Protector, Protector (BL)

Chapter 2

At nine years old, Azame hadn’t been able to understand what happened that night. He was 17, now with his 18th birthday just around the corner. He understood. He understood that the life he lived was dangerous, and often enough it’d get him killed. Azame had seen plenty of his own species die before. He’d seen Ajax come close to death on multiple occasions, and yet, drug himself back onto his feet to enter the fray once more. 

At nine years old, Azame didn’t have power to stop what came through that door that night. The boy looked down at his hand and squeezed it into a fist. He had power now. Even without Ajax, Azame was the strongest he could possibly be. He was the strongest Siren born in their century, and that meant he was hard to kill. And hard to find. 

What he hadn’t known then was that the world wasn’t just black and white, animal and human. In fact, there were more creatures out there that scientists couldn’t find simply because they lived amongst the human population. And they had for centuries, ever since time began. The legends and myths people read in books were real, but different. 

Just as humans evolved from their lesser known genes, the myths and storybook tale monsters did as well. The children of Lycan took on a human form, leaving their wolf behind. Dryads left their homes in the trees to live amongst small towns surrounded in groves. There were more out there, but each species kept to themselves and lived in solitude. They were dying out as the human population spread.

Azame was part of that rare species. Half-human, and half Siren or as far as Azame knew. They weren’t told much, for their own safety. After the events of his family’s deaths, he was taken to the Manor on the western shore of the United States. Located in the deepest part of California, the Manor was built on the top of a cliff that overlooked the crashing waves of the ocean. At its stormiest days, those waves would blow white, foamy spray up and over its rocky ledge. On the calm days, he could sit out at the edge and watch the water twist and turn beneath his bare feet. The Manor was built from one of those old, plantation style homes complete with a mass of rooms and windows. Amidst the dust and arid climate, the Manor stood beautifully. It was painted with the color of the sky and its huge arches were white as the snow that fell deep in the mountains. Inside, it hadn’t changed much since the very first days. Its walls were filled with pictures that hung from thick frames, depicting generations long past. Whether it be black or white photographs, or near life like paintings. Every Siren that had passed through those halls would forever remain depicted in photographs on the walls. Azame’s own sat at the very top of the long spiral staircase right at the entrance of the door. He’d been eleven when the photo was taken and it’d been one of the first times Azame had smiled since the incident. 

The photographs almost made up for the horrifyingly dark red walls and the antique furniture that made Azame feel like he’d been living in one of the old time movies that played on the TV late into the night.  

The Manor was known as the home of the Sirens, the last refuge that they could go to. But very few could still live there these days. Not with how dangerous the times have gotten. Even Azame was forced to leave and move halfway across the country within the first three years of living there. For a brief moment, he’d gotten to know others of his own kind. His generation, a small group of 6 teenaged Sirens just starting to adventure out into the world. 

See, what Azame hadn’t known was that Sirens weren’t necessarily a species. Not like humans were or the other creatures that once made up the world. Sirens’ life forces were directly tied to the barrier that kept the monsters that had killed Azame’s family at bay. When a Siren would die, somewhere in the world, another would be born to take its place. While Sirens’ children had a better chance of having that power passed onto them, they could exist easily with two human parents. So it got confusing when it came to Siren lineages and who was fully human and who wasn’t. Thats why, their race was one of the few that were impartial to races and lineages. In a sense, they were all just Sirens and that was how they went. Azame’s mother and grandmother had both been Sirens, which was why they had died such horrific deaths. And the thing that had come through his door? 

They were Shadows. Or that’s what the Sirens called them. There wasn’t really a name for them, but they showed up throughout all cultures and religions. Different forms, but always the same. The monsters in the dark. They devoured Sirens to get stronger, to become one. The Sirens called those that had gained their physical body and a dominating conscience a Promised One. Azame had faced a Promised One that night. Draven, one of the strongest in centuries. He wasn’t any simple Shadow with a set of 8 super strong tendrils that dealt murderous blows. Draven was constantly growing, with a hunger that bypassed his kill count of hundreds of Sirens. He was twelve tendrils strong at the time he came for Azame’s family. 

Shadows were unique. The stronger the shadow, the more ability it had to control those smaller than them. So a lone Shadow attack was rare, and Sirens had to fear even the dark, where the shadows grew longest. And they did fear the dark. Azame would be paralyzed with fear when there was no moon and the entire mountainside was engulfed in a quiet darkness. His heart would pound against his chest and he would shake. Azame was older now, and yet he still couldn’t get over how terrified he was of the dark. He wasn’t ashamed to admit that he slept with a nightlight on in their room, and he was an avid collector of flashlights. 

It helped to have Ajax though. The hand on his shoulder was reassuring, and kept him still in the worst of times. At ten years old, Azame sealed the contract with Ajax and dug out a piece of his own collarbone to seal into their blade. He passed it to Ajax, and they’d been together since. Ajax didn’t fear anything. At least, he could put on a good enough show. He was brave, determined and he faced those monstrous things when even Azame couldn’t. And for that, Azame was lucky. He knew he couldn’t do it alone. 

Since the beginning, Sirens had never been alone. At least not completely. There was another species, not unique enough to live on their own, solely to exist as servants. A race of soldiers that paved the way for Sirens, at times sacrificing their lives to make that reality happen. They were plentiful, where Sirens were rare. Bonded by soul, they stayed together until death, and even that relationship was as old as time. Protectors all looked the same, bred from the same genes to create the perfect soldiers. They were a proud race, and lived off of inhuman strength passed on to them from a soul founder. 

When Azame had been born, the closest Protector had been Ajax. A baby close to the same age as him, separated only by 2 months. Immediately, Ajax was different than all others Azame had ever met. He stood out among the crowd with a human father and a Protector mother. He was the first of his own breed, and he naturally had taken the human side in looks. He was short with black hair quite a few shades darker than Azame. His skin was the color of copper and his face was a narrow, boyish looking face and small hands. He was everything a Protector shouldn’t be. And that’s how Azame knew he was the one. His brother, and his last remaining family. Ajax’s mother had not been too keen on Azame’s decision. After all, there were stronger Protectors than Ajax with more experience. Ajax had faults, he had to leap chasms where the others merely had to jump over hurdles. But Azame trusted Ajax, and he’d rather bond with someone he trusted then with someone lifeless, only leaning on physical strength. 

Every Siren had that one who was their closest soulmate, finely tuned to their being. And for Azame, Ajax was that. Living with Ajax wasn’t hard, they thought the same and loved the same things. For six years at BRAE, they knew only peace and calmness. Right when Azame was getting used to that during his senior year, everything came tumbling down. 

His past came knocking, and there was nothing Azame nor Ajax could do to stop that door from opening.