As Daniel sealed the last of the letters, Nemo and Hëna walked back into the hall, accompanying a man who looked too weak to be standing on his own two feet. Judging by his appearance, he must have been kept prisoner for a very long time. His clothes seemed old and worn out, his hair and beard had grown uncontrollably, and his skin was pale white from being out of sunlight for too long.
Seeing him, a sense of unease came over Daniel and he felt his stomach churning. He went to meet them halfway and helped set the man down by the feet of the throne. He then took the flask Nathaniel had given him earlier and helped the man drink. The Summer water felt good, and helped soothe his parched throat.
‘Where did you find him?’ he asked Hëna, while the man drank.
‘He was being held in chains in the dungeons,’ Hëna answered, sounding disturbed. ‘There were at least five skeletons around him, people I think. They must have killed them, but for whatever reason I think they kept him alive.’
Daniel kneeled next to the man and touched his hand. He noticed his arms had grown too skinny; his wrists were all blue and bloodied from the chains, and his nails bitten off to keep them from growing too long. Daniel felt he was going to be sick.
‘Don’t be afraid,’ he spoke to the man with a gentle voice, ‘we mean you no harm. Do you know where you are?’
The man opened his eyes just a little, struggling to adjust to the strong light in the hall, then with a gruff voice spoke slowly.
‘No. I was brought here a long time ago, in the dead of night and blindfolded. I’ve never seen this place before today.’
‘What is your name?’
The man took a while to answer, as he appeared to be thinking about it.
‘I don’t know,’ he replied eventually, looking frustrated. ‘I can’t remember.’
Daniel and Hëna exchanged a look and then she asked.
‘Are you a Visitor?’
‘A Visitor?’ the man asked, not knowing what she meant.
‘Do you remember anything at all from before?’ Daniel changed questions.
‘I remember the man who brought me here; his is the last face I’ve seen until today. Butler, I think he was called. I also remember a woman; I actually see her in my mind all the time. She has long black hair, kind eyes and a sweet smile. But I can’t remember who she is, or how I know her.’
Hearing him describe her the way he did, Daniel recalled his first evening in Endërland and the refreshed image of his mother’s face. A crazy idea suddenly came to him and his heart began to beat strong and fast. His voice trembled as he asked the next question.
‘Does the name Damien mean anything to you?’
The man now opened his eyes fully and looked at him with curiosity.
‘Damien,’ he repeated the name, as if something clicked in his mind. ‘Damien; I think that’s me. Yes, that’s my name; I remember now. I remember people calling me Damien; how did you know?’
Daniel almost fell on the cold stone pavement from the shock. He could not believe this; he’d found his long lost brother when he least expected it. He started to well up once again, but he didn’t care.
He gently put both hands on the man’s shoulders and said.
‘The woman whose face you see in your mind, Damien, is your mother, our mother, Diane. And I’m your little brother, Daniel.’
It took a moment for those words to sink in, but upon hearing the names, fragments of Damien’s memories slowly began to come back to him. He felt as if he was now waking up from a deep slumber and seeing everything again, hazily at first, but clearing up slowly. The emotions that rushed back into him, accompanying those memories, shocked him to his very core. He was still too weak to contain them, so he began to sob uncontrollably.
‘Daniel, is that really you? My god, look at you; you’re a grown man now. I remember, I remember you were just a little boy running after me, always trying to get that silly watch from my wrist. How many years have passed since then?’
‘Too many, brother, too many,’ Daniel said and he could speak no more. He took his brother in his arms and hugged him tight, feeling the tears travelling down his spine yet another time. He did not mind though, these were not tears of sorrow, but of joy and happiness. But the most wonderful thing of it all was that he did not feel like he was hugging a stranger, like he’d been afraid he might. Instead, this felt right, familiar even. There was something about Damien that made him think of dad all of a sudden, and he took that as a good sign and a confirmation. He might not really know the man he was hugging, but the connection he felt to him was real, and the bond stronger than blood.
‘I can’t believe I found you. Oh Damien, mom will be so happy; she never gave up hope, you know. She always knew you were here.’
As the two brothers cried in each other’s arms, Hëna and Nemo drew back and joined the oracle out in the courtyard. Their hearts felt yet a bit lighter, for it seemed that the wind was indeed turning and their luck was changing. Heli’s death had brought such a dark cloud over them, and left the world so cold that it seemed impossible and unlikely they would ever feel warmth again. But now little rays of sunshine were making it through the dark, and they desperately needed to believe that the sky would eventually clear up, and warmth and joy would return to the world once again.