Nero Salvic~Memories of the Protector

Chapter 3

Later, once everything has calmed down again, I find myself crouched on the wall, trying to fulfil a role that’s already been taken, though if the judges had decided correctly, it would have been mine.

I am the only one fit to take the place of the Protector,  as I am the one who knows how to destroy them!

I was taught by a Protector! My instincts trained to perfection!

I stand and turn swiftly, looking back down into the village at the 5 year old boy who stand at the bottom of the wall.

He has crimson eyes with a swirl pattern beneath the left eye. Signature detail of Protectors. Red eyes that turn purple when someone tries to escape.

This child has the curse but isn’t affected yet, so I’m fine keeping watch for him.

I want to destroy him, but I can’t do that. I would be killed too, his instincts are naturally trained as he grows by the curse, he has the best potential skill with weaponry. On a level I could never hope to reach.

And if I attack him randomly, then I’ll be killed.

But if he’s asleep…

He’s a child, therefore he sleeps heavily, and his instincts aren’t trained to perfection, therefore I should be able to poison him while he sleeps.

That’s one of the many ways.

They say that it’s hard to kill a protector, but there are many ways.

They die of old age, kill them from within, or trick them into killing themselves.

How many times have I slipped into his house, come so close to pouring the liquid into his mouth?

Too many.

But I know the pain of losing someone, and I can’t bear inflicting that upon someone else.

I have a heart.

But it has grown hard and cold with rejection.

He looks at me curiously, with his childish innocence, and I just glare at him, showing him how much I despise him.

I grit my teeth.

“Hurry home kid, this isn’t your post yet.”

He opens his mouth to reply, but I don’t let him.

“Didn’t you hear me?!” I cry, “Fuck off!”

His lower lip trembles and he hurries back to his mother.

Why aren’t his family dead.

Has the Lord become soft? Is he so apt now as to let the Protector’s parents live?

Is he giving exceptions now?

I looked up to him, I was on his side.

Once.

But then he got someone to kill Miyuki,  the chosen Protector.

She didn’t want anyone else to be cursed as she was, there had been too many. So the Lord got them to do it quickly, and caught the curse, placing it in his chosen pregnant woman.

A friend of Maya, no doubt. Someone Priscilla and Annetta knew.

And wouldn’t dare hurt them?

Bastard.

I won’t inflict pain upon his family.

But I’m not afraid to inflict such emotional pain upon him, for it is only fair.

I have been planning for months, and have decided that the easiest way would be to poison them in their sleep, including the boys sister.

I don’t know when I will do it, but the plan always lingers in my mind.

That night, I dream of Miyuki.

She smiles down at me, her dark blue hair falling about her shoulder’s, she pushes it away with black-nailed fingers as her dark red lips move, speaking gentle words to me.

The bold colours stand out against her pale white skin, flawless.

Suddenly, shadows are cast over us and a large hand grabs her small wrist, surprising her, and pulling her away from me, I reach out to her desperately and hurry after them.

Many people follow them, including myself, older than myself by only 3-5 years mostly.

The oldest is in her 30s, I think.

I can see Krasia, 18, Chris, 19, Dragon, 19, Zecta, 20. And then there are Raven and Paul, her brother, 24 and 20. And then there is Harper and Jessie. Also 20.

Miyuki is too. Only 20 years old.

I’m 15 in this dream. It’s 5 years ago.

I realise what I’m dreaming about in an instant, but I can’t change these memories.

I call out for her in the dream, and she cries back at me, but the smile is on her face as she tries to comfort me.

It will be alright, her lips shape the words but I hear nothing, don’t worry. Please don’t worry.

But her eyes tell me otherwise.

Her eyes tell me something is wrong, that I should save her.

They flick from person to person, pleading for help.

But no one notices the look. Or they are too afraid to help.

I hurry forward, grabbing at the hand that holds Miyuki.

There’s a muffled yell and a bullet rings out, driving itself through my brain.

I squirm in agony. I’d never been hit in my brain before and I hurry to recover.

Someone lifts me onto their shoulders as I drowsily moan, and keeps moving forward.

Jessie…

I recover, and find myself amongst a crowd by the wall, I hear crying, and push through to the front, sweating and breathing heavily.

I see Miyuki in a cleared area, and a man in a dark cloak fighting her.

They’re on the wall, so Miyuki’s eyes have turned indigo, signifying that she is prepared to fight the man, as he keeps threatening to step over the edge.

It ends almost comically, and much too soon.

He trips her, so she slips and begins to fall into the outside world, unable to stop the inevitable.

She screams as her mind fights itself.

She doesn’t want to die, and she wouldn’t if she allowed herself to fall.

But the curse wouldn’t let it be so simple as to have exceptions in place for her.

She lifts her sword.

In a swift moment, blood splutters from her mouth as another painful scream erupts, and the crimson liquid sprays from a large wound in her chest, ripped the whole way along by her sword.

Her eyes scan the crowd in the millisecond before her death, and the indigo colour saps from her eyes as they close, settling on a pregnant woman nearby.

She takes her last breath…

And falls.