Chương 2: The Hero

In the Capitol, Iris Lowerider was watching a disturbance to the west. Her scarlet hair flowing in the wind.

"What's wrong, Hero of Aglia?" Her companion asked her. It was a man of strong stature, with short blond hair and eyes of sapphire.

"We may be about to get our chance, Eric. He's making his move. See the clouds over there?" She said.

Eric too, looked over and witnessed the maelstrom of black to the west.

"Gather the others," Iris asked, "We ride tomorrow."

Eric called and two others showed up, a thinnish man, and a pure looking woman.

This was the Hero of Aglia and her party. Eric Tiranis, the kingdom's strongest Knight. Yari Jiraka, the night-black haired leader of the Royal Assassins. Nari Merlin, the kingdom's youngest and most progressive wizard. And finally, Iris Lowerider, the hero who was chosen by the blade Mistilteinn to save the world that had fallen into chaos.

"It would seem," Iris told them, "that the Demon King is raising an army. He may strike at any given moment. So I ask you all to train as hard as you can today, for we ride tomorrow. Having said that, I set up a training regime for you all, each one tailored to your skills."

She handed each of them a bundle of papers.

"Remember, we won't lose to him, we *can't* lose this." She said as she dismissed them. They each went off to train, and Iris went to spar with some guards. Their training went on until late, it was dark before they decided to rest.

The next day, the party of four mounted their horses and set off for the Devil's Citadel. Eventually, after about four hours of riding, they stopped at a town to resupply and rest. But rest was not what they got, as they heard the townsfolk shouting. There were screams of mass hysteria.

"They're coming! Monsters! To the west!" They cried as Iris looked on. In front of her was potentially thousands of monsters. All of them were Daemonic in nature, and heading straight for the town. Iris took the lead of her party. Her gaze was steeled and there was a massive determination behind her stance.

"Time to show them what we've got! Yari, attack the leaders. Nari, bombard them with spells. Eric, you and me will charge them head on. Now move!" She ordered.

They did as asked and the army was charged by Iris and Eric, with a rain of ice flying down at them. They broke the lines and took out as many Daemons as they could. There was panic from within as their leaders dropped within minutes, but they pressed the assault, like they were being mindlessly controlled by something. Blood flew everywhere as blades danced around the army and clear icicles turned scarlet as they rained from above.

'It's him.' Iris thought, 'No-one else could possibly organise so many Daemons in one place.'

It took about an hour, but every single Daemon was defeated and none could retreat to the Citadel. Iris finished the last one off with no remorse, she was covered in a crimson coat from battle.

"What did you do that for?" Yari asked, "We could've followed one back to their base."

Iris' face looked dark and bloody.

"No mercy…they don't deserve it. Those damn Daemons, I'll hunt every last one down, then I'll kill their King." She replied, pulling a sadistic grin.

They went to clean themselves up and took to the roads again. A burning hatred in Iris' heart. A desire that made the other members feel somewhat unsafe.