The Rising of the Shield Hero

The Shadow of the Shield

The Past

The once red sky started to turn back to blue, everyone cheered, they had made it, another wave had been completed!

As the dust dispersed, a large crater could be seen, an impressively large, yellowy-green shield dome sat over it. A girl, a filolian girl banging her fists on the shield, trying to get in, "Master!" she cried out. As the shield faded away, she ran in down the newly formed hill created by the crater, "Master!" Her hair was cut in a short bob, silver in colour, light blue streaks throughout it, two yellow cowlicks bobbed up and down on top of her head as she ran, her eyes were hot pink. Her white clothes were in tatters and she had cuts up her arms and legs. Her white wings on her back covered in dust and dirt.

She stopped and looked at the very middle of the crater, where the corpse of a large beast lay day. She ran towards the beast, seeing two people standing in front of it, three other people laying on the floor, "Master! Lia! Are you both ok!" She froze when she saw the shield on her master's arm, the Final Shield of Wrath, "Master, you said you wouldn't use that again!"

Her master, the Shield Hero, turned to face her, sighing softly, "I am sorry, Fitoria, but I had to use it."

The other person who had been standing sat down on the floor, she seemed to be a Demi-human, a racoon girl. She looked like she had taken quite a beating herself, her name was Lia.

Fitoria turned to where the three people were on the ground, stepping forward, it was Spear, Sword and Bow Heroes, "A-are they?"

The Hero shook their head slightly, "They didn't make it, they wouldn't fight alongside me and so I had no choice but to use this shield."

Fitoria bowed her head slightly, then looked at the Hero, "Is it over?"

The Hero smiled, taking a step towards her, "Yes, it is. We can-" The Hero flinched and fell to kneeling, panting heavily, blood oozing from their wounds.

Fitoria and Lia both ran up to the hero, helping them lay on the floor.

Lia took hold of her Master's hand, "You need your rest, Master."

The Shield Hero smiled, shaking their head slightly, "N-no... This is the end for me."

The two girls started to cry.

They both opened their eyes as they felt their Master's hands on their faces, they both held onto their Master, "I need to tell you both something..."

They nodded slowly.

The Hero turned to Lia, "Lia... Since the day I met you... You have surprised me with how strong you have been. If it wasn't for you, I would have given up a very long time ago. Thank you for joining me and becoming my sword. I need you to keep all the Demi-humans safe, they will look up to you. Be their strength and keep smiling."

Lia nodded slowly, smiling slightly as tears fell down her face, "I will make you proud, Master..."

The Hero then looked at Fitoria, "Fitoria... You have grown so much since the day you hatched from that egg and now that you will be the next Queen of the Filolials, you will have a duty to the Filolials to keep them safe, to rule over them, which I have no doubt that you will be amazing at. I know that you will live for a long time to come, so I have a favour to ask of you. When the next Heroes are to be summoned, I want you to..." The Hero closed their eyes for a moment.

Fitoria gasped slightly, "Master..."

The Hero opened their eyes once more, "I want you to make sure that the next Heroes don't fight each other as these did. If they fail to cooperate then I was you to... To kill the Legendary Heroes so that a new generation of Heroes can be summoned. There has to be cooperation among everyone in the world to stop the threats of the waves, it's so everyone gets the chance to live another day. Continue this for all Heroes you see summoned in your lifetime, that includes the Shield Heroes."

Fitoria nodded slowly, "Of course, Master, I promise I won't let you down."

The Shield Hero's body started fading away, a smile crept on her face, "I am proud of you both..."

...

Years later, Fitoria stood over the bodies of the Legendary Heroes, blood covered her, "I will keep my promise.