Tenumre ran towards a group of people that were screaming and trembling, and he managed to get them to calm down. he gathered about 7 people, and 4 children and had them follow him. He avoided the winged beasts as much as possible. He killed one of them, but that was a sneak attack. Even his father couldn't beat one head-on. He got all the people under a cliff and partly removed the cloth.

Before all this, he had hidden this cave entrance with a cloth that blended in with the environment to hide the entrance in case something happened so that he could save the people. He got the people in the cave but before he could leave, "SAVE MY CHILD, PLEASE, PLEASE IM BEGGING YOU" screamed a woman with ginger hair. The man who- Tenumre presumed is the woman's husband- pulled the woman back in "Calm down Eve, calm down" the man looked at Tenumre with dark and sorrowful eyes "please" he begged, "save my son".

Tenumre left the cave and let the cloth hide the entrance again. He returned to the village and rescued some more people similarly.

"Help us! help somebody please" screamed a boy. Tenumre ran to the voice. It was Borular

"BOLUR, IT'S BOLUR"

and his friend

"'his friend'?"

"B-O-L-U-R, BOLUR"

"I have a name you know! I'm not just 'his friend' "

"GET IT RIGHT, BOLUR BOLUR BOLUR BOLUR"

It was just one of them, and Tenumre had the element of surprise. He aimed at the monster and whistled. The monster looked at Tenumre, Tenumre threw the spear just before the monster shrieked. It went right through its throat. He walked to the monster and pulled the spear out.

"Well, looks like we owe you another one," said Bowler.

"Borul, don't. he's trying to-"

" 'Borul'? IT'S BOLUR. Get it right, boy"

" 'boy'? I have a name, Bohar!"

" 'Bohar'? IT'S-"

Tenumre heard a feminine scream. A damsel in distress? She will Iikely be violated. Saving a damsel in distress is a heroic act in itself, but saving a damsel in distress from getting violated? That's as heroic as it gets.

"Listen, guys." the 2 boys looked at him.

"there's a cave to the north. It's hidden under a cliff. The password is 'Oreh' they will open it for you"

"you got it."

Tenumre headed towards the sound of screaming. your prince is coming

"let me go! Why are you doing this?" The girl was young. By the looks of it, no older than 20.

"Shh little girl, it'll be over before you know it" He headed towards the forest

"are you going to rape me?. we are being attacked by demons, stop thinking with your penis"

"no such things as demons, little girl" the man said, as he threw her to a tree,

"Whatever they are, and stop calling me a little girl"

The man started to take out his chainmail

"Wait, stop, I have money"

The man grinned as he started to unbuckle "I will take all of that after I'm done with you. You won't catch a bad price yourself either, hehe. are you a virgin?"

The girl was sobbing endlessly "Please, please just let me go. Please I'm begging yo-" The man kicked her in the mouth

"I asked you a question, little girl! or would you prefer 'little lady'?" The girl choked on her tears

"y-yes" she stuttered.

"Yes? Yes what? Yes you're a virgin or yes you want me to refer to you as little lady?" The man said irritably.

"I'm" She swallowed "I'm a virgin"

"Well then, let this be a lesson to you. You don't wanna disappoint your future master now, do ya? Hahaha!" The man laughed as he started to take down his pants.

The woman wiped her tears. She looked up, but rather than seeing a penis, she saw a spearhead. The man's scream echoed in the woods.

Tenumre pulled his spear out of the man's buttcrack. "MY RECTUM" The man screamed " OOH-OOOOOOHHHH MY RECTUM" He looked down his pants " MY PENIS" He screamed "WHERE'S MY PENIS"

Tenumre took hold of the girl's hand and lead her out of the woods.

"wait!" Tenumre stopped and looked at the girl.

"my mother and sisters were taken by one of the soldiers, I have to save them"

First I save a damsel in distress, and now I get to stop sex traffickers? this day just keeps getting more heroic!

The girl turned around to leave "Wait!" Tenumre stood in front of her "I'm coming too"

the girl looked at him for a couple of seconds. "It's too dangerous for you, you're just a kid"

Tenumre tried his best to take a brave stance (but he ended up looking cute because he's like 8 years old). The woman crossed her arms and stared at him for a few more seconds.

