A False Hero's Pride

Chapter 1, Introduction

(Warning: Includes Violence, and Suicide/Self Harm)

The tale begins 8 years ago, in the proud kingdom of Seipin, led by the noble King Bernand.

Bernand, and the kingdom by proxy, were well respected, as Bernand was an intelligent ruler, who made smart decisions, and always put the needs of the people before his own.

Bernand’s child, Korro, was just as kind as he was, always doing what he could to help, just as he had learned from his father.

Korro was as pure as could be, without so much as a single spec of darkness inside of him.

As to be expected, Korro was widely adored by the townspeople, as he would one day follow in his father’s footsteps, and lead the kingdom to a new, and brighter future.

Little did anyone know, Korro would have to take his father’s place much sooner than expected.

Present day, Korro, at the age of 17, was sent out by his father to help the townspeople prepare for the impending storm, which came quickly, and without warning.

He did what he could in such a short time, and went back into the castle, to protect himself from the storm.

As Korro neared the throne room, he saw no guards. He thought it odd at first, but figured they were probably still out helping the townspeople, and thought no more of it.

Suddenly, as he entered the throne room, he saw a strange and suspicious man talking to his father. Brown hair, dark blue eyes, and a dark green cloak covering most of his body.

Korro often saw strange looking people in the palace, but none quite so shady as now.

He was too far away to hear them, and thought it better not to interfere, so he was left theorizing, as he waited for the man to leave.

Suddenly, the man pulled out a curved knife, and stabbed the king in the stomach, as he fell to the ground.

Korro was in shock, as he quickly hid behind a pillar, too afraid to move.

The man talked with the dying king for a short while, before putting his hood back up, and starting to leave.

Korro knew that he couldn’t take out the assassin unarmed. All he could do was sit there, cowering in fear.

As the man’s footsteps faded, Korro rushed over to his father, but it was too late. The king was dead.

Tears began to fill Korro’s eyes, as he panicked, hastily thinking of the best course of action. He wasn’t ready to take the throne, and he couldn’t let that assassin roam free.

He cursed himself for being such a coward, all while knowing that if he had tried to prevent it, he would be dead alongside the king.

Soon, he calmed down a bit, and thought of a plan. The only way to honor his father’s life, and the only way he could live with himself, for not taking action when he could have, was to avenge his father, with his own hands.

Korro wiped the tears from his eyes, as he rushed to the armory, and geared up with light armor and a sword. He knew that thief likely left the kingdom by now, but he was insistent on finding him, no matter what.

As Korro made it to the top of the castle, to the telescope, he looked around, and saw a cloaked figure heading to the desert, east of the kingdom. He had his lead, and under no circumstances could he let the man who killed his father run free.

Korro, knowing that the guards would try and stop him, stealthily fled the kingdom, following the trail of the assassin, as his noble quest to avenge his father began.

Chapter 2, Desert Winds

The desert wasn’t far from the kingdom, and Korro managed to make it there by nightfall, as he camped just before entering it, as the desert was full of monsters.

Upon waking, Korro saw clear, bright blue skies, as he entered the desert at last.

“Why would he go through the desert?”, Korro asked himself, “The desert is way too dangerous for someone armed with just a knife. I wonder…”.

Korro continued through the desert, despite the dangerous monsters lurking within, in hopes of catching up to the assassin, and avenging his father.

Before long, Korro encountered a pack of giant scorpions. The venom from their stingers was fairly potent. One dose could paralyze a grown man within minutes. If he was going to make it out of this alive, he would have to avoid their stingers at all costs.

Korro got some combat training when he was younger, but he had never fought an actual monster before, much less a group of them.

Luckily, Korro’s sword was made of an extra strong metal, and he would be able to cut through the scorpions with ease, so long as he got close enough to do so.

Korro rushed in, and started with slashing the head of the center scorpion, killing it instantly. This was a good start, but he was quickly counter attacked by the others.

As a stinger came flying for his head, Korro dodged backward, before slashing the stinger off its tail.

Before long, Korro was able to take out the scorpions with relative ease, without a scratch on him.

“Huh, I didn’t expect that to be so easy. I guess that combat training really paid off.”, said Korro, as he pressed onward.

Korro proceeded with few issues with monsters, though the heat began to get to him. He felt his energy draining by the second, as he drank his final drop of water.

Korro began to lose hope, as he saw a village just over the horizon, giving him just the burst of energy he needed to keep moving.

