The Fallen One

by Tsunami Rain

Chapter 2 of 3 - The Champion's Guilt

Chapter 2 of 3 - The Champion’s Guilt

Ramses was the son of the creator of the great, winged minotaurs. He was destined for great things. He grew up training, in all manner of things. At the age of twelve he was sent into the wilds below the mountain range in the far North that his race called home, and was tasked to survive alone for a year; with permission to carry out in any means necessary.

Ramses was ready for the task, he sought out a cave in which to domineer, and ended up running into an Ursa Major. The battle for territory was long and arduous, but Ramses walked away and the Ursa didn't. He used that cave for about seven months, but was then forced out of it by a torrential downpour that flooded anything below sea level. Resorting to travel for the last five months, he set out to see what the lands past his mountain home would hold in the way of challenges. For five months he fought any creature that stood their ground in his path, each and every time he came out victorious, but with a new scar to tell another story. He came back home a hero, having earned his title, his birthright- Ramses, Demi-god and Champion of the Winged Minotaurs.

He lived under this guise for many years, fulfilling the deeds tasked to him by the gods, and besting any foe that jeopardized the good of his people. Eventually, he got cocky, and started looking for trouble, and fought tougher and tougher foes. When one day, he went too far.........

Ramses had upset the Guardians, those beings that guarded the border between the mortal world and the realm of the gods. He wanted to search the realm for an Agent of Death, but in doing so, violated the pact created between the gods and the winged minotaurs. The Guardians were relentless, not showing mercy even to the young, the old, or the disabled. Ramses, by the order and aid of his father, fled. He ran non-stop, until he reached the very mountain they now sat on, reflecting the past in silence as they did every night.

In the end, he was to blame. He let his achievements go to his head; he got too ambitious and he caused the fall of his race. At first, it was too much, he spent hundreds of years roaming the labyrinthian ruins of the great cities that once thrived with the everyday banter of thousands upon thousands of creatures just like him. But no more. No. Now, it was just he, Ramses, Champion of the Dead, Holder of Untold Guilt. During this time, many legends sprung up about the Great Minotaur, the protector of priceless treasures hidden deep within his labyrinth.

After tirelessly scouring the world for any sign of his son, searching everywhere except the very home of his creation, searching for centuries on end, Hapi found his son. He took Ramses to Dehenet, where he told the people of Hapi’s power, and grace, and love. He carved an eighty foot statue of his father, right in the middle of their town, and as the community grew, so did the legends that followed the winged minotaur everywhere he went. He just lived on, looking for an opportunity to redeem himself, to regain the respect he once had, and leave out the ignorance that tainted his life once before.