Hero

PROLOGUE: DAMIAN I

Damian Renway climbed to his feet. His arms were covered in bruises and his face was tarnished with blood. It took him a few minutes aimlessly wondering through the forest to realise the absence of his father, King Jarred I of Istoren.

Istoren was the largest region in all of Fardawn and was the first to be discovered out of all of them. Damian had grown up here in the capital city known as Skylance but often referred to as the city of the people.

Jarred was the sixth ruler of Istoren following the death of his father William II to the lung disease Dores. Jarred was a skilled warrior so he had taken Damian into The Forest of Dreams, on the outskirts of Skylance to teach him how to fight with a sword.

Damian knew very little of how to use a sword but as a prince it was compulsory for him to enter into the jousting tournament taking place in two weeks time. His eldest brother Edward was next in line to the throne and was the best at wielding a sword out of the siblings making the chances of his victory higher. This made Damian want to train even harder in order to beat his brother.

Damian's breathing became heavier and he rested on an old tree. His vision was hindered by the intertwining branches that blocked out the light of the moon. His heart was pounding and he could feel the blood rushing inside of his body.

The air was thick with blood. There was only one sound played throughout the forest. A deadly silence. Even all the living creatures had gone quiet.

Damian staggered into a clearing just around the corner from the tree he was resting on. A nauseating smell entered his nose. In front of him was a body. The corpse was dressed in identical clothing to that of his fathers.

Damian looked into the eyes of the corpse, they were the eyes of his father, The Lifeless grey eyes of a dead king. Jared's body was covered in blood with his natural grey beard becoming mixed with streaks of Crimson. Damian screamed for help whilst holding his fathers head in his hands.

"Help us someone, it's my father, he's dead, the king is dead. Please anyone, help!"

Damian lifted up his fathers body and swung it onto the back of his horse. He climbed on carefully avoiding any pressure on his injuries and began to ride towards Skylance. The thought that his father was dead made him not only sad but angry. He had never been so angry in his entire life.

* * *

The ride to Skylance was now only half a day away but after travelling all night with injuries Damian was becoming drowsy. He could feel himself slowly slipping off the horse. He fell and his head hit the ground with a hard impact. The lights were slowly fading away. The sounds of horses and men talking could be heard in the distance. Damian saw darkness.

* * *

A few hours later Damian awoke in his room in the great castle of Skylance. His eyes reopened to the face of his eldest brother Edward. Although he was the oldest out of the siblings he was reasonably simple with regards to politics and how to run the Kingdom.

"Damian, are you alright? You seemed to have taken quite a fall off old Dusty back there,"

Damian ignored his question because He could tell his brother was trying to avoid the fact of their fathers death.

"Where's his body?"

Edward shook his head and scratched the edge of his beard.

"The body was gone by the time the scouts arrived, I did not know of his death until moments ago."

Edward took a seat on the edge of my bed burying his head in his hands. Moments later Richard, their other brother entered the room. He was unlike Damian and Edward for he preferred time in solitude deliberating on choices or deep in thought.

"You're presence is requested in the throne room" he said looking over at Edward.

"Of course, I will come at once," replied Edward rising from the bed. Edward gave his youngest brother a nod as he left and walked out of the room.

Damian stayed in the bed for a few hours staring at the ceilings intricate patterning but the longer he lay there
the more he wanted to find his fathers killers. Not just find but also kill. This rage had built up inside of him like a slave begging for release. The corners of his eyes were blood shot and his fists were clenched. Damian lifted himself up slowly, staggering towards the door. His hands were cut so it was a struggle to open it at first.

Damian walked out of the room into the main sector in the castle. Thomas, a member of The Royal Knights Guard assisted Damian up the stairs to the throne room. He pushed open the door and walked towards his older brothers. They were arguing with each other over what seemed to be the choice of who the next king would be.

Edward turned around, "Damian, you must return to you're bed at once, you are injured!"

"I'm not leaving here until you stop arguing and begin the search for our fathers murderer,"

Richard slithered over sniggering,"For now there are other priorities that must be dealt with young warrior, I agree with Edward, you must return to your room this instant, the throne room is not a place for simple minded adolescents."

The guards came over, lifted Damian off his feet and escorting him out. Damian's twin sister Marie stood in front of him. Her eyes were coloured a similar shade of brown to mine and her hair was dark and curly like that of my mother. She wrapped her arms around me and began to start crying. I held her close to me whispering in her ear," I'm leaving tonight, I must find out who killed our father, the castle is not safe at the moment, trust no one, not even our brothers." He kissed her on the forehead before walking down the rest of the stairs. She screamed after her brother asking why he had to leave but he kept on going forward as he now knew he couldn't turn back.

Damian exited the castle picking up a sword from the weapons rack for protection. The morning wind had arrived and it was cold. As cold as death.