For those that have read the shield hero, read the chapter and decide for yourselves if it's a copy or not.

T

Eric sat as still as a statue, listening to the cackling fireplace as the fire died out. He was on gaurd duty tonight, which meant that he was watching everyone else sleep while he waited for the time when he could wake Vivian up so she would be on guard duty. He stared at his group, looking at each person in turn to imagine what they were seeing in their dreams.

Lucia's cat ears would flick occasionally, her nose twitching as she bared her teeth. She had grown suprisingly within the last three months, she was now up to Eric's chin. That was quite tall for a normal person, but Eric guessed that it had something to do with being tied to him. Lucia's entire body had gone through the growth, making her thicker around her hips in a way that would attract the eye. Even her chest was pleasingly plump, especially now that Eric looked at it and saw how her breasts were wrapped tight against her ribs, but still managed to hold out.

Lilly was similar, only she was still a child to Eric's eyes. She was tall enough that her forehead reached Lucia's chin, about as tall as a normal person. Lilly still had her adorable rabit ears, and the baby fat on her cheeks made her seem like a child still. Her body was considerably more lithe than Lucia's, but even that could be found attractive.

Draco was a little taller than Lilly, but he was a lot thicker than she was. He had broad shoulders and powerful muscles, his multi-colored hair pulled back as the reptilian skin around the back of his neck gave him a unique look. His face was at peace as he rested, which relaxed Eric somewhat. He had the cool style of a dragon, so his reptilian tail was thick and had erected scales over the spinal column.

Elas was still at her same height, somehow up to Eric's nose despite him being larger than the previous Midrardians. Her long white hair that was tightly braided and made Eric feel as though she was the only one who kept her hair looking nice. She had breasts and hips that sized with the rest of her, making them larger than Lucia's but seemingly smaller.

Eric realized he had been staring and quickly shook his head, chasing out any dirty thoughts from his mind.

That's when he heard it, the scream that echoed through the forest at night. Looking at the others, he saw that they remained sleeping, but Eric was burning with fear at the possibilities of that scream. Crawling over to Lucia, Eric shook her lightly to wake her up.

"Wzat," she muttered, opening her eyes to the darkness.

"Hey, pay attention for a few moments, I need to check something out," said Eric, then another scream elliceted through the night. Lucia sat up quickly, but Eric stopped her with a large hand.

"Stay here, this could be a lure," he whispered, then he ran off in the direction of the scream. He pushed through the forest's small hills and brief dips in the ground, approaching the main road that they had left to make camp. As he got closer, a sudden burst of light shot out through the forest as something erupted in flames.

Eric ran with reckless abandon now, hearing laughter permeate the forest as the fire burned heavily.

Eric burst out of the forest too quickly adapt to the situation. There was a cart that had been set fire to, and there was somebody inside of the cart. Several guys stood around while another few men were lying on the ground in pools of red liquid. On a hunch, Eric broke through one side of the carriage, then grabbed the person inside before his momentum broke through the other side of the carriage. He could feel the heat dissipate from around him, his incredible strength and powerful momentum carrying him through the air and into the forest. He hit the ground hard, rolling a few times as he made his body a steel cage for the person inside.

When everything finally stopped, Eric could hear the confused voices of the men standing around the burning carriage. Releasing his tense body somewhat, Eric became aware of the person struggling in his arms. He looked down in the poor light to find that the person he had rescued was a small girl with a gag in her mouth and a terrified expression. She was crying deeply, the tears streaming down her face as she was rescued from her fate.

Eric placed the girl against a nearby tree, then gestured for her silence. Standing up again, Eric looked back at the burning carriage as the men slowly approached the forest where Eric hid. A glow appeared in his hand as he summoned his chains, then he nearly disappeared. One by one, the enemies fell as he moved in the darkness with near invisible stealth. His speed was beyond comprehension, and within moments the hostile were cleared with barely a sound. Eric appeared once more, stepping seemingly from nowhere into the sight of the little girl that he had just saved.

"It's over," he said in his deep baritone voice. "Don't worry, the bad guys are all gone." He didn't approach the girl as she cried her eyes out, keeping a distance before he would know exactly what had happened. Eric returned to the bodies, then began looting them for money and anything useful. He found a few daggers, some currency he had never seen before, and each guy wore a necklace with a frowning cross.

"The Church," said Eric, looking at the cross in disgust.

"Thank you," came a weak voice, just barely audible over the crackling fire of the carriage. Eric looked at the little girl, who was standing up once again with tears still clear in her eyes. It was clear she was in distress, so she must have been forcing herself to act politely. Then, Eric did something he had never done

before.

Eric got on his knees and embraced the girl in an enormous bear hug. To Eric, he was doing it because he wanted to stop the tears. To the little girl, that hug was a strong, yet gentle blanket that enveloped her and made her feel safe. The girl started crying in full force, no longer needing to hold back now that she was in the arms of a savior. Eric was kneeling there with the little girl crying onto his shoulder, letting his feet fall asleep as she blubbered onto his shoulder.

After a while, Eric began to worry for his own group, but he didn't want to stop this girl's tears. After a moment, he finally just picked her up and said, "I'll take you somewhere safe." Eric carried the crying girl like a baby, walking through the forest as her pain-wracked sobs became blubbering whimpers. He carried her back to the campfire and set her down in his own bed. Eric stayed awake through the night as the little girl fell asleep, nuzzling his pillow and blankets.

When the time came for Draco to take watch, Eric woke him up and explained what had happened. Draco nodded, still half-asleep as he took the position to take a lookout. Eric took Draco's bed, pulling the covers over him as the exhaustion that had accumulated over the day led him to a deep sleep. Eric woke up to see Draco was staring off into the distance, then Draco crawled out of bed to start his morning stretches. It wasn't a routine as much as he just stretched whatever he felt was tight. Eric bent and stretched, forcing his muscles to relax and cool down.

