Dear Hero

My dear hero, never has a wretch as repugnant as you have dared to invade my halls. A toast to your bravery! It truly is a testament to your sheer lack of intelligence that you’d so arrogantly show your face here. Even kings beg permission before entering my domain. How many times must I beat it into you until it gets through your thick skull? You are nothing but an insect, a cockroach too stubborn to die. And yet you deem yourself divine! How sickening.

Worse still, you claim the high ground labeling my actions atrocious. Tell me, chosen one, what justice is there in mercy? Your childish optimism would have you force a vengeful mother to forgive her son’s murderer. You’d merely slap the hand of a thief without thinking of the struggling farmer he stole from. Where is their justice? If you think your actions are saving them you’re even more idiotic than you look. You can’t fix a dam with a few pebbles and a dream. You are a fake. A mirage pathetically attempting to appear a true hero. 

But they cheer for you all the same. After all, you’re one of them. Surely you didn’t think it was fate that brought you here? You’re nothing but a gutter rat that doesn’t know his place. A worn out puppet to garner sympathy. So what was it? Abusive father? Dead wife? Could you be the random illegitimate child of a king? I’m sure there aren’t a hundred more bastard princes waiting in line. Or maybe you’re just a war orphan clawing and thieving his way out of the back alleys? It doesn’t matter. The important thing is that you’re fighting even though you’re broken. Don’t get it twisted, they aren’t cheering for you. It’s the part of themselves that they see in you they cheer for. You are nothing without them, just as you are nothing without me. You shine as bright as you do because of me. The worse I am, the better you appear. Even your biggest mistakes are covered by my shadow, for now. I wonder how you’ll stumble in the future, when all that’s left is your mediocrity.

They call you dragonslayer. They scream like incessant cicadas as you showcase the noble heart you stole. A wicked beast she was, and the last of her kind. Many villages and cities burned under her fire, but I wonder, was she not worthy of your boundless compassion? She ravaged the lands to save her eggs, only to find them cold and dead. But the selfless, merciful hero rode in to save the day, cutting out her beating heart and draping it around his neck. The people are saved! Except, now the dragon that guards the mountain pass is dead and none live to replace her. Some might have called her a necessary evil. 

I respect what you’ve done, truly. In your clumsy attempts to save the world, you might cause more chaos than I ever did. In your effort to be worshiped, you have disregarded our ancestors and threw away their hard-won peace. A helping hand and a crushing fist; two sides of the same coin. You think you are a light in the darkness, but it won’t last. You might not even notice it, but I can see it. Every step back, every innocent life lost haunts you. The candle is waning and won’t be enough to quench the darkness building inside. 

Your road may be a flower checkered, sun speckled painting, but our destination is the same. We must bend and twist the world for our dream to come true. Feign humility all you want, I know why you walk alone. A true victory cannot be shared. To have the world at your feet, the people's love and devotion must be focused on you and only you. Those you call friends are greedy ants scurrying to steal your spoils. It was smart to cast them aside before coming here. 

You asked me once why I do the things I do. It’s simple, because no one is willing or able to stop me. The best decisions, the ones that solve the problems, aren’t always pretty. Why shouldn’t I sever the hand that would rob me? Is killing the one who poisons my food wrong? What's the harm in blowing up the slave ships? Some innocents got caught in the mix? That’s not my fault. There are billions of humans, so what if a few thousand are gone? You should thank me. Not only have I taken care of worthless criminals, I've eased the burden of the poor harvests we’ve had. How many won’t have to suffer the slave brand? How much more food will there be for our own citizens now? Yet, with the people at your back, you are the hero. 

So come, my pampered cockroach, be the valiant knight and strike me down. End my reign of villainy, so the world might be a brighter place. I will not bow to you or anyone else. If I am to die, I will die free. 

A word of advice; as long as you are bound by compassion, forgiveness, mercy, and justice, there will always be chaos and greed. Those who do not fear repercussions will do as they please. Though, it’s unfortunate I won’t be there to see your face as you watch everything you fought so desperately for falls apart. Those pests will never be satisfied with your peace. How long will they praise you? How long until they question your divinity? How long till they curse your name for not saving them from themselves? Their joyous cries will damn you sooner than you think. And when the wars start, as they most certainly will, you will be forced to once again take a side and fight.

Even the smallest flame can beat back the dark, but that same flame can grow to be far more devastating, little hero. Wherever you go, death will always follow.