"I just saved you, you owe me one" Tenumre demanded.

"Fine, whatever. Hurry up, let's go" Tenumre nodded and followed her. Avoiding the metallic monsters, they moved through the cobble roads littered with dead bodies "Poor folks" Said the girl. After a few minutes, they reached the house. It had 2 floors and a dormer roof, which stood out amongst the houses with gable ones. 2 soldiers guarded the front door. The soldiers guarded in the shadows, probably to avoid the monsters. So it's entirely possible soldiers are guarding the backdoor too. Not wanting to risk it, they decided to take another route.

The houses with gable roofs were slightly higher than the ones with dormer ones, and the houses next to the one being guarded all had gable roofs. So they entered the house nearest to the one being guarded. The window was open (well that's convenient) so all they had to do was go upstairs and jump to the other house. And they probably wouldn't be heard, as people are screaming for their lives, and the monsters are shrieking. So they went upstairs, and into the balcony. From there, the woman threw Tenumre on the roof and climbed it afterward. They jumped to the dormer roof and made their way to the attic window. It had to be broken, of course.

"Maybe you can act as a decoy, whilst I break the window?" The woman whispered,

"They will still hear the window shattering." Tenumre replied

"Oh, right"

Tenumre reached into his pouch and grabbed a small round object.

"What's that?"

"Do you trust me?" Tenumre asked out of the blue.

"What?"

"Do you trust me or not? I will need your absolute trust for what I'm about to do." Tenumre said.

"No, no I don't. You're a child, how am I supposed to know you won't do anything stupid?"

"You either trust me or your family will end up enslaved" Tenumre pointed out.

The woman was silent for a while. "Fine"

"When I clench my fist, you will punch the window." The woman was thoughtful for a while, then she nodded.

Tenumre pressed a button on the object

5

he aimed it at the next building, and threw it.

4

It flew to the roof,

3

It slid down,

2

It started falling.

1

Tenumre clenched his fist and right before their hands came in contact with the window, the ball popped with an explosive sound just before hitting the ground and it drowned out the sound of them breaking the window. He hoped the monsters didn't hear it amid all the screaming. They both entered the attic. Tenumre started kissing his fist and shaking it.

"Why did you punch it? My punch was enough," Said the woman. Tenumre kept kissing.

They made their way to the door and opened it, and after making sure the hallway was empty they went down the attic stairs and walked to the right door in the second row, where they could hear noises. The woman looked through the keyhole, then looked at Tenumre and nodded. She mouthed the word wait.

Half a minute passed, then 5, then 10, then finally she pointed at Tenumre and mouthed the word right then pointed at herself and mouthed the word left. Tenumre nodded. She quietly opened the door and entered the room with Tenumre behind her.

Tenumre aimed for the man's throat, to silence his screaming. Then he aimed for the head. Get it? Get the reference? Like Thanos, get it?

"Shut up author" Screw you woman.

"Veronica, Veronica you're alive!" said a woman

"Mother! Mother I missed you so much!" They hugged each other quietly.

"I thought you were done for." Said one of the girls, presumably her sister.

"I would be if it weren't for this kid." everyone looked at Tenumre

"Hi, I'm Tenumre" Said Tenumre.

"Oh right," Said Veronica, "we never exchanged names, did we?" Yeah, was that your secret? Get it? Veronicas secret. Get it? Get it? "Shut up author" You're a rude one.

"Will you guys quiet down, we are still in enemy territory," Said one of the girls.

"Emmy! I missed you so much"

"Well I didn't miss you at all"

"Oh you're such a jester"

Tenumre chimed in "How do we escape?"

Veronica made an 'oh' face. "We never thought of that"

"Well" Tenumre said "I have a plan"

"I sure hope those winged bastards don't glide down here." Said one of the soldiers

"They have no reason to," said the other one

"Yeah, you would be right," he replied "you would be right if there wasn't a random explosion of sound. Where did that even come from?"

The other soldier looked thoughtful for a while. "I have no clue," He said at last.

