Southern Starr Publishing Southern Starr Publishing creates family-friendly books, comics, and faith-inspired stories with imagination, strong values, and cross-media creativity.
The Reluctant Hero’s Path
Reggie Hargrove had always believed in one thing: heroes were best left to other people. The kind with swords and brave hearts. Not people like him, who preferred reading about legends while sipping tea. So when a royal summons arrived, demanding he trek across the kingdom to recover a mystical Relic, Reggie immediately started looking for excuses, but none came.
“You’re coming,” Clara said, standing in his doorway. She wasn’t asking; she was telling.
“But I don’t do adventure,” Reggie said, holding up the letter like it might combust in his hands. “I do… quiet.”
Clara crossed her arms. “The king’s waiting.”
Reggie sighed. “Fine, but I’m only going because you won’t stop nagging, and because if I say no, the king will send you instead.”
Clara grinned. “Exactly.”
So, after a brief (and reluctantly packed) escape from his cottage, Reggie found himself journeying with Clara, Fenny (the thief who claimed he was ‘only in it for the loot’), and Percy (a former knight who thought a battle charge was the solution to everything).
The road to the Relic’s location wasn’t long, but it sure felt like it. Every step seemed to get heavier, and the forest they entered was darker than most places Reggie preferred.
“This is the perfect place for anything to go wrong,” Reggie muttered, scanning their surroundings.
“That’s the spirit,” Fenny said with a grin, already eyeing a suspiciously shiny rock on the ground. “Maybe we’ll find treasure instead of relics.”
Reggie gave him a long, doubtful look, then turned back to the ominous ruins ahead. A giant, moss-covered door loomed in front of them, and it didn’t look friendly.
“You really want to go in there?” Reggie asked, his voice trailing off.
“We don’t have much of a choice,” Clara replied, already pushing the door open. “Stay close, Reggie. You’ve got this.”
“Not helping,” Reggie muttered under his breath as he followed her inside.
Inside the ruin, they encountered traps, puzzles, and the usual danger-filled nonsense that heroes typically dealt with. While Clara expertly led them through most of it, Reggie, as usual, was more of a liability than an asset. That is, until the ancient Guardian of the Relic appeared, towering above them with eyes glowing like fire.
Fenny immediately reached for his dagger. “I’ll distract it.”
“Not again,” Clara snapped. “We’ll need brains, not brawn. Reggie, come on, think!”
Reggie froze. Think? Of course, he couldn’t think! He didn’t even want to be here! But then, as the Guardian raised a heavy fist, Reggie noticed something, a small, almost invisible crack in the floor beneath the Guardian’s feet.
It was a trap, not a clever one, but a trap all the same.
“Everyone, get back!” Reggie yelled, shoving Percy aside. He scrambled for his pack, pulling out a bit of rope and tying it to a nearby stalagmite. “If we can pull the lever just right, we can trap it beneath the stone floor.”
Clara’s eyes widened. “You actually know what you’re doing?”
Reggie winced. “Not exactly, but if this works, I’ll take full credit.”
With a tense tug, the stone floor shifted, and the Guardian’s form crashed down, caught in a deep crevice. It groaned, unable to escape.
“Did that really just work?” Fenny said, raising an eyebrow.
Reggie nodded, his heart pounding. “Yes. Now, let’s go home.”
The Relic was simple enough to retrieve after that, though Reggie couldn’t help but feel a bit smug. Maybe he didn’t have to be a hero in the traditional sense. Maybe, in his own way, he could do this without the sword, without charging headfirst into battle.
As they walked back toward the kingdom, Fenny slapped him on the back. “Not bad for a ‘reluctant hero,’ huh?”
Reggie grinned, looking down at the Relic in his hands. “Yeah, yeah. But don’t tell anyone. I’ve got a reputation to uphold.”
