“If you thought it was easy being the Chosen One, then why didn’t the Gods pick you, huh?”

  Raek violently kicked a rock from the street's side, his emotions moving forward towards the surface. None of the mocking and cockiness that most would experience, none of that. Pure annoyance, with a mixture of frustration.

  He hurried his steps near the Vanguardias Watchtower, as he took a left before the entrance, and was heading towards an open area of silver dummies.

  He unlinked his crimson cloak, revealing the black tunic underneath that was fashionably trimmed in gold. A gift of his status and power, but none of that mattered, not now.

  Wrapping it around a pole, he eyes the silver dummy. Laced and made in the strongest metals around. Raek was hoping it could take a beating, because nothing other than that deserved his frustration in the form of this.

  His left hand clenched, sparksdanced around it per usual. He walked forward, each step getting him closer to the dummy. Leading with his next foot, he pulled his fist back, and lunged forward.

  Sparks flew around the area, as the sound of thunder cracking loomed around. Smoke emitted from the dummy, a black mark right from it’s mid-region. However, Raek wasn’t done yet.

  He pulled his fist back, feeling the recoil. Even in this day of age, it’s almost a bit crazy to strike something made out of pure metal. But if you were frustrated enough like Raek was, you could care less.

  “Expectation this, expectation that. You think I wanted to be the Chosen One? If it was that easy as, win against anything that came across me, you think I wouldn’t have done it?” He asked himself, sparksdanced around his left fist once again.

  Less controlled and becoming wilder.

  He struck it again, and more sparks flew out. Smoke emitted more from it now, and the metal dummy had a considerable dent. Raek still didn’t care, this was the only way to vent out his emotions and feelings. To something that was neither sentient nor listening.

  The sparks faded away from his hand, and a bruise mark between his knuckles became slightly visible, but he could care less for all of that now.

  This wasn’t anger. It was frustration, and a well built up bubble of emotions that had never dared to leak outside of Raek’s character. Would be disappointing if he didn’t fall in like to the stereotypical child of prophecy.

  But then again, it was always about expectations.

  For as long as he could remember.

  He clenched his left fist tighter than he ever could before. The sparks flying off with much more velocity and ferociousness. A lethal attack, if this was posed to any creature, needless to say they would suffer grave injuries.

  Looking at the silver dummy one last time, the dent was still visible. Smoke still emitted from that same spot, Raek, posed to attack again, never did.

  The sound of the sparks died down, and his fist lessened it’s grip bounded by frustration. Raek took a deep sigh, and looked at the dummy.

  “I’m…I get nowhere with this.”

  He turned around, and walked away. Making sure to grab his Crimson Cloak off the pole before leaving the training grounds. The next spot that he looked for was none other than the Vanguardias Watchtower.

  The door opened automatically to his interest. It was a large building, and was only coined the Vanguardias Watchtower because for namesake, its iconic. It was recently renovated over the past year to include barracks and an entire training ground.

  Raek took hurried steps, entering a hallway before opening a door to his right. There were steps—stairs.

  He climbed them, almost in routine. This wasn’t his first time doing this, nor heading here whenever he felt these…overwhelming expectations.

  By the time the steps finished, he opened another door, the exit, and walked through it. There, the viewing was better here than it was over by the Chancellor’s domain.

  He felt the wind, his hair swaying slightly. His cloak fluttering along with it.

  He slightly looked up, and saw the night sky. Looking down as well as the the street lights turning on. People amongst who would turn on the mana-based lanterns, some even walking the cobblestone streets after the attack.

  It was the safety, and the faith in peace that what the Vanguardias stood for. They knew it was safe because they deemed it safe.

  Raek softly sighed, a common slip up here. Had he not hesitated to pick between the orb or the dragon, maybe things would be different. Maybe he wouldn’t have another soul-crushing talk with the Chancellor.

  It was just…something of the sort Raek had always gotten used to. A common mistake from anybody else doesn’t carry as much as impact as his mistakes did.

