The Heart of a Guardian (Elsword)

Chapter 28: One Last Time

"I left without informing anyone... yet she found me... and she-" he flinched away when his eyes fell toward her body.

He scanned the crowd again, "How!?" he demanded. Only his racing heart could be heard over the uncertain silence. Suddenly, a weak, familiar voice cut through the silenced from behind the circle of soldiers.

"I told her."

Chung focused his attention towards the speaker.

An old friend hobbled his way through the crowd, assisted by crutches.

"Elsword..." Chung gasped as the Lord Knight's eyes fell on the mage's lifeless body.

The knight shut his eyes tightly, the grim reality of the moment hitting him as he tried to find the words to explain himself.

"I... heard you," Elsword said, keeping his eyes averted from Aisha, "I may have been unconscious, but... I heard you. I wanted to tell you to stop; that I didn't want you to leave us. But... No matter how hard I tried I couldn't wake up in time. The next thing I knew I was staring at Aisha's face... And... I told her."

Elsword looked up to the sound of heavy footsteps, just in time to see the prince land a right hook hard enough to knock the young man off his crutches and onto the cold stone floor.

Chung pinned him on the ground, landing a heavy fist across his face. And another. And another with enough force to draw blood. It was after the third blow that Raven caught the prince by the arm and wrestled him off Elsword.

"How could you?!" Chung screamed as he struggled to free himself. Elsword's head rolled weakly on the floor as he coughed up red from his bloodied mouth.

"You sent her to her death!" Chung wrenched himself free and threw himself on the knight once more, hitting him again and again. Each blow struck caused the young man to gurgle in pain accompanied by the sickening thud of bone against rock.

"Aisha..." Elsword muttered amidst the merciless onslaught.

With this single utterance, the prince faltered. How dare he say her name after sending her to die!

"Rena!" Raven called as the two grabbed the prince by each arm, pulling him off the knight once more.

"Why did you tell her? Why didn't you just leave me be?!" Again he struggled, his strength eventually leaving him as he finally broke down within Raven and Rena's grasp. His legs weakened and he fell to his knees with his arms still restrained by the other two. All the while he wondered why Elsword did what he did.

"Why...? You told me you cared for her. Why, then? Why did you send her to help me?"

He waited for an answer. With each heaving breath Elsword took, Chung saw the young man struggle to find the words.

"I did it..." Elsword coughed after a long moment, he turned his head towards Aisha's body as the tears began to flow freely from the knight, "Because I had to do something... to save you."

To save him. Chung's head fell forward in defeat. Elsword did it, again. He saved him. No matter how much the prince had tried to prove himself worthy as a guardian... Elsword always bailed him out of trouble in the end. But this time... it came with a cost.

He raised his head once more. Anger filled him yet again as he tried to muster the strength to beat the disabled Lord Knight. Useli was already at the knight's side, inspecting the man's head injuries. As his head was raised, Chung saw how Elsword's eyes never left Aisha's lifeless body. A look of deep-seated grief and regret covered his face.

In that moment all of Chung's anger, all of his fury, dissipated. Throughout the years of fighting alongside his best friend-throughout the borderline stupidity that accompanied the young man's courageous and stalwart disposition-he had never seen Elsword more broken in his life.