The Protectors:
Book 1 in the Protectors Saga
Published by Paige Dooling at Smashwords
Copyright 2011 Paige Dooling
Smashwords Edition License Notes:
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
The long cold steps seemed endless as she rushed towards the screams of her friends. Why had she just left them? Were they alright? These were the thoughts that raged through her mind as she finally reached the enormous stone doors. She flung the doors open with as much force as she could muster and then entered into the impeding darkness with both fear and anger weighing on her heart.
Once she was inside the chamber the doors slammed shut behind her. She couldn’t see or hear anything, but she felt him. Everything inside of her knew that he was close. Then, out of the darkness, his voice bellowed. Chills ran throughout her body as he spoke, “How does it feel to be so powerful and yet not able to save the people you really care about?”
Her confusion was laced with despair, and her voice trembled as she spoke, “What are you talking about? Why did I hear the screams of my friends?”
His laugh was cold and hard as he answered, “The screams of the dying are often heard for miles, and I don’t think your friends hold any exception to that.”
She felt the bile of panic rising up in her throat, “You’re lying,” she shouted, “my friends are at home, and alive, and out of your reach!”
“Poor child,” he scoffed, “you are so naïve; so young, and you have no idea as to how far my reach can extend. All together the Protectors became, and now all together you shall die.”
“You speak to anger me and it’s working…now…where…are my friends?” The silence that followed was broken as she screamed, “Show me!”
A second later a mist began to rise from the floor and in the middle of the room a luminescent glow began growing. Then, the glow started to turn into ghostly images. She saw the figures of her friends, her family; the people she knew and loved. She watched in horror as hordes of the darkest kinds of Demons raided her village, her home; the place where she had crept away from in the middle of the night, telling no one where she was going. She had done it for them, to protect and save them, and now all she could do was watch as they died without her. She kept silent as the destruction played out in front of her, until the image of her best friend, her most loyal fighter; laying dead on the ground in a pool of her own blood forced a scream of pure pain to echo throughout the empty chamber. Her legs gave out and she fell to the floor, unable to stop the tears.
“Now, now,” said a cold voice from behind her, “as much as your crying may delight me, it certainly won’t bring back your little companions.” He paused a moment, savoring her anguish, “As much as I’ll miss you and your friends getting in the way of my plans, everything must come to an end.”
“But…the prophecy,” she whimpered, still kneeling on the ground, “the prophecy said that if I came alone, it would only be me…it would be over. No one would get hurt…only me.” She could barely get out the last words.
He laughed, “Prophecies are just mist and dust. No one believes in them, except for fools.” He delighted in the fact that his words made her tears fall harder as he continued, “You really only have one course of action left, my dear.”
Desperation crept over her as she stared at the cold stone floor, praying for the answer to what she should do. She knew what it was that the Emperor wanted. He wanted to fight her; if he were able to defeat the leader of the Protectors his reputation alone would be enough to secure his place as a God amongst the darkness.
I can’t do it, she thought to herself, he’s too strong and I’m so weak. I’ve never been anything but weak…I’ll lose. Then the knowledge that she had already lost consumed her. What was the point in fighting if she had already lost everything?
“Get off of your knees.” He was getting impatient, “Fight me…now!”
She wiped away the warm tears off of her cheek. It took only seconds for her to make a decision, but to her it seemed like an eternity.
With sleek eyes she looked up at him and spoke with a soft defiance, a defiance that came from the knowledge that she wasn’t about to give him the pleasure of killing her, “You are right about one thing Emperor; I do only have one course of action left.”
She swallowed hard and drew in what she knew would be her last breath. Her movements were quick and precise as she drew the long steel dagger out from sheath strapped onto her waist. She thought how strange it was that holding the dagger would give her comfort. Even though she knew what she was about to do with it, to her, it was like an old friend. She raised her head towards the heavens, but all she could see was the dingy stone ceiling.
She spoke quietly, only audible enough for her own ears and couldn’t stop the tears from re-forming in her eyes, “Forgive me.”
In one swift movement she plunged the dagger deep into her chest and through her heart. There was no pain, only a dull sense of discomfort and a tightening that grew with every beat that her heart could not make. But even without pain she knew that she was dying; she was a skilled warrior and her aim was accurately deadly. The life was draining out of her and she could feel it, feel her body growing limp, and the air around her becoming colder. As she fell back onto the floor, in her last moments, she searched for the guilt she knew she should feel. The leader of the Protectors ending her own life before attempting to fight for this universe was an unheard of thing. A thing of guilt and shame, but she felt none of it, only a silver thread of relief. Relief that maybe it was finally over; all the worry, pain, and responsibility; everything that her life had been made up of. Although, there was something deep down inside of her that told her it wasn’t over, that this wasn’t it; a chapter had ended, but the story was far from being finished.
“Noooooooo!” The Emperor screamed with such fury it seemed to shake the chamber walls.
It had all happened so fast, too fast for the Emperor to stop her, and now he was deprived the acclaim of killing her. An act he knew he would have accomplished. In her condition, beaten down by grief and without the aid of her fellow Protectors, she would have been no match for him at all.
The Emperor walked over to her lifeless body and knelt down beside it, wanting nothing more than to bring it back to life so that he could strangle the life out of her with his own two hands. After a while he became amused at the irony of the situation. From the second of her birth he had hated her and wanted her dead more than anything else in the world, but now that she was actually dead, he realized he hated her more than ever. He began to gently stroke the torn flesh around the area where the dagger had pierced through her skin.
