At the end of all their stories Ajax found himself questioning and taking a long hard look at the country he found himself in. It made him wonder if leaving them in an orphanage was the right idea, especially if the man decided to go after them, were they putting even more demi-human children at risk without knowing it. For now, he would settle himself with the idea since Nathaniel appeared to have had great confidence in it. If push came to shove he would do what he must to take the man out of the picture if it meant keeping them safe despite the backlash he would personally face.

Plus, he himself had no right to suggest any other option since he knew he was already leeching of Nathaniel. Much less suggesting they keep the kids and basically adopting them and with what happened the night prior and the reaction Nathaniel had to being told, maybe it was best he doesn’t touch such a sensitive topic.

In this new world, he was lucky to have found someone that didn’t hate him unconditionally for being a monster, these kids were not as lucky and clearly needs someone of the same. An alternative that came to him was just taking the children and parting ways with Nathaniel so that he wouldn’t be caught in the cross fire should he need to flee for murder. It was all conflicting. He would wrap the children within his wings and gave them a soft embrace as he tried to come to terms with all his ideas. This brought about a brief and somber peace. One that sadly wouldn’t last.

Their brief moment was disturbed by a knock at the door and when Ajax went to check on it, he peeked out to find a young women dressed as a maid. She stood next to a small cart that had four plates of brown rice and pink slices of meat along with accompanying forks. He opened the door completely and her, being greeted back with a sharp gasp of surprise. He had become used to this kind of reaction from humans so he didn’t bother getting upset over it and did his best to calm her nerves by reassuring her he was harmless.

Though she was still nervous, she explained that a boy had paid for the meals before leaving the inn and gave them this room number to deliver to. Ajax stepped aside and asked her to bring the cart into the room, which she quickly did, noticing the children huddled on the bed and left just as quickly as she arrived. Ajax closed the door after she left and one by one, brought the plates and forks over to the bed, allowing the children to eat first. Watching them eat showed him the drastic change they took in a short time, they were less scared of him and more comfortable despite the threat they may face outside the small room. He knew one thing was certain, he wanted to preserve that.

When they were finished eating he removed the plates and brought them back to the cart that rested next to the door. He took their towels, wiped their mouths, and then entertained them with his powers. In the process of turning a ball of water into a different shape he heard a sharp whistling filling the room and then a shiver ran down his spine that he knew was all too familiar. He jumped onto the bed and pulled the children into his chest and covered them with his body. He hardened his back with his Resilient Scales skill and waited.

Within seconds the wall behind him was shattered by an explosion that flung them from the bed and left a large hole in the wall. He purposefully let his back slam into the door so that the children wouldn’t get hurt, but it along with the explosion caused his back damage despite his defense. His back was burnt and bloody with small stones lodged into his flesh, making him wince in pain whenever he moved. However, his swift actions kept the children from any harm. When he heard the whistling once more he quickly plugged the hole with a barrier that intercepted several explosions.

As his barrier his damaged so too was it repaired by him as he was determined to not let a single one enter the room. After a few minutes of this back and forth, the explosions abruptly ceased, giving him a break to investigate what was causing them. Though he had a decent guess of who may be behind it. His hunch was proven right when below the breach he saw the children’s former owner with a cocky smirk on his face and his sides flanked by two men wearing armor, quickly deduced to be city knights.

Around them stood a crowd of people that were most likely drawn by the explosions. The two knights revealed themselves being the attackers by recommencing their attacks and rocked the barrier with more explosions. This time directly in view of Ajax. Ajax scoffed and calmly walked back over to the children. He bent down and smiled at them while feeling the veins in his arm throb as his anger grew.

“I am going get you all out of here.” Ajax said as he picked them up one by one, “I promise, no harm will come to any of you.”

The children looked at him for a brief moment and gave him a quick nod, seeing their confidence in him made his own grow more. He went to the dresser and wrapped them all in some of Nathaniel’s clothing as best he could with the size difference and took a deep breath. He created a new barrier over his chest to protect the children and then ran headfirst towards the breach. He made the barrier protecting the room disappear before crashing into it and took flight above the crowd.

