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Warm spring breeze was blowing through the outskirts of Kanterbury Kingdom. Bringing the scent of newly bloomed flowers to those who were lucky enough to smell it. That included a certain teen, Knight. It was a nickname the villagers had gave him after the boy expressed his desire to be apart of the Guardians of the Kanterbury Kingdom.
Now that particular kid, was 18 years old. Despite his dumb looking appearance, he wasn’t exactly a hammer per say. Putting effort in both his physical training and studies due to the requirements of the guardian entrance exams, he’s basically the current paragon of a hardworking village boy that you usually see in clichés.
“Working hard again today, Knight?” A villager asked as she passed by. He nodded mutely, dealing another attack on the training dummy in front of him with his beginner sword. “That lassie is lucky to have you as her partner” at that Knight actually ended up missing his target by a long shot.
“Oh my, did that startle you. My my, you almost look like my drunk patrons with how red you are Knight.” Due his embarrassment, he tried to block out her words as he pulled his sword out of the dirt. “There she comes…” the villager looked towards a certain blond girl coming towards them, of course Knight followed her line of sight, gaze softening.
“I’ll leave both of you to it then, do stop by the tavern for dinner later if you feel like it” and off she went. Knight moved to a shaded area before shifting into a sitting position as he waited for the other blond, pulling out a cloth to clean his less than pristine sword. He has no one to blame but himself for that though.
“How was today’s progress?” She sat down next to him. Placing the picnic basket in front of them. “My accuracy somewhat improved, and so did my attack power. I probably need to get more targets and better training dummies though.” He looked at her rather sheepishly.
“So, you’re going hunting?”
“That’s the plan at least. Don’t give me that look, I need to get money somehow. I’ll be fine, don’t worry”
“Let me give you something at least, close your eyes first”
“Are we actually doing this, we’re already 18 this year, you know” in spite of his words, he closed his eyes regardless. Feeling metal on his skin he was tempted to just open his eyes there and then but knows better than to upset the person he’s courting.
“You can open your eyes now.”
“Hmm… wait this…”
“You better be grateful; do you know how hard it was to get a high priest to agree to bless it.”
“This… this is 5-star grade item! It must have costed a fortune. I- I can’t just take this.” On his neck was a Necklace of Blessing, it wasn’t a particularly extremely rare accessory but that doesn’t mean it was something just anyone can get.
“Promise me to always wear it, for my sake. I can’t be married to a dead body.” He had the decency to laugh at that. Hand tugging on hers, he left a quick kiss on her knuckles. “You have my word, milady.”
“I’m assuming the high priest you asked to bless the necklace is the same high priest that you keep telling me to meet?” Knight asked, head shamelessly on the lap of his beloved.
“What gave it away?”
“That’s the only religion you talk about. If you trust them that much then I’ll consider checking it out. No promises though.”
“I’m sure you would like it”
“Once I’m a guardian, I’ll make sure to pay you back for all of this. So, for now, thank you for just being by my side.”
'Ever since she gave me this necklace, her skin colour changed drastically.. is it the effects of wearing this.. I should give it a test run tomorrow.. maybe go to town first and see if other people looks different.. and maybe go hunting afterwards. Yeah, that would be good.’ Or so what Knight planned out in his head before going to bed.
'That was the 20th person I met today, everyone looked no different, then is it just her? Illusion magic? Can she even do magic? Even if she does, why use it? Does she have something to hide?’ Knight wanted to punch himself for thinking that.
‘No no, she must have her own reasons for that, maybe to avoid unpleasant stares? That skin colour isn’t common for humans to have so it’s not a surprise she would hide it. I do wish she would’ve told me, maybe someday she will... it’s not like I would treat her differently, she would still be the same person to me… .' His thoughts continued on as he followed the familiar trail, deeper into the forest.
‘Today sure was lucky, I managed to get a lot of coins since there were a bunch of slimes in the area but thanks to the necklace it wasn’t that bad. I should get something for her later to make up for it.’ He grinned at the thought. That is until he smelt the ash in the air.