His thin lips traced the outline of her ear as he spoke to her body, “Avery,” he breathed her name, “I may not have the honor of your death on my hands, but now there is almost no one left standing in my way. Soon, even your little warriors won’t be a threat. In the end, I suppose you made it easier for me. In the end…you lost.”
The large chamber doors flung open once more, but this time instead of a single Protector walking through them, it was an assembly of some of the vilest beings alive, dark Demons from the underworld, brutish trolls, foul ogres, and monstrous beasts; all of the things that nightmares are made of, and all of the creatures that the Protector’s spent their lives eliminating.
“My friends,” The Emperor gushed, standing up from the body, opening his arms out to his visitors, “I’m so pleased you could all come.”
A large Demon, humanoid in appearance, except for the fact he was covered in red scales, was the first to notice Avery’s body lying on the ground, “Is that her?” He asked, a hint of shock in his voice, “Is that the Protector’s leader, dead on your floor?”
The Emperor smiled slowly and motioned towards the body, “Yes, I suppose she was.”
“You actually succeeded.” Another Demon spoke, this one was grayish and covered in rancid ooze that smelled like stagnant water, “Although, I do not sense your power on her…you did not kill her with your own hand.”
“That is irrelevant!” The Emperor shouted, he was not about to let any of these putrid insects begin to challenge him, “I provided the false prophecy which led her here! I created the illusion of her village’s destruction, and if she had not been too weak to fight me I would have torn out her heart with my own two hands!”
A hush fell throughout the room. Not one of the creatures wished to anger the Emperor, fearing his power and wrath.
“The body of a Protector is still a grand trophy!” A massive green troll, standing against one of the far walls said, “You should display it outside for all to see!”
“Leave the body where it lies.” The Emperor bellowed, “Trust me, it’ll be much more effective this way.”
“What do we do now, my Lord?” The red scaly Demon asked.
The Emperor could barely conceal the anticipation in his voice, “We wait until they come, and when they do…we show them the same kindness that our previous guest received.”
“I can’t believe we let her go alone!” A girl in blue riding a buckskin horse yelled over her shoulder.
Another young girl, wearing gray, and mounted atop a smaller white horse, shouted back, “Nobody let her go alone, Jade! Nobody even knew she was going!”
“Bunny did!” Jade shouted, pulling her horse up and cutting off the other girls riding behind her, so that they had to stop as well.
“Jade, what are you doing?!” The girl in gray asked, surprised, having to hold onto her reins tight as her horse bucked up slightly from the sudden stop.
“I’m getting some answers, Skylar.” Jade spat out, “Like, why, in God’s name, would Bunny show Avery some obscure little prophecy, in some archaic little book, found in the very back of our dusty little library, that basically tells Avery to go off and die!”
“I had to show her.” A girl in green, on a dark brown horse, spoke nervously, the beginning of tears wetting her eyes, “Avery’s our leader; we have to go to her first about anything. She had me looking through the books for anything that involved the Emperor, and then I found the prophecy, and I showed it to her, and she begged, she ordered me not to tell the rest of you. Especially, you, Jade.” Bunny began to cry uncontrollably, “I already told you all of this. She gave me an order, and she made me promise not to tell, and I broke both!”
Jade stared at Bunny in disbelief, shaking her head. She couldn’t believe that Bunny had been so weak and so stupid and now, because of that, Avery was in trouble.
“You told us thirty minutes too late, Bunny!” Jade shouted.
Bunny wiped at her nose with her hand, trying to get a hold of herself, “Besides,” she hiccupped, “the prophecy didn’t say anything about dying; it just said that two leaders, one of light and one of dark, shall meet alone and from their sacrifice of blood, peace could be had by both sides.”
Jade’s mouth dropped open, “How is that good?!” She screamed, “Sacrifice of blood, Bunny! Sacrifice of blood!”
“That’s enough!” A fourth and final girl in red, saddled upon a dusky gray horse, yelled angrily, “Bunny feels bad enough as it is, don’t make it worse. Avery knew what she was getting into when she went off by herself. That’s what our leader is best at…doing things by herself and telling us about it later.”
“Sasha, don’t you even start with me.” Jade gave Sasha a stare that would have sent most other people running away crying, “If anything happens to her…” Jade’s voice trailed off. She couldn’t even force herself to finish the thought, “Let’s just ride.”
They kicked their horses into a run and continued down the dark forest path which led to the Emperor’s fortress. None of them were focusing on anything but the road in front of them.
Once the Protectors exited out of the thick woods, the fortress immediately came into view. Until now, they had only seen it from a distance. It was a dark crumbling fortress, permanently surrounded by darkness and mist. Up close, it seemed even more foreboding than it did in the nightmares they had about it in their sleep.
The Protectors rode up to the massive wall that surrounded the fortress. The huge front gates lay open a crack, beckoning them inward. They dismounted their horses and sent them on their way, not wanting them to get hurt.
The gates were old and decaying and made horrible screeching noises as the Protectors heaved them open. Heavy stone gargoyles guarding the entrance to the fortress cried out warning alarms, as the Protectors entered into the desolate courtyard.
The troop of mountain trolls that began to charge them, may have, on another day, been able to hold them back for a while, but not today. Today things were different. Today they weren’t fighting out of duty or power; they were fighting for one of their own.
They drove the trolls all the way back inside the fortress and towards the circular stone steps which led up to the top chamber. They battled them up the staircase and through the enormous doors, into the same darkness that their leader had entered into not long ago.
As soon as they all set foot into the black room, the remaining trolls retreated, closing and locking the heavy doors behind them, effectively trapping the Protectors inside.
