Ryan Waite
Beasley
ENGL-2060
October 29, 2020
The Hero
In a holy building, it is peaceful and a hero is about to begin his journey. The hero leaves the
peaceful sanctuary prepared to hunt for monsters, in particular wolves and werewolves. He first
encounters a giant wolf; he slashes at it with a sword and jumps backwards before it could hit
him with its claws. He waits for an opening and goes in for the kill, landing the final strike by
stabbing it in the head. The area is peaceful again, so he continues his journey. He sees another
monster in the distance, this one bigger than the last. This new threat, which is called an ogre, a
monster with the claws and speed of a werewolf and the size and ferocity of a troll, is seen
spewing acid at a passing deer. the hero decides not to get close and prepares to cast a spell
before he is noticed. As he draws the runes into the ground near him, he feels both the magical
energy surround him and the runes as well as the gaze of a hungry monster. Just as the ogre starts
to charge at the hero, he finishes the spell on the ground and starts to run away from the creature
in a straight line, making him easy prey to the much quicker beast. As the beast passes over the
runes a bolt of lightning strikes it. Once. Twice. Thrice it is hit by bolts. It falls limp to the
ground as the hero lets out a sigh of relief. A cough is heard behind the hero. Before he has a
chance to turn around, he is launched forward by a powerful gust of wind. The hero hops up and
analyzes his new foe. As soon as he sees the foe his instincts tell him to run. All he sees behind
him is a figure in a cloak with a scythe and a crossbow. the hero decides to flee into the woods,
hopping over the dissolving deer. The figure gives chase slowly, as if it were a beast toying with
its food, shooting its crossbow at the hero every so often to not give the hero hope. As each bolt
strikes the trees and ground around the hero, a blast of wind blows bark off trees and scatters
fallen leaves and branches. The hero devises a plan and takes out a piece of parchment. On it he
quickly scribes some runes, using up the rest of his magical energy reserves. As the magic is
imbued into the runes, a bolt hits a tree nearby and blasts bark at the hero. He quickly decides to
try to escape the forest. He makes it to the edge of the forest as the figure slowly catches up with
him. Just as he makes it out of the woods into a field of grass and flowers, the figure hits the hero
with a bolt and the hero is blasted backwards to the ground. He makes no move to get up as he
heard a cracking sound and cannot feel his left arm and leg. The figure approaches him slowly
and taunts him as he prepares to finish off the hero. Just as the figure’s scythe reaches its apex,
the hero throws out the piece of parchment, the figure halts and picks it up. As the figure looks at
what is on the paper, the earth shakes, and a fissure appears below the figure as the sky darkens.
A bolt of lightning strikes the figure as he falls. A second after the bolt of lightning, a beam of
bright light strikes the figure causing smoke to be emitted from the hole. The hero limps back to
town and reports his information on the figure to the mayor and to the leader of the local hero
guild. After his run in with the figure, the hero decides to stay away from the forest once he is
able to hunt again, once his injuries heal. The hero never saw that figure ever again, but other
people have reported seeing the figure.
