Villains are People too: Prologue

Villains are People too: Prologue

Harsh events can make a person lose their faith and turn them into bad people. Zain is one of these people when his entire clan is wiped out with him being the only survivor. His friends from the other tribes that make up the kingdom they are a part of try to comfort him in his grief.

“Thank you, friends, for your concern. I just need some quiet time to myself,” Zain says before riding off with his black horse.

Zain rides to the ruins of his tribe and rests in the place where his house once was. While resting, he hears a voice in his head.

“You deserve better,” the angelic voice says.

“Huh? Who’s there?”

Everything around Zain becomes bright as if there were several suns in the sky.

“I’m an angel sent by God. This injustice done to you was a result of the kingdom’s corruption. They are the reason your tribe is nothing but ash.”

“I know there’s some corruption in the kingdom, but what can I do about it?”

“Challenge it. Go against it.”

“But how?”

“Here’s how.”

The corpses of Zain’s clan are raised from the ground.

“My family and friends…how did you do this?”

“Through God, anything is possible. Lead your tribe against the kingdom that wronged you and take, destroy, and kill if you have to. God will allow it.”

“Kill?”

“You can kill or injure to get what you need. Do whatever you want.”

Zain looks back at his family and ask, “Do they want to do this?”

“Your tribe will follow you no matter what. They trust that you’ll make the right decisions.”

Zain walks up to his parents and hugs them with tears in his eyes

“Mom…dad…I’ll make you proud.” His parents only look at him in silence. “Mom? Dad?”

“Certain laws by God only allows them to live and not talk, so, unfortunately, they can’t talk back to you. I do know they are proud of you.”

“Thank you. Where do I start?”

“Start with the most corrupted clan in the kingdom. They are the primary reason your tribe was destroyed and even had a hand in destroying it. Why do you think most of the riches that your tribe had went to them while you only inherit ash?”

“Because they’re the ones that have the responsibility for the possessions of the dead. My tribe trusted them with our possessions like the others do.”

“And yet, they keep most of it. A lot of it is kept in their houses as if they were their own rather than in places where their history can be remembered and honored.”

“They do seem to be doing that. What should I do with them?”

“Bring them to justice in your own way.”

Zain considers what he should do and decides to do what he feels is right. He brings his undead tribe to the one that has his tribe’s possessions and destroys them. He takes everything that he can especially a special half mask that his tribe had and wears it. In his thirst for revenge, he kills everyone in the tribe except for several key members. Zain and his undead tribe go to the meeting hub of all the tribes with his captives and possessions and makes the last members of the tribe confess that they destroyed his clan before cutting off their heads. He then drops off all the possessions the other tribe had except for the ones that belong to his tribe. Everyone in the hub is shocked by what they see and witness.

“God has given me the means to obtain justice for my tribe and others and I have taken it. Rejoice for God is good,” Zain proclaims.

Instead of rejoicing for God and Zain’s deeds, the tribes in the hub yell and attack Zain and his tribe and drive them out of the hub. Confused by this, he runs back to the ashes of his tribe to rebuild and let the other tribes settle with what’s he’s done. To his surprise, his fiancé meets him with a squad of knights to give him the news.

“Alina, it’s great to see-”

“Stop it, Zain. I’m here to tell you that the kingdom considers you an enemy.”

“What?”

“You will be attacked on sight if we ever see you because of your villainous deeds.”

“I brought justice down on that vile tribe as an instrument of God.”

“You don’t get to erase an entire tribe just because you think that.”

“Look around you. My tribe is alive again. Undead, but alive and we’re rebuilding what was lost. An angel came down and gave them back to me. I did this because I was supposed to.”

“No one is going to believe you.”

“What about you, Alina?”

“I don’t believe you. The Zain I said yes to wouldn’t slaughter families for revenge. Goodbye.”

Alina drops the ring Zain gave her on the ground and goes back to her horse.

“Wait, Alina!”

“Don’t. I never want to see you again.”

“Alina!”

“Back away from her, sinner,” one of her guards say with his sword drawn.

Zain lets Alina go as he picks up the ring and watches her as she leaves him until he can longer see her in the distance. He then hears a voice behind him as the sky brightens up.

“Don’t let her bring you down. Servants of God are typically persecuted by the people they love,” the angel says.

“What should I do to convince her that I did the right thing?”

“Do whatever you want to convince your fiancé that you still are the man she knows.”

“She’s not my fiancé anymore.”

“No. Whatever God has brought together cannot be broken apart.”

“You’re right. Thank You, God, so much for bringing this wisdom to me via this angel. Thank you, so much as well, glorious angel.”

Zain makes up a plan and goes through with it on his own. He sneaks into the town of Alain’s tribe and into her room where she’s still calming down from what she did.

“Zain?! What did I say to you?!”

“I’m here to rescue you from this corrupt kingdom. Come with me and we can change it for the better.”

“I will do no such thing! Now, leave before-”

Zain quickly cuffs Alain’s hands then legs and picks her up to take her away across the rooftops.

“Hey! What are you doing, Zain?!”

“Taking you away. It’s better for us to talk without everyone else around to bother us.”

“You…guards!”

The guards below on the town’s streets see Zain running across the rooftops and move to intercept him.

“Uh oh.”

“Give up now, Zain, and we might give you life in jail with a final confession.”

“That’s if they can catch me.”

Zain zigzags through the town’s streets, alleys, and people’s houses as he avoids the guards. A guard then trips him as he leaves an alleyway. Alain is dropped from Zain’s shoulder as he takes out his sword and readies himself for a fight. Guards surround him as the guard that tripped him moves in for a one-on-one fight.

“You’ve truly fallen from grace if you’re kidnapping women, Zain,” the familiar guard says.

“Valentino. I’m surprised you’re here.”

“Of course I would be. Alain needs a friend to comfort her especially after what you did.”

“I did what God willed.”

“You played god.”

“Let’s see who’s right by seeing who wins this duel.”

“Agreed.”

Zain does good for a majority of the fight with his slick movements, dodges, and counterattacks, but lets his confidence get the better of him leading to Valentino getting the upper hand. When the duel seems won by Valentino, Zain goes to pick up Alain and puts his sword to her throat.

“I’m not going to let your dirty tricks deprive me of my victory,” Zain says.

“Losing faith in God’s ability to get you through the fight, huh?” Valentino asks.

“I haven’t lost my faith. In fact, my faith has never been stronger. You better let me go with Alain. If you have faith, then you know that I won’t harm her. I just want to privately talk to her, so I convince her of the truth.”

“Stop this, Zain!” Alain says, “You’re not the same person I loved. I don’t even know you anymore! You’re evil!”

“Evil…”

Hearing these words makes Zain drop his guard enough for Alain to get out of his grip.

“Show no mercy to this criminal,” Alain says to the guards.

With the guards converging on him, Zain whistles for his horse and undead backup that breaks through the guards and rescues Zain. Once he goes back home, he falls to the ground and wonders what to do.

The angel comes to him again and says, “You see what that corrupt kingdom has done to your loved ones. It corrupts the ones that it hasn’t killed.”

“I’m going to make them all pay and bring them to justice.”

“You have been blessed by God to carry out this sacred duty. The fates of everyone in the kingdom is already sealed. Do what you want with them.”

“Yes. I will bring them all to justice.”

Zain readies himself for the duty given to him by the angel. He gets his undead tribe armed, his home built into a fortress, and his equipment fixed then rests to prepare himself for the long quest.

The Beginning