Chapter 1: An Operation

Aegis saw shadows dancing on the walls, shadows laughing from the ceiling. Laughing at him. Rocks stung his back as he was dragged by his feet across the dungeon's floors, his arms limply trailing behind him. The two people pulling him were conversing silently. Through his blurry vision, he would see them glance at him disdainfully, their words failing to reach his ears over the ocean of noise roaring within his brain. His body felt weak, and his eyelids were heavy. They closed.

......

"Gis, use it."

"Are you sure the information you received was true? There's no going back from this."

"After all this time, you still doubt the Society?"

"...No."

"Then use it. These nobles deserve death."

"And if we fail..?"

"We won't. This is only the beginning. A month from now, we'll need you for another operation. The role you play is pretty big, I'm already looking forward to it. Ah, they're here. Prepare to detonate."

"Yes."

......

His eyes opened. The passage was dark, the walls made of cobble and brick. He was still being dragged by the same two cloaked figures. One held a torch in his hand, creating the shadows that seemed to make gestures at him, pointing and covering their mouths as they snickered. Aegis felt anger, but he was too weak for emotion. His eyes closed once again.

......

"Did you hear about the duke's personal aide?"

"The one we just threw inside?"

"Yeah. He tried to assassinate the princess last night. Even used Howling Bombs to do it. I heard the entire forest was set ablaze."

"What an idiot. Like the royal family would display themselves in the open like that. Was it true that one of the capital's mages set up the trap?"

"Definitely. I heard from Des that after the explosion, the carriage faded away like mist and water poured from the sky to put out the fire. Only a magus from the capital would be capable of that."

"Bah, it was probably just rain, why would a magus let that many people die from the blast? Anyways, when's he due?"

"The execution's a month from now. It'll be a show with all the higher ups watching over it."

......

His eyelids fluttered open, but he felt through his back. The stones and pebbles seemed to jab at him as the stabbed him in the back, whispering words of betrayal and disappointment to him as he passed. The torch's smoke floated above him, looking down on him and passing along, dissipating, as if he wasn't worth their presence. A wisp entered his nose as he breathed in, ramming against his throat as if to burn it. He wanted to cough, but his body wasn't capable of it. His eyes shut.

......

"Your name... it means shield?"

"Yes. My mother gave it to me because father died before I was born. She wanted me to do as he did, and protect everything I needed to protect."

"Oh... I'm sorry about your mother."

"It's okay. They're together now, and they don't have to worry about me anymore. After all, the duke himself chose me alone from the thousand applicants."

"Your name is Aegis. But you use a sword."

"Hm?"

"Shouldn't you use a shield instead then? A sword kills in order to protect, while a shield's only purpose is to stand in front and defend with all it has. I think using a shield would suit you much more, Aegis."

Stolen story; please report.

......

He blinked and blinked as he was dragged away, each brief waking moment feeling like a lifetime.

......

"Didn't you say you hated killing..?"

"I... I do."

"Did. Twenty-seven dead, eight of which died after the explosion. No survivors. All eye witnesses with the exception of the magus we sent were killed on the spot."

"......."

"Uncle trusted you. I thought the same. Not many people can say they've proven me wrong... Congratulations Aegis, you are among those people now. To think you of all people would want to assassinate me... the Society's claws have really dug deep."

"......"

"I never thought I would mistake a dagger for a shield. Uncle was right, I really am too young. Goodbye, shield. Thank you for opening my eyes."

......

Suddenly, his dreaming was put to a stop as his head slammed against a wooden block. Like this, a subjective eternity passed, and reality began. A torrent of sounds seemed to gush into his mind, but at the same time, it was deathly silent. Aegis's blurry vision cleared as he slightly raised his head. Around him were thousands of people, their heads all looking towards him. He was on a platform. His nech felt restrained and his arms were locked, he moved his eyes, ignoring the feeling of weakness and saw the shackles on his arms. Finally, he looked up and saw what verified his descent into the real world. Above him was a piece of metal sharpened and given sufficient weight to allow for a clean decapitation.

Right now, Aegis was below a guillotine.