The Protectors stood deadly still for a moment, panting and bleeding, listening to the sounds of bulky footsteps and the clink of weapons building up on the outside of the doors.
“What’s that?” Bunny asked, pointing, breaking the tense quiet.
All their eyes followed to where Bunny was pointing at. In the very center of the chamber a dim light was gleaming down from the ceiling, but it was what the light was shining on that captured the Protector’s attention. There, in the middle of the light lay a body, a body with a dagger plunged deep into its chest.
The Protectors stood paralyzed, making the room seem all the more lifeless. In a matter of seconds, everything that had just previously happened seemed like a million years ago to them. The silence in the room was deafening, a pin dropping would have sounded like thunder.
Skylar was the first one to step forward, followed wordlessly by the other Protectors. It wasn’t until they moved closer that they were able to see the full effect of the scene. Avery’s once white corset was now stained a bright shade of red. The red continued to form a wide circle around the body, although, it was hard to make out against the dark stone floor. Avery had always been porcelain pale, but now her skin was a ghostly white, almost translucent, void of any color or life. Her lips were parted slightly and had taken on the color of lavender. The Protector’s had seen enough death to know what it looked like. They knew she was dead; they just couldn’t bring themselves to rationalize it.
When they reached the body, Bunny collapsed down by Avery’s side. Picking up Avery’s ice cold hand, she held it in her own and began to cry.
Jade had gone numb the moment they spotted the body. She felt like nothing in her physically or mentally was capable of functioning, but now watching Bunny crying, feeling was beginning to come back into her body. It felt like the shockwave right before the explosion hits.
“She’s not dead…she can’t be dead.” Jade’s voice was louder than was necessary and quivering with fear, “Pull the knife out of her…hurry!”
Jade looked around to the others, but no one moved.
When Jade realized that nobody was going to do anything, she ran up to Avery’s body, pushed Bunny out of the way, and gripped the ivory hilt of the steel dagger still embedded in Avery’s heart. She pulled with all of her strength. There was the slight scraping of blade against bone as the dagger was dislodged with enough force to send Jade stumbling backwards. The wound had stopped bleeding awhile ago, but the removal of the weapon had caused the body to jerk and fresh blood to spill out of the opening in her chest.
Bunny, who was closest to the body, released a whimper from deep in her throat. She strode towards the back wall and placed her head against the bricks, trying to wipe out the image of Avery’s wound.
Jade caught her balance and stood stone still for a moment, waiting for something to happen, but when nothing did, she staggered back over to the body. Jade fell to her knees beside Avery’s corpse, looking it up and down. The blood was cool against the side of Jade’s face as she lay her head upon Avery’s chest, listening for a heartbeat, waiting for Avery’s body to rise as her lungs filled with air, but there was nothing.
“Breathe…come on, breathe!” Her voice was starting to crack and tears were beginning to sting her eyes, “Don’t you dare leave me!”
Jade lifted her head up and began pushing on her chest, giving her mouth to mouth, but nothing worked. After a few minutes of trying that, she began shaking the body and pounding on it harder and harder with her fists, shouting, “Fight! Damn you…fight!” She picked Avery up into her lap and rocked her for a few moments, whispering into her ear, “Please…please don’t go. We can’t do this without you…please, please.”
Jade lay Avery’s body back down and began beating on it again, but she wasn’t allowed to do this for very long. Sasha and Skylar grabbed Jade by both arms and ripped her away from the body.
“Let me go! I have to help her!” Jade screamed and kicked as she struggled to free herself, “Let me go!”
“You can’t help her,” Skylar shouted at her, as she began to cry herself, “you can’t! She’s gone, Jade…she’s gone.”
A savage scream escaped Jade’s lips and echoed throughout the chamber. She raised her hand to her hair and pulled, still screaming. When her voice had finally worn out, she collapsed into Skylar’s arms, and they fell to the floor together, holding each other and crying.
“How can this be happening?” Bunny uttered, still facing the wall where she was leaning her head, “What are we suppose to do?” Her voice began to get more hysterical, “This can’t be happening!”
“Bunny, calm down!” Sasha spoke for the first time since they entered the chamber. “We’ll figure out what to do.” She walked up to Bunny, grabbing her by the shoulders and turning her around, trying to steady her.
“Avery’s dead, Sasha.” Skylar looked up at her from the ground, still holding Jade, “What exactly is it that you think we should do?”
“First things first, we take Avery’s body back home. We get Gumptin, he might know of something we can do.” Sasha was taking over the role of leader, “Right now, though, we have to get out of here, or we’re going to end up getting killed ourselves.”
“That’s just what I had in mind,” said a voice from the darkness.
They all turned towards the direction the voice had come from just in time to see the Emperor emerge from the blackness.
Their swords were all drawn instantaneously, and Jade was halfway across the chamber towards the Emperor before Sasha stopped her.
“Jade…no!” Sasha bellowed, “We can’t do this right now! We have to get Avery back to Gumptin! You know we do!”
Jade just stood there staring at the Emperor for a minute, and Sasha thought she might not have heard her, but then a shiver seemed to run through the length of Jade’s body and the grip on her sword loosened. Jade and the Emperor exchanged one last cold hard look before she backed down.
Sasha stepped forward, so that she was just a few inches behind Jade, “Today is not our day to fight Emperor. The only thing we wish to do is return Avery’s body back home.”
The Emperor’s laugh rolled over the Protectors like an earthquake, “Do you think me a fool?” He asked, “The last thing I would let you do is drag off your leader to your little magician. Besides, I already have a perfect place on the battlements picked out for her corpse.”
