Dark Guardian

The Silent Protector

Authors Note: I will not promise you redemption, healthy relationships, or heroic victories. What I will promise is Darklina end game

Trigger Warnings: Stalking, Murder, Unhealthy Relationships, Manipulation, Lying, Dark, Angst, Dubious Consent in chapter 5 due to identity issues (Alina doesn't fully know who Sasha is).

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They tried.

They failed.

He had given them fair warning, more than they deserved after the sins they had committed. Sins against him. He had given them chances (so many chances, for her sake, not theirs - never theirs). He had even tried to compromise, lowering himself to their level of petty bargaining.
And still, they tried.

Did they not know what he was? What he was capable of? Were they that arrogant to think he could be conquered, that he would stand by while they took what was his?

Heaven would learn to fear his name as the Underworld did. Everyone would learn to. And never would anyone try to come between them again.

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The beginning

Chance brought them together that summer's day in the forest.

It had been a long time since Aleksander had wandered the Aboveworld, too long perhaps. Everything had changed since his last visit.

Where he rested, there had once been an impact crater, surrounded by deserts of black ash that bore nothing. Now, the crater was buried under a lush green forest. At some point a cathedral had been erected over it, but now it was nothing more than a brittle broken skeleton, an echo of its former glory.

Nothing was as it had once been.
The physical evidence of his Great Fall, forever gone.

Aleksander closed his eyes, leaning back against an ancient weeping willow. His large wings - as black as a starless night - were folded neatly behind him, cushioning him from the rough bark.

It was quiet, peaceful. The setting sun warmed his skin. Not a bird nor cricket dared chirp or squeak. Not even the winds grew stronger than a whisper against his skin.

He found himself dozing off. Content and relaxed... until he heard it. Frantic footsteps, harsh panting, branches snapping.

A girl stumbled out of the tree line. Her clothes were disheveled, torn and dirt stained. Her dark hair fell limp around her shoulders, partly obscuring her face. She was out of breath, sweat coating her brow. Blood marked her cheeks, freshly drawn.

She looked wild.

She looked hunted.

The girl hobbled past him, dragging her left foot. She couldn't see him, no mortal could, not unless he willed it. Curiously, he watched as she limped up the broken stairs that led to the cathedral.

It could offer her no shelter, no protection.

She was half-way up the stairs before finally her legs gave out. She fell forward with a pained groan, lying unconscious on the stairs.

He sensed the men before he heard them. Hearts soured by deeds of cruelty. Murder, greed, and prejudice marring their souls. Aleksander can smell their blood lust, feel the unjust hatred pumping through their veins. They want this girl to suffer before they kill her.

Unconscious, unarmed and injured, the girl's fate is all but sealed. The men will torture her then kill her, before leaving the forest in jovial triumph - as if they have done something worthy of celebration. Her body will be left to rot, food for predators and maggots to feast upon.