He could hear the gasps of the people below him and the man shouting something to the knights whom quickly adjusted their aim. Ajax released a breath of fire before they could launch their attacks that threw them off balance. He made sure to aim at their feet since he didn’t want to harm anyone in the crowd by accident. This fact also restricted what attacks he could use. He kept up his attack and focus on the knights, not paying any attention to the man. This would cost him as he didn’t see the man throwing something at him and he was jerked to the side by an explosion to his side.

His barrier kept the children safe but his altitude had fallen from the disorientation. This gave the knights time to attack again but this time he wasn’t given the chance to do anything. He could only try to remain airborne while doing his best to shrug off their attacks with his hardened scales. A much more powerful explosion happened directly in front of him and knocked him out of the sky, his body clutching onto the children by instinct. He created one final barrier around himself while keeping the one around the children active. This made a crater the moment he crashed into the pavement.

The people quickly swarmed the crater to take a look at Ajax as he laid barely conscious within it, the children still held close and protected. The knights and man slid down into the crater and stood over his body. He couldn’t retaliate because of how close they were since it would catch the children in his cross fire. The knights stabbed him in his wings with their sword and the man let out a laugh.

“You were so big and bad before now look at you!” the man laughed and started to kick Ajax in the shoulders, “And look at these little pieces of trash, I must say at least you cleaned them up decent, they look half as brand new, certainly will fetch a good price when I sell them.”

“You…bastard, they aren’t your property.” Ajax groaned and coughed up a little blood, “Their children.”

“Only a monster could find these demi-humans as children, after all, they are half your kind.” the man said and reached for one of the children, “They should be honored to even have the privilege to benefit someone of my standing!”

“Don’t touch them!” Ajax growled and bit at his hand since trying to use his wings caused him pain too much.

“How dare you try and bite me.” he said and pulled his hand away quickly, “Hurry up and finish off him and those worthless things.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to retrieve your property first?” a knight asked.

“They’re not worth all the trouble they caused.” he replied, “They wanted to run away, now they see the consequence.”

“Understood.” the knights said together, they held out their hands towards Ajax and began to chant, “Decipher creation and give me power….”

“Death Thorn!”

The ground trembled and caught everyone off guard, an earthquake maybe, but at a time like this was most favorable. The crowd panicked, scattering in fear, and created an uproar. Loud shouts bellowed into the sky as the ground started to crack open. Large, thorn ridden vines erupted from within the fissures and lashed out in the direction of the crater. They weaved through the crowd as if instinctively drawn to the hole and quickly ensnared one of the knights. They coiled themselves around his body and thrusted him up into the air.

When he tried to cut them with his sword, they coiled around his arm, as if having a mind of their own, and kept him from swinging down. This action caught the crowd’s attention and stopped their panicked scrambling. As all eyes traced back to the direction the thorns came from, Ajax pulled himself from the crater on the opposite side of the man. He and the children gasped when they saw Nathaniel stepping through the crowd with his arm raised.

The expression on Nathaniel’s face was a painted image of silent fury. It seemed emotionless but his eyes burned with wrath, as if they contained a growing green flame that was waiting to engulf the one’s within its gaze. They sent shivers down Ajax’s spine when that gaze was casted upon him, thus when they went back on the knights he was relieved to know that Nathaniel wasn’t angry at his actions.

“How dare you attack them.” Nathaniel said as he stepped through the people, he didn’t stop walking until he was face to face with the man, “Leave.”

“Nathaniel.” Ajax groaned and held the kids closer should he need to run.

“Be quiet Ajax.” Nathaniel sternly replied, his tone took Ajax by surprise and silenced him quickly, “You are deplorable for going this far and you knights are just as bad for helping him cause this kind of damage.”

“Let me go you maniac, are you trying to kill me!” the trapped knight shouted as he was slowly crushed by the vines.

“Complains the one that was trying to kill children.” he replied.

“How you dare you interfere in official business.” the other knight said, “This monster has…”

“That monster is my body guard and calling this this official seems hilarious given the crowd.” he quickly fired back, “I wonder how much he paid you?”

“How dare you make that accusation.” the knight said as he flinched, “Who do you think you are?!”

“I am the eldest child of the Izureko family!” he exclaimed and pumped his chest above his heart, “I and my companion took those children into our care, and on my name you will not attack them anymore!”