The figure swayed and floated in the still air like a dense autumn mist. Gray and with undefined contours, faintly illuminated by the first rays of dawn that began to brush the shadowy crest of the hill. What had once been its lips curled into the hint of a smile as it watched its four saviors walking away along the path that descended from the wooded height. For a moment, its features became clearer and more defined, revealing the gaunt, angular face of a middle-aged woman.

"Why are you smiling, mommy?" asked a smaller silhouette at her side, gazing up at her with curiosity. She shifted her gaze from the four to focus on the little figure, her smile deepening with warmth.

"Because, my child," she whispered, "today I was able to see hope again. Hope for this land. Perhaps not all is lost yet."

The child’s puzzled expression prompted her to elaborate.

"You see, what happened to us has happened to so many others. Too many. There is a need for someone to put an end to all this. Someone to fight for the living and save them before it’s too late. Someone to break this endless cycle of despair and death, finally bringing peace and tranquility to the valley. Someone…"

"Someone like them, mommy?" the little figure interrupted, pointing with a ghostly hand at the four figures now almost vanishing from sight.

"Yes, my child," she said, smiling at him once more, "someone like them…"

The child nodded with conviction before his attention shifted abruptly to something else. He laughed heartily, as if playing a game, as he left his mother’s side and floated toward his father and elder sister, hovering a little further away at the edge of the woods.

"Darling, it’s time to go," the man said with a sigh directed at his wife. She nodded, her expression growing serious, but before joining her family, she cast one last glance at those who had saved her from oblivion.

"I hope the gift I gave you as a token of thanks will be enough to help you, travelers," she murmured to herself, watching as their figures disappeared among the bare branches of the forest. "I hope with it the seeds you carry may more swiftly germinate, blossom, and never lose their petals. You will need them, and so will everyone else…"

That final word, whispered with both hope and fear, faded and dissolved into its own echo in an instant. Just as the one who spoke it did.

Leaving behind nothing but a departed soul’s wish for the salvation of the living.