Determined Heart

Prologue

I can remember the day that we met. I was underneath that old tree, just thinking. Usually, I was more alert, but that day, something – I can't exactly put my finger on it – was eating at me. I think it was that I had failed on a hunting trip and, as a result, my partner, Castiel, was blamed and punished.

Because I was distracted, I had accidentally let a man sneak up on me. A foreign villager, he was young and curious about me and Faircrosse, our little village. We talked, and I found out that his name was Elren, from an eastern village called Longgate. He explained to me that he was a Supreme Hunter, Captain of the Hunters. After our first meeting, we began meeting up during our spare hours, and it became a long-term habit.

I guess one could say that we had something almost special. Words can't describe what we felt every time our spirits bonded, or when we were together. That was before Elren left me hanging, literally. The worst part about it was that it was on my favorite branch under our tree, the branch that had our names on it. When our people, two that are joined, commit wrongdoings against another, whether it be murdering or harming them, harming someone else, or just doing an ordinary, 'innocent' sin, it burns the spiritual ties.

When something like this happens, it feels like holes are ripped through your chest, whether it's your spirit or your body. Your mind feels like it's combusting slowly, and that a toxic fire is spreading throughout your body. You will most likely live, unless it's a serious wrongdoing, but I didn't.

It happened when we had a fight, which had been happening more often than usual. This fight was the worst one. Elren's attitude was becoming worse and worse, and I feared that he might hurt me if something I did or said set him off. I had come to the tree for our usual meeting, told him that I was going to have to leave early, and he just exploded at me, long blond hair flying madly.

I caught a glimpse at his face when he charged: his blue eyes were glistening madly, the way a sick, sadistic murderer's would; his mouth was twisted into a nightmarish snarl, and his sharp teeth were bared. I couldn't even begin to describe the horrible noise he made. It frightened me terribly, and I wasn't one to be scared off when being attacked.

He lunged at me, hands grasping my throat with a dangerous strength. With a sickening crunch, I was pushed against the tree and my head smacked the rough bark. Something odd began to happen: the man I once loved began to smile, pink lips curling up to reveal bright white teeth. Reaching down, Elren untied his rope belt and fastened it to the tree branch.

 As I began to weaken, he let go of me, leaving me to slide to the ground in a fit of wheezing and tears. As the pain of having our ties broken came on, I threw my head back and wailed like a wolf howling to the moon. My eyes instinctively clenched, attempting to block the pain out.

The man tied the rope around my neck and, grasping my waist, lifted me up like I was merely a feather. Tightening the rope, Elren let me drop. Everything went black, and the last thing I remember is hearing him laugh and say my name, stroking my cheek with the pad of his thumb. His eyes were a deep, frightening black, the color of a Death Messenger's.

That's how I became an Everlasting Guardian. In other words, I'm a guardian angel designed to ward away evil, keep mankind on the right track, and keep the birth-life-death circle spinning. It may be tiresome, boring, and sometimes confusing, but it's actually an okay life-sentence *cough cough* job. I'm here to tell you my story, starting from the very beginning.