Is John a hero?

I was in class one day, a month after I found out I was half spirit and human, Not like a dead spirit, more like a type of immortal creature. Some can be killed if the place they're meant to keep safe is destroyed. My mother, my real mother was the guardian of a forest in the east, it was destroyed when a village took its trees for lumber. I found out it was for a human Kingdom too, They took a lot of wood and it was enough to kill the spirit.

I was in a chair near the window watching the rain coming down the glass, it was a cold day you could see some snow in the mountains in the distance. I was distracted by my thoughts and I didn't hear Anith's announcements. She was throwing a huge ball (party) for her birthday and everyone was invited to the royal classes. including me, I was to bring a date with me but I never heard that right away.

Anith got mad and then she slammed her hand on the front desk to get my attention. I looked right at her and then she told me the news once more. "Can I bring Terra with me, and how well do I have to look, clothing-wise. " Everyone looked pissed at me and then Anith told me to look proper and she would send Terra a nice dress for her. I smiled and then the class was dismissed, I ran to the portal and headed home to tell Terra about the party.

When I got home Terra was just getting home as well, apparently, someone told her about the ball and she was excited about it. I was more worried people might try something with us, Terra ensured me that I had nothing to worry about. Since I was a friend of Loriz and Anith liked me I would be looked after. We talked about when it was and how I would stick out a bit, I didn't have any nice clothes but for my school clothing.

I was wondering where I should get clothing, Terra's mother recommended to me a shop near the castle. I still had a bunch of money from my mother so I went to the shop with Terra. We walked through the city for a bit till we got to the entrance of the shop. When we walked through the door I heard some old man arguing with a kid not much older than twelve. I recognized the tone of the voice but my mind was really fuzzy. Then the kid turned to me, my face was the same as when I was in another world, and the face staring at me was of my brothers. We froze from the shock but then He called out to me, or well he called for Jacob, the name I had but now I'm John.

"I go by John WhiteClaw, but hello little brother, " I had a tear running down my face, the shopkeeper then watched me hug Brad. We cried for a moment till I greeted the shopkeeper and asked for a moment. Terra told the man what was going on and he understood, I told my brother about my life here.

The same goddess thought I might need extra help so when Brad died as an old man, ( time and space work differently in the afterlife." She brought him and he lived in the city waiting for me, I told him about the ball and I told him about mother Calay. We laughed for a moment, then Terra came by with a dragon scale suit for me to put on. "Even though we aren't technically family anymore little brother, would like to come with me to the academy or join my love here," I said to Brad just to see Terra blush at what I called her, (My love) he thought about it and said if he could get into the knight's academy he would be happy with that.

This was a quick decision, Brad packed his things and came with us right before the party for Anith. I was getting ready in my new suit, I had seen it was made from a white slick like material. I looked pretty good for not being a royal brat. I looked like I was a Prince of some faraway land, with my dear Terra and Brother next to me it would seem to be the case.

The night was long a cold, the warm summer season was at an end and fall was starting. I could see my breath in the air. Brad who made me take him with me to this party wanted to know what my element was for my magic. He had three elements himself and they were good for making weapons of many kinds. He knew fire magic, light magic, and earth magic, this means he could use these powers to his advantage. I told him that I knew all six elements and I had made a couple of different ways to combine some of them on my own.

Terra who was on my right looked at me while we were looking right at the front gate of the Royal family castle. I saw a guard looking at us with disgust, he didn't like my brother and Terra for some reason. I looked over and saw everyone but a few people that I knew personally were looking at the two of them, Brad and Terra the same way. I was starting to get red hot with anger, till that was when Loriz the prince came to talk to me. He saw us in the middle of the stairs going up to the front door.

The Prince and I have become good friends and in some cases, he would ask for my advice. I would give him my honest answers the way he expected, most of the time he would listen to me, but when he didn't bad things happened. It had been a couple of months since I've been in school and a bit more in the city. About five months to be exact, I had grown to be a very dependable fighter and adviser when it came to commoner matters. I tried to help the lower class more than some people liked, so I made enemies with some officials, but the Royal family liked me.

Well when Loriz came to us, he had us follow him to the big table where his family was going to be eating at. I saw the King and Queen with Anith and their ten sisters and five brothers, all of which were older than Anith. The oldest was Loriz and the youngest was Anith, You could see that all of them were Dark Elven and some of them were too proud of their heritage. They didn't want anything to do with us, ( Terra, Brad, and I) they just looked away from us and ate what they had. Anith came around the corner and hugged Terra tightly and shook Brad's hand, "Hello, my name is Brad WhiteClaw, I'm John's younger brother nice to meet you Princes Anith." Brad said to her sounding like he was a proper royal brat. Anith and the others looked at me when Brad said brother, I smiled and waved it off.

We were invited to sit next to the family for dinner but I refused the offer, " I don't want the special treatment, I know I see all of you as friends but it wouldn't feel proper." I said to Anith and Loriz, they looked at me with upset looks on their faces. They understood my concern for standing out from the rest of the guests. " Why don't we have them sit at the table closest to us instead then?" One of the other siblings of Anith and Loriz said pointing to the table right behind us.

