The Last Ward

by Jessica Wayne

  “No! Leave us alone!” a woman screamed, gripping her two children behind her as a vampire moved closer.

  Dax and Lawson charged, two men against an army of many, both with an entire family to lose if they failed.

  He went for a vampire first, dodging a blade and fists and removing the creature’s head.

  His body spinning to avoid another attack, the metal of his sword clashed with the blade of a man in black armor. The sound of metal against metal might as well have been silent for all the screaming.

  Trying to stay focused, he dodged again, kicking out with a leg and knocking his opponent to the ground before burying his blade in the man’s neck where his helmet met the rest of his armor.

  The man didn’t even budge.

  What the hell kind of magick is this? But Dax knew the sickening answer. Necromancer. They were rare, but there were a few out there constantly hunted by the council for their abilities to bring the dead back to life—or re-animate would be a more applicable word, since there was nothing actually alive about the creatures.

  The thing smiled at him from behind his helmet, and lifted his blade. Dax dodged, the steel whirring over his head, before he stood and brought his own sword over the thing’s neck, removing its head just as the Guardians above had done when they first entered the academy.

  Stained with blood and whatever black ooze was inside the dead, Dax moved on to the next enemy—a werewolf in full form—who tore at him with claws sharper than the best-cared-for dagger.

  “Daxon!” a woman screamed, and he turned in time to stop the vampire at his back from biting into his shoulder.

  Dax scanned the room, searching for the woman who'd screamed his name. His gaze fell on a panicked Mariana, who clutched an unconscious and bleeding Theodore to her chest. Her own gown was soaked with blood, her face streaked with it.

  “No! No!” he screamed, panic racing through him as the creatures closed in on his family. “Mariana!” The survivors’ numbers had been thinned, with only a dozen of the thousands still standing. It was a bloodbath—a complete slaughter, and Dax glanced around the room, his stomach dropping as he realized that he and Lawson were the only two left standing to fight.

  Where the hell was his father? His mother? The rest of the fucking Guardians? Had they truly been dispatched so easily?

  He dodged another werewolf, bringing the steel of his blade down onto its back. The beast howled in agony as he was split in two just before falling to the ground in a bloody heap.

  No time to waste, Dax immediately ducked, narrowly missing the throwing blades of a vamp. He fought harder than he ever had before, tapping into every bit of energy his body had to offer.

  Seconds turned to hours as he fought his way to Mariana. His muscles screamed out in agony as he dodged claws, teeth, and steel alike, swinging his blade as though it were a part of his arm.

  Lawson cried out, and Dax turned and searched the bloodstained room for his brother.

  “Sad Guardian, not so fun to be hunted for what you are, is it?” a vamp sneered, moving into his line of sight.

  “Is that why you did all this? There were innocent people here!”

  The vamp scoffed. “No human with Guardian blood in their veins is innocent.”

  Dax spun, swinging his blade at the wolf who’d crept up behind him. The blade struck true, and the beast fell to the floor.

  It was only then that Dax realized the room had fallen completely silent. “Mariana!” he yelled, but there was no answer.

  The creatures began to close in on him, and Dax readied himself for death. He knew it was coming, but he sure as hell wasn’t going out without taking more of these bastards out with him.

  He lifted his blade, ready for the fight, but just as he was about to charge, pain radiated from the back of his head, spreading through the rest of his skull. He clutched his hands to his temples, falling to his knees. His sword fell to his side, the vamp laughing wildly as he closed in on Dax.

  The world around him began to fade, and Dax’s last thought was of his sister, who had no one left to fight for her.

  Dax’s eyes opened slowly, a heavy weight resting on his chest. He jerked, ready to fight whatever had taken him down, but a hard knee pressed into his groin and whoever was on top tightened their hold on his shoulders.

  “Shhh,” a woman whispered into his ear, and he stilled. What the hell happened? His vision blurred, it took him a moment to focus on the woman lying on top of him.

  “Shhh,” she whispered again, pressing a finger to her lips. She leaned back, and he peered through the dark to get a better look at her face. White hair, violet eyes, and the large scar running down her cheek told him all he needed to know.

