After Tyra had been dropped off at some nearby orphanage by the silver knight, she began idolizing him as some kind of hero. She was just a little girl with a dream. She drew pictures and kept them in her drawer. Some children thought that she was acting childish in pretending in some kind of heroic silver knight. She was picked on at first, but there was a boy who stepped in to protect her. He was older, but not by much. However, even he got beat up trying to. He wasn't very big - in fact, he was quite small at the time.

The two of them became best of friends - they were inseparable. She talked on and on about the heroic silver knight, and the boy listened. His name was Bellbraun, but Tyra accidentally called him Bellboy. Eventually, it stuck and became his local nickname at the orphanage. He never really liked the name and always had a habit of correcting them. He didn't forgive Tyra at first, but it didn't take long. Soon, the both of them were able to get many friends at the orphanage. It didn't seem so lonely.

But kids grew older. Some were taken away. Others grew too old and were forces to leave. When Bellbraun was about to get adopted, he refused unless they took Tyra with him. And when Tyra was about to get adopted, she refused unless he came. They had grown quite attached like siblings. Neither of them would leave the other.

As Tyra talked about heroes all day, Bellbraun tried his best to live up to this ideal hero. He exercised every day getting stronger. When they were teenagers, Bellbraun had began to grow quite big. He smelled after every jog, too, and Tyra would joke about it. Tyra even decided to join his routine. She wasn't nearly as athletic, but was quite faster than him.

They were still teenagers when their orphanage was attacked by bandits. Tyra waited for the silver knight to come save her, but that hero never came. Instead, Bellbraun was there to drag her away by force.

They ran away as their town burned. They lived in the forest for a while before being found by those very same bandits. They weren't actively searching, but they just happened to be in their way.

Bellbraun took up an old stick to defend himself. He wasn't very good at fighting, but he was strong enough. As Tyra watched him fight those bandits with nothing but a broken stick and his fists, she could only stand there helpless. He was stabbed and bled on the dirt, but he stood alive and breathing. He shouted to Tyra. He shouted telling her to run, but she was frozen. And even if she did, they had already been surrounded. They would already have been dead if their bandit leader hadn't taken such an interest in the big man.

During the fight, Bellbraun had taken too much. His whole body began to get cold. He held two old swords in his hands off of the corpses of some of the other bandits. He growled as the others stopped in their tracks.

They wondered if it was even worth it, and so their leader came forward to fight. Their leader looked to be an old man, but very experienced. He was serious and ready to kill at any moment. His name was Goldheart. When the two fought, it was no contest.

"You will make a good warrior. You would be an excellent mercenary," the bandit leader said.

Bellbraun did nothing but stand there with Tyra just behind him.

"So, what do you say?" Goldheart asked calmly with his hand out.

He paused for a moment to think about it. He knew that if he died here, then Tyra would be left defenseless. "If I join you, will you leave her alone?" Bellbraun asked as Tyra remained silent and afraid for his life. He cared more for her life, and she cared more for his.

The leader eyed her and thought that she might sell well to some old men he knew, but getting a strong warrior like Bellbraun was too good to pass up on. He could tell that was just some untrained boy, but with a little work, he could end up as his strongest soldier.

"Agreed," the leader said. So, Bellbraun was forced to join this group of bandits and mercenaries. It was just a normal band that went by many names.

However, even though Bellbraun left to join these brigands, Tyra wouldn't just leave him. Wherever Bellbraun went, Tyra followed right behind. The other mercenaries might have done something to her, but they were afraid of both Bellbraun and Goldheart.

Even after Bellbraun told her to leave and start a new life, she just couldn't. As Bellbraun trained, Tyra also joined in. She vowed never to be in that situation again. She made a promise to Bellbraun to get stronger. And he laughed - but not as an insult. He made the same promise right after. The two of them trained side-by-side as Goldheart instructed them. They both went into battle. The first time she killed somebody was on the field. She fell as she stabbed straight at a man's neck. There was so much blood. But it wasn't over. Bellbraun picked her up. She couldn't think about it. She continued to fight to stay alive. She killed more soldiers with the swing of the blade. Bellbraun crushed his enemies with a warhammer.

And the more victories they won, the more harder the fights. They were hired to siege castles and take entire cities at one point by other nations. It wasn't technically war time, but Goldheart took advantage of Bellbraun's strength and survivability. A nation could just discreetly hire them. They had no name or allegiance. They would come in different names. But the legendary man holding a warhammer was well known.

Even Tyra was learning to fight well, but Bellbraun always made sure that she wouldn't take the heavy brunt of any weapon. He'd always jump in front protecting her. Maybe, that was why she liked Syren. He reminded her so much of him.

However, when they attacked local towns or villages, Tyra never harmed a single villager who didn't defend themselves. She killed some who came at her with a pitchfork, but she didn't think anything of it.