Korro managed to reach the village, where he found few people living there, though there was a small oasis.

As Korro approached the oasis, he was stopped by a merchant, who offered to sell some water to him.

Korro agreed quickly, as he rummaged through his pockets, and found that he left his money at the castle. The merchant refused to give him water for free, as Korro began to plead.

The merchant soon thought of another way. He said, “Hmm. You know, there is actually something you could do for me. Recently, some bandits have been raiding our village. If you could… Take care of them, I might be willing to make an exception, just this once.”.

“Bandits, huh? Just leave it to me!”, said Korro.

“Now that’s what I like to hear! They should be located just north of here, over that sand dune.”, said the merchant.

Chapter 3, Red Sands

Korro then climbed over the dune, and quickly spotted the bandit camp. He approached quickly and as stealthily as he could, to try and catch them off guard.

As Korro got closer, he saw that they were sleeping. But also…

“Wait, they’re just kids!”, said Korro, “I’m sure we could come to an understanding if I just talk to them.”.

The bandits soon woke up, and noticed him.

“Ready your weapons!”, shouted the orange-haired leader of the bandits, as he grabbed the pike lying beside him.

“Wait, I’m not here to hurt you!”, said Korro.

“Likely story. That merchant’s had it out for us for a while now.”, said the leader.

The rest of the bandits readied their pikes and slingshots, as Korro said, “Had it out for you? What do you mean?”.

“That jerk left us for dead in this wasteland. We’re the ones who found that oasis, and now he’s charging us!”, shouted the leader, angrily.

“What? Listen, I’m sure we can come to an understanding, just lower your weapons!”, said Korro.

“Leave now, or face our wrath!”, demanded the leader.

Korro then quickly stepped back near the top of the dune, as they lowered their weapons.

“What am I gonna do? It doesn’t seem like they’ll listen to reason…”, said Korro, “Their leader said the merchant abandoned them. Maybe I should get his side of the story.

Korro then walked back to the village, and began talking to the merchant.

“So, did you deal with those bandits for me?”, asked the merchant.

“They’re a bunch of kids. Surely they can’t be that much trouble.”, said Korro.

“Surely you don’t need water.”, said the merchant, “Deal with the bandits, then we’ll talk.”.

Korro became annoyed, as he asked, “Is it true? Did you abandon them here?”.

“What, you’re gonna believe a bunch of kids?”, said the merchant.

“Given the way you’re talking to me, yeah, I think I am.”, said Korro, as he drew his sword.

“W-wait, is this a threat? Not very chivalrous for a knight.”, said the merchant.

“So you knew I was a knight, and you really expected me to kill those bandits!?”, said Korro.

Korro began to get closer with his sword in hand, as the merchant pulled out a concealed knife, and tried to slash at him. Korro reflected the knife with his sword just as it started to swing, knocking it into the ground.

The merchant’s back was now against a wall, as he said, “Okay, okay, you win. H-have all the water you want!”.

Korro wasn’t satisfied, as he pressed his blade to the merchant’s neck, and said, “This isn’t about the water. How am I supposed to know you won’t try something like this again?”.

The merchant, in panic, said, “I-I promise, never again! I swear!”.

“I wish I could believe you.”, said Korro, “But bad people never seem to change.”.

Korro, after a brief moment of silence, released the merchant, saying, “Do you have any rooms here? It’s getting dark.”.

The merchant, still trying to catch his breath, said, “Um, rooms? Y-yes, of course! Right this way.”.

The merchant then led him to a small empty house with a bed, saying, “Usually it’s -pretty pricey getting one of our luxury rooms, but for you? Om the house!”.

Korro then made his way back to the oasis to get some water, then back to the house, and went to sleep, after blocking the door with a chair.

As he expected, Korro woke up in the middle of the night, to the sound of the door trying to open.

Korro got out of bed, and readied his sword, as the door finally opened, revealing the merchant, dagger in hand.

Korro quickly, and without hesitation, slashed at the merchant’s chest. After ensuring the merchant was dead, he blockaded the door again, and went back to sleep.

Upon waking up, Korro saw the merchant’s body, and said to himself, “The world is better off without people like him. If I were to let him live... I can’t imagine how many good people would have suffered.”.

Korro then filled up his canteen at the oasis, and continued heading east through the desert.

Chapter 4, Cold Embrace

After a few more days, Korro managed to make it through the desert, with only a few more encounters with monsters. 

What he saw at the end of the desert was an even more perilous environment; The icy mountains. They weren’t quite as large as the desert, but the cold was far more dangerous than the heat of the desert.

