Hero
by Jacob Hutson

In times past, in a land far distant from here, there was a small kingdom that lived in turmoil. The good people of those lands were beset by dozens of foul monsters and beasts that roamed the fields and forests in the search of food and plunder. For many years, these devils and demons ruled those lands with evil kings being their vassals. Enslavement, famine, and death was all that one could hope for in that place, for there was nothing but darkness that swelled amongst the populace.

But lo there came a glint of light that shied away the black. A hero, born into a time of need, who had the blood of an ancient line of kings flowing through his veins but also raised in poverty, was destined to lead the good peoples of those lands to glory. It is said that the hero was over ten feet tall and could crush a man’s skull in between his thumb and forefinger. Others would say that the hero was so strong, that he could pick up boulders as if they were mere pebbles and hurl them great distances. He wielded a lance that was carved from a mighty and ancient tree, and carried a shield which depicted the emblems of the old kingdoms. It was said that he rode upon a great and noble lion whom he had beaten in mortal combat. It was this hero who began to liberate the good people from their enslavement and slay the evil kings that worshiped devils.

The hero went on to hunt down the monsters and beasts that plagued the land. He slew a great dragon with a single thrust from his lance, he felled many a giant with his divine strength, and it was said that he could even kill a great winged serpent with a single shot from his mighty bow. The hero hunted the beasts of the land, sea, and even the air, to bring the foul creatures to justice. It didn’t take long for the hero to vanquish every single beast and evil man that wallowed in his homeland, ushering in a golden age of peace.

Legend grew with the hero’s exploits, and stories of his greatness reached far and wide. He was welcome in every home, considered a hero by all. They used to say that even the noble and wise kings, who replaced the evil ones, would kneel before the great hero who had brought their lands out of darkness. Great festivals and celebrations were held in the hero’s honor, and he even became a model for citizenship to the kingdom. Titles were given, claiming the hero to have the rights to several thrones or governorship over many cities, but the hero never sought out such titles. Instead, the hero claimed a small plot of land in which to live out the rest of his days in peace. The golden age would continue for some time.

As it was said before, the hero’s fame was spread across the world, and just happened to find the ears of other beasts and devils that lived far away. Upon hearing of hero’s exploits, many devils and evil men set out in search of this hero so that they may crush him and smother out the light that he had cast upon the world. When the monsters came to his land once again, the hero jumped to protect his homeland. Although the hero had stated that he much wanted to live in peace, he did so miss the days of his former glory. Great wars and battles were waged against the evil monsters and men that had come to the noble kingdom, and with the great hero at the forefront of every engagement the beasts were driven back to whatever hell had spawned them.

The years of war and death had taken their toll upon the small kingdom, and the people were ready for peace once again. But before they could rest, they turned back to find the causes of the recent atrocities. It would seem that they would all stem from a single source, the hero. Quickly, the people of the kingdom placed the blame of the past years of strife solely upon the greatest hero who ever lived. It was after all, his fault that the monsters had even come to their lands to bring death, it was by the fault of a man who had only done what was right to do. No one knows exactly why the hero was so quickly blamed, for he was practically the sole source of evil’s departure, but many would think that the people were looking for something to justify why their relatives and kin had died. They couldn’t seem to conceive the thought that it was by the fault of the evil creatures from distant lands that their lands were consumed in blood, and not at all by the fault of the noble hero. Nevertheless, the hero had his titles, lands, and love from the people stripped away. The hero, somehow betrayed by the people he was trying to help, retired, sentenced to never bear arms in “defense” of the kingdom ever again.

It wasn’t long after, when the memory of the terrible conflicts were still fresh in everyone’s mind, did a lone giant wander into the kingdom. Coming from a great distance, the giant never heard of the hero, and was in fact lost from months of pillaging, but that wouldn’t stop the people of the lands to point their fingers at the hero and exclaim, “It is he who has brought the giant here.” The hero, despite his sentence, donned his armor and weapons to ride out against the giant in defense of his people. The giant was slain before it could do any damage to kingdom, but the once wise and noble kings took the opportunity to use this incident as a stepping stone to get rid of the troublesome hero. They convinced the people that it had to have been the hero who brought the giant, hoping to reclaim his lost fame and titles. It was said at that time that the hero was accused of trying to bring other monsters and beasts back into the kingdom so that the people would be lured into thinking that they actually needed the hero to survive. To protect themselves from the hero’s lies, he would be condemned to exile in a monastery so that he couldn’t endanger the nation through his actions.

Many years would pass with the hero confined to exile before the people would eventually forget the betrayal of their hero and move on with their lives. And with the memory of the hero lost and forgotten, monsters began to crawl back out of darkness to exert their power upon a weakened peoples. Evil men and kings were the next to wield their dark magic, toppling to old kings and building empires from the blood of the goodly people. The people, both noble and humble, begged the hero to return from exile in order to save their nation from enslavement and death. They promised the hero money, lands, titles, and claims upon a united throne. At first the hero refused, preferring to take up a life of pacifism rather than risk losing the support of the people again. But eventually the hero would succumb to the wishes of the people and return to save the kingdom.

Dozens of adventures would be held, years would pass, and eventually the hero succeeded in driving out the monsters once again. Looking to live in the love of the people once again, the hero returned from his exploits, expecting the people to show their appreciation for their savior. Instead, the restored kings thanked the hero, held a single feast in his honor, and then politely asked the hero to return to a self-imposed exile. Outraged, the hero left the kingdom once and for all.

But that wouldn’t be the last time the people of the kingdom would hear from their noble hero. While the people were rebuilding from the last rise of monsters, an ancient wyrm came to their kingdom. The wyrm swarmed over the kingdom in a rage, destroying fields and cities as if they were nothing. The people and nobles of the land would set out in search for their hero, pleading for his return and truly sorry for turning their backs on him. But the hero was nowhere to be found, no matter how hard they tried. The kingdom tried one final time to confront the great wyrm that had the lands in disarray, to no end. The people were enslaved by the wyrm, and darkness smothered all the light.

Many years would pass before a small girl would go before the wyrm with a simple question that only a child could pose. The little girl asked, “Why great dragon, do you do this?” The wyrm was intrigued by the question, so brave a person, in so little a form. The dragon told the girl a story of a hero before her time. It told her of how this hero had saved a nation many times, only to be blamed for their many problems. Once, the hero was on a hunt against some foul beast or another when he stumbled into the cave of a mighty dragon. The great wyrm awakened from its centuries of sleep to find a man of great stature before him. To much surprise, neither beast nor hero attacked one another, and instead they exchanged stories. The dragon told of his days of old, plundering and destroying the lands around him in the name of chaos, while the hero told the story of an ungrateful nation that he continued to save.

The two made a pact, as the hero didn’t want to slay the ancient dragon, and the wyrm didn’t wish to do battle with the noble hero, they decided that if the hero was to return to his homeland in triumph, and not be received as by a grateful nation then the dragon would rise up to deliver the punishment that the nation deserved. The dragon chuckled to himself saying, “If only the nation knew how to better appreciate their heroes.”

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