《All Have Sinned and Fallen Short of Glory》


 Chapter 1: The Weeping Rooster

    The darkness enveloped the night sky as the moonlight shone on a multitude of buildings. The air was silent as most of the people had gone to sleep.


    Of the few who were awake, there was a leisurely figure walking on the rabble street. His face was completely hidden by his black hood that was attached to his short sleeved long coat. Belts and buckles ran across hisleather armor dyed in black. Despite wearing metal gauntlets and leather armored boots, not a single noise was made as he walked. If one was perceptive enough, they would notice not one piece of his clothes reflected light.


    But probably the oddest thing about the figure was no weapon could be seen worn in contrast to what he wore. Not even a sword.


    The figure stopped in front of a well-lit building. Clamor and chatter could be heard through walls from within. Looking at the sign hanging overhead, white letters spelling ¡°Twelve Chaps¡± adorn it. An image of twelve drinks piled in a shape of a pyramid was plastered next to the letters.


    Opening the door, the figure was met with warm stuffy air. Walking in one could see how crowded it was inside. People wearing a variety of gear ranging from heavy armor to robes sat around tables chattering away. None of the people in the building paid attention to the new visitor. This was a place where adventurers gathered so it wasn¡¯t odd to find people coming in this late to drink


    As the figure walked to the counter he could hear one of the groups on his left chattering about the latest news.


    ¡°Have you heard the news? That old crony died.¡±


    "HAH serves him right. Didn''t know how to run a kingdom anymore. Only knew how to indulge in pleasure and suck up to the rich.¡±


    "Reckon the newly crowned prince be any better?"


    "Helluva lot better than his father for sure," The group¡¯s voices was then overtaken by another group''s.


    "Have you seen the bountyon that newly appeared assassin?"


    "The one that wears a dog mask? Yeah, I would''n go after him if I were you. Heard he took down several A ranked parties"


    Upon reaching the counter the figure seated himself on a wood stool. "Give me your strongest," hisvoice gave away his youthfulness.


    ¡°Aren''t you too young to be drinking strong booze?" A weary voice chimed in. The hooded figure turned to the source of the voice. A relatively young man clad in gray heavy armor sat drooped over the counter to his right. Visible scratches could be seen on the armor signifying its usage. Around his waist was a long sword that hung from a sword belt. His most striking feature, along with his handsome face, was his golden hair.


    He was vacantly staring at a beaten up name tag that hung from his neck. On it was etched "Judas Cain." His other hand twirled his drink from its wood handle in a slow and steady manner. One could guess the amount of alcohol he had drank from his slightly flushed face.


    The hooded figure briefly glanced at the nearly empty bottle lying near the man before turning back to his newly arrived drink, "I could ask you the same thing."


    "Hah, I suppose you''re right," the person sadly laughed causing his golden hair to slightly sway. His bright blue eyes dimmed. After a short silence, the golden haired man abruptly asked, "Why do you drink?" His voice was slightly slurred.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    The hooded male paused a moment from the sudden question. He curtly replied, "For a special occasion."


    Suddenly looking up at the hooded man, the golden haired man asked, "May I inquire why?". For some reason, he couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    Slowly setting down his cup the hooded man stared at it before speaking, "Today is the day that my younger brother died one year ago." A hint of sorrow could be heard in his voice. Hidden even fainter was hatred. However, it was overshadowed by the joyous laughter in the background.


    The golden young man was stunned for a second after hearing the answer to his question. Facing the hooded man, he stammered, ¡°Please forgive my rudeness! I insensitively brought up something unpleasant for you!" His blunder seemed to sober him up a bit.


    The expression of the hooded man couldn''t be seen. In fact, he didn''t even face the golden haired man. Slightly tilting his head he asked while looking at his glass, "And you? Why do you drink?" His hand gripped the cup''s handle.


    The golden haired man suddenly paused. He turned around and slowly reached for the name tag around his neck. Rubbing the surface of it with his thumb his lips trembled as he gazed at it. His armor seemed to dull and rust as if sensing its wearer''s inner turmoil. The hooded man never looked at him while patiently waiting for the man¡¯s reply.


    After a brief silence, the golden haired man spoke. "I once had two outstanding people at my side, my father, and my blood brother. My brother was someone I had, by consequence, met in this very bar when I was running from my responsibilities. His skills as a mercenary were dazzling despite being only eighteen. He ended up saving my life. From then on I had sworn an oath to treat him like my own elder brother.¡± The man¡¯s eyes glowed with joy, ¡° My father was equally an amazing person. He was such a wise man. Tall and gallant his charisma knew no bounds. We often played chess despite how busy he was," The golden haired man laughed as he happily reminisced. But then slowly his laughter died as he continued, "but as father grew older and older, his wits dulled and dulled. It almost seemed like he was crumbling under the burden he carried. He grew to be more and more selfish. I couldn''t bear it anymore as I saw my father become a shadow of his former self," The golden haired man closed his eyes. "So before he did any more harm I decided to kill him."


    ¡°How did you do it?¡±


    Looking up at the wooden ceiling the golden-haired male nearly whispered "Despite how my father had mentally deteriorated, when it came to his own self-preservation he showed uncanny intellect. He always had powerful guards accompanying him and every little thing I did seemed to never go unnoticed by him. I could only wait patiently for the right time to strike. That opportunity arose when he secretly left in a carriage with his elite guards to visit a duchess from another kingdom. I sent the only one who I could trust with the mission to kill him, my blood brother. But¡­." the golden man trailed off.


    ¡°But what?¡±


    "I needed a sure way to kill my father. So just before my brother left with his companions for the mission, I handed an item to him. I lied that it was a good luck charm. But...but in reality, it was a device used to attract beasts. I had it specifically made so it only activated after a certain amount of time."


