Years later, I stood on their dead bodies, out of breath. Even to their dying breaths, I never heard their voices; which burned me inside. I had to know why they did this to me.

For the first time, I freely walked the corridors, waiting for another surprise attack; though who would attack me, I did not know. It was too quiet for me to feel any ease in. Still, I found a room with a single, large wooden pole, with rope neatly coiled next to it, the beating room; a room with nothing in it, but with small dagger marks in the ground; a room with sword marks everywhere, from the roof to the floor; a library, where I learnt magic; and, finally, a small, hidden room. There were four beds, each decorated to suit one type of person, with a desk in the middle.

There was a false bottom in one of the drawers. Looking under it, there were only news clippings about the Hero. He had done extravagant things, protecting the most innocent and killing those deserving of it. It was like an obsession, for how many they owned. I checked the dates, finding the earliest to be 1st of Emperor Leonard's Era. I had a feeling that I should know what the date meant, but I had no clue.

I looked around more, unsure of what else could be here. After some time, I realised that there was a letter, just sitting there on the desk. It was dusty, and must've been written a long time ago. I read the letter. 'We were jealous of the Hero. We wanted him gone. We wanted the spotlight. But, still, the method we chose to make him disappear was far from virtuous. If anyone finds this, then know that we have created a Monster.'

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

There was a single moment that was so peaceful, that I wasn't sure how long it lasted. But, by the time I realised it, I had broken through the walls, shaking the ground violently. My fists were perfectly fine, and I couldn't even tell that I had punched something.

But, there was a quiet sound; too quiet to really notice, unless you had trained ears. A hand went to the hilt of a sword that was lain neatly across a bed, as I investigated the source.

I simply couldn't believe what was there; a small baby, waking up, reaching outwards. I froze, raising an eyebrow in confusion. Why was there a baby here? It didn't look older than a year or so.

I cradled the baby in my arms, welcoming the skin contact. It only giggled at me. Then, a tear fell. Following that, more and more tears started falling, as I fell to my knees. I cried, keeping my voice down enough to make it slightly painful. I hoped no damage would be done to the baby.

Stealing some leftover clothes, which were too loose on me, I went up a staircase that I had ignored.

By the time I had reached the top of the stairs, a bead of sweat was rolling down my face. A single door blocked me off from whatever was on the other side. The inside of a castle, maybe. A cave? Possibly. Taking a deep breath, I kicked the door off of its hinges.