Hero

by W Borne

  “Very well. Our problem is indeed one that plagues us unmercifully. Travelers to and from our Village have been getting attacked and killed. Normally we would suspect bandits or robbers, but these are just killings. The travelers are slaughtered and their possessions simply left to lie with the bodies.”

  “Weird. Almost argues for a monster, then,” Jaxx said.

  Toxotis grunted in agreement. “I, ah, perhaps have some experience in these matters. If the goods are left, it is not human bandits.” He sheepishly grinned at Jaxx and Adrasteia at the admittance.

  The Priestess sniffed, “I’m sure you have plenty of experience with this area, Toxotis. I would not associate with your kind lightly, but you are favored by our Goddess and thus, safe within these walls.”

  Toxotis bowed mockingly, his smirk firmly in place. “Happy to be of service.”

  Adrasteia turned back to Jaxx, “I hope that you as an Avatar are more honorable than this bandit.”

  Jaxx held up a hand. “I am an honorable man, but please do not assume that all Avatars are the same. I am but the first of what will be many of my kind to visit this world, and not all of us are honorable. Please, trust us as you would anyone else: individually.”

  Her eyes narrowed: “Why would you tell me this? You tell me not to trust you?”

  “No, I simply say not to trust me solely due to my being an Avatar: judge my actions and decide for yourself.”

  “Humph – your words do you credit. Very well. Let us see what kind of man you are, Jaxx.”

  “I will serve as best as I am able,” Jaxx said with another bow.

  Quest – Find the Attackers

  Difficulty – Hard

  Discover what has been killing travelers in the area surrounding Delios.

  Bonus – Eliminate the threat yourself.

  Reward – 2500 xp, 5 gold, 500 reputation with Delios Village, Rare weapon (2H)

  Optional – Eliminate the threat alone – reward – 5,000 xp, 20 gold, rare armor piece

  Increased reputation with Artemis

  “I accept,” Jaxx said, as the window vanished. “We will find and destroy what has been causing this trouble.”

  Adrasteia studied him, then replied “Go with the Gods.” She turned and strode away, staff clicking on the marble floor.

  Jaxx glanced at Toxotis, who looked back impassively. “I understand if you don’t want to get involved,” Jaxx said. The other man brushed that aside. “I am with you, Jaxx. I owe you.” With that, Toxotis led the way out of the Temple.

  Once outside, Toxotis turned to Jaxx. “I don’t know about you, my friend, but I would like a warm meal, a cold beer, and a soft place to sleep tonight before we go adventuring.”

  Jaxx laughed. “That sounds great, lead on.”

  Toxotis turned and led the way down the street. He followed the road back out of what Jaxx was calling the Inner Circle of the town through the inner wall and back onto the main circular thoroughfare. Ignoring the catcalls of merchants, he strode about a quarter of the way around the village towards a two-story stone building with a stable and barn attached to the back of it. The stable was sandwiched between the inn and the inner wall. A sign out front listed the name of the inn as the “Centaur’s Barrel.” A crude drawing of a centaur with a wooden barrel as his body completed the sign.

  Toxotis pointed to the sign and laughed. “Barrel? Get it? You know that part of a horse is called the barrel, so…” Jaxx interrupted, “I got it,” laughing. They pushed their way through the door into the inn.

  The common room was a large, well-lit area with a smoky hearth in the center of the room, with a copper chimney suspended above it. Small wooden tables dotted the room, which were spread far enough apart that it seemed odd to Jaxx. You could certainly fit more tables in here if you wanted to. Looking around, the doors were all oversized too, wide enough to fit a horse.

  A few tables were occupied with a single person at each. They all looked up as Jaxx and Toxotis came in, then went back to their cups.

  Toxotis grabbed a table in the corner of the room and sat with his back to the corner. He gestured to the other chair at the table. “Sit, my friend.”

  Jaxx sat down and leaned his spear against the wall. He shrugged out of his cloak and leaned back, freezing when he heard the chair creak.”

  “Careful!” said Toxotis with a chuckle. “Those chairs are not meant for giants.”

  Just then the barmaid came from the back room and Jaxx realized the reason for the wide doors and extra space between the tables. She was a centaur. A brown and white patched horse body was on the lower portion, while a human torso attached to the top of the horse body where a normal horses’ neck would be. She was slightly brown-skinned in her human portion, with a bit longer than normal arms that looked strong. She was wearing a red tunic and obviously nothing on underneath, as her breasts were very large. A long, brown length of hair flowed down her human back, and her face was wide with a nose that was a bit larger than average. The way she held her head up caused her nostrils to flare a bit, which enhanced the “horse” image in his mind. She was magnificent, Jaxx decided.

  “Ahem.” The snort of annoyance came from the centaur maid, who was staring at him in annoyance. Jaxx realized he had been staring. He started to apologize and the maid cut him off.

  “No problem, we get a lot of small-minded ones in here who’ve never seen a centaur before. Used to bigots.” With that, she thumped two mugs of beer on the table and whirled, hooves clopping, and practically trotted back through the back door of the bar, tail swishing angrily.