"Do you think it was a distraction?" The soldier asked.

"It was either to lure us in and kill us or to lure us in so they can enter. We are smart fellas tho, we didn't move so they are probably looking for other ways. Look out for any arrows or bolts that might be aimed at us"

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

knock knock

"Who's there?" asked the soldier

"Open"

"Open who?"

"Open the door, moron"

The soldier chuckled "Im just messin' with ya" he opened the door and that was the last joke he ever made before his throat met the dagger. Before the other soldier could even perceive the act that happened before him, his heart met the spear.

"Well that was nicely done." said Veronica

The 3 women and Veronica left the building.

"Look at that," said one of the girls.

They all looked up at where she pointed. They saw tens of metal-wing monsters carrying children and women to an empty space, to the trees, or even further away.

"Poor folks," Said Veronica. "well you can't save everyone. Oh and, Tenumre. Thank you for helping me save them. I don't know what would have happened to me or my family if...."

Tenumre couldn't hear the rest of what she was saying, his attention was elsewhere. One of the monsters was carrying a child, no more than 4 years old. He was a ginger, just like the woman who begged him to save her child.

I saved a damsel in distress, I stopped a sex trafficking operation, and now I rescue the child of the woman who cried to me for help. Oh all the stories this day will spark to life because of what I did! They will tell my stories to their children, This will be my 3rd heroic act! excluding the boys I saved from the dog attack since I was the one who made the dogs attack them. But that's beside the point!

"Veronica," Veronica stopped midsentence "it's really fine. Anyone else would do the same"

no they wouldn't

"There's a cave under the north cliff. It's hidden, but if you say the password they will open it and let you in." Tenumre would glance at the sky ever so often to make sure he didn't lose the child "There are many other survivors in there. The password is 'Oreh' I will return shortly, you go now" The monster glided downwards in the east

"But-"

"there's no time, leave!"

Veronica left with the 3 girls. After they were out of sight, Tenumre headed east. He ran as fast as he could.

Hopefully it likes to play with its prey.

But even if it did play with its prey, it wouldn't be playing for long. Thankfully, the monster didn't fly far. Tenumre reached it in 2 minutes (pretty impressive). The sobs of a child could be heard nearby. He could hear 3- no, 4 giggling noises.

I can't fight 4 of those things.

You can't fight a single one of them either. Did you even have- hey wait up!

Tenumre went inside of a building, up the balcony, and unto the roof. He had mere seconds before they got bored. He scrambled to the other side of the roof, pulled one of his gadgets, and pressed a button.

5

4

3

He threw it in the air as high as he could,

2

he jumped down to the balcony,

1

the deafening sound came right before he hit the balcony which was on the second floor. It was a dormer house so the second floor wasn't very high. That meant he could jump down and not injure himself. He jumped down shoulder first, so he wouldn't risk injuring his leg. He needed that today. The fall took all the air out of his lungs. No time to stop, he immediately went to the other side of the building. The child was laying unnaturally still, but he couldn't give it a second thought, he instantly sIumped the body on his shoulder and ran, he ran until he reached a pillar and hid behind it. He caught his breath for a few seconds, then he looked back.

An emerald green eye and 2 blue ones behind it looked back. 3 eyes. But there should be 4. One is missing. It could either be waiting for him in the air, or it could be to his left. But one thing's for sure, it's not in front of him. It's been less than a second since he looked back, there's no way it could sneak up behind him in that short period of time. He thought of all this in less than a second, and in less than a second he made up his mind.

He sprung forward right before the pillar he was leaning on got shattered. He narrowly avoided the pillar in front of him and the monster behind him. The monster clumsily collided with the pillar and it also shattered. As he was running, his peripheral vision caught one of the monsters running alongside him in the open air. All the doors to his left were closed. For the time it would take to open the door, the monster behind him would catch up. It's wings destroyed every pillar and wall it came in contact with. But in front of him, there was an opportunity to turn left, or leave the low-ceilinged area and into the open air, where there was a risk of a metal-winged monster waiting for him. He made the only logical choice.

