Friends or Allies

"And then? Did he win and kill the monster?" Helial asked incredulously. His eyes were wide as those of a child, impatient to hear the rest of the story. "Or, while running through the air, he stumbled and ended up with his face in the mud."

Alexander immediately widened his eyes.

Crater punched Helial lightly on the shoulder as if scolding him, but not really. "No, no. We are not talking about our King, he had also planned the fall during the siege!"

"Quite right!" Helial slammed his fist on his palm, as if something had just been revealed to him.

Taking a deep breath, the King complained: "Even my subjects mock me. Should I sentence them to capital punishment?"

Helial raised his hands indignantly, "No, no. I'm no subject. I'm only here to fight men who like to hide in the mountains!"

Crater laughed and Alexander did too.

"Okay, okay. I am an inept King, is this what you wanted to hear me say? But now, let me finish my story..."

…

The monster's huge punch was heading towards Ligir.

Raising his head covered by the helmet, the hero saw his enemy ready to tear him to pieces.

Everyone still alive on the battlefield expected something from the great Ligir. They expected him to return the blow, to show everyone that even Ligir was able to overpower his enemies with brute force and defeat them once and for all. Besides, they all needed hope!

And that warrior there, raised in the air right in front of the monster, was Ligir! He would not disappoint them!

Yet sometimes even heroes' tales were distorted. The perception of reality was lost and it was believed that these very strong men could win any confrontation, even the ones where they seemed to be hopelessly at a disadvantage.

Above all, humans believed that they had no limits. They always aimed higher than they could actually go and deluded themselves that they could achieve any goal, however impossible it seemed.

For some, this obstinacy had been a blessing, for others a death sentence.

However, this was what made that race so tiny and insane, that of Humans, so special.

Ligir, suspended in mid-air in front of the monstrous creature, had his mind completely empty of all thoughts. All he knew was that he could not engage in battle directly. Such a creature would probably overwhelm him, in the long run, even if the hero used all the brute force he had.

Skill Activated

Immortal Crossing

His body disappeared and reappeared on the other arm of the monster, about ten meters away. Slightly unbalanced, the gargantuan creature realized that it had left its guard down. The tiniest split second was more than an opening at their level.

Ligir raised his spear and roared.

…

Too many years later, but still not enough

Even Alexander had once been a candid and innocent child. And, since he was a child, one of his favourite things was going to the theatre.

Sitting on the rough stone steps of the theatre, the young Prince of Madonia watched the tragedy come to life before his eyes. He squeezed his mother's hands tightly, deeply concentrated in what he was greedily swallowing with curious irises.

Two men in disguise, one sitting on the other's shoulders to give the idea of a gigantic interdimensional monster, had just been "impaled" with a point-less spear, looking more like a broomstick than a real weapon. In other words, the scenario might seem comical, and instead the heavy atmosphere and the extraordinary Skills of the Secondary and Tertiary Class of those men, Poets and Actors, made the representation almost real: Alexander could really feel he was on a legendary field of battle.

At that point, men completely dressed in black entered the scene, their faces covered with deform masks, and they stuck wooden sticks on a piece of curved wood that represented a bow. The fake arrows cut through the air with exasperating slowness and reached the shoulders of the hero, the protagonist of the tragedy.

The brave warrior fell to the ground, mortally wounded, and as soon as he pronounced his line, full of heroism, a thick rain filtered through a giant colander fell over him, soaking him completely.

Alexander's mother had her head slightly bowed forward, while with one hand she removed her tears and with the other she held her bright red hair.

Olimpia looked at her son, who had an expression halfway between fear and wonder, while a woman came forward and sang to announce the end of the tragedy.

Her voice was high and shrill. It was so high that it almost caused pain to the ears of the spectators!

And yet, it was precisely its being almost unbearable that made it so magical, capable of kidnapping everyone present.

"That's Lidia, the singer who narrates the last acts of the tragedy, she sings the epilogue," explained the mother in a low voice, as not to disturb the other spectators.

Alexander nodded slightly, shocked by that woman's high-pitched and hypnotic voice.

"After what has happened, his

fatal Fury should not surprise you!

Perished the greatest enemy,

no ally was willing

to keep his memory alive

with even one more breath!

The cowards killed the monster Ligir...

will destiny let us to find

The memories of the invincible hero

Who killed myriads of enemies before

succumbing to a mere arrow

Wretched ...Cursed...Traitors... "

…

In the Time Block

"I mean, let me see if I understand," said Helial, tilting his head and interrupting Alexander's story, "Ligir not only killed the greatest threat in the universe - and, to be honest, in his place I would have shit myself as a five-year-old boy - thrusting a spear between his head and neck and detonating half his body, like this. But, immediately after the heroic endeavour, representatives of different factions allied themselves to kill him just when he was weakest, sending whole armies against him?"

…

Alexander had tears in his eyes and applauded with all the strength that his small arms were capable of. It was to honor the Actors who still narrated the history of Ligir and allowed it not to fall into oblivion.

Olympia had a hand on her son's head. Caressing him gently, he said to him: "My little one, even the greatest heroes can be wiped out from the course of history by a pack of cowards."

The Prince of Madonia looked at her. The sweet and gentle face of his mother was profoundly different from that of his father, always severe and cynical. There was nothing in common between his father and that bright red-haired woman. His father, Philip, was a warrior, devoted to war and military campaigns: he was a barbarian who knew politics as a necessity.

And his policy consisted in marriage. He had married many women after Olympia, who had gradually gone into the background due to her uncomfortable position...

Coming from a Clan that, although decayed, was very old and respectable, all the courtesans expected that, on the news of the possibility of other marriages, Olimpia would react rashly and angrily to the affront. Olympia's parents were also worried that their daughter could go on a rampage.

But Olimpia, despite what everyone expected, had smiled and accepted willingly, at least in the early years. She had decided that she would simply take charge of her son's education, requesting from Philip sums capable of financing more than one planet-wide military campaign and a couple even reaching the universe, to take on the best tutors in existence.

Filippo had been a barbarian, but Olimpia was obstinate in wanting to raise her son as the true heir of the throne of Madonia, the one who would have been truly worthy of and who would have brought the realm to greatness.

…

In the Time Block

Alexander nodded in front of Helial and put one hand on the boy's shoulder, the other on Crater's.

"This is why having friends is so important, even more than allies; the latter can betray as soon as the wind begins to blow in a different direction. The first, however, will be immediately by your side, whatever storm you may be facing."

The King's words had a strange effect on Helial and Crater, who looked at each other and nodded, full of determination.