One thing to know about being a watcher is that it's boring. Cole would surely believe that.
All you do is watch. Eat. And watch. For breakfast, your typical meal would be sausages and parsley. Lunch and supper, the best meal of the day, a plate of beans, beef, kale, broccoli, and eggplant.
Occasionally, a big frightening monster would appear, but should it happen, the watchers never really get to pick up a sword and slay it like a hero. It was almost against the rules. (And the only weapon a watcher could ever use was a crossbow.) This was why being a watcher was the least popular job in the military.
The only upside to this role is that it's the safest. Unless if a monster topples the tower, the watchers are perfectly safe above ground. Whilst knights risk their own lives to fight a monster (and most end up dying.)
But even so, Cole never liked being a watcher. But he thought it was the best way to protect humanity instead of selling poultry in the streets.But today was interesting.
One day on duty, Cole (brown haired, blue eyed, teen) stared into the horizon. Behind his gazed self were buckets full of fish and leftover fruit from yesterday, which had since garnered a putrid smell (they smelled like barf.) His fourth week as a watcher was just the same as any other week. He went to reach for his crossbow, but froze when he heard a burp. It was his friend, Joubert at the back.
Joubert was a fatter than average teen with a broad nose, puffed cheeks, and chubby mouth. His torso was the size of a horse. And his legs were as wide and lumpy as a whale.
Joubert had swallowed a whole loaf of rye bread, after he had drank a metabolizer (which by the way, is a drink that must be swallowed after every meal to help with digesting and coagulation to prevent a heart attack, should it ever happen.)"That's gross." Cole said, disgusted. "You should only eat after an hour of drinking metabolizer, and you should know that."
"I know." Joubert replied. "But you know me, I can't survive half an hour without eating!"
"But you can die if you do it many times!"
"Well luckily, this is only the second time!" Joubert scoffed. "Ha ha!"
Cole resumed to picking up his crossbow.
As a watcher, you always watch out for any enemy forces. And lucky for him, this was the best time.
The royal family of Heira was just on their way out of the city walls for who-knows-what.
The royal family of Heira lives in the Holy Palace, in Sanctum. Sanctum is the capital of Evrain, one of the three kingdoms (the others are Tyros, and the Kingdom of the Scorched Lands,) and frankly all of Heira.
What Cole did notice however was the presence of the heir to the throne, Prince Logan Reichter. Cole wondered so much about why Prince Logan looked too young to be a king, was it because he was a kid? One thing was for sure, he didn't look happy. Prince Logan (blonde haired, brown eyed, kid) had a bland expression on his face. As if he was sad and depressed. Surely he had that face for a reason. Beside him was who Cole thought was the young boy's bodyguard knight. The knight had a glistening teal cuirass, and a face concealed by a thick, sliver helmet with a green feather on top. The color palette didn't really match Cole's taste, he thought the colors should have matched, but he wondered what knights would dress like on duty (probably a worse color palette?) He looked like a bold man, almost as if he would die to protect the prince. The knight looked upon the young prince's face, and went on to soothe him by rubbing his forearm. Cole found it uncomfortable.
What is up with him? Cole thought. Whatever. Stop it. Focus on your job instead of-A loud stomp roared in the breeze.
Cole was stunned. But he had to keep his guard up. He pointed his crossbow to the trees, where the sound was coming from.
A tall, spindly arm stretched out of the trees. And just then, two more popped up. The stomp came again.
A big, dark smoke spat out of the trees, and stomped onto the ground. It shaked the land beneath Cole's knee.
Then, a big, skull head rose out of the trees, and proceeded forward. It looked like the arms and smoky feet were connected to the skull head.
It looked creepy, very creepy, even creepier than the thing the prince's bodyguard did. But that was not the problem. The problem was that it was coming towards the city."Retreat!" Cole shouted at the top of his lungs.
The people below immediately began to run back inside the city walls. Well, all except Prince Logan. His bodyguard knight tugged the boy's arm. "Your majesty, you must retreat!" He said. But the boy did not budge. He instead waited for the monster to come closer, and who knows what he could have been thinking! Cole thought it was ridiculous, how a kid could gather the courage to stand up against a monster fifteen times his size, and is as creepy as death. Cole needed to save his majesty from the beast. He knew it would be risky, and that he might die. But he also didn't want the prince to die. So with no time to waste, he picked up a nearby sword, and ran down the tower.
Meanwhile, the royal knights began to charge towards the beast, but each of them started to flail on the beast's arms, and end up pinned to the ground, probably dead. It was now only Prince Logan. He eyed towards the monster with a serious face. The monster glistened and snarled its black, tarred teeth, but the boy did not flinch.
"I know you," he shouted. "I know you! The enemy of God the Father almighty, the minion who stalks the Promised Lands for the entity known as Satan. Mark my words: Your master will eat the dust of the ground for his future defeat. The Messiah for all man will slay the wicked entity, and get rid of the darkness. You, the one who stalks the lands, you will pay the ultimate pri-"
Out of nowhere, a sword punctured the monster's cheek, and it fell on its side. A few seconds later, the monster succumbed to its injury, and exploded into a million pieces with only its ribs and punctured skull left.
The sword belonged to Cole, who stood behind Prince Logan. Cole walked over to His Majesty and bowed his head.
"Your Majesty," he said. "It was a pleasure to defend you from this wicked beast."
Prince Logan, who stared down at Cole said, "Thank you very much. But I must go. I'm not having a good day. And I'm best left alone. Have a good day, sir."
And he walked off.
While the family went about on their way to the coast, Cole stood there, thinking about what just happened.
Amongst the fallen knights in their pools of blood, he thought, I don't want to be a stupid watcher. I want to become a knight! But how can I get out of this dumb job?¤
YOU ARE READING
Heroes of Heira: Volume I
FantasyFirst volume: In the continent of Heira, a war against humans and Malum is waging. In the crossroads, Cole is desperately trying to survive. Eventually, he gets selected as a new recruit for the Army of St. Michael. Meanwhile, the heir to the Heirae...