At these words Jade and the other Protectors moved into fighting position.
The Emperor continued to speak without emotion, “The only thing that would make this day more perfect is to have four more bodies to go along with hers. So, you see, you were right about one thing; it’s not our day to fight, it’s your day to die.” He snapped his fingers once and a second later the locked doors burst open and an army of trolls, Demons, and beasts flooded into the chamber.
The fiends moved in quickly. Now that they knew the Protectors were leaderless, they found a new confidence. They were like sharks in the water that had smelled blood and were going in for the kill.
The battle was intense and the Protectors fought hard, but without Avery their power wasn’t strong enough to keep the enemy back for long. They were weakening and the sense that they weren’t going to win this battle began to envelope them.
Bunny was the first one to fall. A Bacci Demon, muscular and wolf-like, trapped her into a small corner of the chamber. She thought she had seen an opening in the Bacci’s defenses, so she raised her sword high above her head, intending to bring it down on the Bacci’s upper arm, but he anticipated this and took advantage. Right before Bunny was about to strike, the Bacci made a lightning quick turn and drove his own sword deep into Bunny’s abdomen. As the Bacci pulled his sword out, he howled with excitement and blood lust, he knew he had just killed himself a Protector.
Bunny fell to the ground, holding her stomach. Blood was pouring from her wound and she knew she was dying. She tried to call out for help, but the words stuck in the blood pooling in her throat and all that came out was a gurgle. She died with the taste of blood overwhelming her senses.
Skylar switched her sword from her right had to her left because the deeply embedded arrow sticking out of her right shoulder made any movement impossible. The next arrow flew towards her from somewhere in the crowd of Demons. It struck her in the upper thigh and forced her to the ground.
“Ugh!” She grimaced in pain.
She used her sword as a brace and struggled up off of the ground. Skylar had just barely righted herself when an enormous ogre, ax held high in his hand, rushed her. She lifted the sword she was using to balance on and plunged it into the ogre’s neck. The ogre fell down dead, and Skylar, now without her support fell back down as well. She was laboring so hard to get back up that she never even saw the thick silver arrow split through the air towards her. The arrow hit her with such force, that she was flown backwards five feet until she hit the stone wall behind her, with a crushing force.
Skylar lay on the floor for a few moments, trying to register what had happened before she attempted to get up. When she finally did try to push herself up off the ground, she realized that she couldn’t move. She couldn’t feel any part of her body below her neck. She was paralyzed. Skylar didn’t know if it was from the force of hitting the wall or the three foot arrow protruding out of her midsection, but she did know that this was the end of her fight. She began to cry warm tears that she could no longer feel once they slid down her neck.
Skylar looked over at Avery’s body, so still amongst the chaos going on around it. She couldn’t believe it had come to this, and then she died.
Sasha had seen Skylar hit the wall and immediately tried to make her way over to her. She took out the troll she was fighting easily. With a quick kick she took him to the ground, and then cut off his head with her sharp sword. When Sasha got to Skylar, she bent down and checked for a pulse, even though, she knew there wouldn’t be one.
She bent down and kissed her fallen friend on the forehead. It was the only way she knew of to say goodbye. Standing up to face the battle she knew would claim her life, Sasha let out a long sad sigh.
There was a large group of swamp trolls rushing towards her. Sasha knew that there were too many of them for her to win, but she quickened her pace to meet them none the less. If Sasha was going to die, she was going to go out fighting.
Her fierceness took the trolls off guard, and she quickly took down the first two. Sasha flipped over the shortest one, severing his head off with her sword on the way down. The second one received her dagger in the back of his skull.
Sasha was so into the battle that she never saw the colossal troll moving up behind her. The troll lifted its massive stone club high into the air and brought it down directly on the back of Sasha’s skull. There was a terrible crunching sound, and Sasha fell to the floor. She lost all sense of everything in an instant. The only thing her brain could focus on was trying to get herself up off the ground. She was scrambling around on the floor, attempting to get control of her limbs, when the troll swung his club down onto her head once again, this time on her left temple. Thick blood poured from her head in a small stream. Her body jerked twice before all movement stopped completely, and she was dead.
Jade glanced around the room and saw that she was the only Protector left. Instead of breaking her, it only made her fight on harder. She knew when they started their journey to the fortress, that if they hadn’t found Avery alive, this was going to become a suicide mission. Jade found herself oddly fine with that, but she was going to take down as many villains as she could before she died, and hopefully, most importantly, the Emperor.
Jade slowly made her way over to where the Emperor was standing against the wall, buried in the darkness. She punched and ogre square in the face, knocking him out cold. Using her Protector strength, she picked up a smaller Demon, throwing him backwards.
The swamp troll that had killed Sasha ran at Jade, his killing club held high. Jade spun out of his way, slicing across his belly with her sword in the process. She was able to kill the troll, but by doing so she had left her right side exposed to a Succubus Demon, holding a small blade. The Demon drove the blade into Jade’s left side. Jade howled in pain and removed the blade from her body, stabbing the Demon in the eye with his own weapon. She ignored the sharp pain in her side and continued on towards the Emperor, sword held tight in her hand.
Jade heard someone approaching from behind her, so she kicked back hard sending a troll flying. This kept her occupied for only a split second, but that was long enough for another troll to stab a discarded arrow deep into her right shoulder. Without missing a beat, Jade switched her sword to her other arm and swung it around wildly at the troll, severing his head and spilling putrid green blood out all over her.