Right as he was about to turn left, he halted. He was running so fast that when he halted, his jet black hair blew forward. And just as he expected, the monster flew right past him with blurring speed. The sharp tip of its metal wings very slightly cut the very tip of his hair. Had he halted a nanosecond later, he and the child would be annihilated. Or worse, bald.

Just then, he immediately threw himself to the pillar to his right. A monster flew right past him (again). If he was even a nanosecond late or an inch shorter, he would be annihilated or cut in half like the pillar he threw himself on. Or worse, he would be bald.

He threw himself forward then got up and ran, then halted again. The monster in front of him was getting up. he turned back but there was another monster right behind him. Its wings were open. If Tenumre had to guess, with one flap it would shoot itself forward like a bolt.

If he was even a nanosecond-Oh whatever, you get it. The monster flew right above him, shattering every pillar to its right and every wall to its left with its wings. Better yet, it collided with the other monster that just got up. Better yet, it shattered a door to Tenumre's left. Tenumre immediately entered the house and instantly took the stairs. One of the monsters threw itself into the house with a shriek. Tenumre spared no glance as he ran up the stairs. he turned on his heel to run up the second set of stairs just as the monster threw itself at the wall at the end of the first set of stairs. As Tenumre was running up the stairs, he felt as though the building was falling to the bottom right corner.

The pillars and walls, of course.

Tenumre finally reached the second floor and made a right to the window at the far end of the hallway. It felt as though he was running up a hill. The monster wasn't having an easy time either, its wings made it slower in the narrow hallway. Tenumre reached the window and pulled the handle. The window opened so fast, Tenumre narrowly avoided it hitting his face. The window door broke loose and fell on the monster. that made the monsters grip on the doorframe loosen. It shrieked and gripped it tightly. Too tight, the frames crumbled and the monster fell to its demise. Tenumre managed to pull himself up the window with the child on his shoulder. With one foot on the window ledge, Tenumre jumped, held onto the ledge of the separated half.

This half was now completely detached from the rest of the building. The wall was torn. He could see the interiors of the building. And it was falling. There was literally a falling piece of building in the air. And Tenumre was running on top of it. If he fell to the right, he would fall into the building as there was no wall. If he fell to the left, he would be crushed by debris (if the fall didn't kill him). So he had to perfectly balance himself. Interestingly enough, the child on his shoulder was making this easier.

He reached the edge of the building and jumped, then he outstretched his hands. He was so close! Suddenly he was snatched, fingers on the roof.

It WAS waiting for me midair.

The monster held him on top of the roof he was about to climb. It was mocking him. The monster started laughing maniacally. That laugh was a joyful one, it was a triumphant laugh. And its mouth smelled like crap. Worse than crap. Tenumre briefly entertained the thought of shoving the child down its throat, choking it to death.

Its mouth was suddenly pierced by an arrow. Tenumre and the child fell onto the roof and slid down. Tenumre tried to stop but the momentum of the stop made them roll down. As they were falling, Tenumre tried to use the child to cushion his fall but too late. Rather than falling on concrete, he fell into a man's arms, which took all the air out of his lungs. it was a soldier, but it looked more well-equipped. Reinforcements? The man said something

"Beg pardon?"

"Can you walk?" asked the man. Tenumre nodded.

"Alright then, let's go"

Tenumre suddenly noticed the man was carrying the ginger child.

"Excuse me, could you hand me the child?"

"No"

I'm supposed to rescue the child not you. I'm supposed to be seen as the hero, not you.

"Why?"

"you're a kid"

"he's my brother, give him to me"

"Stop talking, I'll give him when we reach the survivor's cave."

Survivors cave? Do they mean my cave? Did the people there create rescue teams or something?

"They said it's located under the cliff but there's a north cliff and a west cliff. You have any idea where it is?"

Tenumre smiled "West"

"Ores!" came a voice behind the cloth.

The guard pulled the cloth. Tenumre stood there with a ginger child in his arms.

"Get in kid, get in, quick!" Tenumre jogged into the cave.

"JAKOB!" screamed a woman. It was Eve. Eve grabbed the child from Tenumre's arms.

