The Demon King And The Hero (Part One)

Chapter Six: The Hero's Surprise

Chapter Six: The Hero’s Surprise

         The night went by slowly. After a nice, delightful bath with Chris, Shion ended up falling asleep straight away. She hadn’t noticed how tired she actually was, and didn’t even awaken when Nemis came back.  All she remembered was feeling the pressure that was made by Chris, release, and the deep baritone of Nemis’ rich voice.  If anything, it had lulled her further into sleep. 

    When she briefly awakened to relieve herself, she was pleasantly still half asleep. She went through the motions and headed back to her bed, slipping under the covers without a care. She was dead tired. She didn’t even have the energy to check and see if she’d awoken Chris.

        Hours later, when the sun shone through the window, she opened her eyes and yawned. Waking up slowly, Shion felt better than she had in a long, long time, being the first time she’d slept in a bed in over a month. She had to admit that she wished she could sleep longer. 

       As she always liked to do, she snuggled up against the pillow and sighed.

       I’m sick of sleeping in the forest. I’m human, not an animal. I want to sleep in a bed, not on dirt. Shion frowned at herself. How did the other heroes handle this? She thought again. Oh yeah, they died before their first year was even up. It was too pitiful to even laugh at. Aside from her teacher, Ashthran and the great Erimes, who both lasted three years, and Shardid, who lasted two and half winters without dying, she was the third longest surviving hero. The hero that had lasted the shortest amount of time had been Ivis, with three and a half days. How shamed Ashthran had been when they told him the news.

        And after Ivis, nobody wanted to become the hero for the longest time.

     Maybe that was why she was  so readily chosen. Maybe the elders were anxious to name someone, it had been at least four winters since Ivis, and no hero had taken his place in the time between. Honestly, it didn’t really make sense. At least ten others had entered the tournament that was held to decide the next hero. Four of those who’d won-and her- had made it to the final stage.

     Yet she had been chosen. She had won.

      They told her it was because of her ability to heal faster than normal, and that her magick was twice as strong as all the other candidates. She was good with the bow and even better with the sword. She knew how to fend for herself-something Ashthran had instilled in her since the very first day. Even though she was good, she wasn’t as good as some of the others. She was sure the burly, scarred up man should have been the one to win. 

     But again, Shion had been the one they named Grand Hero.

            She never felt good enough for the “job”. She wasn’t hero material, nor was she the type of person to care about petty human squabbles. She wasn’t pius, and barely cared for the gods. She cursed Eldis whenever she had alone time, for it was the goddess that had doomed her. 

        She had little patience for other people. Usually, like the innkeeper, they were narrow minded and rude as hell. Time and time again, Shion was told she was a terrible hero. Heroes didn’t steal from dead men, and heroes sure as hell didn’t threaten and extort, even if the reason was just.

           How do they expect me to live? Off thin air and a measly, shitty little meal a day.  Damn… Shion snickered softly. How can they expect that of me? Like any normal human can eat nothing, sleep outside on hard dirt-especially if they lost their bedroll- and fight evil effectively? Who ever came up with the “live off the kindness of others” philosophy should be kicked in his jewels. They don’t know what its truly like, or else…