He would be known only as Koen as a young boy. Born with fair blond hair and sharp hazel eyes he garnered himself the title prince of the slumps. For he looked far from one who belonged in the slumps yet there he was amongst them. They treated no differently from any other if not worse. Beat him, stole his meager food and whatever gifts he received.
He was only twelve when the kind head of the orphanage died during a robbery. She was kind to him, tended to his wounds and listened to his dreams of the future. No sooner did he vow to himself he would become someone recognized by everyone. Gone would be the days he would be known as Lucien, prince of the slumps but a gallant hero instead.
He left the orphanage that night with the promise of returning rich and famous. He did not return.
Two years later after scrounging up work as a squire for mercenaries and knights he got enough signatures to try his luck at an academy. He was taller now, his body grown more muscle but, his face still soft except for the scar on his left cheek. When the adjudicators first called out his name and he walked into the arena, they laughed.
"This is not a place for pretty boys like you, try the brothels!" one barked.
"Look too soft for a blade lad, try women they like scrawny young men these days!"
They had they're laugh, intestines knotting in laughter. Out of the four present most had tears in their eyes.
"Give the boy a chance" said the fifth judge. He was the only one who had not laughed or mocked Koen. He would not waste this opportunity, so with a deep breath and a tight grip on his sword, he showed them his life with his sword. By the time he was done they were all straight faced, hardened warriors looking at a rough gem. Three out of five rejected him, two excepted him. This meant that he would have to wait another year to qualify again, that meant more time under incompetent knights. He would grit his teeth and bare it as he always had. A sword was thrown in front of him bringing back to the present. The fifth judge stood in front of him.
"I see in you a fire born of hatred and anger. To crawl your way out of the pit from all the others and to into the light. You have come a long way to get here but, how far are you willing to go get to the light?" he asked.
"To hell and back, sir" this made the giant of a man smile.
"Pick up that sword, we have work to do"
It would be ten years later when the next life altering event occurred. He was now a man fully grown and distinguished amongst his peers. He felt rather than had Sir Ulric his mentor of ten years, move through the crowd. Bracing himself for the inevitable slap of the back he was surprised when the hand landed on his shoulder instead.
"Evening boy" the older man grunted, streaks of grey appearing in his red mane. He ordered a beer from the barkeep while his eyes remained on Koen.
"We should celebrate this occasion! Twenty-seven years on this awful world" He barked.
Koen grunted weakly "No thank you. I'd rather celebrate with a lot of sleep instead"
Ulric shook his head "Sleep is for the weak lad, man stay wide eyed till dawn"
"Hell no. You had me on evening shifts for an entire week. I barely had four hours of sleep a day and tonight is my night off. So I'm going to bed, sir. Goodnight"
Before he could get away Ulric gripped his shoulder "I think not. It was part of a grand plan I had cooked up for your birthday"
Koen gestured with his hand to continue, "For tonight in celebration of your birthday I reserved you a VIP suite at our local brothel". He swatted Ulric's hand from his shoulder.
"You are terrible at subtly. I will be with a woman when I please" he swiftly weaved his way through the crowd, got his fur coat from the hanger and exited the warm room. It was a celebration of sorts, they had many of those this part of the world. Every household had a wolf made of hay hanged at their front porch. The villagers were chaotic, dancing and singing. As he made his way through the crowd none of the warmth or the happiness affected him. He was like a fish swimming against the current of the river, the world moving around him, excluding him. Koen would have it no other way, it made him sharper. He was pulled back to the world when a woman roughly bumped into him, he turned enraged, grabbed her arm and she turned to look at him. Her sharp fierce silver eyes locked onto his and all his bravado vanished. She must have seen something in his eyes too because she pulled him close and whispered,
"Hide me" her voice made the rest of the world disappear once more. Leaving only the two of them. A different sort of feeling was evoked in him and Koen would lie to himself in the years to come. He would tell himself that it was the exhaustion and the allure of the moment. When he awoke the next morning alone in bed he would tell himself it was all a fluke and now he could tell Ulric he had spent a night with a woman.
"So what was she like?" asked Ulric the next morning.
Koen was quiet for so long Ulric thought his apprentice might not answer "She was unremarkable. They all look the same around here it's hard to tell one from the other" he replied.
"Was she pretty at least?" Ulric asked with a sigh.
Koen hummed in thought, it would be cruel of him to lie about this at the very least he mused.
"Beautiful, actually" this response shocked Ulric so much that he choked on his tea.
"What a looker she must have been then! Hah, now I regret not seeing her for myself. I need to tell everyone!" he up and off to tell the whole camp about it. Koen regretted telling him instantly and swore he would do no such thing ever again. However, in the coming bitter days that could only be described as blood, iron, monsters and survival on repeat her face would be his companion throughout.
By the time he had fought trolls and cyclops it would feel like eons ago to him.
"I think my time has come" Ulric said to him years later when they were back in the capital. Koen only raised an eyebrow in question.
"Haven't you thought of a life outside all this?"
Koen looked at him like he had grown two heads.
"Right I forget who I'm talking to" Ulric scratched his beard while he thought about the right words. His hair was more grey than red now and for the first time it registered to Koen how the years had caught up to him.
"If one day I die somewhere out there all I leave is a legacy of violence. Service to our country, sure we can call it that but, can't we men of the sword offer something different to the world? I have a few years in this world and I wouldn't want my legacy, what my last moments would mean, be that of fighting and violence" The older man shook his head "Maybe someday you will think about all this but, for now it's still to hell and back right?"