She didn't regret it at the time as she saw it as either us or them at that point. However, there was one death she regretted ever since. One night, Goldheart ordered her to assassinate an up and coming noble. He was bright and intelligent, and that made him many enemies in the court. It was either her or Bellbraun, and if he did it, then he'd probably fight his way through. There would have been needless carnage, and he would most likely get seriously injured. That's all Tyra needed to know and she was the smart choice anyways. She went in quietly under the cover of darkness. And in the night as she waited in the nobleman's bedroom, he arrived. It was dark, but she could tell that he had a short stature. If she had thought things through or waited a few more seconds, she may have stopped herself, but she was in a hurry to just finish the job and get back. As soon as he came in, she shut the door behind him, locked it, and stabbed him right in the heart covering his mouth. And as her eyes grew more adjusted, a look of horror fell on her face. He was a child. At first, she thought it must have been a mistake, but she wasn't wrong. This child was the intended target. As Tyra let go of the boy's mouth, he started coughing out blood. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't let out a scream. Tyra had no words. She didn't know what to say that could comfort the boy. Her blade slipped out and blood was gushing out like mud. She tried to apply pressure, but it didn't matter. In the end, he died choking on his own blood. There was nothing she could do and as the guards wondered what was going on, she had to leave through the window and back into the dead of night. She could still see that dying and surprised look on the child's face having no idea why he was killed.

The fighting continued. Ever since that day, Tyra did her best not to kill any villagers even if they defended themselves. There was the occasion here and there where she was given no choice, but for the most part, the guilt of killing that child lingered in her mind.

Bellbraun, on the other hand, didn't care. As the fighting grew more red, his enjoyment escalated. As adrenaline went through his body, he began to kill indiscriminately. The only thing that controlled him was seeing Tyra.

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Goldheart was getting older and older. He was a strong and mighty warrior that trained both Tyra and Bellbraun, but he was far from invincible. A stray arrow got him in eye. It was quick and painless. Some would say that he deserved worse, but he was dead in the end.

It didn't take long, but Bellbraun was instantly made leader of the band. He renamed it to the Golden Band. None would oppose him due to either his unreal strength or his experience. And the others did enjoy his company. Bellbraun would usually sit down with the others with a fake smile. Tyra even learned to emulate it off of him. It was easier for them to trust you when you had a kind smile.

At first, Bellbraun didn't take too many risks. But when the expenses came in, he quickly became infatuated with gold. He needed more and more. That meant even more dangerous missions. So, life wasn't too different than when Goldheart was in charge. But he never did any kind of looting or attacks on regular civilians unlike his predecessor. It made things harder, but the band was still afloat. And Tyra was quite happy about that.

But things would go downhill very fast for them and their band.

Fire. So much fire. They were hired to do a simple job that paid well. A nobleman had put up a hunt. A necromancer had been seen in town. Tyra and Bellbraun both went to hunt this creature along with the rest of the band. They found their necromancer at an ancient burial site. It was all a trap. A set-up for him to gain more bodies to experiment with. He started small with skeletons which were easily dispatched. But once he saw how well the mercenaries were resisting - especially Bellbraun and Tyra, the mage panicked. He spawned a creature from underneath all of the graves. It grew larger and larger out of the ground. It sprouted white wings. Its whole body was just bone. A skeletal dragon buried underneath all of these graves. The necromancer laughed thinking that maybe he went overboard. The dragon breathed out blue flames. It wasn't as strong as a regular dragon, but burned just the same. Most of the band was killed. The whole place was on fire. Even the necromancer was killed by his own creature. It was degenerating into dust, but not quick enough.

As the dragon's skeletal tail was going right at Tyra, Bellbraun pushed her out of the way taking most of the brunt. Tyra went over by his side as he was on the verge of collapse.

"Run. Please, run. Live a life. Don't live like this," Bellbraun said, but Tyra still wouldn't leave him.

As the others were burning away, Tyra held her blade tightly as the dragon's glowing, blue eyes locked onto Tyra's. She stood between Bellbraun and the towering, undead dragon. She yelled a battle cry. She had no plans. She had no idea what to do, but she wouldn't allow this beast to kill her closest friend - her brother - without getting past her.

As it was about to breathe fire on them, a shining beam of light came from above. It struck the dragon atop its head. There was a silver knight in the trees. He leapt down to face the dragon.

He said with a calm tone, "That's unfortunate. If you were alive, big sis would be extremely happy. Oh, well."

The silver knight was there again. Tyra couldn't believe her eyes, but it was real. It was all real. Bellbraun was out cold, but Tyra saw that hero once more.

The dragon swiped the silver knight's gauntlet, but was stopped instantly. The silver knight fired more beams of light from his fingers. Each time, the dragon would degenerate a little more. The silver knight looked like he was having trouble, but he was just trying to hold back. He didn't want to end up destroying anything that he didn't want to. The graveyard was afterall a historical site.

In the end, he destroyed it without any problem. He looked around to see some of the mercenaries still alive. Tyra stared at him in the darkness. The blue fire lit up around him, but none touched his silver armor. She still couldn't see who it was underneath all of that armor. She was about to open her mouth, but she didn't know what to say. She had been planning on saying "thank you" to the silver knight for so long, but never actually expected the chance to happen. Before she knew it, he was gone. He walked into the dark and vanished.

