Kael didn't feel or think much as he looked at the young man standing in front of him. He was a teenager with blondish hair and eyes as yellow as his hair. He must have been sixteen or seventeen. But... it was clear at a glance that he had a timid deanor. His small stature didn't seem to help him much in this regard either.
"Yes?"
Kael asked politely. His position as a rcenary was clear. He was technically his 'employer' and respect was the best option.
"Um... am I disturbing you?"
Yes, indeed he was...
"No."
But Kael was not going to say that.
"May I sit down, then?"
Kael nodded his head. The teenager's lips curled up slightly, then he crouched down.
"I'm a little... scared, to be honest. The other rcenaries look scary, my father is not very helpful either... But you look different. You're even younger than !"
Kael tried hard not to roll his eyes. But he resisted, he couldn't make a wrong move.
"You don't need to be scared."
How ironic it was that it was he who said that...
"You don't act like your age. Again, if I don't bother you... why did you beco a rcenary?"
'But you are, you're actually bothering ! Just go away!'
"There was not another thing I could do."
"Oh..."
The blond-haired teenager paused after Kael's answer. It was as if... he realized he had made a mistake.
But he didn't apologize or do anything. He just...
"I see."
Kael paused for a mont, his eyes shifting to the teenager sitting next to him. He could see that his expression had turned serious. He didn't look pitying, he didn't look sad, even if he knew he had made a mistake.
He was just... looking at the sky.
'Huh...'
The teenager tore his eyes away from the moon and stars. Then looked back at Kael. With that, he saw the surprise on his face. His lips curled upwards again, but this ti... his previous timidity seed to have disappeared a little.
"What? Did you expect to apologize, to be sorry?"
Kael nodded honestly. anwhile, the teenager smiled.
"But... if I apologized, it would only make you angrier, wouldn't it? If I pretended to be sorry, you'd think I felt pity for you, maybe even that I was a hypocrite."
Kael was really surprised this ti. He really didn't think this guy... would be like this.
"Everyone has different things going on in their lives, I know that. And... I think I made you a little uncomfortable, I know that too. It's just... I was really feeling bored with all these adults, and I thought it would be nice to have soone to talk to. That's why I ca to you."
He paused for a mont, covering his mouth as he yawned deeply.
"But... now I feel really sleepy."
He stood up. Then, he looked at Kael and smiled one last ti before going to the other rchants, his father.
"Thank you for protecting us, even if it's just because you're getting paid. And... for not kicking out of your side. And... I hope you can fulfill your purpose as a rcenary, even if I don't know your reasons."
He said nothing more, turned, and walked back to his group sitting in the center of the campfire. Kael stared after him with a blank expression.
After a short mont, he swallowed hard. He watched the campfire and the four sitting around it.
The old rchant, obviously the teenager's father, seed angry with him. Probably because he had gone to Kael. But after a short while, they returned to themselves as if this had been forgotten. They told each other things, watched the fire and the sky, laughing all the while.
And Kael... watched everything.
He shouldn't have watched, but he did.
He watched how happy the people he was going to kill were.
He watched how the people whose futures he was going to destroy were making plans for that very future.
Finally, when everyone went to sleep and the campfire was extinguished, he regained consciousness. He had co out of a hypnosis that had taken over everything. And... his eyes gradually widened as he realized this.
'No...'
He felt himself trembling as he shook his head slightly from side to side.
He didn't want this.
He didn't want to kill these people, to take away their dreams.
But... he had to. It was his mission. Wasn't this... a stepping stone for his future, a stepping stone that he would step on rcilessly?
But he didn't want to do it.
"We will stand guard for the night."
He paused at the voice of the old rcenary, his eyes slowly shifting to the trio standing not far from him.
"We'll take shifts in twos. Alya and Ishnar will take the first watch, and Kael and I will take the second. Any objections?"
No one made a sound.
So, everything was decided.
*******
Kael did not sleep even though he knew he should while others, Alya and Ishnar, stood guard.
He was thinking as he watched the star-filled sky. He was doing a lot of thinking, really.
He was terribly hesitant about his mission. And... he was a little bit scared. After talking to that boy, after watching them communicate with each other... all his resolve was shattered.
But he knew he couldn't stop.
His eyes squinted slightly as he rembered what he had thought before accepting this mission.
He had accepted that he should not care about anyone else, that this was the only way he could take a life. But... he had made a mistake in thinking that way. It wasn't just about caring for others.
One by one, he thought about everything he had ever experienced. Starting from his childhood to this mont, he replayed everything in his mind.
In the end... he only squinted his eyes even more.
He raised his left hand, pointing it towards the sky. He buried himself in silence, in darkness. And then...
'I have to, right?'
Yes, he had to do it.
'Didn't I say that I had to change even more?'
Yes, he did.
'Didn't I accept that no matter how bad I felt... I had to beco a murderer?'
Yes, he did.
'Then why do I hesitate?'
...
...
He looked at his hand pointed at the sky. He closed his fingers one by one, clenching his fist.
'I... will do it.'
He was going to be soone disgusting. He was going to be soone who took away people's dreams. He was going to be ruthless. Not soone who didn't care about anyone but himself, but soone who didn't even think about anyone except himself.
It didn't matter how he felt afterwards.
Just as he had said before, this... would be a stepping stone for him.
And with that thought, he put his hand down again. He closed his eyes, but did not sleep. He was silent for minutes, hours. He waited and waited until it was his turn to be on watch... not making a sound, preparing himself non-stop.
And... finally, the ti ca.
"Kael, wake up."
It was the old man's voice, right beside him.
Instead of opening his eyes imdiately, Kael blinked slightly, then yawned as naturally as he could. He looked up at the old rcenary standing over him with half-open eyes and a puzzled expression on his face.
"It's our turn to watch."
"Ah..."
He wiped his eyes with his hands, then yawned once more. Nevertheless, he straightened up from where he was lying, then stood up.
"Here, drink so water."
He took the waterskin handed to him and poured it down his throat. Finally, feeling a little 'awake', he handed it back to the old man.
His eyes turned to Alya and Ishnar, who had finished their watch. He watched them slip smoothly into their sleeping bags. Then the old guard called out to him again.
"Stay close to the group, I'll be circling around us the whole ti."
Ah, he was not to be trusted again...
He wasn't complaining, though.
It didn't matter.
And so, the minutes ticked by. Alya was the first to fall asleep. But it was hard to tell if Ishnar was asleep or not. He was really strange... his body didn't move at all as if he wasn't even breathing.
The old rcenary was more alert than ever too. It was clear that the slightest movent in his surroundings would alert him.
Kael waited even longer. He wanted Alya and Ishnar to fall into a deep sleep. He also wanted the old man to get a little tired from moving around all the ti. And so, he kept waiting.
At the end of the first hour... he took a deep breath. The old man had stopped walking, leaning against a tree and resting a little. Soon, he would start walking again.
Kael stood up as the old man suddenly turned to him.
"What? Did sothing happen?"
Kael shook his head from side to side.
"Nothing. It's just... I'm tired of sitting, so I'm going to walk around a bit."
"Stay close to the camp, never out of sight."
He nodded his head, then started walking slowly.
He checked one last ti that everyone was asleep. Then, he looked at the old rcenary.
After taking a deep breath, he reached for his daggers. Only one thought ran through his mind.
'I will do it.'
Reviews
All reviews (0)