Every man is born to carry a burden. Perhaps the heaviest of all is loss—a pain so deep that it seeps into the bones and never dissipates. As Dinis listened to the old soldier tell his story, he felt the weight of this truth. It was a somber reality that echoed through the depths of the forest like a continuous lament, resonating in the hearts of every doomed traveler.
The old man remained silent for a moment, looking at the small pearl on his necklace, before he began to speak again, as if each word were torn from the depths of his soul.
"Once, I had a home," he began, his voice trembling. "Not a home of stones or walls, but a home in a person. She was all I had... and all I needed."
He looked at Dinis with a melancholic smile, his eyes glazed over with a pain that hadn't dissipated over the years. His voice was low, almost a whisper, as if the memories were suffocating him.
"She was my wife, my Pearl. A beautiful woman, graceful and so generous that she saw in me something I didn't even see myself. I was blessed to find someone like that... someone who cared for me, who was my light amid the darkness. I never expected miracles in my life, but she was the greatest of them all. When we married, I thought I had found my peace."
The old soldier's voice trembled, and he closed his eyes, clutching the necklace with the pearl. It seemed his soul was trapped there, in the object that remained as a symbol of his wife and the love he couldn't protect.
"In our mornings together, I saw her smile; she looked at me as if I were the hero of all the stories I told. One day, she told me about a distant and serene place, a valley hidden among the Seven Highest Mountains, a place where we could build something just for ourselves, far from all the horror of this world. Those words marked me deeply... the idea of a valley where peace was possible."
The old man fell silent again, silent tears rolling down his face as he relived each painful detail. Dinis remained still, his gaze firm and respectful, without looking away.
"In her last days, my Pearl seemed even more distant... but always with that sweet smile on her face. I could never have imagined that, in a moment of our life, everything would be so brutally taken from us. That afternoon, she was sitting on the porch, waiting for me. She looked radiant. When I approached, she told me she believed she was pregnant."
The old man's lips trembled, and he closed his eyes as if he could, for just a moment, return to that time. The happiness was quickly interrupted by shadows; his gaze hardened.
"But that very afternoon, as I absorbed that happiness... a troop of soldiers appeared at our home. They were drunk, men who had already lost themselves to despair. They saw her, and their gazes... were empty, ravenous. I knew what they planned. I grabbed my sword, determined to protect my wife, but they were many. I was immobilized before I could lift my blade, while the others..."
He choked up, the pain in his words almost physical, as if reliving every second. Dinis noticed the tears in the old soldier's eyes, tears he did not try to hide.
"They... did the unthinkable, right before my eyes, while I screamed, powerless, tied up and overpowered. In the end, she was there... fallen, lifeless, with horrible marks on her neck, as if they had strangled the last breath of hope from her. And I... I was left behind to contemplate that despair."
Dinis listened, and the forest's silence seemed to intensify, absorbing each word, each memory. The old soldier seemed to crumble as he held the pearl necklace, as if it were his last anchor.
"After burying her, all I had left was a promise—to take the pearl to the valley she so dreamed of. I began to carry this necklace as my home, a living reminder that, even in the end, her love was with me. I needed to find the valley of the Seven Mountains... I needed to reach the place where she believed we would find peace."
Dinis observed the conviction and agony on the soldier's face. He knew those words were the final outpouring of a tormented soul.
"So, you wander restlessly through this forest in search of a valley you may never find?" Dinis asked, his voice serene but laden with empathetic melancholy.
The old soldier raised his gaze for a moment, but the lucidity in his eyes soon faded, as if a shadow once again took hold of his mind. Without responding, he began to look around, his steps slow and uncertain, and softly murmured his wife's name, Pearl, as if calling her, his voice filled with hope and despair at the same time.
"Pearl? Where are you, my dear?" he whispered, walking back and forth, the pearl on his necklace swinging with the trembling movement of his hands. "I'm here, my beloved... wait for me..."
It was as if he had completely forgotten what he had just recounted to Dinis, as if the very weight of memory had abandoned him in favor of an illusory hope. He wandered through the forest, his eyes lost, ignoring everything around him, calling for his wife as if she were just a few steps away, waiting for him among the dark trees.
Dinis watched for a few moments, feeling the weight of what he saw. He realized that the man was trapped, not only by the forest but by memories and the promise that kept him in an endless cycle. It was as if the forest had hypnotized him, perpetuating his pain by making him forget, at every moment, the cruel fate his beloved had met.
With a heavy sigh, Dinis understood there was nothing he could do to free that man. Perhaps his true burden was to accept this endless quest, a torment that only the forest, with its dark tricks, could sustain. Thus, Dinis gave one last look at the old soldier, who continued to walk, calling out the name of Pearl.
Finally, Dinis turned, adjusted the sword on his back, and decided to continue on his way. He knew he needed to stay focused on his own destiny, leaving behind the man trapped in an impossible dream, his hope fading like the mist that enveloped the forest.