Heed the truth, Hide from lies
There are those who can run, and those who can fight. The ones who fight have the strength to overcome the odds. Those that can run have the endurance to escape. But what happens to those who lack the strength to fight back and the endurance to escape? What about those who can’t run and can’t fight? Are they simply destined to become lambs for slaughter? What happens if a small village, too far from any main civilization, gets attacked out of nowhere by a pack of hungry beasts? They cannot run as there is nowhere for them to go, they cannot fight as they are not strong enough in numbers or strength. Will they just have to wait and hope that someone will save them? Or will they have to simply accept their fate and face death?
“Run child, quickly!” an old man says to his grandson, running through a crowd of people also scrambling for safety. “We must stay here and stay quiet.”
The boy is guided into a nearby house as screams of terror can be heard all around their village. Inside is a woman and a girl, already huddled in a corner. To the opposite corner, the boy is led, and there he hides with his grandfather. The screams outside grow louder and are joined by the sounds of snarling, slashing, and liquid spilling onto the ground. The boy waits with his grandfather, hopefully, they will be lucky enough to live through this day. Before, with the constant patrol of knights, attacks like these were few and far between. However, with the war that’s been going on, many of the knights had begun losing their lives or being brought back to the kingdom.
The boy looks up at his grandfather, who has beads of sweat running down his face as he peaks his head up to see out the window. The man’s eyes widened with fear, he definitely saw something he wished he didn’t. The boy looks to the far corner where the woman and girl sit huddled together. From where they are, they too can see a bit out of the window, and they too have the same look of fear in their eyes. They sit there, paralyzed, almost as if something is peering at them and causing them to become petrified.
Then, the boy realized just what had paralyzed everyone in the house. From the window, a wolf-like beast called a warg jumps through. Shards of glass fall all over the wooden floor and the large beast stands just a few feet away from the boy and his grandfather. The beast stands about five feet tall and eight feet long with long dark fur with spots of red near the front, especially around its mouth. It snarls, eyes locked on the woman and girl. The two quiver in fear, the girl’s eyes fill with tears and the woman clutches onto the girl in an attempt to protect her. The woman then looks past the beast, towards the boy and the old man, pleading with her eyes for them to save her. The boy meets her gaze, then looks back to his grandfather to see what they should do. The old man simply turns his head, shuts his eyes, and retreats into his darkened corner more, hoping the warg won’t be wanting anymore to feast on after it’s done. The boy’s eyes widen and his head shoots back to the far corner, as the creature’s snarls grow louder, it steps closer towards the woman and the girl. The two cannot fight, for they know they cannot best a warg. The two cannot run, as the beast will easily catch them. All they can do is accept their fate. All the boy can do is hope he is not next.
The woman clutches the girl into her arms and turns her back towards the warg, hoping that maybe her body could shield the girl from the same fate. The moment the beast lunges at the two, time seemingly stops for the boy. He knows he cannot fight; he knows he cannot run; he knows there is no hope, but he refuses to accept this truth. The boy forces himself to stand, hoping that by some miracle he could at least save the two people in front of him. And a miracle does occur, but not by the boy. From the window, just behind the boy, shines a brilliant white light, and from that light, a gentle warmth fills the boy. In the blink of an eye, it’s over. Time returns to normal, the beast that was about to take the lives of the woman and girl now lays headless on the floor, and in place of it is someone new. A young man, wearing a white cloak, orange wavy hair, and a scythe with a blade of the same color. Just as quickly as he appeared, he ran back out, jumping through the window once again, leaving everyone in the room in shock.
The boy runs to try to find the one who saved him but…nothing. The wild beasts that were terrorizing the village all lay on the ground, motionless. Some people didn’t survive this ordeal, but a significantly larger portion was still alive, coming out of hiding spots or getting up from the ground. As destroyed and painted as the village has become, it definitely would have ended worse if that one person never showed up. The boy looks up into the sky and all he can see is a fire, flying off into the distance.
“HAH! Musta been that Reaper that scared off all the wolves!” a merchant who travels to the kingdom often began to speak. “Looks like that lowlife is good for something after all!” The merchant scoffs, “Once the knights finally get their act together and murder that bastard, they can finally start on killing off the rest of these beasts that taint our world.” The merchant begins to walk off to examine the damage his goods had sustained. “Agh, I got to get out of here as soon as I can.”
“Ah-” the boy tries to retort but he feels a hand fall on his shoulder. He looks up to see his grandfather standing beside him, shaking his head slowly. “But Grandpa, that man was also saved by him.”
“I am about to teach you the most important lesson you will ever learn my boy. Not everyone people tell you is the truth, that’s something you need to learn for yourself. The man whom the merchant called ‘Reaper’ is someone who chooses to save everyone, not just the cowards in the capital. Because of that, he’s been labeled as a villain, a monster, and he’s hunted down wherever he goes. He’s saved quite a few villages now, all of which have been neglected by the knights who never even showed up. To them, he is the enemy, but to us…” The man takes a moment to see the looks of relief on everyone else’s faces. “To us, he is a hero that we all know and trust.”
The boy smiles at his grandfather. He then turns to the house and sees the woman and girl coming out. He runs over to assist them so that everyone can celebrate surviving this day and meeting the greatest hero in the world. Those who cannot fight nor fly must leave their fate in the hands of others. Those who can fight and fly will fly the fastest to fight for those who cannot, even for the ones who want to bring them down.
From a distance, a group of knights watches as they see an orange flame fly away from the village. The knight leading the group sighs before turning to face his men. “Alright men, it is truly a sad day to see a sight like this, but you all know what must be done. It seems as though the Reaper has appeared at another village and has destroyed it leaving no one alive. It is our job to go in and check to see if there are any survivors. If not, we must go and report back to the king.”
“But sir,” One knight speaks out, “our records say that there’s a very profitable merchant that was visiting that village today.” The look of concern on his face was very visible.
The leading knight looks at his subordinate, “I see, well there’s nothing that can be done I suppose…” He puts a hand on his chest and lets out a sorrowful sigh. “I suppose sacrifices must be made to make sure that the report to His Excellency is as accurate as possible. I’m sure he will be most unhappy about this, but oh well.” The knight is taken aback but quickly understands and nods in agreement. He then shouts, “Are you all ready, men!?” The knight raises his swords and the rest do in response. They then all charge into the village, prepared to leave without retrieving a soul.
