Protector (Changlix)

Chapter One

Having a mission was every hellhound's dream and for Changbin, it was no different. Ever since he was born, he dreamed of having the mission of protecting something or someone. Though, getting assigned to do the mission was only assigned when Kyungsoo, the ruler of hellhounds, deemed the hellhound trained and fit enough for their life long mission or missions. So far, Changbin hadn't been assigned to his mission, despite his endless training whenever he was awake. Today was no different. He looked at the training bots he was going up against, one he went up against a thousand times before. All day, he had been going up against it and hadn't expected anything different. So, hearing Kyungsoo's second in command had somewhat caught him off guard.

"Changbin," Donghae, the second in command, said, "Kyungsoo wants to see you." Almost instantly, Changbin's heart fell through the floor, though he didn't express it.

"Got it," he said. Walking past Donghae, Changbin made his way towards the gigantic building that Kyungsoo resided. To think that many hellhounds had walked the path up to the building and had received their mission. Now, he was potentially getting his, but he knew he had to wait and see what would happen. He first walked through the path between a row of dead trees that had been scorched by flames. The total number of trees on each side were eight, he counted as he walked. By the time he had gotten to the last tree on each side of him, he had reached the stairs. He took a quick breath in and began the climb up. With every step that he climbed, the closer he got to potentially having his mission that he waited and trained for. Going up the two flights of stairs, he was greeted with opened doors and Kyungsoo standing in front of it, a smile on his face.

"Hello Changbin," he greeted, "Just the hellhound I wanted. Come inside, I want to talk to you." He turned around and walked through the open doors, Changbin close behind. The moment he stepped into the gigantic building, the doors closed behind him. Changbin briefly looked behind him, seeing two people behind the doors. If he had to guess, he would say that they were guards or something on those lines. Looking forward again, he followed Kyungsoo down the entrance way and to the left, going straight down a hallway. To the left, he saw photos of Kyungsoo, his family and the rulers before him.

"After you," Kyungsoo said, opening the door to the office. Changbin walked into the office, Kyungsoo not far behind. The door closed behind them and Kyungsoo walked around the hellhound as well as the desk.

"You may sit," he said. Changbin, following orders, sat down on the chair in front of him.

"I'm sure," Kyungsoo continued, "That you know what this is about, so no point in slowly hyping it up. After some consideration, you are getting your very own mission. You have continuously shown that you are ready to have this mission and ready to put your good training to use. Are you ready to find out what your mission is?" Without even saying a word, Changbin nodded, a big smile on his face.

"Good," Kyungsoo said, opening the file in front of him, "Firstly, I have to say this. It is protocol. Once you hear what your mission is, you will go through the exit that is the closest exit and you will be near where your mission currently is. If your mission is to protect a place, you must never leave the grounds. If it is a person, you must make sure they never leave your sight and if they are out of sight, you must find them quickly. You must protect those grounds or this person with your life, even if it means putting yourself in serious danger and if others end up seeing what was happening. With that out of the way, let's see who or where you are protecting." Kyungsoo looked down at the file he had for the hellhound, reading the file thoroughly.

"You are protecting Lee Felix," he continued, "A university student, currently in his first year. He doesn't believe in the supernatural world, so whether or not you want to expose yourself to him is up to you. If you end up revealing yourself, do be prepared for his reaction, especially since he doesn't currently believe in the supernatural world. I know what I am about to say may shatter this little happy moment of yours, but since you are protecting a human, it needs to be said. Don't get too attached to Felix or at least try not to. There will be a point in which this mission ends and you will have to be assigned a new one, whether it be another person or a place. This is simply for the sake that hellhounds don't feel lost after their first human mission had come to its end, if they had a human mission to start off with. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir," Changbin said, "I understand."

"Good," Kyungsoo replied, "With that out of the way, I will show you the exit. Follow me." Both the ruler and the hellhound got up from their seats and walked out of the room, going down the same hallway they had walked down moments before. Whether it was the excitement of getting his assigned mission or if it was something else, but before he knew it, he was at the entrance of the building. The same door he had entered through opened once again, allowing him to exited it with Kyungsoo still walking with him. Changbin and Kyungsoo exited the building and walked in one straight path away from it. Other hellhounds that were around had turned their heads and watched as the two of them walked by. Changbin walked by them with pride in his step. The further they walked away from the building, the more isolated it seemed to become.

There was the occasional hellhound here and there but for the most part, it was isolated. Did every hellhound have to walk this far into hell when they were first assigned their mission? Possibly. With what seemed like forever, Kyungsoo came to a stop, Changbin stopping close behind the ruler. Looking in front of them, there was nothing but dead grass and a sky that was a permanent mix of red and orange. At least, that was what Changbin had first observed. Kyungsoo, on the other hand, bent down to the ground and had placed his hands on what could only be described as shiny squares with outlines of hands that only fitted Kyungsoo's. A faint green light scanned from the tips of his fingers to the base of his palms and almost instantly, an opening showed the way to the real world and out of hell.

"Good luck with your mission," Kyungsoo said, standing up straight, "I have faith that you will do great in this mission. Before you go, have a good look at this photo of Felix, just so you know what he looks like." He held out the photo of the university student, giving Changbin the time to remember the looks of the male.

"Feel free," Kyungsoo said, "To take the photo with you. But it's up to you. And so that you don't get lost in Seoul with its many universities, go to Seoul National University. As a final piece of information before you go, you will need to figure out his class schedule as that is the one thing that I do not know. While you may end up being in the view of the public when fighting of other creatures, try not to make it obvious when watching from afar. So, maybe like hide yourself or something like that. But, while that is my advice, that is up to you whether or not you take it. You are able to come back here if something has gone wrong or something like that. Good luck out there, Changbin."