No Place For Heroes

Episode 2

"There you go. Next time try to use your head to think instead of hitting monsters with it." Maya said, as she finished prepping Drake with a few bandages.

The female healer couldn't be much older than thirty-five, her soft light skin still glowed bright, her blonde hair messily tied in bun, while a few strands hanged freely in front of her face, she was fair in the eyes of most men, including Drake's who was too distracted by the gentle feeling of her ample bosom pressed against his shoulder to even respond.

"Did you hear anything I said?" She asked, placing her balled fists at her waist, while one of her eyebrows rose in her playfulness.

"Wha- Said what?" Drake responded, finally snapping back from his delirium.

"Ms. Maya said no training or great efforts tonight. The healing spell is slow but effective, rest up and you'll be brand new by tomorrow." Said Ava, approaching Drake through his other side.

Drake unintentionally looked at Ava's breasts which appeared to be flat in comparison to Maya's, and a disappointing look took over his face, but suddenly something struck the top of Drake's head.

"Ow! Ow! What was that for?"

"Shut up! That's what you get for having your mind dirty!" Said Maya after knuckling him in the head, "And I'm not healing that. Now take her and get out of here. I've got to clean up before I head home."

"W-We can help if you want?" Said Ava.

"We what?!" Interjected Drake discontent.

"Thank you Ava, but no. You kids go home and have a nice rest. I want you to be fresh for tomorrow."

"Pff... Like you're the boss of me!" Drake said, crossing his arms while Maya directed her angry look at him.

"We'll do, Ms. Maya!" Ava said, grabbing Drake by the arm as she pulled him outside before he said something he shouldn't, again.

The night was settling, the sky was divided by shades of indigo blue before it faded into the dark sprinkled with little dots of light. Drake and Ava walked at an almost unmoving pace down the streets of Barren, as if the stench of the piss at each corner or the unattended feces of the neighbors dog could not bother them.

"S-so, are you confident for tomorrow's Trial?" said Ava with her head bowed down.

"Of course I'm confident, tomorrow's trial will be a piece of cake. No Full Blaze Trainee ever failed the trials so I'm not too worried about it." Drake replied, keeping his gaze into the night skies, hand in his pockets and a soft smile on his face.

"Right... sorry. I didn't mean you were going to fail the trials."

"What? No, I get what you're saying. It's still a big moment in a Seeker's life." reassured Drake.

"And you've been preparing for it everyday for a long time, right?" Ava asked, raising her head to meet his eyes.

Drake dodged her eye contact, he looked to the ground at his side and stayed quiet for a moment.

"D-Did I say something wrong?" Ava inquired, her face became uneasy as she worried.

"Nah... it's okay." said Drake, finally meeting her gaze, "It's just that uh... Nevermind. Yeah, I've been preparing for a long time." he agreed, but not without raising a splash of curiosity in Ava who just listened quietly to what he had to say, as she always did. "Look, we're here. This is you."

"Right..." She said as she stood in front of her door, silent, the beating of her heart raced faster than in battle, rushing her blood to her cheeks. Her hands held themselves in front of her groin, as her knees squeezed into each other, time stopped, as she kept trying to look up at Drake with her bowed head and through the strands of her silver hair.

Drake kept immersed in his own thoughts awakened by Ava's comment a few moments before.

"Thank you for walking with me."

Drake was quickly drawn back to the present, as he snapped out of his thought chain, "Don't sweat it. Couldn't leave you alone in these streets at night, someone might've jumped you.'' he said scratching softly the back of his head.

"I think if someone did that, it would probably be in greater danger than I would." She replied smiling with her eyes dashed, hoping not to sound arrogant.

"Exactly, I feared for them not you." Drake replied as Ava let out a small laugh.

She placed her hand on his shoulder, and looked straight in his eyes, as they widened, not used to Ava being neither this close nor direct with him. "Rest tonight." she said in all seriousness, just before Drake interrupted she continued, "Maya specifically ordered you to do so, Drake. I'm sure if you're fresh, the trials will go smoothly." She stared deeper into his dark blue eyes, "Promise me!"

Drake held himself for a moment before answering, perhaps hoping the blushing from his face would fade before he tried to give even a competent reply. "Don't worry about me. Tomorrow, we're all turning Seekers. Then, finally, our lives will begin."

Drake finished with a smile, which was quickly met with a soft kiss to his cheek. "And wake up on time, will you? I would hate for you to miss JJ in his Judge armor, then annoying me to tell you all about it." Drake froze at the moment she placed her lips on his skin, Ava opened her door, and midway through it she turned back once more, "Good night Drake." she said, as the door closed behind her.

"Good night..." He said, still a bit surprised, his eyes still trying to react to the shock. His hand touched his cheek, as a sensibility test. The rush began to fade as his most heavy thoughts returned, I'm sorry Ava. Resting was never in the plans for me. There's plenty of resting ahead when I'm dead. He thought as he made his way back to the training grounds of the Full Blaze Guild. I can't promise you to rest or take it easy. You're right, I have been training for a long time, but you got the end goal wrong. It's him, he's the end goal. The man from that night. Drake keeps on remembering the sound of the flames, the redness in the room, two years ago, before all of this Seeker thing started for him, the splatters of blood on the wooden floor, "Drake..." He hears, as a muffled voice in pain being choked to nothing, "...Run!" the voice shouts, but no sound could be heard, all he could fathom was the movements of her lips, as his hand, darkened by the flames behind him, pierces through her stomach, the squishing sound of her guts being opened in a single piercing strike followed her last request to this younger Drake, who was drowning in tears if not for the shock paralyzing him in the room, not being able to move his eyes from the gore. "Mom..." he cried, sobbing, he could not even proclaim her name loud enough to be heard, would it be loud enough for the tall dark figure holding his mother by the neck to notice him. His eyes were blood red, outshining the fire surrounding the two of them, those crimson eyes carved in this scarred kid's head. He could not gasp for air, there was something else in the room, this pressure, not atmospheric, an energy, an aura. It was so heavy that the boy's chest could barely move to breathe. Drake remembered the shock quickly fading, as he rolled over on the floor and crawled out of there as fast as he could, stumbling all over each step and corner before he could run away. The memories faded there, The Man with the Red Eyes. Drake thought, entering the training grounds of the guild once more, not a soul around, or so he thought, as a mysterious shape of a man wearing an eye patch looked down on him from the highest window in the guild. Until that man drops dead by my hand, there'll be no resting for me. The young man declared as his azurian magic engulfed his hand levitating a sword from the rack to his fist as the training dummies aligned for his training session. Drake clenched the handle on his sword as his night was just beginning.