Jade could feel the blood pumping out from the wound in her side, weakening her, but adrenaline and the idea of revenge kept her going. She was only yards away from the Emperor when two long arrows shot out from the crowd of monsters and struck her in the right hip, tossing her to the floor and making her legs virtually useless.
Once she was on the ground, Jade had her sword knocked away from her and received a swift kick to the face. She grabbed on to the offending foot with her only good arm and wrenched it upwards, effectively discarding her attacker.
Jade turned herself over onto her belly and began to crawl towards the Emperor, dragging her wounded legs and arm with her. She reached down and untied a small crossbow that had been securely fastened to her belt. She lifted the crossbow up and took aim at the Emperor, but before she could get a shot off, a Bacci Demon took hold of Jade’s leg and began dragging her backwards. Jade flipped over and shot the Demon through the heart with one of her crossbow arrows. Right after she took the shot, another large swamp troll descended upon her, knocking the crossbow out of her hand. She grabbed a dagger she had hidden in her boot and brought it up, straight through the troll’s chin and up into his brain.
As Jade rolled the troll off of her, she was able to see at least ten more deadly trolls only seconds away from reaching her. Jade dismissed any instinct she had to want to fight them off and instead rolled back over onto her belly and continued on her path to the Emperor. Knowing she wouldn’t be able to reach him, she stared him dead in his vacant black slits for eyes, and let her hatred show all over her face as she spoke to him.
“I promise you Emperor, one way or another, I will see you again.” Jade growled.
A second Succubus Demon made his way through the crowd of trolls. He reached Jade and stood over her, one leg on either side of her body. The Demon glanced up at the Emperor, and the Emperor, in return, gave him a quick nod of approval. With that, the Demon raised the massive broadsword he was holding high in front of him, and a split second later, brought it down straight through Jade.
Jade made one last reach towards the Emperor, before she let out a final breath and lay on the floor dead.
Outside of the fortress the Emperor could hear the sky going wild. Thunder roared and lightning beat down upon the ground. The scent of damp rain mixed with the coppery scent of blood and made for a heady concoction that seemed, to the Emperor, a perfect perfume for the occasion. The Emperor laughed to himself, wondering if the storm raging outside was the planet’s way of weeping for its lost Protectors. He hoped so; he loved the idea of causing so much pain.
The Emperor’s fiendish army stood covered in blood, some of it their own, some belonging to the Protectors. They stood and waited for the Emperor’s orders, ready to do his bidding.
The Emperor took a deep breath, still savoring his morbid perfume, “Take this garbage,” he waved a dismissive hand towards the bodies of the Protectors, “and place it on stakes along the front gate. Let our enemies see what becomes of those who try to fight us.”
A large number of swamp trolls moved in to carry the bodies away, but before they could even reach the first body, something began to happen. The Protector’s bodies began to emit a warm soft glow, like there was a fire burning on the inside of them. The glow became brighter and brighter until the Emperor and his armies could no longer see the bodies, just five bright orbs of light. Then, in a giant explosion of white light the Protectors were gone.
The Emperor screamed, in a rage, “That pathetic little magician!” He spat out, and then turned to speak to his army, “Go to the Protector’s village and bring their bodies back to me!”
A small Demon with snake-like features stepped forward, “But, my Lord, the Protector’s village is located near King Draven’s territory.”
“So?” The Emperor asked.
“Well, Draven has a large army,” the Demon continued, “and he protects his lands and the forests surrounding them well. He will know if an army of our size is in the area, and he won’t take it well. It would be foolish to risk it just to retrieve a few corpses. I think it would be wiser to…”
His words were cut short as the Emperor plunged a steel sword deep into his stomach, and he fell on the floor dead.
“Does anyone else have anything to say?” The Emperor asked with a threatening edge to his voice, still holding the bloody sword. “Now, go…I want those bodies!”
The small Wizard fell backwards, exhausted. The items he had been holding in his hands fell the to ground, a silver necklace belonging to Avery, a small knife belonging to Jade, Sasha’s hair comb, a bracelet of Bunny’s, and Skylar’s compact mirror, all personal items belonging to the Protectors.
Gumptin had used them for the summoning spell he performed. When the Protectors had been killed Gumptin had sensed it. Being a Wizard since birth, he had a stronger connection to the elements around him, and he had felt it in the air, whispering to him…the Protectors were dead.
The villagers had gathered around Gumptin, standing in the center of their village. They had been worried ever since the Protectors took off in the middle of the night.
In another flash of blinding white light, the Protectors bodies re-appeared on the grassy ground where Gumptin and the rest of the villagers stood.
Skylar’s mother screamed at the sight of her bloodied and torn daughter lying dead on the ground. She brought her hands up to her eyes to block the image and turned into her husband’s arms, weeping.
Avery’s mother had fallen to her daughter’s side and was now cradling her in her arms, letting her tears dampen her dead daughter’s long hair.
“Gumptin, you have to do something!” She choked, staring up at the Wizard, pleading with tearful eyes.
The short old Wizard hobbled up to Avery’s mother and placed his hand on her shoulder, “I…I do not know if there is anything I can do.”
“What do you mean you don’t know if there’s anything you can do?!” Jade’s father shouted angrily, “You’re their mentor! You’re supposed to look out for them…now you do something!”
Gumptin ran his hands through his long gray beard. There was only one spell he knew of that could bring the Protectors back from the dead and it was far beyond his power to perform. In fact, he knew of only one group powerful enough to perform the spell that would even grant him an audience.
“I will go and see the Elementals.” Gumptin told the villagers, making up his mind.
