A Hero's Dilemma

Chapter 6

Woo, this is the last chapter for this prolonged prologue.

Enjoy the chapter.

Cover art by: Notgustiarp

Chapter 6

His head hurt.

An understatement, as an intense burning sensation was all he could feel. The rest of his body was thankfully numbed. However, his vision was hazy, and it was impossible to tell if he was even breathing anymore. In short, his head really hurt.

His mind started fading in and out as he—presumably laid there, nearly slipping into sweet unconsciousness. His vision, already hard to decipher, became a blend of colors all dotted with black spots growing threatening to block it all out.

Yet panic didn't set in like usual, only blissful relief. The pain subsided, and along with it, his will to fight against the encroaching darkness.

As he fell into a deep slumber, he wondered why all of a sudden, his clouded vision violently shook and why all the previous color abruptly cut off. In its place, a vast wall of chaotic reds and oranges overtook the once serene blues and whites.

It didn't matter.

I haven't had a good night's sleep in a while, have I? Not since...since...huh, I can't remember. I'd better get to sleep then, don't want to make mom angry—wait.

Mom?

/-/

She hadn't been thinking.

I had to stop him. They were right there, and they needed my help!

She'd lost herself in despair as images of her nightmares started to play out right in front of her very eyes. A hallucination of her daughters created by anguish, and her haggard brain fell right for it.

"It seems I wasn't the only one projecting."

He was right. He was so right.

She felt the heat on her skin as the monument collapsed, engulfed in Dust flames. They burned hotter and spread quicker than the standard variety. It clung to the statue at first, but as the seconds slowed to a grinding halt, sparks visibly shot out and onto nearby buildings. In moments, the entire village would go up in flames with them all trapped inside. The bastard included.

Her eyes wouldn't look away from his form, her body content with dying as long as she could watch him croak first. He stood halted mid step, caught off guard. He must have been too stunned to react.

Or he should have been.

Instead of seeming panicked, his demeanor remained unchanged, calm, relaxed, and unflinching in the face of impending death.

Resolute.

In those microseconds before the impact, he paned over to reveal his dead, lifeless eyes. They trailed upwards, ignoring her entirely and instead focused on the incoming danger, never once gaining a semblance of worry or concern.

She'd never seen someone so unfazed with certain death than this, and as time seemed to return to normal, she had one last shot of panic.

That stance...there's no way he's gonna try to—

In the end, her thoughts were cut off as the heavens came down to strike them from existence. She lost sight of him as he was consumed by a veritable mountain of rock and flames. She ducked as an equally massive tremor rocked what felt like the entire countryside taking her off her feet as the intense heat cruised overhead.