Chapter 3: Hero

Chapter 3



         At dinner, I was perfectly fine. My mind was totally focused on the treasure trove of new knowledge, and there was no room to dwell on the energy forms who may be nearby. My heart was too busy being content with my family to be afraid of what would happen if they decided to stop here. As soon as I got in my pajamas and laid down in bed though, it seemed there was nothing to occupy my mind but those dark thoughts.

I sat up and took in a sharp breath, once again forcing myself awake out of a coming nightmare. It seemed like every time I started drifting off to sleep, I would see a different horrible situation start happening. That time I saw that same shadow in a blue coat, holding his shining blue sword up, ready to execute me in my bed. Earlier I thought I heard my mom screaming, and actually opened my door to look out and check.

         I brushed my hand through my sweat dampened hair, calming myself again. In a little rural town like mine, it’s very quiet at night. Some travelers who stayed in our inn said it was a little too quiet and made them uncomfortable, but I enjoyed it. Maybe it’s because I was just used to it, I don’t know. Even so, I found myself straining my ears, listening for any sort of warning through the silence that something may be happening. Which, of course, made me feel more pointlessly afraid of something happening. I blew out an annoyed breath, tossed the violet sheets and thin blanket off of me, and stood up. I looked around my room, lit up by the bright moonlight pouring in through the open curtains. The walls were painted a light shade of purple, one that nearly matched the t-shirt and loose pajama bottoms I wore. Next to my door was a large desk, one that had been modified to have what basically amounted to a bookshelf built atop of it, so that the square area I would sit at when I was writing or studying had plenty of space for books above and on each side. Of course I had a normal bookshelf too, and both it and the shelves of my desk were packed to groaning with books of every kind. Reading had always been my favorite hobby. Books on magical theory, romance novels, adventure books, and even several cookbooks were proudly on display in my room.

         There was also a dresser, as tall as my waist and almost as long as me laying down, along the wall opposite the door, with a purple cloth on top of it. A few pictures and crystalline figures sat atop the cloth, the moonlight making one of the figurines sparkle and shine. A tall mirror was attached to the wall between the dresser and closet, and my bed was across from that. My room was just large enough to have it setup the way I liked it, though I did wish I had more room for another bookshelf. My closet was getting full of books that I wanted to have on display.

         It had been a warm day, but I figured it must have cooled down some, so I stepped into my violet fuzzy slippers, deciding a walk outside might help me relax. The moment my hand touched the doorknob, I heard my mom scream outside my room, for real this time. I froze in place, and heard my father shout as well, but in anger. I hastily turned the knob and jerked the door open to see a battle in my living room. My father, lightning in both of his hands, was dodging a hulking man in red and black armor while trying to land a punch with his sparking fists. A wave of water suddenly surged out of my mom’s room, and a tall, lanky man in light armor, also red and black, was washed out and slammed into the wall of the hallway as water soaked the carpet. He got to his feet, shaking his head and coughing, and I could feel my mother gathering aura for another spell. Then, he turned his gaze to me. He wasn’t wearing a helmet, and brilliant orange hair just a little too bright to look entirely normal hung down covering most of his face. It was long and thin, particularly scraggly since it was wet, but in the gaps of that hair I saw eyes glaring at me. My heart tripled in speed and my breath caught in my throat at the sight of those eyes. They looked normal enough, dark brown in color, but I could just feel the hatred, the acidic malevolence behind them, piercing into me as sharply as any blade.

         My dad screamed my name, and the energy form that had been washed out of my mom’s room surged toward me. I screamed in panic and slammed the door, locking it and backing away, slamming the small of my back into my dresser. I stood there, shoulders heaving with the heavy breaths I was taking, and tried to piece together what was happening through the terror I felt.

         Then I noticed I was hearing other sounds as well. Similar sounds of screaming, of metal against metal, of sparks and explosions and vast running water. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end as I sensed the aura of the people of my town being used to fight the invaders.

         Then my window shattered inward.

         I screamed as another man in light red and black armor crashed through, a thick trail of smoke following him, and he slammed to the floor, nothing but a singed corpse. Then a woman leapt in through the window. She was a bit taller than me, with dark brown hair flowing down to just past her shoulders. She wore a white sleeping gown with a robe over top of it, and no shoes at all. I recognized her. She turned to look at me, a fierceness to her eyes I would never have thought to exist there. Angry lightning sparked in her hands, and both it, and the feel of her aura, seemed much more intense and deadly than my dad’s.

         I blinked, then said in a voice little more than a whisper, “Sandra…?”

         She nodded once sharply, as if in greeting, then her eyes snapped to the door. She rushed forward with the speed of a wild cat and stood between me and the door, which quite literally exploded into splinters.

