My name is Dian. I became Eric’s student once he came to the islands of Noreka’s clan. I was born in Selem. The second biggest town of the Noreka clan. From childhood, I dreamed of being a hero. Especially a blessed one like the great heroes from the tales. Strong and heroic with special powers given by the gods.

The problem was that I wasn’t blessed… Something I thought was the most important part of being a hero. The strength and powers that make you almost unstoppable. How else would they defeat a bad guy that soldiers couldn’t beat?

For some time Captain Turiel was like a hero of our town but before he came to our town we were hopeless and always threatened by bandits. The problem was that they were well organized. They were controlling the roads so we wouldn’t ask for help. Many guards were on their side with enough coins given.

The people who lived outside the walls had the worst time. My family lived outside the walls. We were farmers and woodsmen. The bandits often came to take food from us. I was only six years old at the time…

[ Dian ] “Mom! Mom! They are coming!” I shouted as I ran into the house to inform my parents about the incoming bandits.

[ Father ] “Stay here with your mother. I’ll handle them…”

Me and mother were left in the house. Too far to hear anything but close enough to see everything. Four men on horses approached my father. Three of them had a smirk on their faces. One of them probably insulted my father but the one who didn’t smile stopped them and began simple talk without any threats or mockery. Suddenly one of them kicked my father in the face.

[ Dian ] “No! Father!” I screamed as I tried to run out to him but my mother held me with tears.

[ Mother ] “Just stay here… Please…”

Then we heard the scream of a horse. Once I looked out of the window I saw the bandits going away… And my father was on the ground with a crushed head. Only one of them stayed behind for a moment. He was saying something but I didn’t know what. I didn’t even try to think what he said.

The bandits didn’t bother us anymore for some reason. Maybe they knew there wouldn’t be much food to take when the only people left were a kid and a woman. They were right… We weren’t able to handle the harvest alone so we focused on selling the wood and buying the food from the town. To sell the wood we both always went to the town but when it came to buying the food, my mother was the only one to go.

But one day… She didn’t come back. I’ve waited a whole day. When the night came I decided to look for her. I walked around the town in the middle of the night. I hoped to find her somewhere but I didn’t. My parents tried to keep me away from the danger so I didn’t know how bad the situation was until I was alone. I saw how guards ignored the people in need and what the bandits did on a daily basis.

[ Woman ] “No! Get away from me! Help!!!” A woman shouted as she was dragged into some alley.

No one even looked her way. As if it was too late. It wasn’t late! There was still hope to help her! I ran after her and the bandit that was dragging her.

[ Dian ] “Stop it!”

The woman had some hope again but once she saw me her eyes went blank again. She thought I wasn’t enough to help her…

[ Bandit ] “Get away while you can kid… Or it will get nasty.”

After those words, he looked away and gave me a chance to attack. I hit him with my fist in the back of the head. After that, my vision went black. Then I saw a light and heard a kind voice.

[ Voice ] “You want to be a hero? We share the same dream… Let’s try to do it together. Shall we? I’m not strong enough yet but I’ll give you something. It will only last for a day. Use it well. And remember my name. I’m God, Meili.”

When I woke up I had a white glowing tattoo on my arm. It was small and simple but it brought me the biggest smile in my life. The missing part for me to be a hero. Strength from being blessed by a God. A mist appeared in the alley. Its sudden appearance even confused the bandit who looked away. He noticed that the kid was missing.

[ Bandit ] “What the fuck is that?” He whispered.

[ Dian ] “A hero has arrived!” I shouted as I punched the bandit in the stomach. I felt so light at that moment. I definitely was stronger because with that punch I pushed the bandit away. He fell to his knees and coughed.

[ Bandit ] “You little…” The man stood up and took out a knife.

He jumped me with a knife but when he was about to stab me, for him I disappeared in the mist, but I was there the whole time and once he was low enough for me to reach him I hit him right in the chin. I knocked down my first evil guy! I wanted to ask the lady if she is alright but she already left.

For the whole day, I hunted down the bandits in the town who were about to do evil deeds. I didn’t even think I could reach a limit until I did. Not a single bandit was able to defeat me but a hunger. The problem was that I didn’t have any money and there was no way I would resort to stealing or asking for food from the people who were already in need of it. I had nothing left at home… I had to search for something in the forest. Luckily I knew where to look for something.

[ Dian ] “Aha! Good old berries.” I proudly said as I found the food.

Suddenly I heard horses. They were coming my way. At first, I thought nothing of them until I realized. I am close to the border guarded by bandits. It was too late to hide. One of them spotted me. I had in my mind an idea to fight them but once I saw seven of them I changed my mind. The only thing for me was to run!

[ Bandit ] “The kid is running that way! Get him!”

Of course, I couldn’t outrun a horse. I had to use the tries to my advantage. One of them tried to grab me but I ducked down under a tree root. The man wasn’t able to react in time and fell off the horse. My luck ran out once I reached the top of the steep hill. But I had a higher chance of going down on foot than on the horse.

[ Bandit ] “You go around! I’ll go after him.” Said one of the bandits as he decided to follow me on foot.

Once the man got close to the edge of the hill one of the bandits pushed him. They all just watched him fall and while he was rolling down the hill he rolled into me. At the bottom of the hill, there was a river that I landed in. For another time everything went blank until I woke up somewhere by the tree.

One of the bandits was right in front of me with closed eyes. I jumped and got into a fighting position until I noticed that the man was unconscious and covered in bruises while I was completely fine… It wasn’t hard for me to figure it out. He was the one who protected me from the fall and took me out of the river. I made a small fire for us to get us warm and to dry our clothes. Just in case I took a knife he had.

[ Dian ] “Finally awake?” I said as I saw the man open his eyes.