Even if he was gone, Tyra was still glad that the silver knight was alive. But there was something else there. When she got closer, she saw something sparkle on the dirt. Where the silver knight once stood, there were some small scrapings left after he was struck by the dragon's claw. They were pieces of dust, but she sensed so much power in them. She picked up the scrapings and dirt, and she carefully put it inside a small bottle. She looked at it once more, but didn't quite understand any of it. All she knew was that it was powerful. But she didn't care about that. All she cared about was that she had some memory to keep of the silver knight who saved her twice. She kept it hidden in a pouch that she always carried.

When the battle ended, Bellbraun and Tyra went back to the village. Bellbraun leaned on Tyra's shoulder as they moved forward. They were the only ones left. In that moment, they went over to the nobleman's house to have him pay up tenfold. However, they weren't the first ones there. There were people donned in silver armor. Some wore helmets, but none were the same silver knight that she knew. The nobleman was there, but he seemed to be a corpse. These knights couldn't have killed him, though. The nobleman looked to have already been dead for months. Apparently, the man had been hiring plenty of mercenaries to hunt a monster for a ridiculous price that he never had. Each time, the necromancer would gain more power.

As soon as the necromancer was killed, the nobleman was no longer maintained. His illusion broke and was left with nothing but a husk.

The silver knights that were in front of Tyra and Bellbraun helped them out. They healed their wounds and burns with magic and medicine. They were kind to people. Tyra wanted to learn more about them. She asked all sorts of questions, and they answered for the most part.

They told her about the Silver Order or the Order of Silver. It was a group of knights, mages, and scholars who worked together to help the legendary silver knight who appeared many times throughout history. Their oldest known record was after the destruction of some city. He apparently helped people and hunted down terrible monsters. Although, the silver knight isn't a part of this group, they dedicated their lives to follow in this being's path. They didn't know if he was a man or a God, but they did know that more people should be more like him.

Upon hearing those words, Tyra began to cry. She found people like herself. She wanted to help and bowed down to them.

"Please, let us join. I want to serve the silver knight. I want to help people. I want to get stronger - strong enough to protect those I care for," Tyra pleaded.

Bellbraun sat there. He didn't particularly care about the silver knight, but was grateful that he came in to save her. Although, he was a little jealous considering how many times he jumped in to save her. He thought about wearing some kind of nicer armor to make it look like he was more heroic.

The other silver knights didn't need such a dramatic display. All they needed to see was her eyes. And they saw resolve.

"Very well," their commander said, "We'll take you in. You'll be trained and equipped to face ungodly creatures and abominations. Do not expect it to be easy. The silver path you are walking on is hell. The world won't reward you. The silver knight won't reward you. The only ending to this road is being torn apart by demons and angels. Even after hearing all of this, do you still wish to join us?"

And when Tyra heard those words, she was unfazed. She was already experiencing hell everyday. Every battle was to fight for her own survival. At least now, she could fight for something bigger than herself. She smiled and said, "I will join."

"Are you absolutely sure?" Bellbraun asked her, "The band is dead. We don't have to fight anymore. We can just find someplace near a lake and be happy together."

She shook her head. "I can't. I have to get stronger. I don't want to be protected anymore. You protected me so many times. But this is my choice. I want to protect others."

"We don't owe them anything," Bellbraun replied, "If you go... you'll have to walk the path alone. I can't follow it. I don't want to sacrifice my life fighting the most dangerous monsters in the world." His mind went back to the undead dragon that obliterated his entire band. "I also want to get stronger - not to protect the world, but to protect you."

Tyra went over to Bellbraun as he was about to breakdown in front of her. "I'm sorry. But I've fought for so long. I've fought against people and innocents who only defended themselves. We stole and killed those who didn't deserve it," Tyra said, "I want to fight for something bigger than just ourselves."

"You don't owe the world anything. Please. Just don't leave. We've already fought enough," Bellbraun begged, "I love you..."

Tyra was about to kiss him. Her hands were hard and red with the blood of so many. She touched his face with the same amount of blood and scars of victory. Right before her lips touched his, she said softly, "I know..." She kissed him for a moment, but didn't want it to last long. She didn't want to change her mind. This was her choice, and she stood by it.

She walked away towards the silver knights leaving behind Bellbraun and a happy life together. She knew that he was strong. He would be able to survive. She looked forward towards a path of hell that awaited her. Demons that clawed their way out of the underworld. Giant moths that swept up children in the night. Vampires that skulked in the shadows drinking the blood of many. And out of them all, the worst were the humans who killed for the pleasure of it. Tyra was still very young at this time, but had seen so much. Her eyes looked to be already dead.

Meanwhile, Bellbraun went back into the mercenary business. He created a new band, but he was a changed man. He no longer had that same vigor he had in battle. Nonetheless, he was a formidable warrior. And those that saw a giant with a warhammer knew that death's berserker was near.