1 Marco The Coward

"Ahahahahaha!"

The dark sorcerer Galabast raised his hands in the air as he laughed maniacally. The shadows around him elongated and twisted, rising off the floor to gather in his palms.

"You will never get away with this!" shouted a young man in golden armor.

"Hahaha!" Galabast answered with more crazed laughter. "You think to stop me? And who are you, would-be Hero who challenges the great Galabast?"

The young man pointed his sword at the sorcerer, its jewel-encrusted blade gleaming with a light that outshone the sun itself. "I am Leo Baldew, the man who will keep the Everlasting Flame safe from your schemes, Galabast the Mad."

"Man?" Galabast replied. "More like boy. What are you, fourteen? Too young to comprehend anything. They mock me, call me Galabast the Mad. But I'm the one who sees the truth. How the whole kingdom cowers behind this Flame."

Galabast gestured at the giant flame next to him. The Everlasting Flame was as tall as two men, and as wide as three. "It's time someone snuffed out this accursed fire."

It was Leo's turn to laugh then. "The Everlasting Flame has burned strong since the day it was given to us by the gods. All the water in the world couldn't put it out. Even children know this. And I'm seventeen, I'll thank you to know."

"Still too young," Galabast said with a smirk. "Still too ignorant. I have achieved things with dark magic that haven't been seen since ancient times!"

Galabast began to move his arms in a series of whirling patterns. Every shadow in the room, even Leo's own shadow, excitedly slithered towards the mad sorcerer. Soon, Galabast was standing in a pitch-black pool, the darkness so thick it looked like ink.

This made Leo gasp. "What are you doing?"

"Night's Embrace," said a voice from behind Leo.

Leo turned around to face his comrades. They had come there together for a training mission, when all of a sudden Galabast appeared slinging dark magic. Now they stood at the altar of the Everlasting Flame, the oldest only seventeen, facing a foe they were in no way qualified to face. One girl in particular, the one who just spoke, looked more terrified than the rest.

"There's no mistaking those arm movements. He's truly casting the ancient spell that started the Darkness War. Night's Embrace, the only spell that can put out the Everlasting Flame," the girl, Nissa, explained.

"Then he must be stopped."

Leo turned to face Galabast. The sorcerer was now overcome with a fit of uncontrolled laughter as he moved in some sort of erratic dance. The pool of darkness at his feet began to stir. Slowly, shapes rose from the pool, twisting into various forms. Four-legged beasts, giant humanoids, even great birdlike monsters. An army of shadows, and they advanced on Leo and company.

"My friends!" Leo bellowed. "We are all that stands between Galabast the Mad and the Everlasting Flame. The very fire that has been a symbol of hope and protection for our kingdom since the first king was crowned. It might seem impossible, it might seem dire, but we must take victory this day! This is the day we trained for! Are you ready?"

The spirited shouts of his comrades sounded in unison.

"Then," Leo said as he raised his sword. "To battle!"

****

Marco Flores wasn't ready.

As the others shouted their battle cries and charged at Galabast's dark army, Marco struggled to heft a two-handed sword that was almost as tall as he was. As a scrawny lad with a mere fifteen years, it took all his strength just to stop the sword from dragging on the floor as he sort of jogged into battle.

Soon he caught up with the mages, who naturally stayed towards the back of the fight. Nissa noticed him as she retreated, moving her hands and shaping a blue energy. When their eyes met, she gave him a look of surprise. Then annoyance.

"Marco, what are you doing? The battle is that way!" she shouted as her blue energy condensed into a spike made of ice. She threw it at a bird creature, piercing its wing and causing it to crash.

"I'm getting there," he replied as he passed her.

Next up were the archers, Terry and Em. A brother-sister duo, they had perfected the art of firing in perfect harmony. Whenever Terry was firing, Em was reading her next arrow. When Terry needed to reload, Em was already letting her shot fly. Each shot was also extremely precise, hitting shadow creatures in what seemed to be the head and instantly felling them.

As Marco reached them, he stopped for a breath. His arms were on fire from lugging the huge sword around. He took off his helmet and wiped the sweat, as well as some of his long black hair, from his forehead. It was then that he got an elbow right in the nose.

"Ah! Marco!"

His nose throbbing, he looked up to see Terry's angry face in his. "You ruined my shot! Why would you stand right behind an archer?"

"Stick to the formation!" Em added "Swords up front!"

With that, she shoved him forward. He had dropped his sword when Terry elbowed him, but he didn't think it would be smart to go back to retrieve it now. He drew a dagger from his belt and ran towards the battle.

The altar of the Everlasting Flame was at the top of Monument Tower. It was a large and open room, giving the shadow creatures plenty of space to spread out and multiply. There were too many to count, with Marco's group only having ten. No one could reach Galabast, who was still casting his spell atop the Flame's altar.

Without the big sword weighing him down, Marco ducked and dodged around the creatures. He quickly reached the altar, where he saw Leo. With his golden armor, golden hair, and gleaming sword, Leo was like a ray of sunshine that cut through the darkness. Marco, meanwhile, wore rusty armor he bought at a discount, had a messy mop of black hair, and clutched a tiny dagger he found dropped in an alley. If Leo was a ray of sunshine, then Marco was the stale loaf of bread one buys because they're short on coins.