Korro quickly found a small lake while traversing between the mountains, but as he was filling up his canteen, he saw a pack of wolves in the distance. The wolves in this area were especially dangerous, as their claws and teeth were far sharper, as to hunt tougher prey.

The wolves noticed him, too, and they began closing in at high speeds.

The first wolf that tried to bite Korro was easily fended off with a slash to the face, which only grazed it, but left it partially blinded.

The other wolves soon tag teamed Korro, and as he kicked one away, the other sunk its teeth into his arm.

He managed to kill it with a slash relatively quickly, but that bite would cause severe blood loss if not dealt with quickly.

Korro, without the time to spare, charged at the remaining wolves, and managed to take them out, but not before suffering a near-fatal scratch to the chest.

Korro fell to his knees, as he tried to find some way to patch his wounds, but was in no condition to move.

Korro felt his body become cold, as he had lost critical amounts of blood, and he was about to pass out, but he heard a demonic voice whisper in his ear.

They told him that they could save him, but they would need something in return.

Korro, unwilling to let his father go unavenged, took the deal, as he felt an overwhelming strength fill his body, and his eye fell into excruciating pain, as it became black, losing all vision.

Suddenly, Korro was able to stand, and even walk again. Not wanting to waste another moment, Korro sped through the mountains, faster than ever before, confident that he could catch the assassin.

As Korro continued, he felt more pain in his eye, as the demonic infection began to slowly spread through his body.

Before long, Korro saw a dimly lit cave. Given how much distance he was able to close, he could only imagine this was the location of the assassin.

Korro rushed to the cave, and found a lit campfire, and a notebook beside it. He figured the assassin would return, since he left the campfire lit, so he lied in wait for his time to strike.

As minutes passed, Korro became more and more interested in the assassin’s notebook, so he looked inside. Korro read page by page, learning more and more of who the assassin truly was.

From the information he gathered, the assassin was his brother, Prio, who was born to another mother. Because of this, Bernand abandoned him, as he was constantly reminded of the shame, and the respect he would lose if people ever found out. Prio had been plotting for a long time to meet his father, and after that, killing him.

Korro learned that the assassin, his brother Prio, wasn’t actually that bad of a guy, but he refused to let himself believe it.

Chapter 5, Family Reunion

Not long after reading the notebook, Prio returned to the cave, unaware of his unwanted guest.

As Prio sat down near the fire, he heard a voice from inside the cave.

“Hello, Prio”, said Korro.

Prio readied his knife, as he asked, “Who are you? Why are you here!?”.

Korro, who was previously sitting against the wall, got up, and began to approach Prio. As he entered the light, his demonic eye, which had corrupted most of his face by now, became visible.

Prio shuttered upon seeing Korro’s eye, as he knew it was the mark of demonic power.

“You think you were doing the right thing? Killing my father!?”, yelled Korro.

Prio was shocked, as he was unaware Bernand had another son, saying, “Wait, so you’re… my brother?”.

“Don’t call me that!”, said Korro, as he dashed at inhuman speeds toward Prio, and punched him back into the wall, “You don’t have the right to call me ‘brother’!”.

Prio struggled to stand up after the punch, as he said, “If you read my notebook, then you know exactly… why I did what I did...”.

“Enough talk!”, yelled Korro, “You’ll pay for your crimes, here and now!”.

Korro threw his sword aside, as he attacked Prio relentlessly with his fists.

Prio got in a couple of slashes, but was powerless against Korro’s demonic strength.

Korro then grabbed Prio by the neck, and slammed his back into the floor, grabbing Prio’s knife from beside him, and holding it above Prio’s chest, ready to end it.

“This is the end of your day’s, Prio. Say goodbye!”, telled Korro, as he saw the still innocent look in Prio’s eyes, “S-stop looking at me like that!”.

Prio continued to look on, as Korro yelled, “Y-your the monster here!”.

Korro began to have flashbacks of his journey, and how corrupted he had become.

The memories angered Korro, and out of rage, he stabbed Prio in the chest, as tears began to fill his eyes.

As Korro began to realize the monster he had become, he looked at his reflection in Prio’s knife, saying, “Is this what f-father would have wanted? Is this… really what I’ve become…?”.

Korro then cried for a moment, dropping the knife, before picking it back up, and holding it in front of his chest, saying, “F-father, I’m… sorry.”, and thrusting it into his chest.

The End.