The villagers looked at Gumptin with apprehension. Everyone knew that the Elementals preferred to watch rather than intervene in the lives of humans.
“Are you sure they’ll help?” Jade’s mother asked from the ground, where she was seated next to her daughter’s body.
“No,” Gumptin answered honestly, “but there is nothing else we can do.”
Gumptin turned away from the tragic scene in front of him and walked into the thick forest surrounding the village. He walked along the main road as fast as his little body allowed him to go. After a half a mile he turned onto a smaller path that diverged from the road, the path was unmarked and overgrown, but Gumptin knew it was the one which would take him to where he needed to go.
As he walked, Gumptin tried to think of what he was going to say to the Elementals. After all, the last time he had spoken to them was over sixteen years ago and that time the Elementals had come to him, not the other way around. They had come to him and told him that they were going to create five warriors. The Elementals were a group associated with the order of the Ancients. The Ancients are the most powerful of beings, capable of almost any kind of magic. There are good Ancients and there are bad Ancients, but mainly they just believe in keeping a balance in the world, the fragile balance between good and evil, and no group believe in that more than The Elementals. That was why sixteen years ago they came to Gumptin and told him that they sensed evil was becoming stronger than good. So, in order to keep the balance they were going to give five unborn human souls each a different power. One was to have the power of water, one with air, another with fire, one with wind, and the fifth one would be given the power of energy and would be fated to be the leader. The Elementals would make them stronger, faster, and hardier, with more adept senses and reflexes than the average human. They had told Gumptin that the five warriors would be called the Protectors and would be destined to protect the planet and fight against evil. Then, they commanded Gumptin to be their teacher and guardian. They instructed him to go to the village of Havyn. He was given the names of the Protectors would be parents and told to wait for the five of them to be born. That was over sixteen years ago, and Gumptin had done what The Elementals had told him to do without question. He had trained and guarded the Protectors. Now, he hoped, that The Elementals would do what he was about to ask.
Gumptin continued down the overgrown path for over a mile before he finally reached his destination. It was a large pool of crystal clear water, surrounded by a wall of opalescent rock. It was beautiful, but there was nothing particularly magic about it, that is, until Gumptin reached into one of the pouches tied around his belt and pulled out a handful of white powder. The powder was made of ground up crystals, snake scales, sand, and five tears from a broken heart; it was a common summoning powder.
He threw the powder into the pool and recited the words, “Deax ploria avu Domuvita Elementia!”
A few seconds later, the water in the pool shot straight up into the air in one long stream, and came crashing back down, but instead of landing back into the empty pool, it stayed hovered a few feet above it. Gumptin watched as the water began to move and churn, until it took on the shape of six figures, three female and three male, all made out of water, except for their eyes which glowed a pale shade of blue.
“Gumptin the Wizard,” spoke one of the female figures in a watery almost songlike voice, “why have you summoned us here?”
Gumptin gave a small bow of respect to the Elementals before he began, “The Protectors have been killed.”
“We are already aware of this information.” Said one of the males in the same sing-song voice, “Tell us what it is you summoned us for.”
Gumptin swallowed hard, “I am asking for you to bring them back using the Spell of Rebirth. They have been dead for less than twenty-four hours, which is the only requirement, and I know you have the power to do it.”
There was silence and for a horrifying moment Gumptin thought that they might simply decide to leave without dealing with him anymore.
Finally, the first female spoke, “Gumptin, that is a spell that hasn’t been done in thousands of years,” she blinked her pale eyes and tilted her head towards Gumptin, “and for good reason.”
“But this planet needs the Protectors!” Gumptin pleaded, “The Emperor grows stronger every day, and without them there is almost no chance of stopping him. They are too important to let die!”
This time, another male spoke, “We created the Protectors, Gumptin, we know of their importance. However, they were mortals and mortals die. It is fate that decides when.”
“Then change their fate!” Gumptin shouted. These girls weren’t just his students; they had become his family, and he wasn’t going to leave without getting them back, “If anyone deserves a second chance it is them. They have done nothing but fight for the greater good all of their lives. They devoted their lives to the burden that you placed upon them, and yes,” Gumptin spoke quickly before the Elementals could protest, “it was a burden…you know it was. They deserve a second chance.”
The male was about to speak again, but the first female held up her hand to silence him and spoke instead, “What you are asking is not lightly done. You are asking us to affect life and death, the natural order of things.”
Gumptin started to speak, but this time the female held up her hand to silence him.
She continued, “The Inamri Ancients cast a spell not very long ago, a dark and extremely powerful spell, a spell that will have dangerous repercussions, a spell that could very well tip the balance in evil’s favor forever. We were going to take the Inamri to the Council of Ancients and have their spell revoked. However, if we do this, if we bring the Protectors back, we lose all authority to challenge the Inamri. Whatever they did will remain done.”
Gumptin knew the Inamri were the darkest of the Ancients. Above all the others they desired power, not balance, and unfortunately, power could usually be obtained through evil.
“What spell did the Inamri cast?” Gumptin asked.
All six Elementals shook their heads, “We have told you all we can. Now, you must choose.”
Gumptin knew it should have taken him longer to decide, being a Wizard dedicated to fighting for good, but weighing one dangerous spell against the Protector’s lives was no choice for him, “I want you to bring them back.”
All six water figures merged together as one, forming one large ball of water that glimmered the same pale blue color as their eyes. They stayed in that glowing ball of water for almost a minute. Then, when they emerged back into their human water forms, five of them, all except for the female who seemed to be in charge, were holding radiantly glowing orbs the size of a peach in their hand.