"Marco!" Leo called out. Then, he destroyed five shadow creatures with one slash. "You're the first one to make it here besides me." Marco jumped over a creature just as Leo stabbed it. "I shouldn't be surprised, you always were good at avoiding things."

Marco couldn't tell if that was a compliment or criticism, so he simply replied with, "Some training mission."

"Indeed," said Leo. "Who would have thought that bringing gifts to orphans would end with us fighting a dark sorcerer?"

"Yeah," Marco said. Then it struck him. "The orphans!"

He looked behind him. Some of the others had cleared a path and were coming to join him and Leo. But past them, past the archers, past the mages, all the way at the entrance of the circular room, it was as he feared. A group of shadow creatures were ignoring the battle as they poured out of the room.

"No!"

Marco sprinted to the door.

"Where are you going?" Leo called.

"You take care of Galabast!" Marco called as he ran.

"Are you running away?"

Leo's question was the last thing Marco heard before he left the battle behind.

****

Monument Tower was the tallest structure in the entire kingdom. It was erected many generations ago, to honor the First Heroes and every Hero that came after. It also served as the home of the Everlasting Flame, high above everything else so that every citizen of the kingdom could bask in its light.

But at that moment, Marco didn't feel like basking in anything. He just wanted to stop running down stairs.

There was one winding staircase that ran all the way from the top of the tower to the bottom. It ran right through the center of the tower, offering a view of every floor as one went down. Marco checked each floor as he bolted down the stairs.

The banquet hall? Empty.

The statues of Heroes past? Nothing.

The toilets? Marco forced himself to check the ladies' toilet but found nobody.

He continued going down and down until he finally heard a high-pitched scream.

It was coming from the orphanage.

When the Everlasting Flame was placed at the top of Monument Tower, it attracted a group of monks calling themselves the Enlightened. They declared themselves stewards of the Flame and the tower, and since they did so for free no one really protested. In time, the tower became like a temple of sorts. The poor could go there to be fed, the sick to be healed, and the orphaned to be cared for.

Or at least that was the idea. But when Marco entered the orphanage floor, he found that no one was actually caring for the orphans.

The screams came from the youngest children, huddled against a wall while the older ones held them. There were five shadow creatures, advancing and throwing beds and tables against the wall. A barricade of crudely-stacked furniture was blocking the creatures' path, probably the work of the older orphans. For the time being, no one had noticed Marco.

The creature nearest him was a humanoid, and seemed to be plod along at a much slower pace than its fellows. Marco snuck up on it and plunged his dagger into the creature's head. It fell without so much as a moan, melting into a dark puddle. An easy kill, but there was one problem.

Marco couldn't seem to pull his dagger out of the creature's "corpse." The inklike shadow was thick, almost sticky. It held the dagger and wouldn't let go. After some moments of useless tugging, he looked up and saw another humanoid shadow right in front of him. Panic set in as he pulled with all his might. The creature raised its thick arm like a club, preparing to swing down at Marco.

The panic must have given him strength, because he freed the dagger just in time to roll out of the way. The creatures arm smashed down, making a crunching sound as it hit the floor. Marco looked at the spot where he just was, now a crater of broken stone.

Marco wasted no time in leaping up and drilling his dagger into its head. Like its counterpart, it dissolved into a puddle. Unfortunately, Marco had been a little too enthusiastic in his attack. The dagger was really stuck this time. Even worse, the creature's floor-cracking attack had been quite loud. Loud enough to attract the attention of the other three.

Two doglike creatures quickly whirled around and bared their fangs. Despite being made of the same liquid-like shadow as the other creatures, they looked deadly sharp.

The third creature was...massive. It was probably as tall as three Marcos, and three Marcos wide as well. It reminded Marco somewhat of Leo, all beefy arms, barrel chest, and sturdy legs that put him to shame.

Marco abandoned his dagger and backpedaled until he hit the staircase. He fumbled around in his pockets and pouches for something, anything to fight with. Quills, parchment, a few copper coins. The dog creatures bounded at him. He had nothing. He looked around and grabbed the closest thing he could find. A lit torch. He brandished it like a sword.

The dogs immediately stopped in their tracks and jumped back. They stood next to the giant, baring their fangs but refusing to come closer. They were afraid of the fire!

...Which didn't really help. Even if the creatures could be harmed by fire, he wouldn't be able to get close enough before the big one crushed him with its huge arms. He looked around the room desperately. That's when he saw it.

With all the strength could muster, he threw the torch at his enemies. It sailed wildly at the big creature, curved and...totally missed. It landed behind the creatures with a soft clatter. The only thing it managed to ignite was the tip of bedsheet.

The creatures simply looked at the small flame, then back at Marco.

He could only stare back, and pray they didn't tear him apart.