  If Raek messed up, someone could pay for it. Didn’t matter who, if he wasn’t strong enough, or fast enough, or cunning enough. Someone would always pay for it.

  And when he was told to be ferocious, be bolder, have more tenacity, it made him sick. Because in the end, he felt no different from his previous rendition. Alexandria. And when that happened, he felt the numerous other of expectations he also had to fulfill as well.

  He reached a point and sat down, his legs seeping through the metal railings as his chest leaned against it. He was sure it was sturdy enough to endure.

  The left palm of his, gleamed slowly. A pale grey color, slowly pulsed. Raek sighed yet again, and so, he turned his gaze to his left palm.

  A crescent mark stared back at him, it’s color obsidian. Etched onto his very skin, unrelenting, and never letting go. It was apart of Raek, and somehow, became more than what Raek wanted to be.

  He traced it idly with the thumb of his other hand, as if he could rub it away. Of course, it wouldn’t go anywhere. Not now. Not ever.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Raek…never hated the mark. The Chosen One symbol. No, never did for once in his life. It had never done anything to him that he didn’t get used to. But what it brought, and how it interacted with the world.

  That, was Raek’s problem with it.

  But for now, he would attempt to forget it. Forget that it ever exist, and whatever association he had with it. In some sort of…daydream, he always felt better for some reason when he did so.

  He heard the door swing open behind him, and with the sound of light footsteps, but he never cared to turn, as his gaze was still fixated on the night atmosphere of Aethyra, and all of its beautiful lights.

  “Raek?”

  A soft voice called out. He already recognized it, and he turned his head. Meeting one of his longtime friends and Vanguardias alike.

  Her sea-green eyes connected with his hazel ones. The slight wind between them made her pointed ears twitch. The elf had made her way here as well, to the top of the watchtower. Raek wasn’t sure if she had followed him…or she came here on invite. But he chose not to say anything first.

  “Have you seen Clovis? After what happened, I haven’t seen him earlier since.”

  Raek’s suspicions had died down. Not that Iris had followed Raek here because she was worried for him. Not like that.

  He waved his hand around, “He might be back at his family’s estate. You know him.”

  Iris slowly nodded, holding her hand close to her chest. She fixed her face, puzzled…but analyzing. Analyzing Raek. She had always naturally done this when she believed one looked way too suspicious for her.

  He chuckled softly, “Calm down Iris. I’m just up here catching the view of the city. It’s quiet up here, like my own little solitude.” Raek explained, turning his sights back to an Aethyra at night.

  “Care to join me?”

  Iris eyed Raek, narrowed down to his being. She wasn’t entirely moved.

  She took a few steps forward, “Is this another one of your pranks?”

  Raek shook his head, and Iris sat down next to him. The two watching the city in it’s quiet peace now. She had kept her knees up to her chest with her arms wrapped around them, the wind clearly getting to her.

  “Had to do a lot of damage control with Kaine, the Merchant Quarter wasn’t affected as bad as projected…but the Aethyra watchtower…” Iris trailed off, Raek noticed it, and picked up on it not too long after.

  “Yeah, Clovis after went to go wallow or something.”

  Iris’s ears twitched at the word, “Wal…low?”

  Raek nodded, “Yeah, means to like, camp up and be miserable by yourself or something.” He informed her, and she shortly nodded.

  It was during certain times like these where Raek had originally forgotten about Iris’s origins. An elf yes, but she was never really from Aethyra, or Delpharia, or Aegis the country as a whole.

  Even more so that this language wasn’t even her first language. Speaking primarily Elven for most of his life, Raek could still remember times at the academy when her accent was quite heavy. It was funny, but it dissipated over the years.

  Now, was nothing short of a 19-year-old fully comprehending the language, except for some words that still sounded foreign to her.

  As the two continued to watch the city in silence, now moreso in the presence of each other.

