Faithful Pebble

Part Thirty-Four

"Why should I believe you?" Iris asked backing away, subtly lowering her chin in heavy accusation and slight uncertainty. Even through her hood, he could feel the intensity of her gaze. His fingers, brown and green and strong and stout, untangled themselves from the rope falling to fist by his side. The girl retreated another step. "Give me a good answer and I will go with you," she said, she whispered softly.

"Why?" the wanderer parroted. His gaze was intent. However, somewhere, hidden from the surface, a heart began to race, a mind worked silently.

"Why are you helping me? What reason do I have to believe you will continue to do so once I am free? People are two faced. Their hearts change from evil to good in mere moments. They act on the evils of their hearts without considering what their actions do to the people around them. I am no different and neither are you. Odds are—" She took another step away—one, two, three—towards the darkness of a tunnel, an entrance, an escape. Iris watched the wanderer and the wanderer watched her. Her hood deflated as she took a breath, shook her head in disbelief. "Odds are…"

He, in his silence, raised a hand palm up before finishing her sentence. "Odds are," he said, his eyes still glittering from the watch. "Odds are that, yes, someone up there will hurt you, possibly worse than anything they have done so far. There is a possibility that out of carelessness even I could do the same but that is human nature. I have learned this in my travels. I have witnessed intently the horrors capable to be manifested by the hands of mankind, by the earth and its powers but I have also seen much good.

"There is good up there, light as well as darkness, life as well as death. The good perpetuate themselves just as the bad do, and the human heart is not so uneasily swayed to change for the better either." Here he paused, the wanderer. Here, he licked his lips.

"I want to save you," he said. "I will save you, and you can trust what I say is true because of this: I am here. Out of everyone you know up there in that village, not one has done what I have. You can't assume that the world and everyone in it is like those you have witnessed throwing bread at you and cruel words because of your fear. Consider this: if a stranger such as myself is able to hear your story, take pity on you and descend into this darkness to save you, then there is also a possibility that others of good intent might exist beyond this valley in which you have lived. There is good in the world. You only have to find it and I promise, I promise, I'll be there to help."

Thanks for reading - Calla