The Hero

Chapter 23

The two stared at each other until Radean appeared beside his sister and gripped her right shoulder.

"We're friends here, aren't we?" he asked, looking at both of them. Neither would meet his gaze back.

"Ugh! You're so miserable sometimes!" Nightstrider exclaimed, suddenly stepping away from the table. She pulled her mask down to reveal red lips forming a deep frown, and a button nose that impatiently snorted breaths. "It's so hot in here. I can't even breathe."

Silent, the Champion watched her pant in such a way that made her glare at him.

"Okay, you really need to stop that," she demanded. "It's extremely uncomfortable and I just want to gauge your stupid eyes out. And then I'll—"

"She doesn't mean any of that," Radean interrupted her. He walked to her side and brought her into a side embrace, which she didn't seem all that content in having.

"Oh, I do. I mean every word of—" she began, only for her mouth to be covered immediately.

"No, no, we're all good here," Radean promised. He nervously chuckled as his sister groaned and eventually stomped on his foot to make him yelp and back away. Her eyes were absorbed in utmost hatred, the type that the Champion had seen in orcs. A very disturbing and unwanted one.

"You're supposed to be backing me up, Radean," Nightstrider requested, disgusted at who stood before her. "No, even more than that—you're supposed to be the one starting this. The one seizing control of the conversation and forcing your opponents into submission." She thrust a finger at her brother as her other hand went to her side. "Why aren't you? Why are you so cowardly? Why in the name of God did you have to be my brother—"

"You don't mean that!" Radean protested.

"I mean every word of what I say, and I intend for it to stay that way until I die," Nightstrider replied. Her finger slowly drifted downward for some of her aggression to fade away. Eventually, she brought her other hand to wipe aside the hair messily strewn across her face that obscured the Champion from even seeing her facial gestures.

"You... think I'm not a good brother—"

"You're a terrible one, yes!"

Radean let the words sink in, though it took a while for him to register them. He let his eyes fall onto the floor, and then he slumped into one of the chairs. He couldn't even bring himself to face his sister, much less respond; however, somebody else was quite eager to do just that:

"At least he did not kill his family for the sake of aimless power."

Nightstrider jolted as if she had been punched in the gut. Her eyes suddenly darted over to the Champion in a bout of rage.

"What did you just say?"

"Your family did not die by starvation, by me not being a good king," the Champion claimed, leaning further in. "No, they didn't die that poorly. Instead, they were killed coldly. Brutally. Without reason. And their murderer wasn't just some bandit or psychopath." He shook his head in pity. "It was their own daughter, rather, that killed those that raised her, loved her—"

"How cruel and idiotic can you be?!" Nightstrider screamed, and pushed herself onto the table. She had already drawn daggers in both hands, her eyes mimicking the gleaming blades for a show of bloodthirst. "I told you the truth, and this is how you react? By making up false rumors? By blaming me for the tragedy that had taken my life away? Do you wish to crush my soul; is that how truly evil you are?"

The Champion didn't move a muscle as she approached. Step by step, she looked more and more like a broken girl with nothing left to live for. A hopeless, desperate predator that hunted prey far more dangerous than it could hope of even becoming. A delusional fool. It was all that she would be known for being after her untimely, forgotten death.