But the creatures did not notice something that Marco certainly did. The sheet was half-draped on a bed. A bed that happened to be at the bottom of the barricade the orphans had set up. The orphans, in their panic, probably didn't even realize that they had made the bed a foundation of the barricade. Only Marco knew that all fire needed to do was travel up the sheet, hit the bed and…

Crack!

The beds of the orphanage were already of fairly low quality, donations commissioned using the cheapest wood available. Add in some fire, and the shoddy frame stood no chance of supporting anything. Once that happened, it was a matter of moments before it buckled under the weight of all the other furniture hastily stacked on top of it.

Crash!

Before the creatures knew what hit them, it hit them. The barricade toppled, with tables, beds, and shelves crashing down on the shadowy fiends. The dogs were instantly pulverized. As for the huge creature, it was actually taller than the barricade. It wasn't destroyed, but it was taken by surprise and knocked on its back.

As for the orphans, everything that happened before them was too much for them to process. First, their only protection collapsed. Then, they discovered that the creatures that terrorized them were gone. And finally, a fire was rapidly spreading all around them. They screamed, even the older ones, and ran for the stairs.

Marco trusted that they would find their way out safely. He wasn't finished yet. Grabbing another torch from the wall, he strolled over to the big creature. It was flat on its back, struggling to push away all the furniture that was pinning its lower body. With a bit of flourish, Marco stabbed the torch right through its head. It struggled no more as it dissolved into a large pool of inky blackness. With that, Marco heaved a deep sigh.

The floor was covered in the thick remains of dark magic. A huge fire blazed right next to him, rapidly spreading as it had no shortage of fuel. And he could still hear the cries of panicked children as they ran for their lives.

Quite an end to his first battle.

****

"...and then Leo raised his sword, and Galabast screamed as the golden light enveloped him! It was like nothing I've ever seen!"

"Come now Nissa, you know what an enchanted weapon is. Stop stretching the tale to make me seem like some great Hero."

"But you were–you are a great Hero! We all saw you defeat Galabast and save the Everlasting Flame."

"WE defeated Galabast and saved the Flame. It was a team effort."

"Not the whole team. There was one person who left us."

After putting out fires and trying his best to restore the orphans' room to some semblance of order, Marco exited the tower only to be greeted by the icy stares of his teammates.

"Wait...left the team? I went to save the children!" he immediately replied.

"Save the…?" asked Nissa with a puzzled look. "What story are you telling? There were no children near that battle."

"No downstairs...the orphans. The shadow creatures, they…" Marco fumbled his words as he hastily tried to explain his actions. "Look, there they are! Ask them."

He pointed a little ways away, where the orphans were gathered. They seem to have found the monks, who were consoling the crying little ones and praising the older ones for protecting them.

"You there, children!" Marco called to them. "Tell them about the monsters in the tower."

Immediately, several of the younger kids started crying more loudly. The monks hugged them, shielding them from Marco and giving him an annoyed glare. One of the older boys spoke up.

"Them monsters came into our room outta nowhere. We took the little ones into the corner and stacked our beds and stuff into a wall to keep them away. They kept hittin' it, then it fell down on them. So we ran away while they were gettin' hit by our stuff!"

Marco's eyes went wide. "What about me? I was the one who knocked your wall down on them. I started the fire! You didn't even mention the fire."

When he said "fire" the little ones starting screaming. "That's enough young man," a monk said to Marco as he ushered the kids away.

"Wait! His story makes no sense. They couldn't take the little ones into a corner. It's a circular room! There are no corners. And I–"

A firm hand clamped down on his shoulder. "Don't listen to him, children. You were brave to stand up to those monsters like you did. We could use people like you as Heroes in the future!"

Marco turned around. Of course it was Leo. Some of the orphans waved to Leo as the monks led them away. Marco could even some of the older girls blushing.

"How shameful, Marco," Leo said as he whirled Marco around to face him. His expression was mostly one of disappointment, but with them being so close, Marco could see a hint of rage in his eyes. "I know you are not the greatest fighter, but there are other ways to contribute to a battle. If you were going to run, you could have gone to get help. Or treated the wounded. You could have even retrieved arrows for the archers. You–"

"Retrieve arrows!?" Marco interrupted. "I trained at the same academy as you! I'm not some errand boy–" He couldn't finish his sentence before Leo's hand on his shoulder tightened its grip.

"No Marco, you are not some errand boy. You are a coward."

With that, Leo shoved Marco to the ground. As he and the others walked away, Marco could hear them chatting happily about their victory, and the celebratory dinner that should follow. A feast for the triumphant! Marco, of course, was not invited.

He was also not invited to the ceremony at the palace a week later. Instead, he was forced to stand in the square with the commoners and look up as the king gave Leo, Nissa, and the rest shiny silver medals and praised their bravery.

Word of Marco running away spread throughout the city. Someone dubbed him Marco the Coward, and that name followed him wherever he went. He had to wear a hooded cloak during the ceremony to avoid drawing attention and ridicule. But in his heart he knew he was just as heroic as the others were. He tried to tell his version of the story many times, but no one would have it.

He could only hope that someday one of the orphans would remember that he was there. That they would tell the story of how he saved them, and he would get the recognition he deserved.

Five years later, that recognition never came.