Chương 5: Destruction and Cowardice

POV: The Hero, Evelisse Ardentia"We're going back," I said, gripping the hilt of the Mooncleaver and sliding it back into its sheath. Mel's face fell.

"Now? But Eve, you saw him. The Dark Lord didn't look strong at all. Maybe if we—""No, Mel." The word came out softer than I meant it to.

"We almost died." She opened her mouth to protest, but I shook my head.

"I put you in danger. I shouldn't have let you come with me in the first place." Mel stepped closer, her brow furrowed.

"And what? Let you face all of that alone? Eve, that Dark Lord almost had you. You were just… there. Staring. You were probably under some sort of spell!" A spell. Right. She hadn't seen it. She had been unconscious. That guy. The Dark Lord. He had saved me. He had stood between me and the Cerberus with shaking knees and no weapon, and he had chased it off somehow. Why would he do that? A Dark Lord saving a Hero. Nothing about it made sense. I glanced down at the sigil on my elbow. It glowed a quiet, steady blue.

No pulse. No purple. He was long gone. … Why hadn't he killed me? He'd had every chance.

"Eve?" I blinked. Mel was watching me, her eyes searching mine.

"…You're right," I said, forcing a small smile.

"Thank you for staying with me, Mel." I pulled her into a hug before she could see whatever was on my face.

"I should've been the one protecting you," I murmured into her shoulder.

"And instead—""It's okay, Eve. That's what friends are for." Her arms tightened around my back. She always did know how to hold a hug just long enough. After a moment, she pulled away and gave me a weak, brave little grin.

"Sorry. You're right. We should head back. Report to the Church. Who knows what other mythical-class monsters the Dark Lord has up his sleeve." I nodded. We started walking back toward where we'd left Astra and Mel's horse. The forest had gone quiet again—no slimes, no kobolds, not even birdsong. Just our footsteps in the moss. About halfway there, Mel reached for my hand and squeezed it.

"Thank you, Eve," she said quietly.

"For saving me back there. From the Cerberus, I mean."

"Mel, it wasn't—" The words caught in my throat. I almost said it. It wasn't me. There was someone else. A man in a white shirt. He was the one who saved us. The Dark Lord. The truth was right there, sitting on my tongue. But I swallowed it. Because what would I even tell her? That the Dark Lord, the same creature the Church had sent me to vanquish, the same darkness I was sworn to destroy, had stood between me and certain death?

That I had looked at his back and felt, for the first time in three years, like someone else might carry the weight for a moment? That I had wanted him to? And worse, That I felt something I labeled as wonderful for him? Mel wouldn't understand. The Church certainly wouldn't understand. And if I said it aloud, I would have to confront what it meant. I wasn't ready for that. Not yet.

"… You're welcome," I said instead. The words tasted like ash. Mel smiled, relieved, and squeezed my hand again. I squeezed back, and hated myself a little. Because somewhere underneath the guilt, underneath the lie I had just told my best friend, there was a small, ugly part of me that was relieved. Relieved that she still saw me as the Hero. Relieved that I wouldn't have to explain. Relieved that I could keep wearing this title for a little longer, even knowing I hadn't earned it today.

I didn't know which was worse: that the part existed, or that I couldn't quite bring myself to silence it. Astra came into view through the trees, ears flicking toward us as we approached. I pressed my forehead briefly against her warm neck and let out a breath I didn't realize I had been holding.

"Let's go, girl." We agreed to stop and rest at the nearest village, Lunareth.

"I've never been to Lunareth before," Mel said, still gripping her reins a little too tightly.

"It's a peaceful place. They're known for their nightblooms; white petals with pink centers. The whole field near the entrance glows after sundown." Mel's eyes lit up.

