Heroes, what does a person make a hero...? Well... You gotta be strong. And help people whenever they are in trouble. Everyone will admire you, as you take down the bad guy, save the day get some fame. I would love to be one one day. Our town in Lundraga has thirteen of them. They are the guardians of a giant tree. They live on top of the tall mountain called Phadeon. Our town is at the foot of that mountain. I wonder how high the mountain is. On a clear day one can see a giant tree on the top. Yet there ain't no snow covering it. During the night you can see lights flickering. A beautiful sight, definitely. I wonder what those lights exactly are. Perhaps the guardians make the lights. Maybe. The guardians won't tell what is going on up there. Telling us it's better we didn't know. Huh? Oh yes, they barely go down the mountain to check on us. Actually, they only come once a year. Our town made a pact with the guardians since they don't really have any money. No one in our town likes fighting. So we give goods like food and other stuff to them. We basically put it all at the promised place at the promised times. And in return they would defend our town if we were to be in trouble. We have a bell for that that will be rung whenever the town gets attacked. A few will come right down and crush the attackers then go back up the mountain again.
Anyway, as I said before: one of the guardians comes down the mountain each year. It is in honor of the pact that we agreed upon years ago. And today is the very day that will happen and I hope to get a glance at that guardian! The streets are already bustling with people. They made an entire festival out of this thing. There is food everywhere, and lanterns set up in the streets, and games. Then the drums started playing. Before I realized what was going on I was already pushed all the way to the back of the crowd as everyone stepped aside to make way. I tried to squeeze my way through to get a better view, only to get pushed away.
"Get lost kid! Go find another place to watch."
Geez, old Gregor could be such a jerk. Especially on these occasions. I sighed looking for a way to get a glimpse from the guardian. I really looked up to them. I wanted to be one of them one day. Become a hero. People would either just laugh at my dreams. Or they would talk me in some petty task that they could easily do on their own. But they always have very annoying ways to get to me. I saw a stack of crates resting against the wall of a building. That's perfect! Quickly I started climbing up the crates, reaching out for the roof. I could just about make it and get on top of the building. From here I had a perfect view on the guardian that was walking down the road to the contraption upon where the bell was located. This year the guardian they sent was a man. He wore elegant garment. I watched in awe as he passed by, I couldn't keep my eyes off him. However, something terrible happened right then. I stumbled off the roof when a shock wave pushed me off the building.
"What the -- What was that!?"
I shouted confused. I wasn't the only one who had felt the shock wave. People were screaming and taking cover. I looked up in the sky towards the mountain. And what I saw terrified me. The silhouette of the tree on top of the mountain was vertically splitting in half. My jaw dropped.
"T-the tree! The tree is splitting in half!"
I shouted. People around me lifted their heads and turned to the mountain. The sky seemed like it was falling. The lights that once drifted around the tree were flung across the sky by the shock wave looking like shooting stars.
Before I knew it I already had started running. It was really tiring, but my legs kept going up the mountain. I had to see it with my own eyes from up close. The path was narrow, and I tripped a few times over the roots of trees. I'm not sure how long I had been running, but I started to run out of breath. And the air got thinner as I got higher up the mountain. Eventually I had to slow down and take deep breaths. I looked back, the town wasn't that far out of sight.
"Great hero you make, Kai..."
He mumbled.
"Can't even run up a mountain..."
I sulked, my legs were sore making me drop to the ground. I proceeded to lift my head to look at the broken tree only to meet with two yellow eyes glistering in the darkness. I couldn't make much from the silhouette of whatever that thing was looked at me.
"Wha... What are you?"
The thing didn't answer. Instead it looked ahead. Behind me I heard the voices of people. The villagers wanted to know what had happened too. They stopped walking when they saw the creature staring at them.
"What is that thing?"
"It must be the culprit!"
"Get it!"
The crowd cried out startling the creature which sprinted off the road and disappeared in the bushes. Followed by angry townsfolk. I just about managed to stand up.
"Are you alright?"
Asked a voice behind me.
"Yeah... I was just tired, and then suddenly that thing stood in front of me..."
I looked around and saw the guardian. My jaw dropped once again.
"I-- What!? What are you doing here?"
"I have something to look after up there. Would you mind making sure nobody gets hurt by that creature?"
I nodded. Then the guardian took a sprint up the mountain. Then I got up and looked around.
"The question is, where the heck did they go?"
Before I could even move the villagers had already returned.
"Er... Are you guys alright?"
I asked them. They hummed in agreement.
"What happened?"
They were making me curious.
"Well, old Gregor managed to stab that thing with his 'trusty' pitchfork. And the monster fell off the cliff and plummeted in the depths"
One of the men said.
"What was that thing anyway."
"We don't know, it was impossible to see in the dark."
The guardian returned from the mountain. His face was pale.
"Guardian, you are back, is everything alright?"
One of the townsfolk asked.
"No it's not alright. Everyone's dead."