         “Move.” A man’s gruff voice sounded, and I looked over Sandra’s shoulder to see the tall, lanky man standing in the door way, a ball of orange light the same color as his hair glowing in his hand through the smoke. The large armored man stood behind him.

         My eyes widened, and my heart stopped as a simple, terrible truth struck me.

         If they were still standing, my parents weren’t.

         “Die.” Sandra replied in an angry rasp, and faster than I could blink, she brought both her hands up and launched a massive ball of lightning at the two, then grabbed me and hurled me to the side, where I landed in a sprawl.

         There was a crack of thunder, an explosion of orange light, and I caught a glimpse of both men inside my room, both charging at Sandra, who charged right back at them. I closed my eyes and clamped my hands over my ears. I tried to just shut everything out. I kept telling myself this was just another nightmare, that any moment now I was going to wake up screaming. My Mom and Daddy would probably come walking sleepily in to console me, the way they used to when I was a child still afraid of the dark.

         I heard a familiar young woman’s voice yelling frantically through my hands, saying something about it not being real, that she was asleep and having a bad dream or something. She was screaming it so fast I could hardly understand her. It seemed strange for someone to be screaming like that at night when everyone should be asleep and dreaming.

         Then Sandra slapped me across the face.

         My eyes snapped open, and my hands went down to my side to keep me from falling. The screaming had stopped, and I dimly realized it had been me. My eyes were wet with tears, and I was breathing so fast I thought I might be hyperventilating. I slowly turned to look at Sandra, who was kneeling in front of me. Her robe was torn a bit near the arm, and had been burned near her hip, but she seemed unharmed. When she spoke, her voice was even, hard, and commanding. “Natalie. Guardian has attacked White Meadow. We need to get out of here.”

         “What?” I said in shock, and Sandra’s expression became angrily impatient. “But, why? There’s nothing…we’re just…”

         “It doesn’t matter why, Natalie. Thinking about this won’t fix it.” She stood up and offered me her hand. “We’re under attack. None of the mages from North Star have arrived to help yet. Given their numbers, it’s impossible for this town to survive. We’re leaving. Now.”

         Some part of me wondered what North Star was, but my brain registered that it wasn’t important right now. I had never really been in much danger at any point in my life, not like this. Sure, we’ve had to run from a wild animal or two when we went too far into the woods, and every now and then we’d run into somebody we probably should steer clear from, but those were just potential threats, things that might go wrong. What Sandra was saying, what I saw happening now, it was something immediate, something deadly, and something very, very real. I guess my survival instincts took over my thoughts at that point, because I stopped thinking. I grabbed Sandra’s hand, she pulled me up, and we ran. I didn’t look at anything in the house, because some part of me had decided it didn’t want to see it. I didn’t look at much outside either, because that same part of me said it wasn’t anything I needed to see. Escape. Survive. That’s what mattered, and nothing I would look at here would help me do that.

         It’s hard to ignore when you slip in a pool of blood and fall painfully to the ground though. I pushed myself up and looked behind me to see the owner of one of the town’s small stores laying on the ground, his eyes open and unfocused, his mouth open but not breathing. Blood poured slowly from a gash in his head, and a deep cut on his throat. There were other details of his appearance to look at, but I didn’t register them. It’s amazing what a person’s survival instinct can make you not see once it’s decided to assume control of your thoughts. Some part of your brain still functions normally, but it’s like one person trying to speak calmly and rationally in a crowded room, full of people screaming and arguing. I managed to focus on that part of my brain for a moment, and saw the man’s mostly bald head, covered only in wisps of gray hair. He was old, but in good shape, his hands and arms toned and fit from the work of maintaining his shop, both the buildings and the products therein, by himself through the years. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, and though his skin had been thin, his muscles were still solid, his build strong. I assumed he slept in loose, dark pants, because that’s what he was wearing.

         I noticed that even though I had stopped to process all of this, my survival instincts and my body hadn’t. Before I knew it, I was already running behind Sandra again, limping slightly due to slamming my knee into the ground when I fell. I knew where in town I was, so apparently my brain was still keeping track of where I’d been running and what roads I had taken.

         My lungs hurt, my legs ached, my heart felt like it might burst out of my chest, both from the terror and the running, but I kept going. It wasn’t much farther to the edge of town, and the forest beyond. A path ran out of town to Xander, and another from the other side of town, but on the eastern and western sides of the town, past the meadow of white flowers, was dense forest. That must have been where we were heading. It made sense. We had explored those forests a lot when we were younger, and still knew them very well. We might be able to lose them if we headed there.

