Oda staggered to his feet, like a ghost rising from beneath the rubble.
His right hand was nearly burned, the tips of his fingers pale black, the skin withered like that of the dead,
but he ignored the pain and slowly turned his head toward the voice coming from behind the trees.
"Olesyaaa!"
A frantic woman's voice tore through the silence.
Oda smiled bitterly.
"Finally..."
She emerged swiftly from between the trees—it was Gina—Olesia's friend and Lilia's mother.
She ran toward Olesya's body lying on the ground, but barely touched her when Oda shouted sharply:
"Don't touch her!"
She froze instantly, her eyes wide, her face pale.
"What?! Why?!"
She took a step forward, but Oda stepped back, extending his hand like a shield.
"If you touch her... you'll catch the infection."
"Infection? What do you mean?"
He looked at her with a dead yet piercing gaze.
"Have you heard on the radio about the Black Wither disease?"
"Yes... but..."
She hesitated, glancing at the trembling Olesia.
Oda replied with deadly calm:
"It's that... Olesya is infected."
Gina stood frozen.
"But she... she was fine... she..."
Then her eyes welled up, her lips trembled.
"She's my only friend..."
He didn't respond.
He slowly stood up, swaying like a branch in a storm.
He wiped the blood from his mouth with his shirt sleeve, then approached Olesia.
"I told you, don't come closer... no matter what."
He bent down and carried Olesya in his arms despite his burned body.
Every touch was torture for them both.
"She'll infect you, you'll die!"
But he looked at her with one half-open eye, filled with sarcasm and exhaustion.
"I don't die that easily."
Then he whispered, as if speaking to the air:
"And I'm not cowardly enough to leave someone who belongs to my Lady like this..."
Gina fell silent, watching him walk with difficulty through the forest,
Olesya in his arms, her head lolling, her breaths weak,
behind them... blackened, burned grass,
and ahead, a path toward hope... or deeper darkness.
Gina walked beside Oda in silence, her steps heavy as if trudging through a dark dream.
Oda carried Olesya in his arms, his features eerily calm,
hiding behind them a fatigue unspoken... or perhaps a hell he's grown used to.
She looked at him cautiously and said in a soft voice:
"I've never seen you in the village before... who are you?"
He didn't respond and continued walking as if she hadn't spoken,
but after a moment, he exhaled through his nose in irritation,
then said with a childlike grumble:
"Ah, why do people always ask who I am? Isn't it enough that I'm carrying a body that's falling apart?"
Then he continued, in a heavy tone filled with negative energy:
"I'm just someone who doesn't like appearances, or people, or even himself... is that enough? Or should I provide an ID card too?"
She looked at him in surprise and stopped asking,
but he continued, as if unable to stop spreading his darkness.
"People think that knowing someone brings them closer, but it mostly drives them away... and if they get too close, you'll regret it."
She was about to speak, but he cut her off with a sideways glance and a sharp phrase,
spoken in a cold tone, but very sincere... as if it came from the mouth of a sage who has died many times and returned:
"Don't ask about souls that prefer the shadows,
for perhaps the only reason they remain... is that they can't bear the light."
Gina fell silent.
She found nothing to say.
The sun had begun to set, the dusk painting the sky with a pale orange hue, as if the day were dying.
Ronwa sat under her house's door, her small hands clasped, her eyes staring into the horizon with intense anxiety,
Lilia beside her whispering words of comfort,
and Lucas hovering nearby, his face pale with worry,
while the grandmother stood behind them, motionless,
as if awaiting disaster without expressing it in words.
Suddenly...
Ronwa's heart trembled.
A familiar feeling struck her like a lightning slap.
She stood up abruptly from the ground and gasped.
"It's Oda's energy...!" she whispered to herself.
Then she began to run without hesitation, her intuition guiding her,
her breaths quickening, her silver hair flying behind her,
the sound of her heartbeat louder than all other sounds.
And suddenly... from afar,
a tall shadow appeared, creeping with the setting sun.
She saw him.
It was Oda, walking unsteadily,
and in his arms, something... no, someone.
She saw his face first, exhausted, but calm.
Then she saw what he was carrying...
"Mama...?!"
Ronwa screamed, and time stood still for a moment.
Oda's features hadn't changed, but his face was gloomy,
and his eyes dark, filled with silence.
He took a step... then another...
and Gina behind him, her face dripping with worry and pain.
Ronwa ran toward him, tears preceding her steps, her voice choked:
"... Mama... what's wrong with her? Please tell me!"
But Oda didn't look at her,
didn't answer, didn't utter a word,
his eyes fixed on the house's door, his face rigid as if fearing his soul would collapse if he spoke.
He advanced steadily, and Gina behind him trying to calm Ronwa:
"Ronwa... sweetheart... let's take her inside first, okay?"
At the door, the grandmother gave him a scrutinizing look and saw Olesya in his arms, her face pale, her limbs darkened, unconscious.
Her eyes narrowed, and she asked sharply:
"What happened to her?!"
Oda stood before her, his features exhausted, his eyes dark from fatigue:
"I need an empty room. Now."
He said it with a frightening calm.
The grandmother was silent for a moment, then pointed to the small wooden room beside the kitchen.
"There."
He nodded and headed straight there.
Before he entered, the grandmother spoke again, in a harsher voice:
"What's going on?!"
Oda stopped, then turned slightly toward her.
He said in a hollow voice:
"I'll explain everything... but not in front of the child."
Ronwa remained standing in place, her breaths ragged, tears silently streaming down her face, while Lilia hugged her, and Lucas hovered over her shoulder in concern.