The Exiled Hero

“Wow, this castle looks ancient and majestic, just like I have seen in movies.” Tori strolled around the hallways, ‘strangely, I see no guards around here’

At the end of the hallways, Tori discovers a small rose garden that is built inside the castle. The tea house, established in the middle, completes the whole scenery. Tori cannot stop himself from going to the garden, he collects a rose and starts smelling it.

‘If only I find a silver-haired princess here…’, Tori thought while inhaling the fragment of the rose. He then turned around hoping to see a princess, but the only company he got was roses and the wind.

‘No silver girl that is!’ Tori sighed.

A scream echoed in Tori’s ears. ‘Did someone scream?’ Tori thought, ‘Is it a ghost…. Nah, that can't be. Haha’

The scream echoed again. Tori's curious mind followed the scream.

***

The scream brought Tori to the dark hallways; the walls are covered with mold. The scream had become more intense now, hearing this closely. ‘Am I supposed to be here?’ Tori doubts himself.

‘Is this some kind of torture chamber?’ Tori tries to guess the screams of a female begging for mercy that echoed through the whole hallway.

‘Wait, I have heard this voice…’ Tori tries to peek from the wooden door where the scream is coming. He finally got a good view through the small hole in the wooden door.

‘Natalie!?’ Tori could not believe his eyes; the one whose scream was echoing was none other than Natalie. Her hands were chained to the wall, face and body covered with bruises.

“How did you make such a mistake!” The man hits Natalia with the belt.

“F-forgive…. M-me… king”

‘King!?’, Tori felt shocked through his veins, ‘why is King beating Natalie? I should help her… but how?’

“Forgive you, huh?” King forcefully grabbed Natalie’s jaw, “Why did you summon a hero with no potential at all?” The king's grip got tighter.

“Pa-ah pl-ease-”

King releases his grip. Natalie, breathing heavily, “I d-did the ritual as per what was written in the scripts-”

“THEN WHY?” King hits the belt again

In agony, Natalie said, “The script also mentioned that the possibility of getting a potential hero is even. And like it’s mentioned, the crystal ball was supposed to glow brightest based on hero potential, but it didn't work for Tori Lake.”

“Didn't work?” King started laughing, “Do you know how many resources I gave you, you bloody witch!” he started beating her, her scream in agony echoed in Tori’s ears.

The king stopped, whipping his hands stained by blood. “Summon me another hero as quickly as possible,” king demanded.

Natalie's barely open eyes look at the king wide, “I-it's impossible, king. The ritual usually takes 8-12 months.”

“You're telling me that you can’t do it?” King gives a death glare to Natalie, “First, you summon a weak, worthless trash with no potential, AND you're telling me it will take 8 months?”

“Please… have mer-”

The king punched Natalie in the gut. “The Ragnarok is coming up, and because of your mistake, my image will be in the gutter, huh?” The king continuously beat her until she passed out.

“Stupid b*tch,” King spits at Natalie.

“King, what should we do with Tori Lake?” a familiar voice, which was none other than Commander Vice.

Tori, listening to every damn word, started shaking, “That can't be true, right?”

“Whose there?” the king said. But there was no one in front of the door. The king called the soldier by cursing, which came in an instant.

***

Tori is in his room, on his knees. He does not know what to say or think. “I got summoned by mistake, haha.” He does not want to believe this reality.

The tears fell, he started laughing, “YOU F*CKING KING OF PIGS! You are gonna eat your shitty words back! Just you wait.”

Tori's laughter calmed down as he went to bed. But the gray thoughts are what give him company. What will they do to me? Will I go home? His mind filled with all kinds of questions with no one to answer them.

***

“You are trying to get rid of me, aren't you? Commander vice.”

Commander Vice raised his eyebrow a little before making the poker face. “What are you talking about, hero?”

“huH? Are you still calling this worthless trash a hero?” Tori's face was full of a menacing smile. “That's very kind of you, commander.”

Commander Vice gave him a serious look, “I will ignore this ever happening. Now, you should leave.”

Tori started sneering. “What if I don't? You gonna cry about it to your king?”

“This is the last warning,” the commander said as he grabbed his sword’s handle.

Tori stopped. He walks, slowly and slowly, towards a wooden stick. “Commander, being here for a whole damn day, I just realized that old ways don’t work here.” He grabbed the stick with both hands and stood in the stance.

“I'm gonna kill you and your bloody king!” Tori charges to attack. He runs with the sticks to their maximum back. As he got close to Commander Vice, he applied his full force for a swing. But Commander Vice dodges it in an instant.

“Huh?”

Commander vice then punched a deadly blow to the guts, which sent Tori to a distance. Tori felt like he couldn’t breathe. His insides ache, and his mouth is throwing up blood. Despite all that, he still tried to get up, but the damage was too great for him to stand.

Commander Vice walks near Tori. “You were wide open,” he says, then turns his back and starts walking.

“gh GAh.. come back, you b*stard! I-I am not done”

Commander Vice turned around, “Stop being reckless,” he said.

“Like hell you care, huh!?” Tori is still suffering from the pain, and he gets back on his knees, barely. “Y-you people first summoned me here without my consent, later you found out I'm not any use to you, and now you're throwing me off like some kind of trash. JUST HOW LOW CAN YOU AND YOUR KING GET!”

Commander Vice did not respond. “Tori Lake, I'm giving you 10 minutes; if you don’t leave from my sight, you will not be alive to see another day,” he said while showing his back, walking inside the kingdom gates.

“W-wait," Tori tries to move forward on a knee but falls. “I want to go home. Just tell me, when can I go home?” He tried to hold his tears, but his eyes could not stop leaking.

Commander Vice is standing in the middle of the gate. The soldiers standing on top of the gates are holding bows.

“If you win the Ragnarök,” Commander Vice announced, “I vow to my knight honor, you will see your home again.”

The truth? Lie? It doesn't matter. It was enough for Tori to keep going. ‘I… have to get up,’ he tries his hardest to get up, but keeps falling.

Little by little, tori grab the bag and started slow steps, disappearing in the forest.

“Aren't you giving the boy the false hope?” the minister stood beside Commander Vice.

“What if he wins the Ragnarök?” Commander Vice argued.

“It's still a ‘what if’, but who knows, this kid might pull this off or just die trying,” Minister straightens his beard.

“We’ll see”