Not a Hero

Part 4: The Snowy Mountains

Above the ice, Drodin and Casey were looking for their friends and rapidly losing hope.
“They must have fallen down the canyon.” said Drodin. “There’s nowhere else they could be

After a long time of walking, Aster eventually found an ice cave along the way. Seeing no other option than to try it in search of an exit, she walked through the entrance, deeper into darkness. Oliver followed, but lit another fireball in his hand so they could both see where they were going.
Finally, Oliver worked up the nerve to say something and asked, “Aster, why did you really come with us?”
Aster’s rage had somewhat dissipated, so she responded with, “I told you. You are the master of the Tome of the Scapegrace. Therefore, I am loyal to you.”
“Yeah, but why are you loyal to the one who has it? Was it like this when your dad had the book?”
“There was a time when I wasn’t. That was when I was a stupid child who understood nothing. Then, my father took me away and showed me the truth of this world.”
“What was that?”
“That chaos owns the world. It owns us. And it lives in that book. Therefore, whoever owns that book, owns the world.”
“I don’t own the world.”
“What are you saying? You hold power unlike any other. The power to destroy.”
“It’s not like that. There’s a saying back on Earth. With great power, comes great responsibility. It applies to heroes with powers that can be used for either good or evil, and it tells them to use their powers for good.”
“Why would anyone do that?”
“It’s how most people think. Everyone wants to be a hero, but sometimes they forget what that means and they wander into a castle only to turn into a villain who’s forced to be evil otherwise they’ll die.”
“Master Oliver?”
“Could you please stop calling me that already?”
“Okay then. Oliver? Don’t you like being a villain?”
“I thought I would, but I was just upset that Casey was the hero and not me. I’m still scared of what I did yesterday. I even had a nightmare about it. Heroes don’t have those nightmares. That’s why I don’t want to do that anymore.”
“What’s so great about being a hero?”
“Well, they…. They get attention. They get respect. They get to go on epic journeys that make them better for it….” Oliver got lost in his own words, and forgot who he was talking to. “And in the end, they’re rewarded with a kiss from a princess! Who wouldn’t want that?”
Princess Aster gave another angry look at Oliver. “What are you implying?”
Oliver was at a loss for words. He desperately wanted to say no, but knew deep down that he hoped for a kiss back at the tower. His hesitation was met with a firm slap that knocked him senseless for a whole minute. The fireball went out.
When Oliver regained consciousness, he lit another fireball.
He called out, “Aster!”, but there was no answer.
On the ground next to him, the Hellion Blade sat still. He picked it up, slipped it into his belt, and shouted again. “Aster!” He was met with silence, then fear.
Oliver ran deeper into the cave when he heard a loud roar echo through the cavern. It had to have been a big monster, so Oliver flipped through the book for an attack spell that he could use. Then, he realized he was already holding one.
Up ahead, he saw a faint light, an escape. When he entered the next chamber, it came as a surprise to him. A larger cavity with an amazingly polished floor and a hole in the ceiling letting in light from outside through a layer of ice, and that on the other end of the chamber was a muscular monster on two legs. It was facing away from Oliver, but he could see it had two horns on top of its head and was covered head to toe in white fur. Off to the side was a similar monster flat on the ice, but with its head twisted back.
“Aster!” Oliver called out once again.
“Oliver!” came from in front of the yeti.
Aster was trapped in between the yeti and the wall. When the fireball went out, she didn’t expect to be grabbed and dragged away. She escaped their grip and barely managed to kill one, but she was cornered now. With nowhere to run and no weapons, Aster was helpless for once.
Oliver yelled, “Hey ugly!” The yeti turned around to face his new threat. “How did you know I was talking to you?”
The yeti let out a terrible roar, and then charged full speed at Oliver with its sheer weight keeping it from slipping. Oliver let loose the ball of fire from his hands which struck the monster right in its face. The impact of the fireball must have bruised the yeti, and the fire singed its fur. The monster’s charge may have been stopped for the moment, but it was still alive and even more angry.
Oliver didn’t have time to rest as the yeti recovered and was barreling down on him. He quickly flipped through the book for another spell that could hopefully slay his foe, and he found another page marked Death Ray. He raised his arm to cast the spell, but the snowman grabbed him by the waist before he could do so. The yeti held him up in the air with one great hand and tightened its grip, trying to crush its prey. Oliver panicked and flailed, but nothing could stop the monster.
“Oliver!” shouted Aster. The princess desperately wanted to help, but keeping balance on the ice was extremely difficult, even for her.
Then, Oliver reached for the grip of the Hellion Blade sticking out from his belt. With all of his strength, he pushed the hilt forward, digging the tip of the sword into the yeti’s finger. The yeti let Oliver go from the pain, and the student fell flat on the floor dropping the tome. Quickly, he scrambled to grab the book and cast Death Ray while the yeti was tending to its hand. He held out his arm and screamed at the top of his lungs, “Quietus!”
A blend of light and darkness gathered in his hand. Moments later, A beam of tremendous energy lanced forth and sliced through the yeti’s arm and into the wall. The monster let out one last wail before falling over dead. Such a powerful beam was difficult to control, and Oliver made the foolish mistake of raising his arm up to the ceiling.
The death ray cut through the ice like butter, and before Oliver realized what he had done, there was another hole in the ceiling. The death ray ceased, but Oliver and Aster looked up at the new hole in the ceiling. Moments later, the telltale sound of ice cracking had them worried. A chunk of the ceiling fell. Then another, and another. Soon, the ceiling began to cave in on the chamber.
Oliver saw the spot where there was no roof overhead. He shouted to the princess, “Head for the center! Slide like a penguin!”
Aster didn’t know what a penguin was, but she still understood. Both of them leapt as far as they could towards the center, landing on their stomachs and sliding across the crystalline surface.
Sliding across the floor, the pair met and stopped each other in the center of the room. They grabbed each other’s hands, and their momentum caused them to spin around in circles. All around them, falling ice broke apart and came crashing down, crushing everything in the cave, except for them. Oliver and Aster pulled themselves off of the floor and stood among the wreckage of the ice cave with the sun hanging directly overhead. They found their escape.
Oliver turned to Aster and asked, “Are you okay?”
Aster was speechless. At this point, Oliver had saved her not once, not twice, but three separate times. If he hadn’t fallen down the canyon with her, she probably would’ve been killed. She looked deep into his eyes. There, she saw the same glimmer of innocence that was usually only found in children. Apart from that, peering into his eyes caused an aching in her chest. He was someone who genuinely cared for her. He was her hero.
“What’s wrong?” asked Oliver.
Aster gave him no response. She didn’t really know how to show gratitude other than to say thank you, but something in her didn’t want her to do that. Not knowing what to do with herself at all, the beautiful princess leaned forward and gave the hero a kiss to show her gratitude and love.