  Jaxx sat there, mouth open. He couldn’t think of anything to say, and his mouth moved on its own as he tried to respond. He turned just as Toxotis burst out with a roar of laughter.

  “BWAHAHAHA” he brayed. He laughed until tears started rolling down his cheeks, all the while Jaxx sat staring daggers at him. It was a few minutes until he could speak coherently. “Oh Gods, the look on your face” he laughed.

  “You done?” Jaxx asked, trying to cover up how embarrassed he was.

  “Yes, lad, I’m done” replied the archer. “I take it that you have never met a centaur before.”

  “How’d you guess?”

  “They are good people. I know this one’s father well, he owns this inn.”

  “What did she mean about bigots?”

  “Well, as I’m sure you are aware, not everyone in the world is as tolerant as we are. There are quite a few half-human races out there – centaurs, giants, minotaurs, cyclops, mermaids, satyrs – all are people, same as you and me, just different. There are some who can only see the differences.”

  Jaxx thought about it and understood. Humans as a whole were naturally prejudiced against anything considered different or abnormal – Jaxx was just sad that it seemed to have followed them into a world that was created.

  They quickly drained their mugs, and the centaur barmaid came back out with two full mugs. She glared at Jaxx as she set them down, and was turning to leave again when Jaxx spoke up.

  “Hold, dear maiden, I wish to apologize. My name is Jaxx, and I am an Avatar only recently arrived in Olympus. I have never met one of your kind before, and was speechless before your magnificent image. Please forgive me, and bless me with your name.” Toxotis was smirking at him again.

  The barmaid blinked, “You wish my name? Why? And what is an Avatar?” Her tone was suspicious, but the flattery was having an effect. Unconsciously she was smoothing her shirt front as she waited for a response.

  “An Avatar is a visitor from another world, brought here to serve the Gods directly,” Toxotis interjected.

  “Is this true?” her eyes on Jaxx.

  “It is,” confirmed Jaxx.

  She studied Jaxx for a bit longer, then offered her name. “My name is Hylonome. Welcome to the Barrel, my father and I run it.”

  “Pleased to meet you, Hylonome.” Jaxx stood and offered her his hand. Even at his height, she overtopped him by several inches. She
stared at his hand for a second, then took it, glancing up at him. When she smiled, she showed big teeth.

  “Can I get you two anything to eat?” she asked them as she released Jaxx’s hand. Toxotis immediately answered in the affirmative, ordering two servings of stew.

  Jaxx lowered himself back into his seat, keeping he eyes on Hylonome as he did so. Beside him, Toxotis chuckled. “Forget it, friend, it won’t work.” At Jaxx’s questioning look, he said, “Humans and centaurs can’t…. you know. Wrong anatomy.”

  “I wasn’t thinking of that,” Jaxx glared at him. “I was just…. marveling. What an incredible woman.”

  Toxotis stared at him for a second. At Jaxx’s raised eyebrow, he explained, “It must be an Avatar thing or something. Most people…. have their worldviews and stick with them. And most of them don’t care for anyone other than human. View the mixed races as little better than monsters. Second class citizens.”

  “And you?”

  “I figure that anyone who doesn’t make a habit of eating humans, and follows the Gods – especially Artemis – is okay in my book. Are there centaurs that are assholes? Sure, same as any race. But I’d rather judge for myself, individually.”

  Jaxx smiled. “That’s the same way I feel. And while yes, as an Avatar, the ‘mixed races’ as you call them are unique to me, as we have none of them in my world, I don’t necessarily think of them as monsters either.”

  As Toxotis agreed, he added, “But again, as I told the Priestess, don’t think that all Avatars are like me. Some will absolutely see them as monsters, as less than human. In fact, some will think that anyone who is not an Avatar…. doesn’t matter.”

  Toxotis sat back. “What do you mean, doesn’t matter? Why would they think that?”

  Jaxx thought furiously. How to explain that some, in fact the majority of players, that came to Olympus online would view all of the people here as simply NPCs? That their lives were simply computer-generated fiction, created in a computer and extinguished just as easily? It was a problem that wouldn’t go away easily, if at all. And Jaxx wasn’t sure how his friend would take it, or even if he would understand it at all.

  “When we Avatars come here from my world, it is different from our current one. You understand?”

  At Toxotis’ nod, he continued. “Well, because of that, some Avatars will believe that whatever they do here doesn’t matter: that whatever they do, good or evil, is simply a game. They won’t think that it is real.”

  “I don’t understand. How would it not be real? And how would their actions not matter? There are consequences to everyone’s actions, good or bad. Are you saying that what you do here as an Avatar has no bearing on your world? That if you commit evil acts here, it won’t matter?”

  “To some of them, yes. And it is not because they are evil people – they just won’t view their actions as “evil” because they won’t consider this world real.”

  “Evil is evil,” Toxotis said firmly. “The Gods know that I have done my fair share of questionable things. But I always knew there would be consequences, and nothing I have ever done has been for…. for the sheer joy of being evil or hurting people. What you are describing….”