Once he opened his eyes he stood up and destroyed the fire with one kick. I took a few steps back just to be safe.

[ Bruised Man ] “How long was the fire lit?!”

[ Dian ] “Hey! What are you doing?!”

[ Bruised Man ] “How long was the fire lit?! Tell me!”

[ Dian ] “Like an hour or two…”

[ Bruised Man ] “We have to run.” He said as he tried to grab me. Before he could lay a hand on me I took a step back but for him, I turned into a mist. “What the… You’re the Mist Avenger… Wiat… You’re that kid…”

[ Dian ] “What are you saying… Wait… You’re that… You’re the one of them. The bandits who killed my father!” I shouted as I jumped the man with his knife. He was ready to fight me. I had a knife to his eye but he didn’t even move an inch.

[ Bruised Man ] “Not going to kill me?” He said as he breathed heavily.

[ Dian ] “You’re hurt and not fighting back. That’s not what a hero would do…”

[ Bruised Man ] “A hero huh?” For a second I took the knife away but the man grabbed me and pinned me to the ground. “Can’t risk getting killed by a kid.” Once he took my knife away he let me go. “And I can’t let a hero spill unwanted blood… I’m sorry for you father. He begged us to give him a few more days. I was willing to accept his terms just by looking at his field. My men weren’t so kind. I had to calm them down but I couldn’t handle them and your father was killed in an accident. Since we took something from you I decided to never take anything more from you ever again…”

[ Dian ] “Yeah?! So why did you stand there? To mock my father?!”

[ Bruised Man ] “No… I prayed for him. That was the least I could do right there… I know you don’t trust me but we have to get away. They might have spotted the smoke. We don’t want to run into more bandits.”

[ Dian ] “No… I’m going to fight them.”

[ Bruised Man ] “And how many are you able to take?! Two?! Three at most?! There are a few hundred of them! You’re just a kid! Don’t waste your life like that!”

I was going to ignore him but the way he said “waste life” hit me differently. Like he really means it. That didn’t sound like a man trying to kill me or rob me. That sounded like a man trying to help me.

[ Dian ] “Fine. Let’s go.”

We left the campfire and he led the way. I didn’t know where we were because I never went that deep into the forest. I thought that we would reach Selem after a few hours but the man stopped and looked at the sun.

[ Bruised Man ] “The night is near. We should make a campfire for the night.”

[ Dian ] “What?! We should walk. Selem is probably an hour away.”

[ Bruised Man ] “We’re not going to Selem.”

[ Dian ] “What?! Where are you taking me?!”

[ Bruised Man ] “Calm down. I was leading you to Verherm where you can ask for help. You can’t get rid of bandits alone. If you explain the situation the clan head will definitely interfere.”

[ Dian ] “That’s a great idea! But… Why would you do that? Aren’t they your guys?”

[ Bruised Man ] “They were… But no longer. At first, they went too far and now they chose to turn against me. So I’m just paying them back.”

[ Dian ] “Thinking like a bandit…”

[ Bruised Man ] “Sometimes you can’t choose a path you want…”

[ Dian ] “What are you mumbling there about?”

[ Bruised Man ] “I said I was born that way! Eh…”

The next day I was awakened by a smell of meat on fire. The man was eating something he had caught. He was turned away from me. Even though he didn’t look like he was looking out for me there was something left by the fire.

We walked for another few hours and like last time. He was leading the way. I was a few steps behind him but it almost felt like he was adjusting the tempo just for me. Before the sun could even fully awaken we were by the gates to Verherm.

[ Bruised Man ] “Go. Be the hero you wanted to be.” Said the man as he pushed me toward the gate.

He probably didn’t want to get caught. That’s why he stayed in the woods. The gates to Verherm were much bigger than the ones in Selem.

[ Dian ] “Let me speak with the head of the clan! I have important information!”

[ Guard ] “Each kid has important information for our lord… Screw off, kid.”

[ Dian ] “I’m not joking! You don’t believe a person blessed by a god…” I said wanting to show him my tattoo but it was no longer there.

[ Guard ] “Keep dreaming and stop nagging me.”

[ Bruised Man ] “Hey! Don’t come here, kid. Or they will arrest me.” He said as he watched me coming his way.

[ Dian ] “They didn’t listen to me… And my tattoo disappeared… Maybe… Maybe if I do something heroic he will give me it back…”

[ Bruised Man ] “Then it looks like we have to part ways… Have this. You’ll need it, hero.” Said the man as he gave me the knife.

I left to take my home back. Alone… Without a blessing… After two hours of walking, I heard a horse coming my way. It was coming from behind me. A soldier on a horse.

[ Soldier ] “I don’t recommend going toward Selem for now. Bandits are lurking around there.”

[ Dian ] “How do you know?”

[ Soldier ] “Whan of the bandits turned himself in. Saying that he was part of them until they betrayed him.”

[ Dian ] “Was he covered in bruises?”

[ Soldier ] “Yes, he was. Anyway. Wait for a bit until the army takes them all out.” Said the soldier as he went off.

[ Dian ] “He… He turned himself in? But he said he was not willing to get arrested… Is that why he gave me a knife… Why… Why would he do that? Why would he lie to me like that?” I whispered as tears ran down my face. “Why do I feel that way? He was a bandit… One of the bandits who killed my father and probably my mother too… Why did he take care of me?! WHY!”

I was sulking for hours under a tree. Knowing that this day I didn’t only lose a tattoo but a person who cared about me in a way. Vikings had strict rules when it comes to punishment. If he told them everything… There was only one thing awaiting him… Death. And I was right. The army marched toward Selem and the man standing in front had a spear with a head on it. It was the head of a man who didn’t even tell me his name