The Four Guardians

That night I didn't sleep very well. It wasn't that the bed wasn't comfy, I actually found it to be better than the beds I have back home. It's just the pain still lingered and I couldn't stop thinking, it was like my brain was working non-stop.

It must have been around 6am when Cait came running into my room in a panic.

"Tempus! Come quick! It's an emergency."

As I thought I was back home I just shrugged it off thinking that it was Thorit who had woken me up, but I quickly remembered that I was no longer in the Demon Realm.

"Wah...What is it?"

"I-i don't know how to explain it…" Cait seemed about as panicked as when the fight was happening. I quickly got out of bed and met up with Cait who was waiting for me outside the Tavern.

"Quick! Over here!"

I followed Cait round to the stables that were connected. There was a large group of people surrounding something, we both pushed our way through the crowd to see what the issue was.

In the centre laid my horse, covered in stab wounds. The blood had dried and the horse was cold. It must have happened hours ago, it didn't stand a chance of surviving.

"W-Who could have done this?" Cait asked covering her mouth trying not to be sick everywhere.

"It must have been them…" The only people I can blame were the group from last night. They must have done it when they left.

"Tsk! Sick bastards" If only I had noticed. If only I wasn't injured. All it will take now is for one little seeker spell to hunt them down and kill them. I can get my revenge. I can make sure these assholes never do anything like that again!

"T-Tempus?" Cait called out to me and grabbed my hand.

"Ah… What? Sorry, hehe, I got lost in my thoughts…"

"That's your horse, right? I'm sorry."

"There's no need to apologise… no one could have seen this coming… The most we can do is at least give it a proper burial."

The crowd dispersed as they continued to set up their own market stalls back in the centre of town. No one would want to deal with a random horse.

Cait and I took the horse's body and buried it behind the Tavern. Hoping that maybe some flowers will one day sprout where it lay.

"Well… I don't know what to do now." I said.

"Tons of adventurers come by and stop. You might be able to catch a ride with some of them?"

It wasn't a bad idea, but considering how everyone I've encountered so far here has been weird It would probably end up badly. I have a history of bad luck.

"I guess I'll have to. Do you know anyone who will be heading in the same direction?"

Cait took a while to think. She went back into the tavern and sat down to think. There was no point to us wasting energy and she offered to make me some breakfast for free, to which I politely declined.

I sat around waiting, speaking to every adventurer that stopped off but none of them would accept me. I started to lose hope and considered walking but luckily for me, at about midday, a noisy person entered.

"HELLO CAIT!"

"Zack!"

It appeared Cait knew who this was. He was a spunky teenage adventurer with black hair and a tiny dagger he kept attached to his bag. If there was ever a look for the typical first-time adventurer this would be it.

"H-hello Cait…"

Behind Zack, snuck out a girl about the same size as him. She was in a brown rope and tightly gripped a magic staff that was just shorter than her. She came off as very shy and seemed to follow Zack wherever he went. She has a cute face and hair that just falls off her shoulders.

"Ah! Kat! You're here as well!"

Cait ran up to both of them and hugged them tightly. I could see Zack was embarrassed but Kat seemed to embrace the warmth from the hug.

"Where are you guys heading today then?"

"Hmpf… We are on our way to the Magia Academy. Kat wishes to see the Academy up close so of course, I'd be taking her."

What a coincidence. Either this was stupid luck or something bad was about to happen. No, wait… some people I asked earlier were also heading to the Academy, but they didn't want any extra luggage.

"So you guys are going to the Academy?" I asked.

"You bet!" Zack seems to be the one that does all the talking. Kat hid behind Zack when she found out I was here. There are a lot of shy people around recently.

"Would you happen to have room for one more? I can pay of course."

"How much we talking?" Little did Zack know I was not going to let him get his way and con me.

"How much do you want?"

"Hmmm… 5 gold pieces."

HA! Like I'd give him that much. 5 gold pieces were enough to buy me another 2 horses and a cart to go with it.

"10 Silver?" I said trying to find a compromise.

"Hmmm… 10 gold pieces!"

WACK!

"Ow… What did you hit me for Cait?"

"I need you guys to help my friend here out…"

Oh, friend… I've been Friend zoned already…

"He lost his horse and needs a lift. He is in a hurry so I would really appreciate it if you could help me out?"

