A Darkening World And A Sleepy Protagonist

Chapter 14 (Unedited)

The little body struggled, trying to break from the tight grasp that held him tightly.

Trembling lips that reveal sharp kitten like teeth, a hot wetness streaming down plump cheeks as the pupils of mismatched eyes grow small into mere silts. A mix of emotions flashed which had begun with anger before falling into such worry and panic as he realized he couldn't do anything at all in this moment.

Neal's body is curled over him like a turtles shell, blocking him off from the outside world. The close contact would have been soothing if not for the faint jerks of his body along with the sound of laughter which reminded him of what was happening. The thuds and sounds of pain from Neal had a mass of emotion attacking the child all at once. He didn't understand why Neal was doing this. Protecting him at the cost of getting hurt himself, shielding him with his body.

Would he end up losing someone again from being protected when he could not do anything?

Again?

Even though their were many things the child had already known before Neal even had the chance to teach him any of it, this nostalgic feeling made him wonder what he was forgetting that seemed so embedded deep in his soul.

"Ahhgh nnn" Through clenched teeth Neal let out another small sound of pain. A specifically hard kick to his back making him tremble as he struggled to keep upright in order to keep Azarias under the best body coverage. It was one thing to be hurt but if any of these blows landed on Azarias, he couldn't live with himself.

To think after finally finding a village they would suddenly be ambushed by some rough looking men. Then again with Neal's luck the village they came across was not exactly one in its best days, with the lack of anyone outside and the scent of smoke lingering in air as if their was a never ending fire burning away at something somewhere close to here.

"Neal! Let me go so We can protect you!" Azarias shout touched Neal's heart, the child wanted to protect him against five grown adults Neal, let alone Azarias, had no chance against.

He held him close to himself, curling more inward as he made sure none of the blows could hurt the child.

"It al- agh" Neal wanted to speak comforting words but as he went to open his mouth he ended up biting his tongue, his head was forcibly pulled back suddenly by a rough tug on his hair.

"Unless you want to be bald just listen to us and strip so we can make sure you really don't have anything to give us as you claim. Who knows what kind of golden coin you may be..hey this is actually a pretty nice looking face." The harsh on the ears voice had begun screaming making Neal feel like his ears were about to bleed before suddenly falling into a normal talking tone.

The assault paused upon the rest hearing this, coming over to take a look at the face now revealed from the mess of hair that had been covering it. Neal's hair after all had gotten a bit longer and upon entering a village he couldn't help but allow it to fall in front of his face. Perhaps it was an automatic way of protection or to be invisible to avoid being noticed and getting into trouble again.

How was he to know of the troublemakers who had been robbing every traveler that stepped foot into this village. A village not even a single leaf could blend into with how baron and empty it seemed.

The five trouble makers were taken aback by the good looks of the traveler, along with the sweet scent of lavender that wafted up into their noses. It was a very alluring scent, making their anger calm down slightly as they grew more interested in this traveler besides money.

They had thought this to be a male due to his clothing, but could this actually be a female? Not many females were in this village, let alone any young ones. Any young ones had long left to be wed off to other villages or were currently ill. So upon seeing such a pretty face of a healthy, maybe, women was arousing their inner desires, that and the comforting scent of lavender had them begin to want to seek comfort in the embrace of this stranger.