The Unwilling Protagonist

Chapter 3: Sympathy for a "Hero"

At the light temple, the mistress, as she was called, stared at a map which took up an entire wall. The map depicted the land of Kaldra and the presence of the dark magic of the Arcana. Another village had fallen to the Arcana, and the clerics that the mistress assigned to defend it would most likely be dead by now; the Arcana were not known to take prisoners, and even if they did, freeing them would be impossible.

"Another village lost..." The mistress said solemnly before she grit her teeth, "Tch...! That bastard is just playing with us at this point. He's intentionally making his conquest slow to taunt us...to give us the illusion of hope, to fool us into thinking we can stop him..."

One acolyte approached the mistress and bowed her head.

"Mistress, do we know if any of our clerics survived this attack?" The acolyte asked.

"I do not know...the Arcana are not known to take prisoners...but...I can only hope and pray that they are safe..." The mistress replied.

A cleric suddenly burst into the room, "Mistress! A teleportation circle appeared in the atrium! It's not one of ours!"

The mistress stood up and hurried towards the open-roofed atrium of the temple, where other clerics and priestesses stood ready to combat whatever threat this portal would bring. Upon seeing the portal, the mistress' eyes widened.

"It can't be...he wouldn't come here..." she said.

Suddenly, the portal's teleportation was complete. All the temple fighters prepared to fight the Arcana, but what they saw was more horrifying.

The clerics that the mistress sent to defend the village against the Arcana were all stripped naked and bruised. All of them looked barely alive but lifeless; and the smell...something had defiled the innocence of these girls, evidence of which still remained on their bodies. Not one part of these young clerics was left untainted.

"Healers! Tend to them!" The mistress ordered.

The temple denizens were all too shocked to hear their mistress. She had to repeat herself and take the initiative before the others moved.

The clerics were all rushed to the hospital wing of the temple while the mistress tightened her grip on her staff. In all the randomness, she had not noticed an envelope lying on the ground. She picked it up and read what it said.

Reighland

The mistress hastily opened the envelope and proceeded to read the letter inside.

Reighland,

Consider this a warning. The next time you send untainted maidens to fight me, you are not getting them back.

Geralt Dibles

XV member of the Order of the Arcana, the Devil, the most fearsome of them all.

The mistress angrily crumpled the letter in hand and threw it. Nothing pained her more than seeing her subjects hurt, and this humiliation pained her just as much. She had thought of these girls as her own sisters, or even as her own children, and the Light Temple was just a house for this family of hers.

"Miriam...please...do not delay. Find the hero and bring him here..." The mistress prayed.

Opening Theme:

A carriage rolled down a dirt road. The hooves of the horse clopped on the ground in a steady rhythm alongside the creaking of the carriage wheels. The carriage held a single passenger, a young girl dressed in religious robes holding a staff on her lap. Her eyes were closed as she rested for the remaining duration of her ride. She wasn't dreaming, and even if she was, who would know but her? This was the priestess Miriam, the one assigned to seek out the Hero of the Realm and bring them to the Light Temple.