His eyes moved to a man speaking in front of him, reading from a piece of paper he held in his hands. "...Charged with the slaughter of twenty-seven innocents, and the attempted murder of Her Highness, Princess Senia, the offender and previous aide of Duke Boyde, twenty-three year old Aegis Kalmore is sentenced to... execution."

Immediately, a chorus of cheers filled the air, commoners and nobles alike feeling jubilant after hearing the news. The princess was adored throughout the kingdom, and to her subjects, execution was the only road for the person who harmed her. As for the other nobles, they felt glad a potential nobleman was knocked out of the competition before he even entered. It seemed like a weight was lifted off their chests as they sat in elevated platforms, drinking wine with one another. All of them watched intently as the executioner set a basket designed to catch heads in front of Aegis. None of them knew however, that in that short moment, the executioner spoke.

"Glad you could make it, Gis."

Aegis's pupils violently constricted. The voice was too familiar. He looked straight into the eyes of the executioner as saw his piercing green irises. These eyes only belonged to one person. Aegis wanted to shout, but he was too weak. At the same moment the 'executioner' spoke to him, the venue, a coliuseum-looking structure, erupted into chaos.

Civilians that were previously cheering suddenly displayed ferocious expressions, bringing out sharp weapons and stabbing the person closest to them in the vitals. The nobles also experienced the same thing, servants, bodyguards, even other nobles suddenly turning and conducting a mass slaughter. On the highest platform, a magus stood to fight, but an arrow penetrated his chest before he could even recite a chant. He threw a marble-sized orb at the gril beside him before dying. Mid-flight, the marble expanded and enveloped the girl, flying upwards to bring her away when a sudden explosion rocked the sky, cracking the orb and sending it and its familiar red-haired passenger to the ground in front of the platform Aegis kneeled on.

As the red-haired princess stood up and began to recite a chant, words previously spoken thundered inside Aegis's head.

"This is only the beginning. A month from now, we'll need you for another operation. The role you play is pretty big, I'm already looking forward to it."

"The guy we just threw in?"

"When's he due?"

"The execution's a month from now."

With a movement of the executioner's hands and a few mumbles from his mouth, an arm made of stone jut out from the ground and wrapped around the princess's neck, stopping her chant mid way. The green-eyed executioner looked at her before turning back to Aegis.

"Didn't I tell you Aegis? You got the biggest role of all. We couldn't have done this without you. The Society thanks you for this merit deeply."

In front, Aegis watched as a golem made of earth rose from the ground holding a sword. It stabbed the princess from behind, the stone blade piercing her back and leaving her chest as the hand of earth receded from her neck. Aegis was too weak to even scream her name right now. The executioner laughed his piercing laugh and held the guillotine's level mechanism.

He spoke with faked melancholy. "Looks like this is goodbye, Gis. It was a pleasure working with you."

Aegis didn't pay him attention. The only thing in his eyes was the slowly fading light in the princess's eyes as she looked at him from across the coliseum. His mind was full of things he wanted to say, but he knew he could only squeeze out the strength to say a few.

"I never thought I would mistake a dagger for a shield. Uncle was right, I really am too young."

"Goodbye, shield. Thank you for opening my eyes."

"Not many people can say they've proven me wrong... Congratulations Aegis, you are among those people now."

With a 'clack' the mechanism was activated, and the guillotine descended. Right before the princess died, she heard a scream that seemed to pierce through the coliseum itself for the sole purpose of reaching her, and only her.

"I... will prove you right!!!"

The scream was frail and hoarse. It sounded desperate. Miserable, even. It sounded petty, like something someone on their last ropes would say. It even sounded kind of pathetic. It almost sounded funny, given the circumstances.

It sounded like a promise; one that would never break.

Aegis opened his eyes, but he was too tired, so he closed them again. A moment passsed, and his eyes flickered open. The sun was too bright. He frowned and closed them again. When he opened his eyes a third time, there was something different about them.

Aegis groaned and stood up. He was sixteen this year.

He looked outside the window and breathed in a breath of fresh air to calm his palpitating heart. There was something different about him.

There was a promise to a certain girl he had to keep.