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Volksmärchen: The Soldier and DeathChapter Three: The Healing Glass Weeks have past since The Soldier beat the demons at a game of cards. Renovations were made to the abandoned palace immediately. First off, the tattered paintings were removed, and replaced with blessed icons and crosses. Second, the skeletons, hides, and bloodied torture instruments were removed, given the proper burial to those unlucky enough to lose to the demonic card games. Third, the glass windows were replaced, as well as the exterior being cleaned up of plants growing on the bricks, making the castle as good as new, as if the demonic invasion never happened to begin with. A week after renovating the once abandoned palace and blessing the domain with a holy presence, The Soldier came to the Tsar, and the Soldier told the Tsar about his time in the Great Demon War, as well as exorcising the final demon stronghold, just by playing a mere game of cards with the demons, winning against them. The Tsar was very impressed with The Soldier's heroic feats. “Thank you very much for blessing that abandoned palace. Stay here and live with me. I shall treat you as if your were my son.” “You welcome.” The Soldier said as he bowed to the Tsar. “I appreciate you taking me in as if I was your son. I feel very blessed.” A year later, after fixing up the abandoned palace and being invited to live with the Tsar, The Soldier decided to settle down, getting married, and starting a family of his own. The Soldier was married to a well to do Slavic Lady. She was a fine woman with long blonde hair tied into a plait, green eyes, a smaller height than the soldier, and would usually wear a red and gold kokoshnik headdress combined with a white veil. Her dress was a long flowing red and gold sarafan gown with a white, long sleeved blouse underneath. Another year later, The Soldier and his wife were blessed with having a son from God. Their son was a tiny infant, with wispy blonde hair, grayish blue eyes, a pretty, but toothless smile, skin the color of a pale pink blossom, and wore a white baby nightgown, wrapped tightly in some swaddling blankets. “I hope our son will have a long, healthy life.” Said The Soldier's Wife, as she cradled the infant son in her arms. “Our son even has your eyes oh dear husband.” “I bet our son will grow up into a fine man.” Said The Soldier, as he lightly pets the hair of his infant son. “I bet he will make a fine general, working his ranks up to royal retainer one day.” So the Soldier's son had a rather happy childhood growing up, with two loving parents, a doting grandpa figure being the Tsar, and all the wealth inherited by his parents that can at least last a long time. Everyone had it made....Or....So they thought. As The Soldier's son was eight years old, they young boy fell under a foul illness. An illness so foul, the poor boy was bedridden, drowsy, and had quite a nasty fever. “Mama.... Papa....” The Soldier's son groaned in weariness. “When... Are the doctors....gonna come?” The Soldiers wife started to shed tears at looking at her sickly son. Then she looks over at The Soldier, and said so glumly, “I don't get it. We gave this kid some medicine made from the finest of all healing herbs, and he is still sick in bed.” “I don't get it.” The Soldier said in a solemn tone of voice. “Hopefully the doctors will have a solution. They are coming here on the way as we speak.” “I hope you are right about this dear Husband.” The Soldier's wife said quietly. “I pray for things to work out in the end.” The doctors put down their medical instruments, after using them to examine the young boy. “I'm sorry dear Lord and Lady, but there is nothing we can do to help your son.” The Soldier's Wife burst into tears, and The Soldier was both racked with sorrow and disappointment. “What do you mean you cannot help our son Doctor?” The doctors shook their head, with the lead doctor telling the parents, “Try getting priests and holy men to check your Son out. Maybe they can heal him.” “I'm sorry our Lord, but we cannot heal your son either.” The Church Bishop said solemnly, as he shook his head, sighing sadly. “Your child has come down with something that is beyond our control. Forgive us.” The Soldier did what he can to hide how disgruntled he was becoming, while the Soldier's Wife started to cry a bit. “We got to do something! We cannot let our son be like this!” There, The Soldier called out for Rabbis to come and heal their son. Sadly, they too, were powerless againt their Son's sickness. The head Rabbi told the couple, “I'm sorry, there is nothing we can do to banish your son's illness either. I'm afraid you just have to wait if your son gets better on his own....Or....” “That's enough!” The Soldier cried out. “There must be something we can do...Right?” Now it has come down to the last resort, or so The Soldier and His wife thought. There, a gloomy mortician entered the room, carrying a hideous measuring stick in his hands. “How big will the coffin be for your young one? Let's see.....” “ENOUGH! ENOUGH!” Both the Soldier and his Wife cried out in both sorrow and rage. “Get out! Get out now, or else.....!” The Soldier yelled, making the mortician jump back in shock, almost dropping his vile measuring stick. “Fine, very well...” The mortician