"Thank you, thank you so much!" Said the father.

"He's fainted, but he's still alive," Tenumre said. He saw there were dozens of more people than there were before.

They did make rescue teams

"The sun's setting, did we get everyone?" Asked one of the soldiers.

"I hope so. Hey kid," Tenumre did not speak. "you, with the black hair and black eyes,"

Tenumre sat upright "Me?" he asked.

"yes you. Jeremy was with you, right? the one who shot the monster carrying you? Why isn't he here?" he asked

"He tried to take me to the cliff to the west. I told him the cave is in the north but he wouldn't listen. So I..." Tenumre looked down. "I ran away"

I should learn how to make a sad face.

The soldier sat down, defeated. "The sun's almost set, we're about to be completely engulfed in darkness. You think he will survive?" He asked the other guard.

"I hope so." he said hopelessly.

2 days passed, It was at the crack of dawn that they heard footsteps. Hundreds of steel boots and horse hooves could be heard. "They arrived!" screamed one of the soldiers. "Everybody wake up, they finally arrived!"

"What arrived?" Asked one of the villagers.

"Reinforcements," said the soldier.

The villager looked perplexed "aren't you reinforcements?"

The soldier nodded. "We are, but we didn't think we were enough. we sent one of our birds to notify the commander. We should have at least a couple hundred soldiers coming. The winged bastards are goners"

The villagers smiled for the first time in 3 days "Good riddance"

Tenumre left the cave, the sudden flash of light blinded him.

"Calm down boy, get used to the light before stepping in it" slowly, the people exited the cave.

"We searched every corner, they're gone." Said the chief. "we're burying the dead bodies and getting the dead Odobars for examination."

"Odobars?" asked the soldier

"Yeah, that's what we call them," Said the chief.

"Well, they do emit a bad odor," chuckled the soldier "you're familiar with them?"

The chief nodded "Same thing happened to dozens of other villages"

The soldier shook his head "Those darn Odorbads"

"This ain't the time to be jokin' soldier!"

The soldier chuckled "it's a joke, calm down"

The chief glared at him. "Ok fine, I'll stop. you're no fun"

2 MONTHS LATER

knock knock

"Coming!" said a man. He opened the door and was greeted with an 8-year-old boy with jet-black hair and dark eyes.

"I want to learn swordsmanship"

The man laughed "Go catch butterflies, kid" and he closed the door.

The next day the same boy came asking the same question. The man sent him off again and again and again. After 4 days of persistence, the man finally gave up.

"Why me?"

"Because you're the only person here who served the king. You must know a thing or two about swords" Tenumre said in an obvious tone of voice.

"Well I'm not a soldier anymore," he said.

"Your skills didn't magically disappear did they?"

The soldier chuckled. "No, no they didn't" He then stood upright "still won't teach you tho." He was about to close the door but Tenumre stopped him

"Please," Tenumre put on the sad face he practiced for the past month. "my mother died in the attack. I want to avenge her. She always wanted me to be a fighter"

"Not a very motherly thing"

Tenumre put on his best determined expression "I want to be a hero, I want to defeat evil. I want to make my mother proud. And my father."

"Corpses don't get proud"

Tenumre stood stubbornly.

"Fine, whatever. Don't complain if I 'accidentally' crack your skull"

Tenumre walked into the house. It seemed like a pretty normal house, with decorations and a nice little flower pot.

"In the basement, boy" he walked into the basement, and the atmosphere completely changed. The house itself looked like a nanny's house, but the basement is what you'd expect to be a soldier's training room.

"You live with your nanny?" asked Tenumre

"Screw you kid"

Tenumre went to pick a weapon, but instead got a slap on the wrist

"Tsk tsk, no weapons until you learn how to use the most important weapon" he clenched his fist.

This should be easy. Tenumre thought to himself, before spending the next 6 months training with barefists.

After 6 long months, he finally managed to get 5 hits on Brey, the ex-soldier.

"You finally got the hang of it. You did pretty well, for a 5-year-old kid"

"8" corrected Tenumre.

"7" Countered Brey.

"what?"

