The Hero and the Monster

A knock is heard in front of a small shack at the edge of the darkening woods. An old man opens the door.

"What is it, what do you want?" He said to the tall man in full armor.

"I heard there is a strong monster around this woods, I came to defeat him. Can you give me a lead to where he is."

The old man stays silent for a few moments.

"Enter!" He said while moving out of the way.

The man enters the shank and takes a sit at a small table. The old man taking a sit in front of him next to a blazing stove, poking the fire with a metal rod.

"My name is Peter, what is yours boy?"

"My name is not that important, I am just a knight that wants to find some information, if it's not a problem."

"Fine than, tell me why would a young man want to throw away his life to kill that thing?"

"I am sure that I won't die, I am quite proud in my running speed, but I don't want to kill him, I just want to make sure that he will not become a threat to anyone."

"You think you are the first man who said such things, many have died, not even dragon slayers could run away. Now are you, a dragon slayer?"

"No, I am not, but I don't think that matters, I am sure that I can defeat him."

The old man hits the table and throws away the rod towards some glass bottles and jars on the other side of the shack.

"YOU THINK YOU ARE ANY DIFFERENT, there was only one survivor, do you even know how he escaped."

"No, I do not."

"He left all his teammates and ran, he threw away everything that he ever held dear and never looked back out of fear, even though he has killed many dragons and beasts alike, he never felt such fear."

"I think I outlived my welcome, I will be going than."

The knight gets up putting the metal rod on the table.

The old man looks at it and where he threw it, nothing was damaged and the metal rod was the same one that he held just a few moments ago.

The knight opens the door, taking a step outside.

"The beast lives in a cave on the south of the nearest mountain, he is usually hunting at night and he sleeps during the day."

"I will keep that in mind, thank you."

The knight makes a slight bow and leaves closing the door.

In the forest, the knight reach's the cave, the suns shining it's last ambers of the day. The knight steps in front of the cave and lies in wait. A small figure steps outside of the void like shadows, taking a leap at an inhuman speed, attacking the knight. The knight takes a step to the side and tries to grab the creature by the neck, the creature leaping away just in time, showing itself in the dim light. A small kid, no older than ten years old, with a scared body and no cloths, his hair dirty and long enough to hide his back.

"Are you the monster?" Said the knight surprised.

The kid than takes another leap and tries once more to attack, the knight dodges again, the kid leaps again and so on for several second.

"Wait, I don't want to harm you!" Yelled the knight, but the kid didn't stop for one moment.

After a few more seconds the knight grabs the kid by the head and slams him to the ground.

"Now, can we talk?" Said the knight.

The kid doesn't respond, he doesn't move and a small blood puddle appears below his head.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no, I overdid it, he is dead!" Said the knight scared by his own actions.

Small bubbles appear in the blood.

"Phew, he is alive!!!"

After a few hours, the boy wakes up, a fire, with some skewers around it, standing in front of him, the knight sitting on the other side of the fire.

"I see that you hav..."

The boy jumps over the fire and throws himself at the opponent, the knight dodging just in time. The boy starts swinging away at the knight who keeps dodging while stepping back. The knight tries to grab the boy by the head but he leaps backwards. The boy grabs the ground with all his members and throws himself at a speed that could be heard even outside the forest. The knight moves swiftly and catches the boy by the back of his neck and pushes him to the ground. The kid starts pushing back trying to escape.

"CALM DOWN! No matter what you try you will not defeat me! I don't want to hurt you."

The kid stops struggling, the knight letting him go. The knight reaches for the fire and picks up two skewers, handing one to the kid. The kid smells it trying to understand what it is.

"That is food. You eat it." Said the knight while taking a bite out of the one that he is still holding. 

The kid takes example and takes a bite hitting the wood in the middle which makes him flinch, throwing it away.

"No, no, you take a bite only out of the meat. The wood isn't food."

The knight takes a piece of meat off of a skewer and hands it to the boy who devours it in an instant. The knight takes a few skewers apart and hands the meat to the boy, who starts eating.

"So, who are you? Do you have a name?"

The boy stops eating and starts thinking.

"Name... name... Leo" said the boy before starting to eat.

"Ok, my name is Leo too. Do you have a home?"

The boy doesn't stop eating, making no sign of understanding.

"Do you have a family"

The boy stops for a second then starts eating again.

"Fine then, do you want to come with me?" said the knight while stretching an open hand.

The boy stops eating and grabs his hand.

"It's decided then, from now on I will be your big brother."

The next morning, the knight stopped at Peter's house.

"You must be crazy. Not only that you've left the beast alive but you want to take it with you." said Peter angrily.

"He is just a kid, he doesn't know better. I want to give him a chance to get a better life.

"He killed many already, he doesn't deserve a good life!" yelled Peter.

"He is strong, who knows, maybe one day he will become a hero. Then your friends and all that have died, could finely rest easy. He killed many but he can save many more if he is taught well."

Peter calms down, but still having an angry expression.

"Fine, but if he starts killing again, don't you dare leave him alive. A second chance I can allow, but a third isn't worth."

"Very well. I will make sure that it won't happen."

The knights walks away, the boy following behind, with a cloak hiding his body.