The Hero

Chapter 27

They're escaping, fool! Jewel exclaimed, which startled the Champion into focus. He was disappointed that the voice would never fade.

He turned around and saw nothing of the two mercenaries. Quickly, he sped into the throne room where he spotted them. They were so slow, not even making it halfway across the room until they fell down.

"Get up, come on!" Nightstrider demanded, as she did everything in her power to lift her brother up and continue to escape.

"You should be thanking me," the Champion coldly advised, which startled Nightstrider into looking at him with wide, fearful eyes. She  immediately turned her bent knees over to him and brought her hands together, as if she were praying, with eyes belonging to soldiers  pleading for mercy. It was never granted.

"Let us leave in peace, I beg of you," she said, desperately trying to keep her voice calm and poised. "I will never come back here, nor tell a single soul about what went on here."

The Champion examined the rather-helpless state of somebody he had once thought was a very bold, confident soul, then the body beside her.

"Is he alive?"

The question lingered in the air as Nightstrider blinked in surprise. Her begging hands soon fell down as she looked beside her at her  brother who was flat on his stomach.

"I think he hit his head badly..." She stroked his arm, through sniffles. "I don't know what to do... I don't want him to die." Her eyes  returned to the Champion, whose heart skipped a beat at the sight. He could only think of Shimmer and how she had cast him off for nothing. How could she? He tried so hard to make amends. Was it not enough?

"I want you to relay a message," the Champion decided at long last, then walked over to Nightstrider, who suppressed her cowering. He fell on a knee for his gaze to be level with hers, though it was slanted down slightly.

"But..."

The Champion stuck a finger in the air that silenced her. Her eyes  stared into him not out of fear or worry, but desperation. She had to  listen, for she had no other options. He was her last hope.

"Return to Shimmer before the sun rises—" the Champion began.

"The... mage?" Nightstrider interjected, which he nodded to. She immediately shook her head and defensively grasped Radean's arm. "No!  She'll kill us! How can you ask for such a thing?"

"Trust my words, or you shall be drowned in misery and hopeless isolation," the Champion calmly replied, to which she slowly looked over  at her brother. Her silence was a clear enough sign to make him continue on. "Find Shimmer in the same place you found her before. With  luck, you'll stop her before she reaches her room."

Nightstrider looked back at the Champion, wanting to protest, but his immobile visor shut her lips in an instant.

"She'll see you two and do nothing. Why? Because you came out of here alive. She would see your unconscious brother, then your sorry state, and wait for what you have to say. If you want, you can make it clear what your intentions are before reaching her. I would recommend that. As a mage, I'm sure she'll have something to help your brother—"

"Just tell me the message," Nightstrider impatiently requested, accepting her only option.

The Champion inhaled a long breath as he looked past the girl's head. He could already see faint light in the once-abysmal window ahead. A smile came to his face. There was hope and always would be no matter the situation.

"It is time a hero is born."

Nightstrider narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips at the statement.