Chapter 23: Ch.20: A Warrior’s Burden

            “It’s been one week, Warrior Miaro. Have you contacted your king candidate?” One figure in the smoke asks.

Tisha freezes. “I’ve made contact and then made a discovery. The king candidate for this island is a Half-Elf. Someone like that is not fit to be the king of our lands.”

The group freezes. “Odd. To think a lowly Half-Elf could stand upon this stage. That, in and of itself, is quite interesting.”

            “Yes, this could be an opportunity.”

            “What?”

            “He has Elvan blood, so he’ll likely be a friend to the Elves should he take the throne.” One counselor states.

            “He has no plans for taking the throne. He only seeks to disbar another candidate. There is no hope for such a king I will return….”

            “You shall do no such thing!” The group says in unison.

            “Huh?”

            “We are not in a position where we can pick and choose. These candidates are the only hope for our people’s recovery. Him being of Elven blood makes him an even better candidate for us.”

            “But he has no plans of….”

            “That is where you come in. You are to get close and whisper into his ear. Should you fail at this task, you will have no home to go back to?”

            “What? But my mission was just to…”

            “Your mission was to place a king who will support the Elves on the throne. Should they declare their hatred of our kind, then you are to kill them? Should you do anything outside of that role, then you will be exiled?”

            “Exiled, but this….”

            “This is the most important role we have given a warrior in the past hundred years.” An older man says, staring at Tisha.

            “Grandfather?” She whispers.

            “You have trained your whole life for this.” He says staring at her. “Bring glory and greatness to the Elvan people.”

            “But I….”

            “There is no choice. Fulfill your mission and place your king upon the throne or execute them as someone unworthy and unhelpful to the Elves. And should you do neither, then return and live your life in exile?”

She pauses as the flames fizzle out and the smoke rises into the air. She takes her bow and fires an arrow into the sky.

            “Damn it!” She yells out as he shoots out arrow after arrow.

 

Hours later, her arrows crash back to the ground with her sitting under the shadows of her boat. She sighs, staring at the beach before her.

            “Damn it. What can I do? There’s no way that asshole will let me work for him. Hell, he doesn’t even want to be the king. It’d be useless to convince him.” She stands up and picks up her arrows from the beach. “I have to bring glory to the Elvan people.”

She pauses for a moment. “But wait. There’s more than one way to bring glory to our people. There are plenty of other ways, and this island has something more valuable than a king on this island.”

 

Elsewhere in his room, Glyn pours over a series of journals and notes, documenting the dungeons. As puts down his papers, he leans back in his chair and stares at the ceiling.

            “Okay, so something’s going wrong with the dungeon’s core. That can’t be good. Is that why that Daemon showed up? It has to be.” Glyn says.

As he sits around, a knock comes from the door. “Come in.”

Mila enters the room staring at him. “Um?”

            “Is it that time already?”

            “Yes. Sorry.”

            “No, it’s important and we wouldn’t want you going on a rampage again.”

            “Sorry.” She whispers.

The two sit on Glyn’s bed as Mila holds out her hands. Her Queen piece emerges from her chest and floats in her palm. Glyn grabs it as Mila shakes.

            “Sorry if it’s uncomfortable.”

            “I’m used to it by now.”

Glyn nods as sparks of energy fly out of the piece and distill themselves into the air. “Your excess mana is lesser than usual.”

            “Brother was training me a lot this evening. I’m closer to mastering this, I’d like to believe.”

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Glyn nods. “I’ll come up with a more permanent solution for your condition as soon as I’m able to. So don’t get too comfortable with our late-night meetings.”

            “It’s not too bad.” Mila blushes. “At least we get to spend some time together, even when we’re both so busy.”

            “Mila. You haven’t talked about this to anyone, right?”

            “I haven’t?”

            “Good. I don’t want the others worried about you may be losing control over yourself.”

She nods. “I can still hear or well feel it sometimes even in training, this murderous instinct.”

            “You’re likely suffering the after-effects of some trauma. Unfortunately, you don’t remember a thing from before you washed up here.” Glyn gives the piece back to Mila. “If we had a more solid clue about your origins, then….”

            “Don’t worry so much about it. We have more important things to do, don’t we?”

            “We do but…. I’m technically the king here. And what good is a king if he can’t help his people? In that case, it’s you guys. Besides, the sooner you gain control over your powers, the sooner you can become a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield.”

Mila nods. “Right, I’ll try my best. As your Queen, I can’t show any weakness as I have been.”

            “Mila, before you worry about helping me, help yourself first. If you get taken out, we’re as equally dead as if I was taken out. So promise me before you do anything for me, do everything for yourself.”

She nods. “I… I’ll try.”

            “Well, that’s a good start, at the very least.”

            “Aren’t you worried?” She asks.

Glyn nods. “Oh, of course all the time. I’m worried we’ll get taken out on the first day with my goal forever out of reach.”

            “Oh.”

            “But I can’t let that show.”

            “Why?”

            “A King’s burden.”

            “A what?”

            “A king has to serve as the leader of his forces. In life and on the battlefield, my father told me if a situation like that should come, I have to show the utmost confidence.”

Mila nods. “Then why show me?”

            “Well, you're someone easy for me to let my guard down around. No matter what I can tell you’re being honest and heartfelt. Maybe that’s why?”

Mila blushes. “I’ll try my best!”

            “Come on, you just have to be you. Tomorrow we’re headed to the depths of the dungeon.”

            “Yeah!”

            “Be ready no matter what, understood?”

            “Okay. But everything will work out, right?”

Glyn smirks. “Of course. I’ve got a plan to set this all right. You can trust me.”

            “I always trust you.” She says with a smile.

            “Thanks. I promise I won’t let you down.”

 

Elsewhere at the dungeon’s entrance, Tisha makes up way up to the doors. She holds out her hand and the portal opens and she steps inside. She finds herself in the white hallway as she holds onto her bow closely.

            “If they have not fully explored this dungeon, I can at least bring home some grand treasure. And then I can just buy my way home.”

As she wanders inside, she sees two figures fall from above. As they fall, she fires off her arrow, killing the Demonoids before they land. With a smirk on her face, she wanders further in as more Demonoids appear.

            “Come on, you disgusting monsters. You’ve gotta do better than that to get the better of me!” She yells as she charges in, firing off a flurry of arrows knocking them away.

She makes her way to the end of the hall and she finds a portal in front of her. She smiles, reaching her hand out for it only for a roar to echo across the dungeon.

            “What the hell!” She yells out.

She falls into the portal and the dungeon shakes and changes as something roars around in its depths.

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