After that, Eric summoned his chains and went out to hunt, waking the others up as he ran into the woods.

The little girl nuzzled the pillow in her sleep, attracting the attention of Lucia and Elas. They approached the little girl, looking at her curiosuly until Elas asked Draco, "Did Eric turn into little girl?"

"No, she was there when I woke up," Draco explained. "Eric found her, or kidnapped her." Eric appeared a moment later with a large, green-skinned buck over his shoulder. Draco used his claw-like finger nails to skin the poor animal, then Eric pulled out a length of his hellfire chains to cook the meat over. Everybody got evenly sized selections of meat, even the little girl who was apprehensive about cooking raw meat over the hellfire. The heat coming off of Eric's chains cooked the meat very quickly, meaning breakfast was very short and satisfying.

"So, little girl," Eric addressed the young goth girl, "why were you attacked last night?"

"I'm from a very wealthy and influential family," the girl stated evenly. "They must have wanted to hold me for ransom. Thank you for saving me." The goth girl bowed her head, then looked around at the odd assortment of characters that sorrounded her.

"I'm Eric," Eric said, then he looked at Lucia.

"Lucia."

"Elas."

"Draco."

"Lilly."

"I'm Vicky," introduced the goth girl. "So, why are Midgardians and demi-humans traveling together?"

"We're getting stronger," Eric simply explained. "I'm a hero and these are my companions."

"Oh, you're a hero," said the girl, looking at the chains that bled fire. "So you use chains as a weapon?"

"They're suprisingly effective," Elas agreed to Vicky's suspicion. "Having seen him fight, I wouldn't want to make an enemy of Eric."

"So, what about yourself," Eric asked Vicky. "Where were you going, and do you need help getting there?"

"I was on my way home, back to Lorain," she said. "That's when my protection detail was attacked."

"What would you be willing to give us in exchange for your safe passage?"

"Are you truly so greedy," Vicky chastised. "You already recieve a pay through the kingdom, yet you ask for more money?"

"We don't get payed," Eric plainly stated, "because of a minor disagreement I had with the king."

"We stormed his castle and disgraced him," Elas pointed out.

"But we didn't kill, or seriously harm, anyone inside," Eric ammended the situation.

"You took over the castle," Vicky shouted suddenly. "Do you know how disasterous it would be if Lorain were attacked right now?! The entire country could fall!"

"Relax," said Eric, putting his hands up to stop the tiny girl from attacking him. "If the kingdom was attacked, I go and personally see the invader's victory without bloodshed."

"You would allow the county to fall because you don't like the king," Vicky shouted at Eric.

"I have the power to annihilate the country without the help of a foreign army," said Eric simply. "Not only have I witnessed the king neglecting his duties, he has slaughtered innocent people in cold blood. I'm surprised the people haven't risen up agaisnt him, but he's woven enough lies to cast a wide safety net. So, I've decided to let nature take it's course, and if the world decides that the king is unfit, I will aide the world in whatever way I can."

"So you would just supplant the king without a thought as to what it would do for the people," Vicky argued.

"The people won't care. Take me, I used to be ruled by a thousand different hands, but the impact they had on my life was the same as a fly. A large percentage of the population will be unaffected by a change in leadership. So tell me again, why would it be such a bad thing that the king be supplanted?"

"Because then the queen would lose control over the country, and all negotiating would be for naught!"

"So what if the queen isn't in control?" Eric questioned.

"Lorain is a matriarchal monarchy," Vicky stressed. "The king's decisions are second to the queen, and if the judges don't deem his decisions to be the best for the country, the decision is put on hold until the queen can analyze it."

"So the queen is rotten, too," Eric murmured to himself.

"No, she's not even in the kingdom," Vicky almost shouted at Eric. "She's visiting neighboring countries trying to stop a war!"

"Alright, that's enough politics," said Eric, pushing the topic aside. "We need to get moving or we'll never make it back to Lorain." The group packed up, then set off on foot. Vicky wasn't wearing shoes meant for long journies, so she had to borrow a pair from Lilly.

On the walk back to Lorain, Vicky insisted pulling her own weight but felt helpless when sorrounded by the likes of Eric, Lucia, Draco, Lilly, and Elas. She couldn't keep up with anything they did, and felt almost entirely useless the entire trip. In the end, they arrived at the border of the capital city, leaving Vicky there before changing direction and heading away from the city.

"Aren't you coming to recieve your reward?" Vicky asked at the gates.

"We don't have time," Eric said sourly, "so we're leaving."

"Princess Vicky," came a shout, and several guards from the city ran out to her. "We recieved word that your carriage had been attacked! Quickly, get into the city limits!" Vicky was dragged away as Eric and his party walked away slowly. They were all silent, looking at the ground as Vicky was removed from their party.

"When did you figure it out?" Elas asked Eric with a light tone.

"When she was being attacked, the carriage had the same sigil as the Lorain flag," Eric admitted.

"Then why did we help her?" Draco asked with a hard edge to his voice.

"Because she's a kid," Eric explained with a weak sigh, "and kids don't know better. She might turn out evil like her sister or father, but if we don't give her the chance to grow up, then we're worse than the people we condemn."

T

If you enjoyed this story so far, try reading my other written work, 'I am the Villian'. The views on it are straight-up pathetic, while this one is killing it. That's too bad, because I prefer the superhero genre more than the standard fantasy genre. Hopeless pandering aside, I hope you all enjoy anything you read on Royal Road.