  Jaxx interjected. “Think of it this way – imagine the Gods take you to a world that they created, just for you. And they tell you that you can do anything you want, and whatever you do will stay in that world and when you come back, few people if any will know what you did. Rape, murder, whatever. Would you be tempted? If you knew that it was not real, really believed it, would you feel guilty for what you did?”

  Toxotis sat for a while, thinking. He sighed and admitted, “I guess if I look at it that way, it makes a bit more sense. In that situation, a truly evil man might be free to follow his passions. But a man who was not evil, but with no actual consequences, might act that way too. But he would not be truly evil, just…. what would be a good term…. experimenting? Doing things that he ordinarily would not do, simply because there were no consequences.”

  “Exactly. And someone truly moral and good, would act accordingly simply because that is his nature.”

  “I think I understand better how it must be for you, my friend,” Toxotis said. “But I will tell you this: I believe that you are a good person, both here and in your world. And I believe I know the solution to this conundrum that you have presented me with.” At Jaxx’s questioning eyebrow, he said “Simple. The Gods should give an incentive in the created world to act good, rather than evil. And make consequences felt if I would act as the latter.”

  “Thank you, my friend,” Jaxx said. He was a bit moved by the trust that Toxotis showed. He thought about the man’s solution. “That actually makes a lot of sense. And who knows, perhaps the Gods that brought me here have already thought of that. After all, I have only acted true to my nature since I have been here.”

  “And what is your nature, then?” Toxotis wanted to know.

  “Why, a Hero, of course” said Jaxx with a big grin. Toxotis guffawed. “That you are, my friend.”

  Chapter 13

  The next morning, after a hearty breakfast given to them by the centauress Hylonome, the duo set out from Delios. Over breakfast they had made a basic plan: to patrol around the village in hopes of either finding tracks that would lead them to the offending monsters, or perhaps act as bait for them and be attacked.

  As they left the gate, they set off down the road. They had determined they would travel for a bit on the road, then turn and begin to circle the village at a distance of several miles, crossing all of the roads leading to Delios and hopefully come across signs of their quarry.

  As they walked, Toxotis was silent for some time. Jaxx allowed the man to think quietly and simply enjoyed the scenery. As Olympus was a world based on ancient Greece, the terrain matched that country. Mountains surrounds them on all sides and the majesty of them still entranced Jaxx. The amount of detail in this world was still astounding to him. Perhaps someday it would all become old hat to him: Jaxx hoped that it would be a long time before the glory of the world faded in his eyes to the mundane.

  “I have been thinking of the scenario you presented me with yesterday,” Toxotis said suddenly, jolting Jaxx from his reverie.

  “And?”

  “I wonder if that is truly how you view this world, as an Avatar. That we are simply a made-up world that the Gods have made for your entertainment? That truly nothing you do here matters, and that it is really only your personal morality that keeps you from acting evilly?”

  At Toxotis’ worrying glance, Jaxx tried to reassure his friend. “That is not how I myself see it: I feel that no matter the absolute truth of things, that everything I do matters. That there are consequences to everything, even if only to myself. And I absolutely see you and everyone here as people, rather than made up…. automatons would be the closest word for it.”

  “That is reassuring my friend. In truth, a man’s character is defined by his actions. Yours, from what I have experienced, has been above reproach in all matters.”

  Jaxx laughed, relieved. “Thank you, I try.”

  They continued on for several hours, lighthearted banter from both continuing in a conscious effort to dispel the gloomy thoughts that had darkened their journey.

  Rounding a sharp corner in the road, Toxotis stopped. His body posture changed, hunching slightly as he examined the road ahead with narrowed eyes. One hand was on his bow, the other on his quiver of arrows.

  Jaxx stopped as well and reflexively tightened his grip on his spear. “What is it?”

  “Not sure. Feels different. And I don’t hear any birds anymore.”

  Listening intently, Jaxx realized as well that the background noise of the forest that lined both sides of the road had quieted. He looked around sharply, trying to find anything out of place. Nothing seemed the matter, just a feeling that something wasn’t quite right.

  Toxotis looked at Jaxx. “Let’s continue, but with you alone on the road. I will slip into the
trees and shadow you, just in case someone tried to ambush. Can you handle being alone for a bit? Toxotis flashed a mocking smile.

  Jaxx mock-glared at him. “Of course I can!” Knowing the man was teasing, he started walking forward as Toxotis slipped into the tree-line and vanished into Stealth. Knowing the man had his back, Jaxx unconsciously held his spear forward and ready as he walked. Following the road, he reached the next sharp curve. As he approached, he heard a voice yelling “Help me.” It was a female voice, and sounded quite panicked.

  Jaxx rushed around the bend of the road and saw a woman tied to an overturned wagon about 100 yards down the road. Over her head floated the name “Apphia.” She was pulling and twisting at the rawhide leather thongs that held her to the broken wheel, slipping in the dust and crying, continuing to yell. Immediately all thoughts of stealth vanished as he saw her: all he could think about was to help her. A small part of his mind cautioned him that this was entirely too much of a coincidence, that he should be cautious. But it was only a small part, and he rushed forward towards the wagon.