Chapter 11: The Weakest Hero

"God damn you're terrible!" Veronica shouts at me from across the field, charging towards me with her rapier in her hand for the fiftieth time today. I stagger back, my body still bandaged and recovering from my injuries three days ago. For my training sessions I decided it was best to use a normal sword and leave my mystery blade elsewhere to not raise any suspicions. I position myself and prepare from to get my ass kicked.

Veronica slides across the turf, kicking her heels into the soil as she flashes by, knocking herself into my legs before popping up on her feet once more. I tumble back, sticking the sword Infront of me defensively, praying she doesn't cut off my nose.

"Shame, you almost had it." She rolls her eyes, twirling her sword around while looking down at me. We've been practicing how to block your opponent all morning. 'If only she could fight me with my sword.' I think to myself with a devious chuckle. Veronica overhears my laughing. Her head snaps back towards me like some demented owl.

"Nothing, just had a thought." I bluff, getting to my feet. Veronica scoffs and gets in position once again. I watch her draw her blade and fly towards me in a flash of her crimson jacket. I brace myself, trying to imagine the flow I felt when the swords energy consumed me. Where my hands were on the hilt and at what angle I held the blade. She lunges at me, I don't hesitate and our blades collide. Sparks fly as I can see her eyes widen in surprise. Her blade falls to her side as she steps back with a hard look on her face.

"You got it once, don't get cocky now." She mutters in a haste.

"Master Darwin!" Cynthia calls, rushing up to me. She's got a little coat on in her favorite mauve color along with a travelers bag. "Are you ready to go?" She chirps as she glances over to Veronica.

"Stop calling me master it's embarrassing." I groan, Veronica looks at me smugly.

"I'm your attendant, what else am I supposed to call you? Everyone else does it!" She blurts, pulling a pouch of what sounds like coins out of her sack.

"Joan told me to give these to you Veronica-"

"Thanks." Veronica says coldly before she finishes, snatching the pouch. She peers inside it emotionlessly and wanders off without another word.

"What's up with her?" I ask Cynthia who is rebuttoning her bag.

"She's always been an angry lady, always has been. She fired her attendant on the first day because she was furious she was brought here." Cynthia laughs uncomfortably. "Always been a talented fighter though."

I put down my training sword and pick up my sword from behind the weapon racks along the side of the training turf.

"Since we're heading into town again we can grab something to eat while we're there." I swing my blade around a few times seamlessly before sticking it in it's sheath on my belt. "Palace food is nice but I'm curious what the town can serve up." I chuckle, patting my gut. Cynthia giggles.

"That's a good idea, I'm pretty hungry myself." She says as we make out way out of the courtyard and head towards the bridge.

"While you've been away I've had a lot of free time to myself so I decided to start researching my village to hopefully give us a lead." She smiles, clutching the strap on her bag. "The palace library only had a little bit about it since it's well... so old."

"Not even an idea of a location?" I say.

Cynthia shakes her head. "Just that it's somewhere in the mountains." She mopes, pointed ears drooping ever so slightly.

"They might have more information on it and high elves in general in Aelia." I propose, trying to cheer her up.

"You might be right- academic books don't always have everything." She sighs. We cross the end of the bridge back into the once bloodied streets of Aelia. I overheard a conversation between the nurse and Cynthia while I was supposed to be resting. The death count was in the hundreds. For a smaller population like Aelia's this was quite detrimental.

"The church is this way." Cynthia perks up as we head down a street lined with colorful booths. My eyes are instantly distracted and my nose overwhelmed with the delicious mixture of scents flying off the stalls. My stomach grumbles loudly. Cynthia looks at me with an empty stare.

"Do you want to get food now?" She blinks.

"I that stuff smells so good." I practically drool, pointing at a stand selling skewers with some sort of meat. Cynthia rustles around inside her bag and pulls out another pouch of coins similar to the one she gave Veronica earlier. She pulls out my hand and sets the bag in my palm.

"Here, get us something good!" She does a little jump. I grin and walk us through the bustling market crowd up to the stall.

"Afternoon sir, two skewers for me and two for the lady." I ask the old man who's busy grilling. He glances over at us with a distracted nod before doing a double take. His eyes light up.

"You're the new hero aren't you?" He says excitedly, setting his tongs down to get a closer look. "I heard about you saving miss Angela's baby, she hasn't stopped talking about you." He laughs, packing up the skewers. "I'll throw in an extra on Angela's behalf." He beams, packing up an extra skewer.

"You really don't have to-" I stammer as he pushes the skewers towards me.

"Honestly, I think a skewer for a child's life is a pretty terrible payment." He chuckles. I pull out a handful of coins and put it on the stall counter.

"You're too kind sir." I pick up the pack gratefully.

"You two keep doing good around here, come back anytime!" He assures us, seeing us off with a wide smile. I pull one of the skewers from the pack as we begin to walk and offer it to Cynthia who takes it gratefully. I pull one out for myself and sink my teeth into the mystery meat. My mouth suddenly explodes in a savory grease.

"I may just be starving but these are something." I tell her, not hesitating to chow down further.

"They are quite delicious!" She chuckles, pulling a piece of meat off the stick with her teeth.

"The church isn't far from here." Cynthia says, covering her lips with her hand as she chews. She points to a tall building with a peculiar roof just down the road with a swarming crowd around the outside.

"I didn't think this would be such a big deal." I say curiously as we approach.

"It's not everyday a hero blesses a baby!" Cynthia says, dabbing her mouth with a handkerchief.

"Well, I'm not exactly the most prestigious hero in this realm." I chuckle, wiping the sweat off the back of my neck.

"A hero is more than how well you can fight or how many void wanderer's you've killed you know." She mutters in return.

"It's the hero Darwin!" A voice yells as we make it to the front of the church. The crowd's attention shifts on it's heels as I feel the weight of a thousand eyes on me.

"Make way for the hero!" Another voice yells, the crowd slowly separating like the red sea giving us a path to the chapel's doors.

I feel a warm gush of air as the tall wooden doors swing open Infront of us. Far up on the alter, stained by the colorful light of the stained glass is Angela's silhouette, baby Violet in her arms.

I never used to believe someone as mundane as myself could ever carry so much importance in anything beyond my own life and family. I would argue to them all that I'm nothing but a lowly salary man but I don't think they could ever accept such a pitiful existence belonging to their new hero. I don't want to let them down.