         Then there was a flash and a boom and everything went blank for a second. I was on the ground, my ears were ringing, and the wind had been knocked out of me. I had to fight to get my lungs to work again, and when they did I realized I hurt pretty much everywhere. My eyes slowly opened to see Sandra, one of her sleeves and much of the arm beneath it burned rather severely, standing and glaring ahead of us. I slowly sat up and looked to see a small crater, like the ground had exploded.

         On the other side of that crater stood a man about my age. He wasn’t bulky, but he seemed fit and well-toned from what I could tell. He wore a long coat, mostly black with red trim, and the folded collar revealed it red on the inside. It looked thin, but heavy, like there were more solid pieces inside of it, like an armored coat. He wore it closed all the way down to his waist, where I could see black pants with a lot of secure pockets, tucking into black and red, sturdy looking boots. His face might have been handsome, but his lips were twisted into a cruel sneer that ruined it. His blue-green eyes were locked onto Sandra, glaring for all he was worth, and bright green hair stood up and slightly backward off his head in spikes. “Not bad.” He said in a spiteful voice. “You noticed right at the last second, didn’t you?”

         Sandra glared at him quietly, and I slowly got to my feet. Her burned arm shot out, held up between me and the sneering member of Guardian across the crater.

         His eyes went to me, and a grin slowly spread on his lips. The grin didn’t look friendly. It was more of a taunting grin, the kind you give when… well, actually I hadn‘t ever seen one quite like it, but seeing it on his face, I got the feeling he believed he had won something. I shuddered. He was scary. Scarier than he looked. I can’t explain how or why I knew that, but I had no doubt about it. His eyes went back to Sandra. “You seem to be a cut above the other fodder in this town. Who are you, aura form?”

         “…Cassandra Redwind.” She answered in a steely voice that made me shiver and back away. Wait… that wasn’t her name. Her name was Sandra Soma. She told me that years ago. Who was Cassandra Redwind?

         The man laughed. “North Star’s ‘Valkyrie,’ huh? No wonder… I’d heard you left their numbers, but I’d never have expected you to hide in a backwater town like this. Still, I’m glad to come across someone in this town worth fighting.” He put one hand out to his side, the other on his belly, and gave a short, mocking bow. “I’m Sever, Lord General of Guardian.”

         Sandra visibly tensed up, then her stance shifted, her legs apart, her hands held at her sides, and lightning began arcing along her fingers. “Natalie.” She snapped. “Run. Hide. I can’t fight him and protect you at the same time.”

         He laughed again, spiteful and without mirth. His hand rose to one side, and a light appeared in it. He clenched his hand into a fist, and the green light formed a sphere around it, then extended into a long, conical shape I could only guess was supposed to be a sword. He got into a stance similar to Sandra’s. “Don’t kid yourself. You can’t do either one.”

         Sandra snarled angrily, which again made me back away from her. “Run! Now!” She rushed toward Sever, and I turned and sprinted away.

         I didn’t know where I was running to, just that I needed to keep moving. Without Sandra leading me, my brain tried to piece together plans of its own, and that did not work at all. I was so terrified, so tired, so unable to handle what was happening. I tried to compare it to some other experience I’d had in life to decide what to do, but I couldn’t. I’d never been in a situation anything like this. My entire town was being destroyed, and everyone in it killed. My parents were almost certainly dead, and one of my best friends was actually some kind of famous warrior who was now fighting who I could only guess was the leader of the most feared group on the continent. I could at any moment be found dashing through the bloody streets, dodging corpses and pieces of ruined buildings, and if I was found, I’d no doubt be dead before I could scream.

         Why had Sever looked at me like that? Why did Sandra lie about her name, and where did she learn to fight? Where was Amy? Why hadn’t I thought about her before now? Was I going to die tonight? Did I remember to set my alarm clock to wake me up in time to cook Daddy’s breakfast? Did I do the dishes after dinner, or leave them for tomorrow? Why in the unspoken names of the Great Spirits was I thinking about that now? As I ran, I started laughing at my own stupid questions. I was running for my life while my world fell apart, and here I was wondering about dishes. I must have looked ridiculous, tears falling from my eyes while laughter came out of my mouth between gasps.



         When children are in danger, the natural thing to do is to run to their parents. They run home because it’s the safest place they know, and they run to their parents’ arms because those are the strongest defenders they know. None of that matters when your home has already been broken into and your parents are dead, but I guess my survival instinct was still just a child and hadn’t thought about that. My feet had taken me back to my house, and I ran through the doorway, which I now noted was completely missing its door, without a moment’s hesitation.

