The old oak stood alone.
The Summer King sat beneath it.
Mara and Chibi found him without looking.
Almost as if they already knew where he would be.
Mara:
“Everyone’s looking for you.”
The King smiled.
Summer King:
“I know.”
Chibi remained standing.
His eyes stayed on the silent village.
Chibi:
“The music stopped.”
The King nodded.
Summer King:
“Everything ends.”
Mara frowned.
Mara:
“I don’t want it to.”
The King gently removed the flower crown from his head.
He placed it in her hands.
Summer King:
“Neither do I.”
The church bell echoed across the valley.
Once.
The ground trembled beneath their feet.
Far beyond the fields—
the forest seemed to shift.
Not from wind.
From weight.
Chibi never looked away.
Chibi:
“Is that what’s coming?”
The King’s smile faded.
Only for a moment.
Summer King:
“No.”
A pause.
Summer King:
“That’s what has always been there.”
Silence.
Mara clutched the flower crown.
Mara:
“Then don’t go.”
The King knelt beside her.
Not as a king.
Simply as a man.
Summer King:
“If I stay…”
He looked toward the distant hill.
“…they won’t.”
Neither child answered.
Because somehow…
they understood.
The church bell rang again.
The King stood.
He brushed the dust from his coat.
Then looked at them one last time.
Summer King:
“Promise me something.”
Mara:
“What?”
He smiled.
The same warm smile they had known all week.
Summer King:
“When they tell this story…”
“…help them remember why.”
Without another word—
he began walking toward the ancient hill.
Mara watched until he disappeared beyond the standing stones.
Then quietly asked:
Mara:
“Do you think he’ll come back?”
Chibi never took his eyes off the empty path.
Chibi:
“I don’t know.”
A long silence.
Then he whispered:
Chibi:
“…I just hope we never forget why he had to leave.”
🜍 THE OLD BARGAINS — Week 4
Every summer has a price.
Most people only remember the celebration.
If you remember what this felt like —
you already know what you’re missing.
Step back into it.
Or keep missing it.
👉 https://startplaying.games/gm/dunchan
Want to go deeper?
Then don’t stop at the surface.
The full stories. The dossiers. The things behind it —
they’re waiting. Or they’re not.
👉 https://www.patreon.com/c/mythveilchronicles_bydunchanhuntergames