New Armor I

Draven left a couple of drops of potion in the vial instead of cleaning it up. He then put the vial into the robe pocket he was wearing before resuming his journey towards his destination.

The downpour was so heavy that Sara was drenched to the skin in a couple of moments. Each drop was as large as a cartoon tear and they fell like gravity had been turned up a notch. He held her futile hands skyward to fend off the worst.

The parched soil wicked it away to the distant water table below, the only puddles forming on the impervious paved sidewalk. It was a gift to the dehydrated flora and the animals who grieved over the dry stream beds.

"Dravey…Dravey…"

"Wake up… it's raining… let's go play outside"

"Maria…leave your brother alone…he's tired"

"Mom!... Dravey promised me he will make me paper boats"

Images of his little sister, Maria, a cute chubby little girl wearing a beautiful handmade dress waking him up flashed across his eyes while he was walking in the rain. He could vividly see his little sister's face and her childish voice was still sounding in his head as if she was with him.

The sadness formed a lump in his throat and the tears escaping his eyes disguised themselves as droplets of rain.

"Anything is possible" Draven mumbled under his breath.

*****************************

At the farthest end of the city stood an old brick house next to a smithy. The smithy was still fuming up smoke into the sky but there was no one at the forge. Only a couple of steel works such as swords and shields could be seen lying on the floor.

The interior of the brick was lit with a torch that barely illuminated the bulky man on the ground. His brown hair was a mess and his beard had grown to the point that it reached his chest. He tightly held a glass bottle,

"Did you hear the news Beth? Someone ended that fucker who took you away from me" the man burst into remorseful laughter. Tears could be seen gushing out of his eyes.

He raised the bottle and emptied the rest of the bottle in one gulp.

"ARGGGGH!" He screamed as he shattered the glass bottle on the ground. His scream contained unimaginable pain within. It had been five years since he lost the love of his life, Beth. He could vividly remember that day. He left his wife at the market, she wanted him to stay but he had to finish forging the swords for the king. Because of that, he left his wife. If he had known that the market would be swarmed by the Scarface and his brutes, he wouldn't have left his wife's side.

He was forging the last sword when he heard the news. He rushed to the market only to see his wife's body lying on the ground covered in blood. Every time he closes his eyes, he could feel her cold body in his arms.

To this day, Timothy found no answer to the question of why out of all people Scarface chose Beth as his human shield.

Only if the soldiers stood down…only if he was with his wife…only if she didn't go to the market that day…only if he Black Knight reached sooner…

There were so many questions that wreaked havoc in his mind.

"Papa" a child's voice sounded in the room. Soon, a little girl entered the room carrying a candle that illuminated her cute yet tired face,

Seeing his daughter entering the room, he quickly wiped off the tears from his face.

"STOP!"

The girl shuddered as her sleepiness vanished from her eyes in a split second. Timothy didn't want the glass shards on the floor to cut her feet. His brain didn't function as usual due to his drunken state. That was why he swept the floor using his bare hand. In his hurry to save his daughter, he didn't even notice his hands bleeding.

"Sheryl, baby, what are you doing out of your bed?" with his bloody hands, he swept his daughter in his arms. He didn't want any tiny piece of glass to cut her feet,

"The monster papa… it's under my bed"

Pushing down the sorrow in his heart, Timothy smiled for his daughter,

"Monsters don't exist pumpkin. Didn't papa tell you this?" he gently headbutted his daughter,

"But…but…Micah told the same monster that took his sister took mommy too"

Timothy's smile froze on his face. He was trying to protect his daughter from the ugliness of this world even though deep down he knew he wouldn't be able to forever.

"Did Micah tell you that the monster was slain today?"

The little girl happy bobbed her head up and down,

"Yes, a hero from a distant land slain the monster"

"Hero…yes" Timothy nodded. Every time he told her that monsters don't exist, he was lying. He knew monsters existed. The man who killed his pregnant wife was a monster. However, unlike monsters, heroes didn't exist. If they did, they would have saved his wife as well as all those innocent lives that day.

As far as he was concerned, the superheroes were just as rotten as the supervillains. Both profited from the sufferings of commoners.

"Papa, I want to see that hero" as soon as she said these words, there was a flash of lightning and a roll of thunder

"I wish I get to see the hero" the little girl copper her hands, closed her eyes, and prayed looking up

Knock!

Knock!

Knock!

The little girl's eyes abruptly opened as her face brightened as though someone lit a candle inside her head,

"PAPA THE HERO!" the little girl shouted with uncontrollable joy. She believed her wish had come true.

On the other hand, Timothy lost the color of his face. He tightly held Sheryl while walking towards the door,

"It's the hero papa"

"Shh," Timothy placed his finger on her lips,

"Who is there?" Timothy shouted,

"Sir…We need your help" Timothy's body slightly loosened up when he heard a gentle voice of a girl,

"Papa the hero needs our help" Sheryl whispered.

"SHERYL!"

Timothy did not expect Sheryl to suddenly jump out of his arm. Before he could grab her, the little girl had already reached the door and opened it just to see not one but two figures standing at their doorsteps.

"Sir, can we come inside? We need your help"

Timothy frowned looking at the girl and the guy standing beside her. The girl looked gentle, sweet, and warm while the other looked exactly opposite to her.

"The forge is right there If you need shelter from the rain," Timothy pointed the shelter to them,

"The sooner you help us, the sooner we'll leave you alone Timothy" Timothy saw the youngster coldly speak these words,

"Sir we can pay you handsomely for your help, please just let us inside '' Sarah quickly opened the sack and showed Timothy the sparkling etherials in the sack. She did not want Draven to hurt this father and child so she pleaded with Timothy to let them in.

"Papa" Sheryl gave Timothy puppy eyes. Though it was cute and melted his heart, it wasn't enough for him to let these strangers in,

Seeing the reluctant look on Timothy's face, Sarah forcefully entered the house,

"HEY!" Timothy tried to stop but his body froze when the youngster whispered in his ears,

"I killed Scarface"

Timothy's body froze. His mind subconsciously moved his arms to pull Sheryl closer to him,

"Are you the hero who slew the monster?" Sheryl meekly asked Draven.

Sarah was surprised to see him smiling,

"Yes. Now your papa is going to help me slay more monsters"

"Really?!" the girl bounced up and down joyfully. Her innocence and resemblance to his little sister warmed his heart.

"Shall we go to your forge Timothy?" Draven placed his hand on Timothy's back, giving him a nudge in the direction of the forge.

Timothy's legs automatically walked toward the forge. If what the youngster said was true, he has a killer in his house who massacred Scarface's brutes and brutally murdered one of the dangerous supervillains in Veland.

He wanted to keep his daughter safe no matter the cost. He didn't dare to say no to a man who could kill him before he could scream for help.

"I will not harm you or your daughter Timothy. Unless you give me a reason to"

The little girl didn't hear what the hero was telling her father.

"What do you want?" asked Timothy on their way to the forge.

Instead of answering, Draven silently walked beside Timothy to the forge.

They entered the forge through the door of an empty gloomy room. As soon as Draven opened the door he was welcomed by a simple forge with a shed with a clay fire pit, a bellows, a quenching tub, an anvil, and a range of hammers, tongs, and other tools.

Standing in the forge, Draven asked Sarah to pull down the rolled-up leather to cover the forge so no one would see what was going on inside.

Only after Draven confirmed the forge is covered up, he took off the drenched robes to reveal the Black Knight's armor he wore beneath,

As soon as Timothy laid his eyes on the shiny dark armor, he was stunned,

"Black Knight's armor"