“It is customary to say hello when someone greets you,” he says with a wry smile and kindness in his eyes.

“Why are you even trying?”

Taking a long drag from my cigarette, I try to blink away the fatigue.

“Enough, Synd. I am too tired for your crap today.”

“What? Trouble sleeping again?” tittered the creature perched atop my shoulder. “How long has that been going on? A decade?”

“Why do you ask when you already know the answer,” I reply, the annoyance thick in my voice.

“It just seems that a doctor is in order, not a jaunt through the woods.”

“I’ve seen doctors and they haven’t helped.” I say, my voice filled with something resembling despair that was too tired to feel itself. “I need something… more.”

“And you think you’ll find that… where exactly? Atop this mountain? At the hands of some fool whom the world has forgotten?”

“You can leave whenever you wish.”

“And miss watching you fail again?” chuckled the imp.

I don’t let the hurt which his words have so casually inflicted show upon my face. “Shut up. The peak is close. We’re almost there.”

Before I begin trudging up the winding goat path again, I look behind, seeing my progress. Most others would find the valley breathtaking, but I feel nothing.

*sigh*

Synd snickers at the sound. Asshole.

My thought is interrupted by the familiar sound of flint dragging against itself. The imp hands me another cigarette.

“Thank you,” I mutter. He may be an asshole, but his herbs do make my insomnia bearable.

Hours of climbing go by. Cresting a hill, I barely have the strength to look up.

“Are you finished yet?” taunts Synd afresh. “Come on, let’s go back to town.”

If I weren’t so exhausted, I’d choke the thing out. Raising my drooping eyes however, I spy the ancient gate at the end of the path.

Synd scoffs, but I cry out in delight, hobbling forth with newfound vigor.

My excitement is suddenly broken by a thunderous roar. The concussion feels like the boom of a cannon and the fears of war return all too quickly. Drawing my flintlock pistol, I cock it, unsure of what it could do to something so fearsome.

A massive bear appears, walking on its hind legs and carrying a large war-axe.

“Who stands before my master’s domain?” he booms, staring down at me with fire in its eyes.

“Shoot it!” shrieked Synd. The bear, despite its terrifying visage, radiates an aura of goodness I cannot explain. I do not think it will attack. I’m betting my life on it.

“Forgive me, sir,” I quiver. “I am sick and seek the wizard.”

“Ahh,” replied the bear. “He said you would come. But what is that parasite doing here?

“Who, Synd?”

“Parasite?” Synd screeches. “I will show you…”

“Hold your tongue or I will rip it out,” the bear growls.

Synd, shaking, clambers into my pack. “We should leave now! This place is evil!” comes his muffled voice.

“No. Leave if you want, but for once in my life, I am seeing this through.”

Inside the gate lies a quaint cottage amidst a beautiful garden. There is a calmness in the air and, for the first time in a decade, my mind feels some measure of peace.

“Hello.”

I jump. An old man with a long white beard is on his knees nearby planting a sapling. He finishes covering the roots and then speaks over the plant. The sapling seems to respond, seating into place. Content, he stands. His robes are covered in dirt and his pointed hat stained with sweat.

“It is customary to say hello when someone greets you,” he says with a wry smile and kindness in his eyes.

“Apologies,” I stammer, unsure of what to say.

“Why are you here, son?”

“I’m… sick, and I don’t know where to go. I met some of your apprentices during the Great War. They were… different. They met death with more peace than I ever felt in life. I thought… maybe they knew something I don’t.”

“But why not seek a doctor? Why me?”

“I need a miracle!” I blurt out suddenly, tears pouring from my face. “I haven’t slept a full night’s rest in years and I’m weary to the point of death. Even when I finally sleep, I only see the horrors of the war. Nothing has helped and if this doesn’t work, I shall hurl myself from this mountainside that I might have a moment of peace!”

“Of course you can’t rest,” the old man replies candidly. “He’s there.” My backpack trembles.

“What? My Familiar? He’s been with my family for generations! Besides, his herbs have been the only thing keeping me from drifting into madness.”

“Leave it to an imp to cripple you and give just enough back that you can barely hobble by.”

“Synd…? Is this true?” I set the pack down so that I can see him. From under the flap, I see eyes filled with rage.

“Synd isn’t his real name,” continued the wizard. “It is Unrest, for that is his nature.”

“He is mine by right!” the imp growls, ignoring the allegation.

The old man snaps his finger and the force reverberates through my chest. "Tell him your name.”

“Unrest!” he shrieks. “My name is Unrest!”

“Tell him what you have done.”

More growling.

“SPEAK!”

“I WHISPER CURSES INTO YOUR EARS AS YOU SLEEP SO THAT I CAN FEED OFF YOUR UNREST!”

I fall backwards away from the bag, grasping to understand how this little creature I have known my entire life could have deceived me so.

“Would you like to be healed, son?” the wizard asks, keeping his eyes focused on Synd.

“Yes,” I say simply, unsure of what to think anymore.

“You’ll have to be rid of this creature,” he continues.

“But… he’s been with me all my life,” I say with some unexpected degree of sadness.

“Just because a thing has always been,” the wizard smiles gently, “doesn’t mean you can’t start anew right now. Unrest hates you just as all devils hate mankind. It is only in deception that you tolerate him. You’re his tether to this world and he’s been a parasite since the beginning.”

“What do I do?”

“Tell him to leave. I’ll handle the rest.”

“Synd,” I start, my resolve hardening as I see the malice radiating in his eyes. “Leave now and never come back."

The imp explodes, “YOU WILL NEVER BE RID OF ME!! I HATE YOU!”

“ENOUGH!” the wizard commands, snapping a final time. The imp vanishes in a cloud of smoke.

I fall to my knees, everything a swirl. The wizard walks over, speaks a word, and breathes into my face. The breath, instead of being warm and humid, is cool and refreshing, and it seems to pass straight through my skull. I feel peace.

“Who are you?” I ask in awe.

“I will teach you,” says the wizard gently, “but first, rest.”

“Am I even able to?” I ask, daring not to hope.

“Go. Bathe in the spring. See what happens,” he says with a kindly wink.

I do as he says, dragging myself to the nearby bubbling water. It’s warm and crystal clear, washing away the filth from my journey. My head is a swirl over the day's events. Could this be real?

I never finish the thought. I find myself dreaming about the most beautiful valleys.