A Hero's Reward

Hard to explain, (note: this character is unrelated to my character from my book (7 Realms).

     Bishop collapsed on his bed and spread his arms out across it horizontally. It was the first time he had laid in a real, soft be, since he had taken up his staff and pledged himself to his cause. It had been a long and arduous quest, one that he had suspected from the beginning he would not return from. After all, magic had its consequences. Besides, he had gone up against Theinhart; one of the oldest and most powerful warlocks that had control over all the magical staffs, with the exception being Bishop's. The battle between them had lasted a full thirty six hours and only ended with Theinhart being tricked into a crater trap that nearly cost Bishop his life there and then.

       The battle was not the end of his day, as many hoped to congratulate him and show their support of his victory, but all he wanted to do was rest and enjoy not having to constantly hide himself. He exhaled slowly and closed his eyes, not hoping for sleep, just a few moments of alone time with his thoughts.

       Just as he began to think that he would get five minutes to himself, he felt a presence moving along the walkway to his front door. I'm not doing it... I refuse to get up, he told himself. The doorbell rang out only a moment later, tempting him to brave the trek to the door. His muscles were so sore that he briefly considered grabbing the staff from beside his bed and opening the door with magic, but he decided better of it because he knew better than most, that magic has its costs.

       Then he remembered with no small amount of elation that he had left the door unlocked in his haste to lay down. “Come in!” he yelled, unwilling to sit up to greet his visitor.

       He heard the door click open, then shut again, followed by a female voice asking, “well, aren't you going to even ask who it is?”

       “No, Leisa, I knew before you even knocked,” he called back. “Sorry, but I'm not getting up, you'll have to come in here if you want to talk.”

       After a few seconds of shuffling noises, she crossed the threshold into his bedroom and sat down wearily on the couch across from his bed. He looked up at her for a moment, taking in her newly washed blonde hair, and her tanned, yet clean skin. He had to admit, he found her beautiful even when the grime of war had stained her face, but she looked even more so now.

      “Phew, you smell like a sewer... when's the last time you bathed?” she asked, putting an elbow over her nose and blinking her now tearing hazel eyes several times.

      “I dunno, I haven't even had time to sleep, everyone seems to be demanding my attention for this or that. I know there's politics to be handled, but I'm not enough of an a*s to be a politician.”

      “They just want your help, you know you're a hero to them.” Her face saddened as she continued, “you know their planning a parade for you in three days.”

      “Are they?” Bishop said, swinging his arms to assist him in witching to an upright sitting position. “I've never been one for parades besides, I didn't do it alone, there was an army with us.” He refused to let her see any amount of sadness cross his face. “I'll have to check my schedule, but I don't think I'll be able to attend it.”

      “That's not funny,” she said, now shifting her eyes towards the floor. “You have to tell them sometime, you know how many people will be devastated.”

      “No. Let them celebrate. These people have been through hell just as much as you and I, they need some time to enjoy themselves.”

      “So that's it, then?! You've decided to take that option, what if the seers are wrong? They can't lose you now... I can't lose you now!”

      He stood now, taking her chin lightly in his hand and looking into now tearful eyes. “It's history, whenever someone uses magic on the scale that I did, they either embrace death, or take the cowards way of life, and become a monster... and if there's one thing I'm not... it's a coward.”

Author's Note

First draft, any opinions welcome.

Reviews

[Kara]

You write well! Your story was engaging, and interesting. My only advice would be to maybe keep going! I think this story could benefit from more character development, and plot development, which making the story longer could definitely accomplish.

[NoblePariah]

Thank you! I definitely will extend this piece, it was for a class that only allowed two page stories for the assignment, so I couldn't make it too long, but I intend to work on it soon, I just need to figure out whether I want to use this as a starting point, or to build up to it. Again thank you for the feedback!