"Really? Wow." I smiled despite myself. I had stopped in Lunareth a few months ago, with my old party. The memory came back in pieces. Children running alongside our horses, shouting my name until they were out of breath. Karlo, our tank, all shoulders and gentle heart, pretending to grumble that none of the kids knew his name. The inn that had laid out a meal we couldn't possibly finish: grilled river fish, radishes the size of my fist, and the village's signature Moonpetal Nectar Soup.

Linda, our sharp-tongued mage, had leaned across the table and whispered that it tasted like mint tea, flower perfume, and sugar. She'd made a face the whole time. She still finished the bowl. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. I caught myself smiling at nothing. Mel had been watching me for a while. When I looked over, her face was warm, the way it got when she didn't want to interrupt something.

"Seems like a nice place," she said softly.

"Yeah." I let out a slow breath.

"It is." We rode for a while in companionable quiet. By the time we crested the last rise before the village, the sun had dipped below the treeline, leaving the sky a fading amber at the edges.

"The nightblooms should be just up ahead," I told her.

"They won't be glowing yet, but I want you to see where they—" I stopped.

"Eve, those are—" The flowers were trampled. Not stepped on. Crushed. Entire clusters flattened into the dirt as if something massive had rolled through them. And where the grass had been pressed thin, I could see the prints. Three sets. Side by side. Each one the size of a dinner plate. Cerberus. A cold weight settled in my chest. It hadn't fled into the deep forest. It had come here. I thought of the children who'd run alongside our horses. The old innkeeper who'd refused to let us pay.

"We have to go. Now." I dug my heels into Astra's flanks. She lunged forward without hesitation. Behind me, I heard Mel cry out and then the answering thunder of her horse following. The wind tore at my hair as we rode. And then— Smoke. A scream rose in the distance. Then another. My heart was a drumbeat in my throat. I leaned low against Astra's neck and pushed her harder. We crested the final hill, and Lunareth came into view. For a moment I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe.

The village I remembered — the cobbled square, the inn with its hanging lanterns, the children chasing each other through the flower fields — was gone. Houses near the entrance had been crushed flat, beams snapped like kindling. Others were still burning, orange light flickering across the broken thatch. A cart lay overturned in the road. I pulled Astra to a stop and swung down from the saddle. My boots hit the ground hard.

"Eve—" Mel's voice was small behind me. I couldn't answer. I drew the Mooncleaver and started forward. Somewhere ahead, a woman was screaming a name. Over and over. A figure stumbled out of the smoke toward me; an old woman, soot-streaked, one sleeve of her dress torn. She saw me and her face crumpled.

"The Hero! Oh gods, the Hero is here!" She fell to her knees in the dirt before I could stop her.

"Please. Please, Hero. My grandson, he's still inside, he couldn't get out, please—" She couldn't finish. She was sobbing too hard. I knelt and took her by the shoulders as gently as I could. Her bones felt like a bird's beneath my hands.

"I'll save them," I said. My voice didn't sound like mine.

"I promise. Where is he?" She nodded, weeping. She pointed past me with a shaking finger. I rose and turned. And then I saw it. At the far end of the village, where the inn used to stand, the Cerberus was prowling through the rubble. One of its heads reared back and loosed a gout of flame across the wreckage, and a fresh wall of fire bloomed. And above it, drifting in the air, was a girl. Black hair streaked with electric blue. Two small horns. Leathery wings flapping slow and unhurried behind her.

I casted a spell that enveloped the village woman in blue light. Shortly after, the blue light dissipated. It was a spell that could repel low-level monsters from approaching. I told the village woman to go wait near the village entrance. She nodded and hurried away. I rushed towards the demon-girl with Mel following behind me. As if sensing my presence, the demon-girl turned around, looked at me, and smiled. She must have been the one who sent the Cerberus here.

If I remembered correctly, she'd dragged the Dark Lord away earlier in the forest. Which meant she was one of his underlings. She flew toward me, fast. I had Mooncleaver ready and swung in the same motion, a crescent of light bursting from the edge of the blade. She twisted her body sideways midair and let it skim past her ribs. A breath later, she was in front of me. I heard Mel start to whisper an incantation behind me, and then a small, sharp yelp as her knees hit the dirt. Immobilizing magic.

