Hero Vs Villain (BoyxBoy)

Ridley's Story

Ridley

I knelt before my king. I wasn't exactly sure why it was necessary for us to have such a large ceremony for this. Then again I was never one to argue with the rules.

"Oh this day we celebrate the knight, sir Ridley, for returning my daughter princess Annette to us." The crowd that had gathered around the throne room let out a loud cheer. "Sir Ridley is a knight who we always knew would come to do great things, just like his father." The King smiled. "I know Daniel is looking down on you right now and is very proud. It is a tradition for the most noble and brave knight in our land to bear the sword Crystalbreaker. It was an honor which once belonged to your father. It is my pleasure to now bestow this sword to you."

My heart skipped a beat. Crystalbreaker? My father's sword? But...surely I wasn't worthy. My father had practically saved the entire kingdom when he received it. I on the other hand had merely assisted in rescuing princess Annette.

He held the sword out now. It was a beautiful thing, its hilt studded with sparkling diamonds. I had seen it so many times at my father's side that it brought about a familiar ache in my chest. I graciously accepted it as the beautiful weapon was handed to me. Laying a gentle kiss to the sword as was tradition before I tucked it into my sheath.

The crowd began to cheer, "Sir Ridley! Sire Ridley! Sir Ridley!"

After the ceremony was over Annette approached me with a smile. "Congratulations," she said.

I bowed my head. "I'm afraid I'm not worthy of the honor princess."

Annette laughed. "Stop being so humble you rescued me and fought off a Bone Monster. It doesn't get any more heroic than that."

"I had help."

Annette shrugged. "There's no shame in that. The important thing is that you were brave and never backed down. That's something very few men can say they did."

"I was simply doing my job princess. This war against the demons is very important to me. If I could I would like to see every demon wiped from this world."

Annette's gaze fell to the floor now. "Ridley...I hope you don't mind me asking this but...wasn't your father killed by demons? Is that what makes you hate them so much?"

I nodded stiffly. "Yes. Not only my father. My mother and sister too."

"What happened?"

I usually tried to my best to not think about that day when I was ten.

I took a deep breath.

By no means did I want to recount the tale but...she was my princess. She had a right to know.

"When I was a boy my father was my hero. I would see the way people would look at him, the way people admired him and I wanted to be just like him. He's the one that started training me. He was the kindest person I ever met and he's the one that taught me that light can always conquer darkness. As you probably know my father was praised as one of the finest demon killers of all time. I think that's what made him a target. One night I was sleeping when I heard screaming in the courtyard below. Standing there was a circle of demons, all wearing black hoods. They were holding my little sister Lily up by the collar, dangling her above the air like a mouse that had caught a rat." I shut my eyes for a beat, trying to pull myself together enough to continue to story. "I ran out of my room, to where the courtyard was. I don't know what I was thinking? Maybe that I could be a hero and save her. The hallways were clear and I realized the servants must have already fled. I made my way out into the courtyard, and before the demons saw me my mother and father appeared. My father caught sight of me before the ring of demons did and his face turned ashen. He mouthed the words, 'hide' and even though I wanted to fight, even though I wanted to save them....I just couldn't. I was petrified, I felt like I was going to faint. So I ran to a rose bush and right before one of the demons turned around to see what the sound was my father spoke. I hid in the bush like a coward and saw the whole thing..." I could still remember the bite of the rose thorns against my skin and how bloody cold it was. I had been shivering and I hadn't known if it had been from the wind or fear. "My father told them to let my sister go. My mother was sobbing. She begged them to take her and leave Lily alone. She rushed forward to grab her and one of the demons ran her through with their sword." I swallowed hard. "Her blood stained the snow red. My little sister began to cry and the demon that was holding her grabbed her by the neck and squeezed it until there was a pop and she went limp. Then he simply dropped her and she fell into the snow with a thud. Two of the demons grabbed my father by either arm and the circle of demons parted for one of them to pass. I figured he must be the leader of the attack. The demon whispered something to my father and something darkened in my father's gaze. I thought about trying to save him. Maybe I could have run out of the bushes and distracted them and given my father time to get away. But then...with his bare hands the demon ripped out my father's throat." I shuddered, hating how vividly I could still recall the image. "My father fell to the ground and the demon and his followers left."

Annette lay a hand on my arm. "There's nothing you could have done. You were just a boy."

"Yet, there's something I still could do now..." I said softly. "When that demon killed my father I remember something. He had a ring. It was silver with a moonstone at its center. It wasn't any common ring either, a snake made of gold curled around it. If I can find the owner of the ring I'll know who killed my father. Then I can finally avenge him. I've looked for the owner all these years but I never was able to get any leads."

Annette's eyes widened. "Wait! Wait Ridley!!!!"

I blinked, confused. "What?"

"The ring! Did the snake have rubies on it?"

"Yes...wait princess? Did you see it?" My heart was pounding in my chest. Could it be? After all these years I could finally find a clue to the demon that killed my father?

"It was in the demon palace!" Annette exclaimed. "When they were taking me from my cell to the new quarters I remember seeing it in a little glass case off one of the rooms!" Demons, unlike humans, tended to hive together, similarly to bees or insects. That meant the ring could belong to anyone at the demon palace. Still...it was a start.

I was practically shaking from excitement. "If I can get my hands on that ring I might be able to figure out who it belonged to. It must have initials or a family crest on it somewhere..."

"Wait...Ridley...you're not planning on going back to the demon palace are you?"

"I have to."

Annette shook her head quickly. "I...I shouldn't have said anything. Ridley it's too dangerous! You kidnapped their prince. They'll kill you if you go back there again."

I met her gaze now.

"Princess...please. You don't know how long I've waited for this opportunity. If you could find some way to cover for me. Say you sent me out on a mission." I lowered my head. "I promise you, this is the first and only thing I will ever ask of you. I just...I need to do this."

After a moment Annette let out a slow breath. "Alright. But Ridley...you need to swear to me that you'll come back."

I immediately bowed. "I swear."

Well...it seemed like I was going to be heading back to the castle of the demons sooner than expected. Hopefully I wouldn't run into the demon prince of darkness Vandel while I was there, I didn't think he would be too pleased to see me.