A hero's fall

Daltrex was being pushed backwards for two whole days he had kept up this fight, holding the line at his feet lay a sea of corpses human and demon alike, In his hand the Holy Excalibur cleaving a path through the demon horde. And the horde was everlasting…Demons fell by the dozen with every swing. But just as the dawn began its ascension horns blew in the distance with a roar like thunder the forces of the coalition of five human kingdoms came to his aid and descended upon the demons like a tidal wave.

As he walked through the peaceful capital city of Decia, instead of cheers, there was an aura of distrust, people trying to avoid his gaze, mothers shielding children with their skirts. As if he was some dangerous beast.

Once he had been greeted by thunderous cheers and applause with every step now, the citizens now whispered behind his back, one or two had even thrown rotten fruit which had splatted his armour. The guards had not even seemed interested in doing anything about it.

He did not know what sparked the ire of the crowd, but it was not the first sign of the hearts and minds shifting. The familiar anxiety like before a major battle fell on him. And no demon in sight.

Running a hand through his short black hair to settle his nerves he looked up at the royal palace, the place that had become home to him during the early stages of his hero career.

Being forcefully dragged by his hand he was led through the back alleyways behind the streets by a hooded figure “Where are we going?” he asked. But instead of an answer, he only received a shush as a response from the one dragging him. “How does a princess know the alleyways!” He queried in a hushed tone.

The figure turned to face him, her golden locks just peeking out of her hood, her sapphire blue eyes sparking with mischief, she placed a slender finger to her ruby red lips. He felt his heart pound loudly “A girl got her secrets” she teased “Now in here is the best baker in the city!”

He smiled at the memory of his wife, the former third princess who had dragged him through the city streets on her secret ventures out of the palace. “It’s all a big misunderstanding…” he muttered to himself, he would hate it if his wife could not return to the city of her birth. 

With a sad eye he looked around at the deserted streets “I can't believe It has only been three years since the wars over…” turning his gaze to the sky. “Is this the peace I fought for…for all the lives we lost.? I can’t say I miss the constant attention but to go to this extreme…” Turning his gaze back to the streets he muttered once more to himself “I  wonder Demon lord…What is it you fought for, why did you start the war with us humans? Could we have avoided violence?”

The war with the demons had lasted for over a hundred years with humanity almost reaching the point of destruction, there was not a single human alive who had not lost someone to the awful war.

Everywhere he looked there were bodies, his friends, family, fellow villages and countless demons who attacked him, he looked down at his shaking hands they were covered in blood. Even though everyone but him had been dead for a while he could still hear the screams, he could see the fear in the eyes of the demons as he killed them with his bare hands “Sire we finally found him!” A voice called out shaking him out of the abyss of memory.

“Young man…what happened here?” A man in armour and a metal crown on his head asked him as he dismounted his horses. He tried to open his mouth but no sound came out. “Did you do this?” The man asked. He could only nod as tears began to fall.

The other man approached him wearing the clothes of a priest “We finally found you, my boy, you are the man chosen by the gods to lead humanity to greatness, together we can prevent this from happening again” Forcefall the man placed in his hands a sword.

For twenty years he fought on the frontlines and upon his victory, the demons had fled back to their own country, without the demon lord they were no threat to the human coalition. Seeing the war finally over he chose to retire from battle and raise his family. As he returned his sword to his side with a deep sigh he hoped to the gods that he would not have to draw his sword again.

The kings of the coalition had granted him a small piece of land at the point where all their territories converged. Which meant he was tied to no kingdom and he could host neutral meetings and solve diplomatic issues that arose.

However the diplomatic problems were countless with the lack of the demon threat, humanity was beginning to turn on each other, squaring and sizing up each other, and petty arguments and fights had broken out on the borders of territories, While the church was pulling strings behind the scenes and urging the many kings to use their armies and completely eradicate the remaining demon threat once and for all.

Only recently the usual merchants who came to his territory who were once bright and cheerful, were arrogant and rude, bringing with them unsavoury rumours that he was a monster in human form, that he was a danger to people and that he had attacked and killed several people within the Decia kingdom.

