The Hero's Conundrum/Chapter 13

It’s Bansao! When I saw him I was covered in rage and ran straight to him, grabbed him by the neck, he struggled but he was so weak, so slow. Joseph came running to me and grabbed my shoulder and I instinctively grabbed his hand and twisted his arm.

“What is the meaning of this Joseph?” I asked with anger in my voice, Bansao was trying to breathe and Joseph was in pain.

“Stop Marduk, I’ll explain” Some of his men started pointing their guns at me, the others were too scared to act, I released Joseph but stayed with Bansao.

“Why do you have Bansao here?”

“I can explain, let him go, I assure you it’s safe” I released Bansao and he fell on the floor unconscious.

“Let’s talk here outside, is a full moon and is a very clear night. I don’t want Bansao out of my sight.”

“Let me explain, one day before I left the camp I was hunting and saw a man that looked like Bansao hiding behind some bushes, I sneaked up on him, I hit him really hard on the head and I thought he died I started dragging him to the ranch you saw and suddenly he started moving I knocked him out and tied him up then brought him here in a hut I had here before this camp. I was going to tell you but the strangest thing happened.”

“This better be good Joseph”

“Listen! When he woke up he was confused and started crying. It was weird, I have never seen Bansao crying, I gave him water, he calmed down and told me that he was a monk from another village.”

“And you believed him?”

“Not at first but he kept talking and he told me that he lost everyone and everything when someone attacked his village. So I decided to keep him here see what I could learn from him.”

“Why did you keep that from me?”

“There was never a good time to talk to you and after all ended, I built my camp where I kept Bansao and he helps around and even scares enemies away.”

“Ok I trust you Joseph, you are a good man and I understand. Now I need to know, why do you have a ranch full of Bansao corpses?”

“What? No, it’s not full of Bansao corpses, let me explain. That ranch is the only thing left standing of the village I use to live in. Those corpses are my family and my friends, the ones some on the top are Bansao corpses. Every time I see Bansao alone wondering I take him by surprise, I kill him and drag him there. I know he’ll keep coming back but I was hoping there was a limit of how many times he can come back.”

“You know I can’t let you keep Bansao here, right?”

“He is not the Bansao you know, he is harmless, I feel a connection with him, he lost everything and I know how that feels.”

“I trust you Joseph but I don’t trust Bansao in any form, maybe he is lying looking for an opportunity to make his move. I saw him walking around aimlessly he was nervous when he saw me.”

“No, what happens is that this year has 13 full moons and is something he have been struggling with, that’s how I noticed this was not the Bansao we know”

“What does the moon have to do with anything?”

“Well is something a normal person wouldn’t have known unless he was a real monk. According to what he explained, a year with 13 full moons instead of 12 posed problems for the monks in charge of the calendars. This was considered a very unfortunate circumstance and it upset the regular arrangement of church festivals. He is planning a festival and it’s not going so well.”

Bansao woke up, got up and said “Joseph I told you this thirteen full moons thing was bad luck”

I couldn’t help it I was enraged as soon as I saw Bansao’s face I lost it. I pulled out my knife and stabbed Bansao in the heart.

“I’m sorry Joseph, I can’t allow this and this is for your own good. Let him die on his unlucky full moon.”

Joseph screamed as I stabbed him, he tried to stop me but he was too slow. He picked up Bansao’s body and told me to leave.

“Don’t get upset Joseph I saved you, I saved all of you”

“Everything was fine he have been her for years, you didn’t kill Bansao, you killed an innocent friend of mine.”

“You don’t understand”

“No, you are the one that doesn’t understand, you have changed, the war is over but you still want conflict. Remember this, you must have a limit on how many times you can die too.”

I left and went to my camp, was protecting them, saving them, I’m their hero, but they just don’t understand it yet. Sammael was there and he was waiting for me and told me;

“I’m too late”

“Too late for what?”

“To recover the person I was supposed to bring back to my place”

“To heaven?

“No, my place is not heaven”

“Hell?”

“No, you wouldn’t understand, but I understand now, I made a mistake and I need to go back.”

“No wait, you are going to leave me alone?”

“We’ll meet again, I know you still need answers and you will have them, but thanks to the way you are doing things, you won’t like them.”

“Don’t leave Sammael I need you”

“I can tell you one more secret, my real name is Azrael. Goodbye” Then He disappeared, just like that. Damn it.

Twelve years have passed, after Sammael disappeared, I’m the leader, no, the ruler of a great village now, they all obey me they all fear me, me, the great legendary hero that beat Bansao. Even Bansao men are my men now, they are even more loyal than my own people. I’ve caught my own people stealing and plotting against me and I had no choice but to make an example of them. My hair is now gray and Bansao have not been seen, either he really died this time or he is afraid. I wish I had done this sooner, but I wasn’t this strong back then.

It is a beautiful night tonight and I remembered that it was a year with thirteen full moons, lucky me. I went to eat and I felt a strange sensation, dizziness and nausea then my nose started bleeding, I have been poisoned. Bastards, after all I have done for them. I ran to the infirmary and noticed on the way that there has been an uprising and my people are fighting the former Bansao men. I can’t do anything, I’m dying. I reached the infirmary and started searching for an antidote or something, but I noticed the infirmary was rigged with explosives and suddenly the door closes. I fell on the floor dying and the infirmary blew up.