I agreed to that offer and we sat there for dinner, right before the dancing, I was right next to Terra when the king gave his huge speech for his daughter. " Thank you all for coming on this wonderful day, as you all know this is Anith's birthday, she is the age for marriage and we will be conducting marriage interviews during the dancing. So please eat your fill and enjoy yourselves." He said to the crowd then looked at me when he stopped.

If I knew anything, it would be when a parent wanted their kids to do something they usually had a plan for it. With these marriage interviews, this might be the reason for me being invited to the party. I'm a strong, smart fighter with a high amount of magic at my disposal, this would make me a good choice. I thought didn't see the Princess like that, I liked her yes and she was very beautiful, but my heart at the moment was set for Terra. I lend over to Terra and told her, "Let me know if the royal family tries to make you feel uncomfortable. " Terra looked at me then she saw how the king looked at our table.

Terra grabbed my arm and I noticed the look the King gave her, my dragon-like temper came up from deep inside me. You could see my body steaming from the anger, The king saw this and looked away from us. Then the night went normal for a bit, everyone shared battle stories and tales of adventure. Well, expected for me, I just sat back and listened to the conversations till the dancing started.

I was standing with our little group of three watching other dance in the middle of the room. Terra looked nervous and didn't know how to ask for a dance. You could see how shaky she was from wanting to ask me. I saw The Queen and King looking at me and only me, Anith was dancing with a bunch of people that she had never met. I looked at Brad and saw he was watching her like a hawk, " Well, my dear Terra, do you want to go dance in a moment? No sense in standing her and doing nothing." I said Grabbing Terra's hand and taking her out to the floor, We followed the rest of the dancers and spun around the room. It was a bit of fun and a chance for us, we had not gotten close like this ever and we could feel each other's heartbeats.

Anith was getting tired of the same old boring people she was dancing with till she spotted me dancing with Terra. I saw her watching us then I pointed over to my brother, She saw Brad in the corner of the room alone. He looked bored as hell and was about to get up and leave, till that was when Anith ran over and asked him to dance. "Hello young Whiteclaw, My I dance with you for a while, I see that you're here alone." Brad turned to her and saw she was being nice and sincere, so he grabbed her hand. Anith's parents saw her ask him and wondered why she would worry about this boy.

"Isn't that the younger brother of John? Oh I do believe it is my dear, Do you think she likes him, he does look strong like John and I here he might be going to the Knights academy after this weekend's fun." Queen Rosa said to her husband, who at this point was watching Brad and Anith dance right next to us. Brad seemed to be having fun, he was smiling and laughing while he and the Princess talked. I didn't hear what they were saying to each other but I knew it was good from Anith actually smiling.

Everyone else she's been around was boring her and she hated the way they all talked to her. Brad treated her no different than he would me or Terra. I stopped dancing for a bit and sat with Loriz and Terra away from the dance floor. Loriz turned to me and asked me, " Is he really your brother? Or is that what you call each other?" I looked at the table then at him when he saw me smile, " I found out I am not entirely human, my mother is from the old now gone forest of the west, my father is the same father of Brad. So the answer to your question is yes, Half but full at my heart, I ran into him a couple of weeks ago. I learned that our father passed away when Brad was young and the smith took him in and thought him how to make things." Loriz looked at my hands and saw I was rubbing them trying to warm them a bit.

I felt the air shift, then right when I looked at my brother I saw a white dragon heading for the Ballroom. I jumped out and cast a shield spell to block the full hit, from that I whipped out my sword I had hiding. The dragon looked like my mother but the feeling coming from this creature was evil. Its eyes were not like her's this dragon also had black spines on its back. I felt the cold air coming from them and then it spoke to me.

" Dear nephew, you're not ready for this fight back down," He said to me, the dragon was male and I didn't back down. " You should know who my adoptive mother is, backing down is not in our nature." I heard her voice in my head right before I charged at this dragon, " Don't he's my twin, If you kill him or hurt him It will affect me." Calay said to me, I pulled back to see everyone watching me, wondering if I was going to fight this monster. I looked back to Anith and she connected me with her telepathic magic to Brad and the Prince.

"I don't know If this is true but is it possible for people who are twins to be linked to each other? " I asked both of them trying to see if it was a trick, " Yes it's true, but only in rare conditions." Said Loriz telling me how to break them, I had to use a soul unbinding spell for a day. So I had to let the dragon through, I couldn't hurt my mother even if my evil killer uncle was the enemy.

The dragon went past me and headed right for Brad and the Prince, Time seemed to freeze for a second. I had in a millisecond grabbed that stone from aunt Emberz, I called for her and Calay not expecting to get both. Right when the dragon got in ten feet of the group he was hit by red and whitetails at the same time. Both Emberz and Calay came and saved the group and stood in between them. My mother looked behind and saw me in shock from the save she had pulled with her sister.

I fell to my knees and I had the thought of maybe I'm not a hero, maybe I'm just a coward for not stopping the evil white dragon.