The people marveled at the being in front of them, torn from another plain of existence and delivered here, in our hour of greatest need. She was not unlike us, save for her dress. Give her a soiled tunic and no one would look twice at her. We prayed to the Sisters to send us a champion and now we have her.

Though frightened at first, our hero came to understand what had happened, what force had removed her from Earth. We told her of the prophecy, of the dark lord, of our oppression. With great reverence, I told her she was the first one to answer our call. Something moved in her eyes, something seemed to give her resolve. She publicly vowed to be our champion and rid the land of evil.

Running her through the trials myself, we marveled at her strength, strength which she herself seemed surprised by. The men we had training her gave it all they had, and even then, she put them in their place. One managed to strike her with a spear, a true strike to the gut, but her skin did not break.

The common people sang songs of Emilia’s greatness. Once scared, our champion now beamed with confidence. She took on all comers and declared herself ready. Aside, I asked her if she was indeed ready. Standing a head taller than me, she put a hand on my shoulder and nodded. I bowed low and thanked her.

With the next sunrise, I led her to the outpost that held our town under its thumb. All manor of fell beast poured forth, goblins, spider-wolves, and trolls. With ease, Emilia cut them down. Her sword was average but the strength she wielded it with was anything but. Her fist punched through enemy armor. She ripped a leg from a spider-wolf and skewered a troll with it. Twice, I saw goblin blades strike her and leave no mark. With a smirk, she dismembered them and stood amongst a field of corpses.

A few of us from town had followed Emilia to watch her confront the dark lord. Approaching the jagged-stone castle, we hid where she had told us to, upon the nearby hill. She said we should have the best view from there. I warned her, the dark lord was crafty and stronger than anything she’d faced thus far. She simply replied saying that evil tries to stamp out good, but goodness always persists.

There, we watched her from our perch, smiles on our faces and excitement in our hearts. A new dawn was about to wash over our land. Yelling boldly, Emilia goaded the dark lord from the bowels of his castle.

Standing taller than her, the dark lord stood in his black armor. With an heir of superiority, he asked what she intended to do. Emilia turned her head to our hill and smiled. She was about to speak when her head ripped free from her neck and rolled through the air. Spurting blood from her neck, the headless body crumpled to the ground.

The strike had been so quick, we had not even realized what had happened until the body fell. With her head turned to us, Emilia did not even see it coming. We sat there for a long while, trying not to wail in desperation. I kept thinking about what I had told our champion when she arrived, that she was the first one. That had only been partially true. She was the first, after the last one...the last one who now rules over us with an iron grip.