Am I Not The Hero?

Chapter 5 - Ravi Aldine

The sun was shining through the clouds. Birds were flying across the sky. It was neither too cold nor too hot. And all things considered, it would have been a perfect Summer evening if there were not a dozen people out to kill or kidnap his friend right before him.

"Commander Draigh, your sister, called to tell us that you've... gone mad. I hope that is not true; you are one of our most valuable commanders. It would be a shame to lose you like this." A strange woman had stepped out of one of the carriages and announced herself as the one's assistant, whatever that meant.

Draigh stepped forward. "Tell Dave that I'm quitting; I'm done pretending to agree with you fucked up world visions, and I won't watch you do the same thing to Espererar. This Planet is the only one we know of that also has intelligent life, and you won't destroy that too." He shouted at her.

Ravi was confused. Quitting what? And what does 'Planet that also has intelligent life' mean? More and more questions popped up in his brain as the two continued to argue. "I can't say I'm surprised, Draigh. You always had a soft spot for these creatures. But we both know that if we want humanity to survive there is no other way" Humanity?

"Why is it so important for you that you carry on this legacy of destruction and hatred? Why would it be so bad for humanity to go extinct? We've literally never done anything good we only kept on ruining everything we touched." Draighs voice got louder and louder. "We do not deserve to keep on living, but they do so I will fight for them, for this Planet, and against you and all of Tmesis if I have to."

The lady narrowed her eyes, "I will give you one day, Draigh. One day, to redeem yourself as commander and come back to us, your family. We will be waiting at the portal. But if you choose not to return, we will let hell loose on this garbage planet." And with those words, she vanished back into the carriage.

The walk back to Pravda was quiet. He was still trying to process what just had happened. Draigh was their commander? And what was Humanity? What did Draigh mean by saying they didn't deserve to live? He was confused and unsure. He wanted to talk to him about it but not in front of the others. "It's getting dark, and it's supposed to rain later. We should try to find shelter for the night," Z noted, and the rest of the group agreed.

Luckily it didn't take them too long to find an abandoned cabin. Plants were growing all over it, and the wood started to rot away. But all the windows were still intact, so it would be enough to keep them safe from the rain. They entered the house to find four rooms and a staircase leading into the attic. On the ground floor were a Kitchen, a bathroom, a bedroom, and a living room. The bedroom had two single beds, so Esmeralda and Z decided to sleep in them, and Akira took the couch in the living room.

"There better be a bedroom up in that attic because I won't be sleeping on the floor tonight". Draigh said as he walked up the stairs. And there was a bedroom, but it only had one bed. "I guess I'll be taking the floor then," he said.

"No, no, you had a long day. You deserve the bed more than I do. You should take it."

"But I don't want you to sleep on the floor either." Draigh walked over to the bed to take a better look at it. "I guess we could just squeeze in together. It should be big enough, and I don't need that much space anyway. At least one good thing I learned from having to sleep in the tiniest bunk beds with all my cadets, right?" He laughed and sat down on the bed, taking his shoes off.

Ravi sat down next to him. In front of them was a window that revealed the sky above them. He loved looking at the night sky. He would always imagine that one of the stars was his mother, watching over him and ensuring he was fine. But apparently, she took a day off that day because nothing was fine. His friend had lied to him or at least did not tell the entire truth about what happened, and he is also a commander of the Organization that killed his mother and didn't say anything.