Fallen Villain

“Thank you, mister!” a little girl exclaimed as she received a balloon she thought was gone forever. Her younger brother gripped her hand tightly, staring up at Adam in awe, his jaw practically on the floor. His sister picked it up and placed a hand on the back of his head, guiding him into a simultaneous bow. Before walking away, Adam tied the balloon string around the boy’s wrist.

“Now, as a man, it’s your duty to protect your family,” Adam said, glancing from the boy to the girl and back again. “And their belongings,” he added, nodding toward the balloon before ruffling the boy’s hair. The two children exchanged a look, then gave Adam a huge, appreciative smile and ran off. The balloon string had become a cherished gift from a hero.

“There you are!” a high-pitched voice yelled from behind him.

Adam flinched, his shoulders tense. When he turned, he found a petite woman with loose, disheveled braids. Her piercing green eyes told him everything he needed to know.

“Noel!” he said cheerfully, though his voice betrayed his anxiety. “What happened to you?” He leaned down to examine her messy hair and torn clothing.

“The…” she mumbled softly. “Orphanage!” she exclaimed, her magic flaring around her in a whirlwind of fire and fury. “You were supposed to come with me and deal with those Vormins!”

“Whoa!” Adam immediately raised a protective bubble around them to contain her outburst. “I told you to wait until I got back at noon so we could deal with them.” He tried to defuse the situation, but only made it worse. The shield cracked under Noel’s growing rage.

“It’s… five… o’clock.” Bystanders could hear her teeth grinding as she tried to rein in her flames. Adam could only offer a guilty apology as Noel grabbed him by the neck of his armor and dragged him out of the market, sparks and smoke trailing after her with every step.

Late that night, Noel knocked on Adam’s inn-room door. The sound startled him awake as she called his name from the other side.

“Hang on!” he called. His voice was deeper than Noel expected. After a few rustling sounds and what seemed like a gust of wind, the door opened. Adam stood there in his armor, his pack slung over his shoulder, ready for the journey back to the capitol.

“Took you long enough!” Marcus complained from outside the inn. His large shield made his already imposing frame look even bigger. “You know,” he said, leaning close to Adam, “you’ve been sleeping in more often ever since we killed the Demon King Alazare. Did something happen?” A cold sweat briefly broke across Adam’s forehead.

“No… I don’t think so. I’ve just been sleepier than usual. Maybe it’s from that time I fought those half-vamps.” He rubbed his neck awkwardly, where a couple of bite marks had healed into scars.

Marcus leaned back and let out a booming laugh. “Yeah! They took one hell of a chunk out of you.”

Noel punched him firmly in the back of the head to shut him up. They were leaving in the middle of the night, after all. As the carriages set off, the other members of Adam’s party settled in for the long ride. Adam took a spot in the back and leaned against the side to sleep again.

“Damn it,” Adam grunted breathlessly. He sat in a puddle of blood, taking short, shallow gasps of polluted air. He couldn’t tell whether the blood was his or his comrades’. A glint of moonlight flashed in his eyes. Then he noticed Alazare, standing before him.

Adam winced in pain as he struggled to his feet. “Look…” he whispered.

Behind Adam stood a lone tree on the edge of a cliff. Beyond it lay his nation, his kingdom. His home. Untouched and peaceful. Adam coughed up a lungful of blood, but kept a firm grip on his sword. Alazare grinned at the sight before him as he raised his own sword above his head. The single broken wing on his back slowly shifted back to normal.

“Rise and…” a rough, deep voice mumbled.

“Shine!” Marcus yelled, yanking Adam from his nightmare and out of the carriage by the shoulders.

The morning sunlight hit him like a flashbang. Adam squinted as he found his bearings. The cold sweat on his brow went unnoticed as the others began unloading the cart outside the Adventurers’ Guild. The Guild Master waited in the doorway at the top of the steps, ready to welcome his prized hero and his party.

“Finally!” the Guild Master boomed excitedly as he descended the stairs with open arms. “The capitol has been so lonely and boring without you!” He laughed and draped an arm across Adam’s shoulders. Adam was still squinting in the morning sun. “What took you so long, nephew?” the Guild Master asked, loud enough for the outer realms to hear.

Adam didn’t react. Once his eyes adjusted to the brightness, he straightened up and gave the guild master a tight hug, leaving him shocked and speechless.

“It’s been a while, Uncle Aaron,” Adam said, catching the attention of his party.

“What’cha mean? We just saw you two weeks ago in the Orothos Valley,” Noel said, stepping closer and giving Adam a questioning look.

Adam stepped back and chuckled awkwardly before turning to the cart. He grabbed a crate as large as his own body. Everyone watched in silence as he carried it up the stairs with ease. He greeted the attendants with a smile before setting the crate down with a heavy thud.

After a large breakfast and a meeting with the guild master, Adam set out to explore the capitol. He had some free time before they needed to leave again.

As he wandered through the capitol, Adam found no shortage of small troubles to attend to. He helped a shopkeeper lift a fallen sign and healed the shopkeeper it had struck. Then he gathered apples that had rolled across the street when a cart tipped over. At the fountain, he knelt to mend a little boy’s wooden sword with a dab of magic.

“You can’t protect the town without a proper weapon,” Adam said softly, gently sending the boy back to his parents. The boy ran off with a huge smile, swinging his newly mended sword.

Near the old stone bridge, Adam found a weary porter struggling beneath a stack of parcels and carried half of them to the other side. He listened patiently as an elderly woman asked for directions, then walked her all the way to the right street before heading back toward the guild. By the time the sun began to dip behind the rooftops, people were waving to him from doorways and calling his name. Adam waved back, and for a little while, the kingdom felt lighter.

“You can’t keep this up forever, you know,” Adam said. His sympathetic voice echoed through the room, eerily quiet except for a small breeze coming through a cracked window. “They’ll find you out eventually and turn against you.”

He stood before the mirror in his room. Staring back at him was Adam, the hero.

“You don’t know that!” Alazare yelled at the reflection.

Adam stared back without emotion. Alazare grabbed a cup from the nightstand and hurled it across the room. Then he turned back to the mirror, a glint of defeat in his eyes. He dropped to his knees, shoulders slumped and head bowed, his long black hair cascading over his face.

“It’s not easy, is it?” Adam’s voice was soft but lacked any empathy. "Pretending to be me, especially after-."

Alazare lifted his head towards the mirror.

“The weight of expectations is heavier than that of hope,” he croaked.

“You realized you were wrong about humans,” Adam whispered, “and this is the price you chose to pay. Stand up, Adam! You're the hero aren't you? Act like it!” He commanded the words with a voice dripping with irritation. “You made your bed. Now you’re going to die in it,” he growled as Alazare stood.

“Lie in it,” Alazare corrected him. in a low tone

“No,” Adam said defiantly. “This is you now, until you die.”

The words of finality hit Alazare like a fatal blow. The image of the real Adam disappeared, leaving only the reflection of the shape-shifted demon king. Hearing a knock on the door he shifted back to the hero, a small gust of wind kicking up dirt in the room as he morphed.

"Ready for dinner, Adam?" Noel asked as he opened the door, greeting her with the familiar heroic smile she's known all her life.