He had come to the Decian capital Katarlis to speak with the merchant guild and King Altray the Third, His father-in-law personally and was hoping that he could clear up these rumours and prove his innocence, his wife had chosen to remain at home with their young children. His journey had been difficult, he’d been accosted many times by the citizens and driven out of their towns.

Arriving in the morning but the sun was setting by the time he finally met the king, where not too long ago he would have seen the king almost immediately, and his father-in-law would have thrown everything aside to meet with me now he had been forced to wait without even a drink or something to eat. This sudden behaviour change was strange. 

His brain was whirling with possibilities: was the king sick? Or had the demons done something to discredit him? That was a real possibility. He continued to ponder possible scenarios until his thoughts were jarred by a familiar feminine voice “Hero Daltrex, the king will see you now.” She said flatly, a stone had more expression than her face, she was dressed in the royal maid outfit of the Decian royal palace, her fiery red hair tied in a neat ponytail which reached her back.

He sighed and tried to crack a joke “Nice to see you again Francesca, it's been a while it’s good to see your smile again. How is the old king?” 

Without a response and with perfect posture and etiquette he would never be able to match she led him to the throne room, he marvelled at the intricate decor of the palace, even amongst the other kings Decia stood head and shoulders in its majesty.

The royal guards posted outside the throne room glared at him with open hostility, it had been so long since such hostility had been directed at him he almost instinctively drew the holy sword, fortunately, he had been able to catch his hand before he escalated the situation. 

As he and Francesca approached the doors to the throne room while still glaring at him the guards opened the door. Francesca bowed her head to him and gestured for him to enter the room. Inside the throne room, a red with gold embroidery rug spread out from the door to the throne, standing in two columns at the edge of the rug royal guards stood on either side all dressed in full battle armour. In the upper levels overlooking the throne room, the elite green hood archer battalion stood their bows in front of them as if preparing for the order to aim.

On the walls were paintings of previous kings and queens, they sat along with other masterpieces, gifted to the royal family or created by famous artists over the many years. Sat on top of the golden throne inlaid with jewels was not the man he expected but one far younger, strangely he was also wearing the crown, next to him however were many faces he recognised as King Alacrays advisors.

Daltrex pushing down his nerves walked through the column of guards to the throne and bowed politely to the first prince, they had a good relationship, he fought alongside the prince on a multitude of battlefields and saw him as a brother. “Prince Eregard, it is good to see you, I hope you are in good health as well as your father. Is he here? I had hoped I could speak with him”

Prince Eregards face went red with rage “You dare say that you filthy traitor! And that is not Prince it is King Eregard, King Eregard the first, I agreed to meet you so I could look upon you with my own eyes. How dare you show your face here after everything you have done!”

Daltrax blinked, taken aback he could feel the blood on his face drain “What? What has happened?” his mouth was open in shock, he could not believe his brother was acting this way with him.

King Eregard's fist slammed into the arms of his throne and bellowed “You want a list? Fine! you were spotted meeting with demons some time ago, you have murdered good and holy men and worst of all you have been convincing the other kings to back you in taking the Decian throne when my father discovered you had him killed. You plan to hand our kingdom over to the demons!” It was as if daggers were being plunged into his heart, not that he was being accused of such awful things but that his sworn brother seemed to believe it.

Daltrex was at a complete loss for words he didn't even know where to start to untangle everything. “None of that is even remotely true! I would never harm your father, I have not killed anyone but bandits who attempted to attack my home. I would never conspire with the demons to give them this kingdom, I swear it on my life and the lives of my family. I am done with war, I am done with politics all I want is a quiet life with my family away from everything. I swear to you your father's death, it was not me. These rumours and accusations are false.” He pleaded with Eregard hoping that he could make him see reason.

One of the advisors stepped forward and whispered into Eregards ears, that his name was Bishop Calvern, a man in his late sixties but still a spry and active man who acted like a man half his age. He had been the one to tutor him in religion when he first arrived in the capital and had been the one to guide him when things had gotten tough, if anyone knew he had not done this it was him.

His heart threatened to escape his chest as he waited to hear what Eregard would say “For your past services I will not imprison you, but you are hereby exiled from the kingdom of Decia and are to leave at once.” Eregard commanded and with a wave of his hand, the guards began to push him out of the palace.

