It's all dust on long-forgotten books in long-forgotten libraries - Short fantasy story (part I)
I am sure you have all listened to the stories of the heroes of the Great times, their feats and their successful destinies led by the gods. All these heroes go through temptations, sufferings, and eventually overcome evil forces or endure the last sacrifice for the sake of the common and greater good. Let's be clear, this is not such a story.
Rest assured that I wanted to do the same, listening to such stories as a child, I imagined the distant lands and their worlds, all kinds of adventures that consequently lead to the end result and everlasting glory. The webs of love, sacrifice, learning and falling, stumbling. Everything that makes it an integral part of every life, but here it is multiplied.
And surprisingly, such stories never describe how these people felt in all those moments destined for them. And you see, I've always wondered. Did they feel powerless, were they on the verge of giving up the path their life or some other higher power had intended? Did they feel the burden of all those destinies and lives that depended solely on their success? Do they now know, from far away, that their works are immortal and have shaped the world?
Priests of all Gods narrate this, even our culture constantly tells us how good they have been.
In every square in my town, Getle, there is a statue of one of the mythical heroes. And of course, even though ancient scriptures refer to them as living people, I did not believe it. And I didn't even live in the time of the Heroes, that era is long over for us. We are now in a dark, very dark period of time for this people. A time of suffering and illness, despair and oppression. There are no prophecies, no magic of incredible proportions. It's all dust on long-forgotten books in long-forgotten libraries around the world.
And this is one of the reasons why this is not a hero story, because they no longer exist. This is a story about people, and now that we're near the end of the dark ages, I'll tell it to you.