now heavy but he had to carry it.
At last, he reached the base of the mountain. He took a deep breath. "I have to do this... for Duis."
He tried to motivate himself as he began to climb. The road was long, but it felt easy. He didn't even feel tired. Finally, as he neared the mountain's peak, the darkness had fully lifted.
And when he looked down at the village from above, he saw everyone there, shouting at him.
But he didn't care anymore.
Because he had succeeded.
With the last of his strength, he reached for the summit of the mountain.
And suddenly, what he saw left him frozen in shock.
A long stretch of grass.
A few trees.
A floating orb of light that burned his eyes.
And a massive body of water…
He was lost in the sight. But then he felt the weight on his back again. He staggered backward, but managed not to fall.
He gently placed Duis and the tools to his right.
And finally, he got to work.