         I stopped dead in my tracks when I got into the living room from the entry hall. Everything, time itself, seemed to stop for a moment. My living room had always been a neat, orderly place. A tan couch sat along one wall, with a table on each side of it, one of which had our music box on it, an ornate metal box with gems of multiple colors. A love seat sat along the next wall, perpendicular to the couch. Both were in range of the wide table in the center, draped with a tan cloth to match the furniture. There was a chest where we kept all our games that we’d play on the table, and a bookshelf much bigger than the one in my room was next to that.

          The table was upended, the chest was destroyed, the couch was crushed in the center, splitting it in two… and my dad was on the ground, his robe covered in blood. His chest had literally been crushed in, as if by a boulder. My mother lay face down in the hallway, her arm reaching toward my room, several burned holes along her body. It was like she had been stabbed multiple times by fire. Standing next to her was a boy, maybe a year or two younger than me. He wore a long, thin blue coat with no designs, one that stretched down to his knees, and was closed with large fasteners down to his hip. He was a little pale, with sky blue hair growing thickly on his head, hanging down to partially cover his ears and eyes. He was small, lean but with very little actual muscle, kind of like you see in runners. His mouth was pressed into a thin line, staring at my mother’s corpse with a pained grimace

         Time started moving again once my brain had taken in the details, and the boy turned to look at me in mild surprise. His piercing green eyes locked onto mine, then widened. He looked down at my mom again, then back at me, and I saw several emotions touch his features in quick succession. First there was a bit more surprise, then recognition, then his features hardened into a determined look. Immediately after, they sharpened, and he gave off an overpowering feel of icy fury. He opened and closed his right hand, and a sword of sky blue light, almost exactly like the bright green one Sever had made, appeared in his hand as he stepped toward me.

         I tried to take a step back, but my legs felt like they were made of jelly and just collapsed as realization hit me. A blue coat. A sky blue sword, and sky blue hair.

         It was the Azure Demon.

         He moved forward, not seeming to take a step so much as blur into motion, straight at me. I screamed and shut my eyes, holding my arms out in front of me in sheer panic. I expected pain to come, a lot of it, then for everything to just suddenly go away. That’s how it happens when you die right? Everything just fades, and it’s like you go to sleep. I’d tried to escape, I really had, but I just couldn’t do it. At least now, I’d be able to follow my mom and dad to whatever came next. All of that flashed through my mind in less than a second, and I took hold of that final thought, clinging on to it with all I had as I waited for the worst nightmare I’d ever had to come true.

         But it didn’t. I was taking panicked, shallow breaths, my arms still held out in front of me, my entire body trembling violently with terror, all of which meant I wasn‘t dead. I slowly opened one eye, then the other, and lowered my hands. He was gone. Just gone, without a trace. I got to my feet slowly, shakily, and looked around. My parents’ corpses were there, just like a moment ago, but I didn’t see him anywhere.

         Just as I wondered if my mind had shattered and made me start hallucinating, I heard a voice behind me. “Hey.”

         I screamed again, loudly enough that it made my throat hurt, and turned in shock. He was still here, still holding that blade, still looking at me with those terrifying eyes. But there were two others in the room as well. I looked down at his feet to see two men in red and black, one with a large, burned hole where his heart was, the other missing his head. My jaw dropped as my brain figured it out. “You…just saved my life…”

         He shrugged. “For the moment, but it’s not over yet. We need to get you out of here.” His voice was…strange. It wasn’t like any voice I’d heard before. It sounded like it should have been gentle and comforting, but there was this icy edge to it, a sharpness that nullified any sort of comfort one could gain from it. “What’s your name?”

         “My name…?” I repeated, blinking in confusion. “Oh it’s, um… it’s Natalie. Natalie Treit.”

         The Azure Demon nodded. “Natalie. Stay close to me. I’ll protect you.”

         “Wait, but…” I pointed and sputtered as he cocked an eyebrow at me. “But, you’re the Azure Demon, aren’t you?”

         “…Most people call me that.” He replied.

         “Then… But…Why?” I asked.

         The Azure Demon shrugged again. “Does it matter? I’ll keep you safe, that’s all you need to know.” He turned away from me. “Now stop wasting time and come on.”

         He started walking, and I followed. That was when it all really hit me. Some part of me had been holding onto the idea that this was all just some nightmare, that any moment I’d wake up in my bed. That part of me had been thoroughly silenced. This was just too insane, too ridiculous, too simply unbelievable for me to have made it up in my head. My parents were dead. My town was being destroyed. One of my best friends was a warrior mage who even the “Lord General” of Guardian considered a worthy opponent. Craziest of all, instead of some handsome young mage, the Azure Demon, the being I’d grown up fearing more than anyone or anything else in the entire world… was my hero who’d come to save me when all other hope was lost.