said in a glum voice, while he leaves the family alone to deal with the horrid situation unfolding before them. “We have done everything we can dear Husband.” The Soldier's wife said in a solemn tone. “My lips are tired from praying, we have been using a lot of our money. What are we to do?” The Soldier looks around the room and notices the demon's hand perched on a shelf just below the window sill. The clawed part of the demon's hand was laid flat on the shelf, while out of the once bloody stump, flowers grew from it. The flowers were in the colors of coal black, deep crimson red, and a poisonous shade of purple. The flowers looked lovely, but smelled foul, like brimstone being set a blaze. All of a sudden, an idea sprung from the mind of The Soldier, remembering what happened at the formerly abandoned palace many years ago. The Soldier snapped his fingers, and calls out, “Yes, I remember now, I have a demon servant, as proof of his severed hand over on the shelf. Demon, oh Demon, where are you? I command you to come forth at once!” The Demon's severed hand started to shake and quiver, with its fingers tapping the shelf and a foul stench filling the room. Right there, before The Soldier and his family, the duck billed demon appeared before them. The demon was now wearing tattered burlap rags, while a gray metal claw replacing the severed claw in The Soldier's possession. “What do you desire oh dear master?” The Demon said as calmly as he could, trying everything to hide his nervousness and discomfort around The Soldier. The Wife's eyes widened in fear, as she stifled a scream and hid behind her husband. The Soldier's Son took one look at the demon, and started to cry, bury his face in his blankets, and let out quiet sobs of fear looking at the creature. The Son quietly cried out from the blankets, “No...No....(sniff) (sob)I'm not going to Hell, am I? I'm scared (sob)(sob)!” The Demon forced out a very nervous laugh, noticing the frightened reactions of The Soldier's Wife and Son. “Heh heh heh! I see your wife and son has never seen in a demon in the flesh before, have they? Don't worry, there is nothing to fear my lady and son, I am here to serve The Soldier. What is it that you need Master?” “Oh please, save my son's life!” The Soldier said urgently. “He is sick and we tried everything we can to find a cure for his illness. Can you help oh Demon?” “Why, yes! Yes I can help your son get better Master.” The Demon said as he dug out a red drawstring bag concealed in his rags. He holds the bag in his metal right hand, while pulling out an object with his left hand. What The Demon pulled out, was an immaculate glass crystal vial with crystal clear water inside. “Here Master, I want you and your family to have this special vial.” “What is this vial?” The Soldier asked his demon servant. “It is the healing glass. Inside the vial, There is healing water that never runs out dry, no matter how many times you use it.” The Demon said, as he pointed down at the Son's feet. “Look through the healing glass, and you will see what is wrong with your son.” The Soldier looked through the healing glass, and saw an alarming image. It was a little old woman, resembling a living mummy. Her thin, stringy hair, was bone white, her wrinkly skin a pallid warm gray color, and wore a pitch black robe, and a pitch black hooded cloak. The Soldier knew what to make of this unsettling image. “Well Master....What is it you see? You look very alarmed Master.” The demon servant asked. “I see Death standing at the foot of my son's bed.” The Soldier replied in a concerned tone of voice. “What is the meaning of this?” The Demon looks through the glass with The Soldier, explaining to him, “If Death is standing at his feet, then, your son can be healed. If Death stands at your son's head, then Death shall claim your son's soul. Now take this healing glass and sprinkle the healing water onto your son.” The Soldier took the healing glass from the demon, opened it, and sprinkle healing water onto his sick Son. Right there, through the glass, Death started to fade away, going somewhere else to claim ailing souls. The Soldier's son was now healed, and looked like his typical bright, cheerful self. “Father! Mother! I'm not sick anymore!” The Son cheered out in relief. “YAY!” The Soldier and his Wife cheered in unison, with The Soldier picking up his son to hug him, and then, puts him down on the bed. The Soldier stares at the healing glass, as he was ready to make a bargain for it. “Let's settle the deal here. I will have the healing glass, while you can have your right hand back. You are free now, you hear?” The Soldier's Wife goes over to the shelf under the window, and carries The Demon's severed right hand to the creature. She hands the Demon his severed hand, with the Demon happily taking it from the woman's grasp. “Yes! Yes! I am free now!” The Demon cheered out in relief. As he was ready to leave, The Demon noticed the foul smelling blossoms growing from the stump, admiring their beauty. “Oh yes, what lovely flowers. Wait until I show this to my family in hell!” As The Demon left for hell, The Soldier had a new missions on his hands: To travel the world, putting the healing glass to good use. Curing as many living beings as he can.

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