A Failed Hero's Voyage Chapter 1: Chapter 1: Hero of Death

Read chapter 1 of A Failed Hero's Voyage by churro on NovelPedia.

Across a vast field within the mountain canyon of western Velmoria, fresh grass swayed beneath the open sky. The grass blades bent and rose in the wind, their emerald tips rippling in long, gentle waves like a quiet green ocean. The mountains encircling the canyon stood ancient and unmoving. Jagged cliffs rose high, their stone faces scarred by time, yet unbroken, silent witnesses to ages long forgotten. Within the largest mountain lay a cavern of immense size. Its entrance yawned wide, darkness pooling inside like an inverted sky. Even in daylight, the interior remained almost entirely swallowed by shadow. Then, movement came. Dozens of dragons erupted from the depths, their enormous wings beating as they launched into the sky. Crimson, emerald, bronze, and silver scales flashed in the sunlight as they climbed higher. Each dragon was massive. Yet they fled. They were running, from something none believed they could fight, let alone defeat. Far across the valley, a solitary figure walked steadily toward the cavern. A man clad in brilliant silver armor. The polished plates reflected the sky as shadows of fleeing dragons passed over him, briefly dimming the light before it returned. His white hair stirred in the wind, untouched as strands drifted across his face. One bare hand brushed through the tall grass as he walked, his fingers trailing lightly across the blades. His gaze remained lowered, studying them with quiet focus. His other hand rested loosely on the hilt of a blade at his side. The weapon glowed faintly, forged from a metal unlike any ordinary steel. Its pale radiance endured even when shadow passed over it. Then there were his eyes. Where light should have reflected, there was only darkness. Absolute darkness. Any light that touched them vanished, consumed by an endless void. And within that void, something seemed to move, vast, restless, like a hidden ocean beneath a moonless sky. The man walked on. Then he stopped. The wind rose sharply, snapping his dark cape behind him. For the first time, he lifted his head. “It seems,” he said calmly, his voice quiet against the wind, “there is a brave one after all.” High above, something massive descended. At first, only a distant shadow moving through the clouds. Then its shape became clear. A dragon. Not one of those that had fled. This one dwarfed them all. Its scales were black as polished onyx, devouring the light around them. Its immense body eclipsed the sky, vast enough to make the others seem small by comparison. Slowly, it descended. When it landed, the ground trembled. Grass flattened beneath its weight as it positioned itself between the man and the cavern, blocking the entrance. Silence fell across the valley. Then the dragon lowered its head. Ember-colored eyes burned with hatred as they fixed upon the lone figure. “That is as far as you go,” the dragon said, its voice echoing like distant thunder. “Atherius.” Atherius met its gaze, no emotions shown. No fear or anger, only faint curiosity. “A Great Dragon…” he murmured. Surely it had not come believing it could stop him. “Do you believe you can stop me?” he asked. His dark eyes studied the creature. Then recognition flickered in his eyes. “Xerasius?” The dragon’s gaze hardened. Xerasius spread his enormous wings, their vast span casting the valley into shadow. “I know I cannot stop you,” he said. “But I refuse to run.” His voice burned with restrained fury. “I will not flee from the man who slaughtered my kin without provocation.” Atherius scoffed softly. He lowered his gaze once more, reaching down to grasp a single blade of grass between his fingers. “Slaughtered?” he repeated quietly. He pulled the blade of grass free, straightening it between his fingers. “Would you use that same word,” he continued, “to describe what your ‘allies’ did to my village?” For the first time, Xerasius hesitated. “Were the innocent lives lost that day also a slaughter?” Rage erupted within Xerasius. “You believe such nonsense?”