Before his brain could catch up, he was already out of the palace. “Damn, how am I gonna explain this…” With a deep sigh, not wanting to cause any more problems he began the long journey home trying to think of a way to explain this to his wife.

Suddenly just as he entered the forest of Juna a crowd of ten men surrounded him each dressed in hooded cloaks and leather armour, in their hands different kinds of weapons, some swords, axes and one maul, with five more in the trees armed with bows. Thanks to his power as a hero, he could see in the dark as if it were day, making their attempts to hide from him pointless. One of the crowd stepped forward “Former Hero Daltrex, you are too monstrous to be alive! You will harm our families if we don't stop you now. Prepare to die!” The group charged at him with weapons drawn.

The fight was over in moments, foes like these men were just too weak to be a challenge for him; the only challenge had been holding back his power so that he did not end up killing the men. His assailants lay on the ground groaning in pain “I am not the monster you think, I have no desire to harm you or anyone. Please know this… All I want is a peaceful life with my family.”

The lead assailant laughed coldly and there was a different tone, his eyes were filled with a fantical fire. “We will purge you and your heretical bloodline…My brothers are already en route to your home.” Fear overwhelmed him without a thought he charged himself with magic power and sprinted full speed towards his home, praying to the gods that it was a lie.

The scenery became a blur as he sprinted by it, the wind resistance only growing the faster he went, every step drained him, and his muscles were screaming at him, begging for him to stop, but he pushed forward ignoring the pain. 

“No no please no…” He said as he saw smoke on the horizon, the fire was creating a red glow in the darkness. Without another thought he rushed onward, memories of the attack on his childhood home once more came to the front of his mind.

 Ash coated the ground as if it were snow, the remains of houses still smouldering, and in the centre of the village, the bodies of his friends, his companions and his family were nailed on crosses on display for the world to see in some sick display, their cold dead eyes forced open by a strange head brace to gaze emptily for eternity. “No…” He whimpered, his heart shattering as he collapsed to his knees. 

Before he could even begin to grieve metal flew out of the ground and fastened themselves to his wrists, legs and neck. His head slammed into the floor, at the foot of his wife's cross. His entire body felt drained, he felt as weak as a newborn, his armour weighing him down further, his body felt like it was slowly being crushed, and he didn’t even have the strength to raise his head “So those priests were right, the only way to trap a hero is to get them emotional first.” A man's voice spoke from somewhere. 

A pair of boots came into view before one raised and came down upon his face, pushing his face deeper into the ash and dirt, before releasing him. “Why…Who?” he choked out. 

“Me? I have no name, like you, I am just a tool. But as to the why question as an answer I thought that would be obvious, how have you not realised yet? But I suppose I should give you an explanation, quite simply you have outlived your usefulness just like all the other heroes. This is why we must be rid of you, should you have joined one of the kingdoms you would have upset the balance of the kingdoms. That creates problems you see.”

His words enraged Daltrex like nothing before he tried to call upon his power and felt new strength with a roar he managed to lift his head and returned to a sitting position. The man dressed in a mask laughed. “Damn, heroes are monsters, why don’t you just lay down and die like a good little dog… Humanity demands it, we can’t allow a monster like you to remain amongst us, spreading your seed and creating more monsters. That's why I killed your family. Did you know they called for you before they died, don't worry I will send you to them shortly, you have no hope for escape..”

Hatred overwhelmed his heart if humanity saw him as a monster, then why should he not be one? Why should he just lay down and accept their words? He began to laugh as his tears fell. “You want a monster? Then a monster you shall have…I’ll start with you” The hooded man attempted to bring a sword down upon him, but ignoring the pain in his body, he broke free, he was not sure if it was him screaming or the man.  

All around him, men and women charged him weapons drawn, no longer bound by humanity he slaughtered them, straining the ashen ground crimson. “Seeing that the demon king position is vacant…I believe I shall take it for myself. Let us start with Decia. If my family can't live in this world…Then no one can.”

He started in Decia and single-handedly burnt it to ash just as his home had been, slaughtering everyone in his way, the holy sword Excalibur created to defend humanity now drowned in their blood. “I am Daltrex… Former hero Now demon lord… I will purge humanity of its sins.” He announced it to the world.