  Raek’s frustration died down now. Even moreso thanks to Iris’s presence. Her tranquil and calm demeanor, minus the occasional flare up, proved to be soothing.

  Escape the expectations of reality, and come up here with a friend. If only Raek could do this forever. Unfortunately, this is anything but the truth.

  For a moment, he had forgotten why he had even came here.

  Iris continued to look at the city, looking at it’s other monuments of Aethyra. Her face lit up slightly, as if just remembering something.

  “Raek.” She began, he turned his head. A soft smile gradually appeared at her lips.

  “Thank you.”

  Raek fixed a confused face, “For what?”

  “Everything.”

  Raek furrowed a brow, confused even more by these string of statements. Something out of the blue…usually made no sense.

  Even so coming from Iris? His friend? It was different when regular people of Aethyra or any city he traveled to thanked him. As the Chosen One, he’s probably influenced their life he’s not even aware about.

  “Well, I wouldn’t thank me for my performance against a Great Red Dragon. Uh…nothing to be proud of there.” He commented, seeing the remnants of the belltower discarded into rubble. Iris didn’t seem to care much for that however.

  “But…it’s something few would do in your boots, isn’t it? Not many live to tell the tale after an encounter with a beast like that.”

  Raek listened. Something few would do in his boots? He scoffed at the comment of it. If anyone was in his boots, they probably would do a whole lot better of a job.

  “I highly doubt it. Clovis seemed fine out there, but still felt like he could’ve done more.” Raek lifted his left hand, turning it to see the mark.

  “The port and the belltower is gone thanks to me and my decisions. And yet, here you are thanking me. I don’t get it.”

  He slowly became skeptical. But Iris continued to press on.

  “Which is what I say. Maybe, this was the best thing. If it was anyone else, and not Raek Ventus. It could’ve been far different. No need to…how does the saying go again?” She asked him.

  “Beating yourself up?” She followed up, and Raek nodded his head.

  “Ah, Iris. I’m not beating myself up. Just moreso…thinking. You know me as well as Clovis does. If I fail my job at being the Chosen One, things turn ugly quite fast. You know this.”

  Iris’s face fell, of course. Raek wasn’t wrong. There had been plenty…and plenty of events where he has failed early on. But Iris begged to differ. Was it really failure, for things out of his control some of the times?

  “It’ll start with the people, and then they’ll wonder why I’m not a carbon copy of Alexandria the Great from almost a century ago. Then comes the wonderful and achievable expectations.” Every word Raek spoke was clear with his sarcasm. It didn’t take long for Iris to understand he didn’t like the process of these things.

  “The Chancellor will call me up, give me a speech about being like Alexandria, being the strongest. And then…when it’s all said and done amongst the variety of things they’ll say to me, expect me to change overnight.”

  “All these comparisons, and yet they forget I’m still Raek Ventus.”

  His eyes widened, and he made sure not to look at Iris. He spoke out way more than what he think he would. It almost just…came out naturally. Halfway he must’ve assumed that he was still alone here, speaking to himself.

  The frustration from earlier might’ve died down, but not his personal feelings about it.

  In hopes of not making Iris worried, he attempted to switch the topic of the conversation as fast as he could, but Iris picked up on his earlier statements.

  “But forget about that, I–”

  “Really?”

  Raek turned to her, and furrowed a brow. Her genuine questioning of everything he said had caught him off guard. He had figured that Iris would just gloss over it, or even better, agree.

  “Did you really hate all of the comparisons…and the comments?’

  Raek refused to open his mouth, not to answer the question, but to also refuse about speaking of this any further. He already talked to much about this…how he felt about his calling and the atmosphere of it all.

  Minute by minute, Raek knew he would be burdening her with something she couldn’t possibly comprehend. Only meant for him. She wouldn’t even know where to begin with the myriad of meetings that the Chancellor and Raek both have that are not about speeches.

  There, he sat. Not sure whether to answer or not. But for once, just once, he could try something different. Maybe, just maybe, Iris could see where he was coming from.