"Nothing. Now you have to learn how to disarm your opponent, and how to get get out of grabs, chokes, and such."

"When can I use a weapon?" Asked Tenumre

"When you stop being a whiny little brat"

Tenumre scowled.

"Now, let's exercise. You need to pack some muscles, kid" and so another 4 months passed.

After 4 long months, Tenumre finally passed all his tests.

"May I now use a weapon, Sensei?"

Brey looked at him. "You some kind of weeb?"

Tenumre looked confused "Weeb?"

As if having a sudden realization of which universe he's in, he replied "Nevermind. So, you want to know how to use a weapon. First, punch me."

Tenumre got up and planted his feet

"Joke! Joke! Sit down,"

Tenumre sat

"pick a weapon"

Tenumre nodded and went into the weapons rack. He went to a spear to pick it up, but something else caught his eye. it was long like a spear but it had two very long blades, one on each side.

"That," Brey said "is a scimitar. Very hard to use. Might take a whole year to learn all the basics and be decent at using it."

Ores left his hometown at 10, I will be 10 next year.

"This is perfect!"

Brey looked confused. "Huh?"

Tenumre explained to him that he was planning to leave the next year.

"And what will you do then?"

"Well, I will find an expert at using a scimitar and learn more, I will get artifacts, I will become a hero-"

"Woah, woah, woah there. Calm down with all the daydreaming. I get it, fine, let's start using the scimitar" Tenumre and Brey took a Scimitar.

"Now, this is what I'd like to call 'The Brey Technique'. Get into a fighting stance"

Tenumre planted his feet, and readied his muscles. Brey attacked his right shoulder so Tenumre blocked it, but their blades didn't clash.

It's a feint!

Brey chuckled, "Look down"

Tenumre looked down, the other end of the scimitar was on his crotch.

"If you aren't careful, you might lose your manhood. Now, do a feint"

Tenumre perfectly mimicked the feint.

"No, no, no, you aren't putting your heart into it. You didn't learn it, you memorized it. You have to put your heart into it. If you try to perfectly mimic a thing without putting your heart into it, that thing will surely be your doom. Now, again. If you can't do the Brey Technique, make your own."

Tenumre nodded and began. After an hour or two, he finally managed to do a feint.

Tenumre stepped in and pretended to hit the left shoulder, then the right. Before he could do a feint on the head, Brey blocked his blade. and was met by a kick in the crotch.

"Your focus was on my blade, rather than my whole body"

Brey kneeled, holding his crotch.

"You should be careful, you could've lost your manhood"

Brey sucked in oxygen "Screw you kid"

A year later, Tenumre turned 10. It was time. He learned everything he could, it was time to go.

"Hey boy. I want you to have this" He handed Tenumre a dark robe and a dark scimitar with a white outline.

"Thank you, thank you so much" Tenumre hugged Brey. He stepped back, "Well, it's time to say goodbye"

Brey made a 'tsk tsk tsk' sound "Not now,"

Tenumre was perplexed "What do you mean?"

Brey whistled 3 times, and a dark horse came trotting in. "Can't have you embarking on this journey alone, now can I?"

Ores made the journey alone, I'm supposed to be going alone.

"No, Brey. I can handle myself"

Brey shook his head "Not happening, the outside world isn't nice"

I have to do this alone.

"It's my journey, I have to go alone"

Brey looked thoughtful for a moment before he replied

"No"

You will not come.

Brey lifted Tenumre and put him on the saddle.

"Let me go by myself"

Brey was not moved "Do you even know how to gallop a horse?"

"Yes!" Tenumre replied instantly. "A little" he added.

Brey got on the horse.

I'm asking for the last time, "Don't come with me"

Brey sighed "Listen, kid," he brought the horse to a trot "I know you want to get that adventurer feeling, I know you think if you do it alone it'll be more exciting. However, I mentored you. You owe me one. Don't forget that. You will thank me when you get older, I promise you that. You can trust me"

I asked 4 times

"Anyhow, Oreu departed from his hometown when he was your age, right? Look's like you're turning into a storybook hero before my eyes. Remember me when you become a hero. But that aside, It's time for your departure"