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°I could not afford failure.¡± the golden haired man choked ¡°I either had to pick between the lives of the few or the many. My choice was obvious. I could not allow my father the smallest chance to escape.¡±


    ¡°Do ¡­ you regret it?¡±


    The golden hair man sat in silence. He slowly twirled his empty cup as if it still held liquid. "Yes...but I wouldn''t have been able to accomplish my goal if it were not for my choice. Some may criticize me for my decision but life is not a fairytale. I can''t afford to gamble on something that has a high risk while hoping for the best.¡± The man hung his head in shame. His glass ever so empty. He continued, ¡°But then I began to slowly drink more and more. I have responsibilities to uphold but the only way I could do that was by numbing the pain, abit temporarily." Tears slowly trickled down the man''s cheek. His face was hidden by his hands. The flamboyant atmosphere behind him contrasted his emotions.


    Finally turning his head, the hooded man stared at the lonely figure silently. As if coming to a decision he quietly stood up and left. It was only after several minutes did the golden haired man recovered enough to look up. His eyes widen with shock as he looked to where the hooded figure use to be. New tears streaked down his face as he began to sob like a child. His sorrow rekindled by what he saw.


    On the counter next to the empty cup laid a beaten up named tag. Stabbed through it was a small dagger. It created a fissure in the middle of the tag. Despite being partially damaged the name on the tag was still legible. Etched on it was "Abel".

 Chapter 2: The Barking Dog

    Gazing at the starry night through a large window a young man sat with his arms folded across his body. The moon illuminated His haggard face as he sat rested on a chair. Decorating the room were fine cabinets and drawers. Behind the man to the right was a large sized bed. It''s sheets and covers were sprawled and unkempt. An enormous red rug imprinted with gold designs covered the center of the room. The night¡¯s cool breeze drifted in causing the red curtains to dance in the moonlight.


    Disturbing the night¡¯s silence, a long sigh was made by the young man. Despite being very tired he could not sleep. In fact, he had been sleeping less than his usual sleep deprived nights for the past few days.


    Every time he dozed off he had this bizarre dream. At first, the dream only gave him slight discomfort but day by day it had grown worse and worse. And today it gave a sense of fear. Just closing his eyes made him want to curl up in a corner and shiver in fright.


    The man shook his head causing his black hair to sway in the moonlight. He had to snap out it. He knew If this continued any further it will affect his duties. It was already hard enough to do his job. He didn''t need any more problems.


    Picking up the sword that laid next to him, the young man sighed once more but this time, with content. As always, holding a sword gave him comfort. While wielding one was more suited for his job, holding a dagger just didn''t give him the same sense of comfort. Of course, he was still proficient with it. He had to be.


    Thinking about it, five years ago when he was just sixteen, as a rookie adventurer, he would have never thought he''d be where he is now. He suddenly chuckled at his naive past self. He remembered how free he was back then. How he only needed to care about defeating monsters and turning in quests. Truly, nothing burdened him. Oh, how he wished he could turn back time to three years ago.


    Turning to look at the small desk near his bed, a small reflective light met his eyes. The young man was about to get up from his seat to retrieve it before a low growl sounded throughout the room. The man jerked his head to the source of the sound. A large beast, with its two glowing red eyes staring straight at him, laid curled up next to the wall behind him. It''s magnificent black fur reflected not a single light. It softly growled again.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    ¡°Orthus¡± the young man smiled faintly. Orthus, one of his most loyal companions. The other being Kerberos, it''s twin brother. The howls of these beasts use to strike fear in the hearts of many much less their terrifying wolfish appearance. The young man slightly laughed remembering how he met them during one his missions. After the event, he had fooled the adventure guild and registered them as slain. Even his brother was not aware of their existence. Although not always seen they were always by his side, never leaving, never desiring to. One could say they were forever bound together.


    However, suddenly a few days ago as well, Orthus had been acting up. She was always the smarter of the two, and usually acted with reason, but the young man just couldn''t figure out why Orthus was so nervous. She seemed to be always watchinghim as if shefeared something terrible was going to happen to heronly friend.


    The young man suddenly stood up causing the large wolf to be tense. It''s ears faced forward in alert while lifting its head. But seeing the young man walking over to it, the wolf somewhat relaxed and placed its head back down. Its eyes still followed the young man as he sat next to it.


    ¡°Orthus, what''s wrong girl? Why not sleep like your brother?¡± The man asked as he patted the wolf¡¯s large head. Hearing a sad whine as a reply the young man could only sigh.


    Still seated, he looked out the window. The night sky was still filled with the twinkling of the stars. Glancing slightly down, the enormous wall and gates of the ¡°Aurelia¡± Kingdom could be seen. Life like Statues of griffons stood on top of each tower poised as if ready to strike anytime. The walls were reinforced with magic to be able to withstand most attacks. Yet, even knowing he was safe behind the walls, the young man could not shake the sense of fear he had from his dream.


    An assassin?The man thought but dismissed that immediately.If there was an assassin lurking around Orthus or Kerberos would have notified me already.


    His eyes shifted to the wolf adjacent to him.


    "Hey, Orthus, do you think my dream means something?¡± The young man suddenly asked, " do you think a dog -"


    A knock sounded from the door. The young man frowned but replied ¡°Come in¡±


    ¡°That doesn''t look very comfortable,¡± the entering figure spoke with a surprised look finding the young man sitting alone on the floor.


    The young man just smiled faintly, ¡°Another one?¡±


    The figure hesitated a bit before nodding grimly, ¡°Yes, and probably the most important one¡±