Without an incantation.

"Worry not, Hero," the demon girl said, leaning so close I could feel her breath. Her golden eyes were inches from mine.

"I just want to get this over with quickly." She tilted her head, examining me like a curious cat.

"Though… you seem scared." I didn't know what gave it away. Were my hands trembling? Was there cold sweat at my temple? Was it written across my face? She straightened, smiling.

"You should be. Especially after almost dying to Luke over there a few hours ago." She jerked a thumb over her shoulder toward the Cerberus prowling through the wreckage in the distance. I gritted my teeth and channeled my will into the blade. The runes along Mooncleaver flared blue-white. I stepped in and swung for her throat. She bent backward at the waist, almost casually, and let the arc pass over her face. Then she flipped once and landed light as a feather in the dirt a few paces away. She was fast.

Faster than any minion I had ever faced. The previous Dark Lord's lieutenants had been brutal, but they were slow creatures of muscle and steel. This one moved like a thought.

"Okay, Hero. Enough chit-chat from me." She brushed her hair back over one horn.

"I need you to move fast before Luke decides to raze this entire village. Not that he isn't already halfway there." She pointed past me, toward the far end of the square. I turned. The village hall. Tall concrete walls, reinforced doors—the most durable structure in Lunareth. The place the chief used to gather everyone for harvest announcements and winter festivals.

"There are about fifty people in there," the demon girl said behind me, her voice almost conversational.

"I suppose some of them didn't fancy fleeing into the dark to get eaten. Or they just didn't have time to think. Sweet either way, isn't it?" She sighed.

"Shame those walls won't do a thing against Luke's energy blasts." The Cerberus's center head was already turning. Its three sets of eyes locked onto the hall. The green-eyed head began to glow, a low whine building in its throat. My grip on Mooncleaver tightened until my knuckles cracked.

"If you came here for me," I said, low, "then fight me. Leave the innocents out of it." A pause. Then she laughed. It wasn't a cruel laugh, somehow, more like she'd been told a joke by a child. Which somehow made it worse.

"Fight you? One-on-one? Oh, that'd be fun, sure, but that isn't what the Dark Lord wants." She shook her head slowly, smiling.

"The Dark Lord needs terror. He needs people to fear him. People have to be involved — witnesses, screams, survivors who'll tell the story. A duel in a clearing with no one watching? What is this, a fighting videogame?" She paused, tapping a finger against her chin.

"Oh, wait. You don't know what that is. Nevermind." She turned back. Her wings flared, ready to launch toward the Cerberus. Then she paused, and glanced back over her shoulder with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"Let's see if you are the Hero or a coward." She kicked off the ground and shot into the air. I started to run... and froze. A groan. Faint. Close. A boy's voice. It was coming from a collapsed house just to my left, half its roof staved in, smoke curling from the splintered beams. The old woman's grandson. It had to be. Behind me, Mel was pushing herself up on shaking arms, the immobilizing magic finally letting go.

"Mel." My voice came out steadier than I felt.

"There's a boy trapped under the rubble there. Get him out." She scrambled to her feet, eyes wide.

"But Eve, you can't fight that thing alone! Not after what happened in the forest!"

"Mel." I didn't turn to look at her. I couldn't. If I did, I might lose my nerve. In the distance, the Cerberus reared back, the green light at its center head swelling. Fifty people behind that wall. Children. Elders.

"I have to," I said quietly.

"There isn't anyone else." Mel said something, my name, I think, but I was already moving. I gripped Mooncleaver in both hands, drew in a single ragged breath, and ran. The runes along the blade flared brighter with every step. Brighter than they'd been in the forest. Brighter, maybe, than they'd been in months. Because I didn't have the option of failing.