“We have collected the Protector’s souls.” The female told Gumptin.
Gumptin gasped and fell backwards a step, focusing on the fact that he was actually staring at the Protectors.
“Souls remain in the atmosphere for twenty-four hours before they move on.” The main female Elemental informed Gumptin, “That is why the spell must be performed within a day of the individual’s death.”
“So, you shall do the spell?” Gumptin asked, barely able to breathe from excitement.
“Yes,” she answered, “the souls will be placed back into the mothers of the Protectors to be reborn. They will then be sent through the Ora Gateway.”
“What?” Gumptin exhaled weakly.
Being a Wizard, Gumptin of course knew about the Gateways. There were thousands of them spread across the universe, and they always came in pairs, one on one planet and its twin on a separate planet. They were, just as their name suggested, gateways, or doors, from one planet to another. They allowed an individual to step through a door on one planet, travel through space in a matter of seconds, and exit through the other door on whatever planet it’s located. There were five different gateways scattered across their planet of Orcatia, but no one outside of the magic folk knew where they were located, or to which planets the Gateway’s connected. Gumptin, as part of the magic community, knew that the Ora Gateway was located only a few miles from the Protector’s village and that it connected to a planet called Earth.
“Why would you send them through a Gateway?” Gumptin asked, not liking the idea of the Protector’s on another planet.
“There are many reasons, Gumptin.” The Elemental answered, “Foremost, this planet cannot wait years for the Protectors to be born and grow up. It would be pointless to bring them back if that were the case. We can manipulate the Gateways. As we send them through space, we can also send them through time. We will send them back in time sixteen years to the planet Earth. There, they will grow up, and when they reach the age they were when they died, you will go and collect them. We will come to you when it is time. Only a few days shall go by here on Orcatia. Because they will be born on Earth, they will age at the normal rate. However, their parents, being born Orcatian, will not be able to age on Earth. Make sure you tell them this.”
Gumptin thought about that for a moment. He had been so wrapped up in bringing the Protectors back to life he hadn’t really stopped to think about them being re-born or growing up. His head began to ache. He tried to think of a way around the Gateway and sending them to the past, but he came up with nothing. In the end, Gumptin realized that he had no choice but to do it the Elementals way.
“There is one more thing you should know.” The Elemental bowed her head in a way that left Gumptin nervous to hear the rest of what she was about to tell him. “There are certain consequences that come with doing a spell this powerful.”
“What kind of consequences?” Gumptin asked feeling disheartened.
The Elemental lifted her head, “With the Spell of Rebirth, those being reborn are born without their memories.”
Gumptin felt the blood drain from his face. Apart from being told that the Protectors would have to stay dead, he couldn’t imagine hearing worse words coming out of the Elementals mouths.
“For how long?” he asked, “Will they regain any of their memories?”
“Over time they might reclaim a very small amount of their memories,” The Elemental answered honestly, “but they will never remember everything.”
Gumptin nodded his head; there was nothing else he could do. If this was the price for getting the Protectors back alive, he couldn’t argue against it.
The five Elementals that held the Protectors souls began to mold back together into the giant water ball.
“Go,” the last Elemental told Gumptin, “prepare the parents; we will meet you at the Ora Gateway in three hours.”
When she finished speaking the female Elemental merged into the water with the others. They remained swirling around for a few seconds before vanishing in a bright explosion. The remaining water fell back into the pool and Gumptin watched the water still, as if nothing had happened.
Gumptin walked back to the village at a much slower pace than he had used to reach the Elementals. He was lost in thought, mulling over everything that had just been discussed. On one hand, he was relieved; the Protectors were being given a second chance. They would be brought to life and Gumptin couldn’t be anything but overjoyed by that, but there were aspects of them being re-born that left him uneasy. They were going to be growing up on a distant planet, with no memory of ever being a Protector. He could only hope that when the time came for them to return to Orcatia they would be able to step back into the role of a warrior.
When Gumptin returned to the village he found the villagers, who were in a panic.
Apparently, when the Elementals had taken the Protector’s souls, their bodies had turned to dust, leaving the parents in a state of hysteria.
Gumptin quieted them down and explained to the villagers everything that the Elementals had told him. Slowly, the parents began to calm down and take in everything he was saying.
“So,” Sasha’s mother choked, “you’re telling us they’re going to be alright?”
Gumptin nodded and the whole village seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
The parents were more than willing to do what the Elementals had asked of them, travel to Earth and raise their children all over again for sixteen years; that was nothing to them.
The parents and Gumptin left the village immediately to go meet the Elementals at the Gateway. It wasn’t a very long walk, less than an hour, even following Gumptin who wasn’t the fastest of walkers.
Their destination was at the end of a small dirt path, which lay a mile down the main road; it opened up into a small clearing about ten feet around, surrounded by dense overgrown trees. At the far end of the clearing were two exceptionally large oak trees, only a few feet apart and out of place from the other trees.
Gumptin picked up a small rock and threw it between the trees. The parents heard it land somewhere in the thicket of the forest.
Gumptin picked up a second small rock, but this time before throwing it between the trees he spoke the words, “Ora Gateway.”
There was a small charge that went off between the trees, like a miniature lightning strike. When Gumptin threw the stone, the space between the trees rippled as if someone had thrown a pebble into a pool of water. This time the stone didn’t land on the other side; it disappeared completely.
Gumptin turned to the parents, “That stone is lying somewhere on Earth now. That is how the Gateway works; you have to name it. Once you say its name, it stays open for approximately ten minutes.”