“Fire? Here?” he scanned the tree line, eyes going wide as he pinpointed where the source was. Feeling his heart thumping faster than it should, he dashed through the trail. His loot dropped and long forgotten as adrenaline coursed through his veins.
‘Please be safe, please be safe’ was the phrase he had on repeat in his mind. He wasn’t convinced, not by the size of the smoke that he saw but he prayed regardless. Wishing for a faraway miracle.
But miracles seldom happen.
In front of him was a blazing inferno, everything was consumed by fire. ‘Tch, I can’t even get close. But she’s still in there. I need to save her.’ His mind went on overdrive to calculate the quickest route to his target location with the least fire.
‘Got it.’ Executing quick maneuvers that were only possible due to his training, he closed the gap to the door. “If you’re behind this door, back away!” with that as the only warning he kicked the door down. Letting out more smoke from inside, making him cough as it passed him.
And he saw her, unmoving under a pile of rubble. ‘I need to get her out of here’. Regardless of his wish, fate had other plans. Before he could manage to get closer to her, the roof collapse, preventing him from proceeding with his rescue plan.
“Just go. Leave me” it was her voice. It was soft, weak. Nothing like her, but hers all the same.
“I can’t do that” he continued to dig through the rubble, ignoring the flames eating up his glove then the skin of his hands.
“You need to be alive to save more people as a guardian. Don’t waste all your effort just to die saving one person”
“I-” he let out a curse as more of the place started to give away on itself, forcing him to back away. As he got himself out, the whole structure fell into ruin, and he felt a part of him went down with it.
His cheeks were wet, he didn’t know if it was just a reaction to the heat or the fact that he was unable to save the person he cherished the most in this his life. Sadness. Grief. Frustration. Everything mixed together. His exhausted mind only hand one word on repeat as the flames continue to eat everything.
“No”
“No no no no”
“NO!!”
He woke up with a jolt, chest heaving for air. Only after realising that he was in the resistance camp had the memories of the previous day came crashing back in. Catching his bearings, he sat up straight, body drenched in cold sweat from the experience he just had. Face buried into his open palms.
“A dream... no that was more like a nightmare than anything. Guess the news that I got from the princess yesterday allowed some old memories to resurface.”
“. . .”
“Pathetic.” He almost snarled. “There’s no use overthinking it, the past is in the past. Get over it. You’re no use to the princess if you’re distracted.”
Feeling the familiar cold chain around his neck, he pulled it out from his shirt gently. Hand enclosing over one of the few things tethering him to this reality, “I miss you so much” his words were barely a soft whisper. “But I’m glad, you didn’t need to see the current state of this world.”
Talking to himself like this, Lorraine would have looked at him weirdly, “You even talk weirdly after waking up” is what she might have said if he had done this in front of her. He couldn’t help remembering the whole Inn fiasco with the gnomes, ants and even the fairy. A soft smile on his face.
“I wonder, if you had lived, would I be so willing to go headfirst into these battles… knowing that I would leave you behind” it was an honest question that he started to ask himself on certain nights as the battles he was thrown into started getting tougher and more dangerous.
He’s been walking on a thin line between life and death every single day since the invasion happened but only recently had the line felt more real to him. One wrong step would be fatal. He grimaced, thinking on how to avoid being just another war casualty.
He was pulled out of his rumination by the hasty footsteps that ran nearing his tent. Hand quickly grasping the hilt of his sword, he readied himself, feeling his muscles tense. As the tent flapped, he saw the familiar blond hair belonging to the princess, his swing stopped immediately.
Before he could ask what was troubling her, she cut him off. “The Invaders, they’re here.” Her face was worn. “Understood, I’ll see you at the main gate” and with that he changed into his armour with practice ease. The Princess left as he turned his back towards her.
This was his life now. Domestic life will never be the same for him, that he was certain of.