Betrayal of the Heart

Chapter 5 Arne

"Papa!" a young child ran to his father as he came home, arms out ready for a hug. His father looked down at his son with an eyebrow raised and turned him around.
"Hello son" he said patted his shoulder. The boy pouted and looked up at his father, "I missed you" the boy said happily.
"How is your training going?" He asked walking past his son and putting sword on the rack by the door.
"Good.." the young boys voice sounded a little defeated.
"That's good" the father said, ruffling the child's hair before walking off the find his wife. The young boy stood in the entry way with a sad expression on his face.

"Strike faster Arne!" His father yelled from the stands. Sweat dripped down his face as he battled with a knight, no matter how hard he tried the knight kept blocking all his hits. "Shit" Arne mumbled, he could feel the pressure of his father watching. Known through out the lands as a hero, saving kingdoms, defeating monsters. Arne could only dream of one day following in his father's foot steps. The clanging of swords echoed through out the arena, this was his test before he could start training at the academy. Hit after hit was blocked until the knight finally parried him, knocking Arne's sword out of his hand and moving his blade to his neck. Arne stood there in defeat, his eyes went to the stands where his father sat. Shaking his head in disappointment he got up and left.
"You did good boy, don't get discouraged. You lasted the longest out of all the recruits, the academy would be glad to have you" the knight said dropping his blade. Arne had been accepted but he still felt sadness in the pit of his stomach.

"I thought I trained you better then that!" His father yelled when he got back home.
"They are trained knights, they have years of experience" Arne tried to defend himself but his father didn't listen.
"And you had me to train you. I am so disappointed in you, you should have done better" his father said before storming out of the room. Arne clenched the handle of his sword tightly, 'I'm a failure'

Arne entered the academy at the age of 14, the youngest to ever get accepted. He passed with honors, best in his class and yet he could never gain his father's approval. Nothing was good enough for him, Arne wasn't good enough for him. Even though he was his father's disappointment he never let that stop him from his goal, he was going to be a famous hero, saving lives and helping those in need just like his father. On his 18th birthday, he decided it was time. He packed a few essentials alongside his grandfather's sword that he got just before he died and head out to save lives and start his journey to becoming a legend.

Screams echoed in the distance, finally his first battle! Arne ran to the sound to see a tipped over carriage and horse carcasses littering the ground. Another scream echoed through the forest, 'there you are' Arne thought as he charged into the woods. Three orcs circled around a young couple who sat on the ground holding each other.
"You there!" Arne yelled grabbing their attention. The orcs turned and smirked seeing the lone man, bright shiny armor.
"Look what we got here" one of the orcs grunted.
"A wannabe hero" the other one laughed.
"Let me kill him, you guys got the last two" the third orc said raising his axe onto his shoulder.
Arne unsheathed his sword and used his hand to motion at the orc to come at him, a cocky smile on his face. The orc laughed and charged at him, swinging his axe. Arne dodged it by rolling by him, using his sword to slice into the back of the orcs knee causing him to drop down. He quickly got up from the roll and jumped at the orcs back, jamming his sword through the orcs thick skin and going out the other side. The orc dropped instantly to the ground dead.
"You little shit" one of the orcs said tackling Arne to the ground, the second orc ran and grabbed Arne as he was down, pinning his arms to the ground. The first orc start punching him, denting his knew armor. Arne used his legs to knee the orc, wrapping his legs around him. Twisting his body he managed to flip the orc off of him and get his arms out of the other orcs clutches. Pushing himself up he propels himself towards the dead orc and grabs his sword from the body.
"Looks like this young hero is a little smarter then the last ones, I'm impressed" the orc said smirking.
"You have no idea" Arne said cockily. One of the orcs drew his sword and started fighting Arne, the second orc walked over to the two people who were still on the ground. Grabbing the woman by the hair and lifting her up caused her to scream, the scream distracted Arne enough for the Orc to get the upper hand. He stabbed his sword at Arne's chest, luckily the armor held up and didn't break but it winded Arne and caused him to fall back from the impact. The orc stood on Arne's hand making him let go of his sword from the pain. Laughing, the irc grabbed Arne and held him up, grabbing his face to make him watch the other orc.
"This is what happens when little boys try to play hero" the orc whispered as he watched with Arne. The woman screamed as she was roughly shoved to the ground, the orc lifted his leg and slammed his foot into the woman's head, causing it to pop like a grape. The man she was with cried out as Arne struggled to get out of the orcs grasp.
"Stop!" Arne yelled but it just made the orcs laugh harder. The man was grabbed and held up in front of the orc.
"Thank this hero for coming to 'save the day'" he order the man.
"T...thank you for all of this" the man said, tears streaming down his face knowing what his fate was going to be. Arne managed to one arm free and elbowed the orc that held him. It loosened the grip enough for Arne to break free but it was to late. The other orc held the mans held and slammed in into the ground repeatedly, even well after he had died. Arne grabbed his sword and with one elegant swoop managed to behead the orc who held him. His chest raised and fell as his breathing became ragged.
"You Monster!" Arne yelled as he ran at the last orc. For a split second the orc looked fearful, he didn't expect Arne to be able to escape. Arne's sword sliced through the orc as easily as a hit knife through butter, the power Arne put into his swing was enough to chop the irc completely in half. The orc's body fell to the ground as Arne stood there with raspy breathing. His grandfather's sword fell from his hands and hit the ground beside him. Falling to his knees he held his head in his hands.
"I was not good enough" his father's words echoed through his mind. 'Just give up, you will never make it as a hero' 'you are not good enough' 'you are a disappointment'
"Noooo!" Arne's scream echoed throughout the deadly silent forest, bodies lay surrounding him.