“You, however, will not need to use the Gateway once you travel to Earth.” The ethereal voice came from behind Gumptin and the parents.
They all turned to see six figures, human in appearance, but made up of what looked like smoke and dust, although, they still had their gleaming pale blue eyes. Five of the Elementals were still holding the glowing souls.
The Elementals addressed the parents, the main female speaking for the group, “We will send you all to the planet Earth, with your children’s souls. Once there, we will provide you with a place to live and a means to support yourselves. You will have normal lives and raise your children as normal girls.” The Elemental gave the parents a penetrating gaze, “Never speak of this planet or who they really are. You will not use the Ora Gateway to travel back to Orcatia until Gumptin comes to retrieve you; do you understand?” She waited for each of the parents to tell her they understood, before asking, “Are there any questions?”
The parents only wanted their children back alive and were willing to do whatever the Elementals demanded of them. The parents shook their heads and the five Elementals holding the souls walked forward towards the mothers.
Avery’s mother was the first to be given her daughter’s soul.
The Elemental walked up to her, cupped the soul in both palms, leaned down to her stomach and whispered words, “Sula Dunna Nacht.”
The words were too old for even Gumptin to understand, and that was saying a lot, considering he was a Wizard with extensive knowledge of the old languages.
There was a bright flash of bluish light, and then the soul was no longer in the Elemental’s hands.
“Take care of her.” The Elemental told Avery’s mother, and she nodded in agreement, holding her stomach, tears begin to form in her eyes.
The other Elementals followed suit. First, Jade was given to her mother, then Sasha, then Skylar, and finally Bunny.
Bunny’s mother seemed hesitant and the Elemental backed away, “Are you sure you want this?” he asked her, “It must be all of them that go back, or none at all.”
All of the parents looked at Bunny’s mother, pleading and warning with their eyes.
“Of course, I want this!” She cried, “I just can’t believe everything that’s happened today.” Her voice cracked as she steadied her stance, readying herself to accept Bunny’s soul.
The Elemental nodded once, then continued to place the soul into her body.
Once the Elementals had done their job of placing all the souls, they ordered the parents into the Gateway.
The five Elementals who had carried the Protectors souls went through the Gateway first, followed by the parents. The main female stayed behind for a moment.
“Thank you for doing this.” Gumptin told her, overcome with gratitude after seeing the souls safely put where they belong, knowing his Protectors would soon be returning to him.
“Just remember, Gumptin,” The Elemental answered, her sing-song voice taking on a melancholy tone, “you were the one to ask for this. Whatever happens, good or bad, do not come to us for any more favors.”
And with those words, she turned and walked into the Gateway, leaving Gumptin standing alone, pondering what she had said.
Eeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrr!
Avery Kimball’s head shot up from her desk so fast that she nearly managed to knock herself out of her seat. She had almost fallen asleep when the ear piercing bell, signifying the end to her final class, slammed her back into reality. She checked her desk and the side of her face for drool. There was hardly anything as embarrassing as falling asleep in class and drooling all over the place, and this she knew from experience.
Avery slumped her backpack onto her shoulder and started to file in line with the rest of the students pilling out of the compact classroom and into the crowded corridors.
“TGIF, right?” a slight Asian girl, with dyed purple hair, standing beside Avery asked.
“Tell me about it.” Avery responded, keeping her eyes fixed on the two double plexi-glass doors which led out to the parking lot and to freedom, “I thought this week would never end.”
“So, are you going to Mitchell’s party tonight?” The girl asked.
Avery let out a sigh, but before she could continue and officially say no, the girl cut her off, “Avery, you have to go! It won’t be the same without you there. Plus, now that Mitchell and Jenny are a thing of the past, he totally has eyes for you!”
Avery thought about that for a moment. She had always held a small torch for Mitchell Becker and his big brown puppy dog eyes, ever since the third grade when he had shared his bag of gummy snacks with her. She let herself fantasize about his eyes for a few more seconds before deciding against making a play for his affection.
“Sorry, Ming, I can’t.” Avery said, hoping she wouldn’t later come to regret her decision, “I’ve got an English literature paper that desperately needs my attention.”
Ming shook her head, “You’ve gotta knock it off with all this studying, girl. We’re only juniors; we have another whole year before we have to start worrying about grades and college.”
Avery gave Ming a light motherly pinch on the cheek, “It’s never too early to start worrying…or so my parents tell me”
Finally, they exited the doors and were out of the student packed corridors.
Ming waved goodbye, smiling broadly, “Well, we’ll miss you tonight, but I’ll give Mitchell a big kiss for you.”
Avery smiled back, telling herself that Ming’s comment was just a good humored joke and not an actual declaration of something she was intending to do. Otherwise, smiling would be the last thing Avery would do.
“I’ll see you Monday, Ming.” Avery shouted her goodbye.
Phoenix Mountain High School was located right next to a large park, filled with dozens of bulky trees and green bushes overflowing with petite white flowers that extracted a spicy sent into the air.
It was by the curb at the far side of the park that Avery always parked her car. In the far distance, she could see the sun glinting off the hood of her beloved Dodge Challenger. She didn’t care that it was over thirty years old, with a peeling dark blue paint job, missing windshield wipers, a sticky gear shift, and sun visors that randomly decided to fall off. Avery didn’t even care that she had ended up putting more money into it than what she had initially paid for it. That car was her baby. It was the first thing she had bought with her money earned from working at her Mom’s flower shop, and more importantly, at this moment, it was her ride to home. Of course, she had to make it to the car first.
Download this book for your ebook reader.
(Pages 1-29 show above.)