Fate’s Hero

Destiny flapped her wings desperately, her black plumage blending in with Curran’s shadow as she tried to keep up. The man ran and rolled down the corridor away from the barrage of arrows that a monster had rigged and tripped in an effort to slow him down. It only took a moment for the man to reach the room’s entrance, turning to slam the door shut after she had followed.

“Well…” Curran breathed heavily, his muscled chest heaving, but he had a wide grin on his face. “That was quite a workout for an old key, eh?”

Destiny bobbed her head up and down in a nod after landing on his broad shoulder to rest.

The pair backtracked to the main room of the old castle, Curran tossing the new-found key up in the air while walking, and Destiny was afraid the piece of brittle metal would fall and shatter. Yet, he managed to keep up his game until they reached the locked door hidden behind curled vines. His sword cut through the thorny plant that had covered the dungeon door, the old foliage withering and dropping from the blade’s sharp edges. She watched, eager to see the hero defeat the monster that had been put in charge of finding one of the power shards.

If Curran reached the shard first, it would be one point for their side and one step closer to freeing her sister. The man Destiny’s sister had picked to save their world from the Huntsman shouldn’t have too much of a problem defeating the monsters–

With a startled squawk, Destiny flew off of Curran’s shoulder as a large shadow covered the two. The man whirled around while Destiny took refuge in one of the trees that had grown inside the castle, and she gaped as the hero was picked up by his neck and thrown against the tree with a sickening crack. She silently urged Curran to get up, to move, but all he had the time to do was lift his head and watch as the Huntsman killed him with a broad sword to the gut.

“I know you’re here, little Destiny.” Huntsman’s gravely voice echoed against the stone walls, and Destiny tried to sink further into the tree branches’ shadows. “Fate has been known for her strong choices of heroes. It was ridiculous that you would think I would wait for this man to gain more strength before crushing him.”