“I don’t remember the last time I thought about what would happen if the Blight were gone,” he continued, his voice lower. “I hadn’t dared to... hope. But now you have six Arrows. You might just end the Blight after all, and for the first time I can remember, I have hope that the future will be different. That we won’t just struggle here until we all eventually have to go to Earth just to survive, or... something worse happens.”
He turned back to look at Florian. As weary as his eyes were, he had a small, almost imperceptible smile on his face. If Florian hadn’t gotten so good at reading the similar expressions on Kade’s face, he might have missed it entirely.
“I think a lot of other people are starting to feel hope for the first time in a long while, too,” Torsten said. “So thank you.”
Warmth bloomed in Florian’s chest, even though Torsten’s words felt like more weight being added to his shoulders. He managed a watery smile.
“Thank you,” Florian said. “I... I appreciate that. And I’ll do my best. I want to fix all of this for everyone. Thank you for recognizing that.”
Torsten’s smirk became amused. “Even colder reception with the dragon king, I’d bet.”
Florian laughed at that, and the serious air around them started to dissipate. “You wouldn’t believe it.”
He and Torsten walked together for a little longer, making their way up the hilltop where the path looped back in on itself. They stood at the top of the summit, looking out over the town and the ocean for a few moments, then quietly Torsten excused himself and headed back down the path. Up here, Florian was alone, his breath sending billows of steam into the cold air. He stood and looked out over the dark sea, the village at the shore, and the night sky above it all.
He wondered if the Veil could ever really rebuild, even if he succeeded in ending the Blight. Could a world decimated down to just four kingdoms of no more than a thousand people each ever come back from something like that? Even if he saved the world, would its people ever fully recover?
But it would make a difference to the people who had survived this far. It would guarantee their survival, even if their society never bounced back to what it once was. At least it would continue on, not doomed to retreat to Earth when the population dwindled into nothing, or suffer a worse fate if the Blight ever encroached further. If the Blight was gone, they could traverse the world; the kingdoms would communicate and trade; populations could intermingle and grow beyond the cramped borders the Blight kept them trapped in. Shouldn’t that be enough?
It would be enough, Florian told himself. That would have to be enough.