"To hell and back" Koen said with a firm tone. Ulric chuckled bitterly "I left a gift for you in your room. Use it well and don't forget, the man at the top is the loneliest. See you around kid"
When he got to his room later that night he would find a sword beside his bed. The engraving on the blade read on one side 'To hell and back' the other side 'cast me aside'. The hilt was gold with a purple gemstone in it. The pommel had two wings on it while the handle was a twisting dragon that ended at the hilt. Its claws seemed to hold the gemstone on both sides. He liked the sword and from then on it was his companion until his retirement. The sword would be given the moniker dawn breaker.
Now far into his fifth decade on earth, as a decorated veteran knight. He was now Koen Emris, storm bringer and inferno sentinel. He had made his own guild of knights and was now training the next generation. Mentoring was harder than he thought as he had come to realize now as a guild master. He was beginning to wonder how Ulric had managed to do it. The thought brought old memories and nostalgia so he decided to check up on his mentor. They had last talked a long time ago but he still had an address so he went to visit.
A few hours later he knocked on the door of a wooden cottage and a young woman with red hair opened the door. She regarded him with a stare that reminded him of Ulric," Good day ma'am, is Ulric Brimstone here" he asked. She huffed "My father died five years ago" her voice was cold and empty as if she was speaking of someone else. The news left Koen feeling strangely displaced Ulric dead? How come Why didn't I know?
"Anna we talked about this. Let the man in will you?" a voice said from inside the house. Anna stepped aside and said stiffly "Come on in"
The house was small and nothing to speak of yet it felt warm and cherished. An older woman with brown hair and wrinkles came to greet him. She shook his hand with surprising strength.
"Nice to meet you. I'm…"
"Koen the storm bringer. Ulric's apprentice" she finished as they sat on the only two chairs in the room.
"You must be?" Koen asked.
"Mary, Ulric and I were married. We have actually met, you and I" she said with a laugh. For the life of him he could not remember. Mary laughed even more "God even after all these years' somethings don't change, certainly not you, Koen" she smiled fondly at him and his heart ached. He didn't even remember her yet she smiled at him as if they had known each other for years.
"Sorry for your loss" he said at last. Mary sunk into herself, warmth turning into sadness.
"It's been five years and yet…" she closed her eyes for a moment "I still can't shake of the hope that he will walk through that door announce his presence like we can't see him right there" she sniffed, wiped her tears away with her sleeve "I'm crying in front of the inferno sentinel" she laughed self bitterly and another arrow struck his heart. He moved to try and comfort her and realized he didn't know how or what to say so instead he set there quietly. She inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly.
"Well" she said at last "A guest of your caliber deserves a feast. Anna come help me serve dinner" he was about to protest when she raised a hand "No. I will not have it. Ulric would have wanted this so you are going sit and enjoy my food, understood?".
He did as he was told and joined them for dinner. As he ate the warm broth, a profound heavy weight fell upon him. He took another spoonful suddenly savoring the warmth of it and he wished he could have more. As if Mary could read his mind she poured the remaining broth into his bowl.
Koen looked at her and she answered the unasked question.
"A mother can see things" she said as she reached across the table to place her hand on top of hers.
"You have fought so hard and any parent would be proud of you. But, I think you have made it don't you? Maybe it's time to rest and live your life"
"What life? This is my life. All my life I gave up everything to get where I am now. Even if I wanted to I would be betraying my younger self for all he gave to get here"
Mary had a sad smile on her face "If you got here and you still feel as empty as you did when you began this journey then maybe it wasn't what your younger self needed."
He bowed his head as he held her hand in his palm. For tonight he told himself it would be alright to finally let himself rest. The walls around his heart and soul came down, with it all the emotions of a life time. Of what could have been and the possibility of things having been different. Who would he been without the desire to be the best? A nobody perhaps but, maybe a happy nobody. What would be his legacy? People would only remember a man of the sword. Distant and disconnected from the world around him. His story would be of rag to riches but, not the person who lived it, the people he connected with. His life would be summed up in titles and achievements. Koen felt like that little boy at the orphanage again looking at the world through a blurred image. Blurred by self-hatred and anger. For being too weak to sister Priscilla that day. Mary hugged him through all of it and if just for a moment he felt how it was like to have a mother.
He finished his broth and went to visit Ulric at his final resting place. As he looked at it he was at a loss of what to say. What amount of words would be able to justify an entire life? In the end he settled for 'A good father'.
No sooner did Koen Emris vanish from the world. The only sign it was voluntary was a note left on his desk saying 'Don't look for me'. To the world those would be the last words of Koen Emris, storm bringer and inferno sentinel.
Koen's POV
His opponent was younger and faster than him but he had more experience. He dodged another swing at his head and counter attacked with dawn breaker. The younger man as if expecting it side stepped and his sword fell in a lethal arc severing Koen's hand from his arm. As he reared from the pain he was kicked in the sternum and he lost his balance. The younger man clicked his tongue behind his mask and mocked "Is this all the great storm bringer had to offer?"
Koen grunted weakly and he received two kicks in the stomach "Tell me!" the younger man roared.
"You are pathetic. Even if you were there you what could you have done?" He laughed mockingly "Hah, they sing your praises across the land, you selfish bastard, yet for my mother you wouldn't even lift a finger!"
Already weak from the battle and the blood loss he asked weakly "What….. are you talking about?"
The younger man reaped the mask of his face and Koen was staring at himself, a younger him with aster hair. He groaned and looked at the sky. He huffed "You're my son?"
"No I'm the son of Sarai Naoki of Novara" with that he swung dawn breaker and stabbed Koen in the heart.