Chapter Six
The Hero
CYRUS FINISHED OFF his plate and stood, determined as ever to prove himself as a Hero. He placed his room key on the innkeeper's desk and exited the inn.
Magdeline followed close behind with a scowl. He scarcely noticed her presence now, so intent was he on his current quest. It helped that she was fully dressed. And that she was behind him, not infront of him. SHe had this nasty way of putting her face in front of his face even when he was taller.
"I'm only going with you because after this you'll go to the Forest, right?" she asked once they were on the path to the north. "You'll help me, right?"
"Uh-huh," he answered. He had a plan formulating in his brain and little else mattered.
Then she was on his face, walking backwards and rolling her eyes. "You have a lot to learn about being a Hero," she said haughtily. "A Hero prepares for his quests. He doesn't just rush into danger for the sake of glory. You haven't even bothered gathering the supplies you said you need. A Hero can't survive all the way to the Forest on only a blade. What about food? Or shelter? You have no idea what kind of monster this is. What if it's a dragon? You don't even have a shield."
Lord, she is loud.
"I hope you know that I won't be able to help you this time. You got lucky in the river when I had magic. I'm not a faerie anymore, if you haven't noticed."
Magdeline continued her rant but to Cyrus' delight, he was actually getting used to it.
They walked on, her noise not diminishing at all even as she was being ignored by the young man.
IT WASN'T long before they came upon refugees along the road. It was a small caravan of perhaps two or three families-four men, five women, and two children. And it was the same story. Cyrus shied from the women despite his determination and the confidence he had only moments before. Instead, he went near the men.
"Are you from the city being attacked?" he asked a man about his age.
The man nodded, his eyes hazed with fear. His clothes were tattered but he didn't seem to have any wounds.
"Yes," he replied. "Harben is an hour's walk on swift feet if you follow this path."
"Are you a Hero?" a little girl whispered while clinging to the man's knee. Her clothes were also tattered and there was a burn on the side of her face.
Cyrus swallowed nervously, kicking himself mentally at being on edge in the presence of a girl no older than six. He nodded sharply and grabbed the hilt of his sword.
She smiled sweetly and another man came up and pulled her back into his legs. He was middle-aged with scars that reminded Cyrus of the shopkeeper back in Kinswick.
"Be careful, Hero," he said. "We have little in the way of fighters in Harben but even we should have been able to harm that monster. But nothing we tried worked. It's a beast of magic, three times the size of a horse, with teeth and claws like daggers. It breathes fire but 'tis no dragon. It visits our city every evening once the sun sets, as it has for the last four nights. Don't bother preparing to return the way you came if you wish to fight this beast."
As he listened, Cyrus's enthusiasm was draining. He looked around at the people in the caravan. Each person had sunken eyes and dirty, torn clothing. They looked broken, their spirits diminished.
Cyrus breathed deeply, remembering how he fared with the thieves that attacked them in the beginning of his journey with Magdeline. After that, how could he fight with a monster who breathe fire and noone could hurt?
But there were still people in the City of Harben. It was a Hero's job to help people, too, and not just save them. He could do there, still do something. He could make sure they lived.
He would make sure these poor refugees could return home.
He bowed to the caravan and walked past, ignoring the shaking of their heads at his foolishness.
"Like I said before," Magdeline said once they were out of earshot, "you're a nice guy. But you're also an idiot."
He didn't say anything. But he could picture her rolling those pretty eyes at him. But of course, she wasn't finished.
"If you survive this, I suggest you buy a horse. This walking is miserable."
JUST AS the old man said, the smoking city was visible in just over an hour of walking. There was no wall for protection. The city was bare and vulnerable.
As they got closer, Cyrus could see people digging into the ground to make temporary shelters at the base of destroyed buildings. Cyrus and Magdeline were followed by cold, sorrowful stares as they slowly passed by. Most of the people were elderly, but there were some able-bodied men assisting in making the shelters. The air smelled of fire and it was too dry to properly breathe. Magdeline had her nose crinkled all the time. Or at least, there were times when she would hide it from the poor citizens. Wood and stone littered the paths through the city.
Cyrus climbed onto a pile of rubble. The sun was still in the center of the sky but was obscured by the smoke. He then turned and slid down the debris towards a man carrying a shovel.
"Excuse me, but I'm here to help. Is there-"
"You wit' the government?"
"No, but I'm a Hero-"
"Just like this damn country not to send out help. What we get are scrawny bastards thinkin' they can do a damn thing with their pig-stickers." The man flicked Cyrus's sheath and huffed. "You wanna help? Sure. Take this shovel and start diggin'."
Magdeline had begun to protest as Cyrus grabbed the shovel and smiled. The man disappeared. Cyrus went to work.
Magdeline sat on top of a pile of wood and played with her hair, annoyed and bored. At least she was silent this time. Sometimes he would see her glancing the way they'd passed, smiling at a little girl that once passed. Other times, she looked deep in thought. She must really be thinking about something so important that she had forgotten to nag.
Hours passed and some of the city folk came out to share a meal of bread and dried meat with them both. He let her eat more than her share. He was more thirsty, anyway. But then she left a morsel of the dried meat on the plate, telling the bringer she was full.
"I am full," she said when she caught his stare. "Besides, they need the meat more than I."
By the time the sun was at the horizon, Cyrus and the others had dug a shelter big enough for a dozen people if they stood up straight.
Cyrus could see that everyone was becoming noticeably more anxious as the sun sank lower. Some were starting to situate themselves in the shelters.
"Come along, miss," one elderly woman ushered, pulling Magdeline by the arm towards one of the larger holes. "We can't have a pretty thing like you get hurt with all this monster business. Let the young men take care of it."
Magdeline snatched her arm back, eyes staring down at the makeshift shelter. She declined the old woman. A man came by and pulled the old woman away.
"Come on, Nanna. Let's get you to safety."
The woman looked at Magdeline sadly but allowed herself to be lowered into the gaping hole along with several others.
Again, Magdeline saw his incredulous look and rolled her eyes.
"There's absolutely no way I'm standing in a stinking hole with a bunch of other people," she said. "I'd rather take my chances with the monster. Out here I can run."
Thick slabs of wood were put over the shelter and dirt was sprinkled over the top. Some cracks were still visible for air to reach the people below but they would be difficult to spot for a rampaging beast. Cyrus looked around and saw many other shelters of the same make. The men who were not below ground armed themselves with what they could-shovels, axes, and hoes. They were all exhausted but nonetheless prepared themselves against the approaching night.
"You ready, Hero?" one of them asked Cyrus. His voice was void of any enthusiasm.
Cyrus nodded, though he was unsure if he really was. His sword was at the ready and he was intent. He had even forgotten that Magdeline was beside him, quickly braiding her hair with her fingers.
The light was slowly disappearing and the howls from t
he creatures of the night stirred the leaves in the trees.
It was an eerie sound and reverberated in Cyrus's ribcage.
The other men's hands tightened around their weapons.
These men are as inexperienced in battle as I am, Cyrus suddenly thought. They had determination in their eyes but it was clouded in fear.
For a foolish moment after the sun had set, Cyrus thought that perhaps the monster would not come that night.
He was proven wrong when a high-pitched scream of a child rang throughout the remains of the city.