Zack was clearly weak towards Cait. I guess saying he has good taste is one way to put it. I've also been trying to get into her good books this trip.

"Fine… 2 silver. We leave immediately."

"Thank you. I promise I shall make myself useful along the way."

# # #

We quickly packed our things and headed out. Compared to the simple horse I had these two had an actual carriage, but it did seem like they also had a lot of useless junk and random boxes in the back. Perhaps this once belonged to a trader.

Zack sat up front guiding the horses whilst Kat and I sat in the carriage awkwardly avoiding eye contact. It seems we both aren't very good at dealing with people, I'd say I'm good at faking my social skills but this is just awkward.

"So why you guys heading towards the Academy." I said trying to start a conversation.

"Kat wants to visit the academy. She might want to apply there or something."

I looked over to Kat who was nodding to agree, whilst tightly holding onto her staff in front of her to protect herself.

"Oh… I've visited the Academy a few times before. It's a great place most of the time."

"If you don't mind me asking?" Zack said. "How old are you? You look about the same age as us but something about you doesn't seem 17."

"Ah… Well, it's kinda complicated… I look a lot younger than I am"

"So… How old?"

"Errr… around 200 or 300. I lost count"

"200!" Both Zack and Kat screamed. "How is that possible? A human can't live that long?"

"Well… I'm not exactly human. Well, I am… but I'm not… I'm half human… What you see now is what I look like most of the time. I'm more comfortable looking like a human. I'm basically the same age as you guys. 200 in demon years is around 17 or 18 human years."

"Wow… That's so cool…" Zack said. I could see Kat was also interested.

"Wh-What is your other half" Kat managed to say.

"Hmm… Demon."

"DEMON! That's not possible… A half human and demon… no such thing exists!"

"Well… there are a lot of issues with this… but I get by fine if I don't tell people."

"Then why tell us?"

"I don't know… I remember back when I was your age. Doing all this adventuring and exploring. Meeting amazing people and hearing their stories. Something about you two seems really trustworthy."

Zack kept quiet until we got to the first stop. Kat kept looking over to me but looked away when I turned my head to look back.

# # #

The three of us sat together in a local tavern similar to the last one but it was completely empty. The town we were in seemed almost abandoned with very few people living here.

It was clearly awkward as we were all eating in silence. They clearly must still be thinking about the Demon thing.

"H-how do you do it?" Zack asked.

"Hm? Do what?"

"Live… you are a cross between two races that hate each other, most people would attempt to kill you on the spot."

"A lot of people have tried to kill me. But I'm still here… It's not always been easy. Even living this long isn't a good thing. I watch everyone around me grow old whilst they wonder why I never age. A lot of people I went to school with hated me once they found out who I was. They considered me to be dangerous… they were scared of me and everything I could do that they couldn't…"

"It sounds like they were jealous."

"Maybe… but I hope that one day we can have a world where all races will get along. The fights between the Humans and the Demons, all that pointless bloodshed. What was it all for? Each side lost millions of lives and we still hate each other. What was the point of it all? I watched everyone die, I watched as people returned injured and begged to be killed just so they didn't have to experience any more of it. The people who died. All of their deaths were pointless. I've had to kill many innocent lives, many of my closest friends... because I was told that it was my duty. As Half Human and Half Demon, which side should I be on? Should I side with the Demons who feed off wars and hate every race other than their own? Or do I side with the Humans? The race that took everything from me and tore apart my family because of what I am. I've witnessed many people die, I've killed many people. Some of them were my best friends, some of them my worst enemies, some of them even loved me... Everything I've been through, everything I've done… at the end of it… why am I the one that gets to live? "

Zack and Kat stopped eating and instead reflected upon my words. I could feel the regret that had washed over me as I reflected on all the times I wished to forget. All the people who didn't deserve to die… all the times I've wished I was the one that died...

"I-i t-think…" Kat began to speak. "Y-you are strong… o-only you know w-what it's like… y-you were betrayed by th-the things… you cared about… you were given an i-impossible choice… you shouldn't blame yourself for the lives that were lost… Y-you live… so you can be better… and change the world... s-so people like you c-can life... h-ha-happily..."

It was clear that Kat lacked confidence in her voice. She stumbled across those words. And yet… why… why am I crying so much… I don't deserve any of this… How long has it been since I was around such caring humans...