  “What the hell are you doing?” he demanded. If he were right, he was lying beneath the most dangerous Sage in the entire realm. A woman even the king himself feared above all others.

  Leaning down, she pressed her lips to his ear. “If you want to live, I suggest you remain silent.”

  Dax turned his head to the side and saw at least a dozen wolves walking through a sea of dead Guardian bodies. Somehow he’d gotten back outside and was currently pinned in the cold, wet mud just past the stone stairs.

  “I have to get to my family,” he whispered loudly and tried to push her off. She was strong though, and held him steady.

  “She’s dead. There isn’t anyone alive except me and you.”

  The woman’s sharp eyes watched the creatures intently, her white hair braided thickly behind her back. According to everything he’d heard, she was older than he was by at least two decades. She appeared young, perhaps even a few years his junior. Her features were delicate, and even now in the dark he could see a scattering of light freckles across her sharp nose. Her eyes though, those were the only part of her that alluded to her true age. They held the experience of a warrior.

  He’d grown up on stories of her, of how she wasn’t limited by typical Sage magick. She was the most feared mercenary in the entire realm, which begged one major question: why was she trying to save him?

  “Why can’t they see us?”

  She glared down at him. “I’m trying to save your life, but if you keep talking, I’ll let the beasts eat you alive.”

  Her tone told him not to doubt her threat so he stayed silent, fighting the urge to rush back inside to his family.

  If she were right and they were dead, there was nothing he could do if he followed them to the grave.

  And if by chance they’d survived, he would do them no good by bringing attention to it. So he lay still, a strange woman on top of him, and waited as grief all but strangled him.

  The woman above him tensed, leaning down closer to him as a werewolf stalked closer, sniffing the body beside where they lay.

  He could see its golden eyes, each fleck of black and green inside the iris, and make out each and every grey hair on its limber body as it passed by.

  “Let’s go! Our work here is done,” a man’s voice, deep and raspy, yelled out. Dax imprinted the sound to memory. When he was out of here, he would hunt that man—or creature—down and drive his steel into its neck. Even if it were the last damn thing he did.

  Moments that might as well have been hours passed by before the woman climbed off of him and helped him to his feet.

  She stood at least two feet shorter than him, clad in battle leather, and she studied the corpses around them with a disgust of someone who’d seen their fair share of the dead.

  “Fucking animals,” she murmured, stepping over the body of a fallen werewolf.

  Dax broke into a run and sprinted toward the entrance. Just before he reached the stone step, a tree cracked and fell down, blocking the entrance. He spun. “What the hell are you doing?”

  “Trying to keep you alive,” she snarled.

  “I need to get back inside to my family!”

  “Your family is dead, just like you are going to be if you don’t get the hell out of here.”

  “Ther
e is someone else alive in there!”

  The Sage narrowed her eyes on his face. “You mean the woman you stored in the upstairs banquet room?”

  Dax’s blood iced. “What did you do to her?”

  “She’s currently unconscious and in the stable.”

  “Unconscious?”

  “She’s whiny, and I got annoyed.”

  His heart stammered as he turned back to the academy. He’d promised to keep her safe. He’d promised to keep them all safe. “I have to get back inside.” The lump in his throat nearly choked him as he started to climb over the tree.

  Lightning split the sky and another tree fell into his path. “Stop doing that!”

  “If you go in there, you will die.”

  “I have to know for sure. I have to see them,” he urged, tears streaming down his face. Surely they weren’t all gone. Mariana and Lawson were both alive! He’d seen it!

  The Sage opened her mouth but shut it again and cocked her head to the side. Lavender eyes widening, she stared at him in horror. “We need to go—now.” Reaching toward him, she wrapped slender fingers around his wrist.

  “I told you I’m not leav—” Before he could finish his sentence, the door blew off of the academy, and flames leapt out, reaching toward the dark sky.

  “No!” Dax screamed, he started toward the flames but the Sage’s grip tightened, holding him in place. “Mariana! Lawson! Theodore!”

  “They’re dead!” she insisted and released him when he jerked his arm from her grasp.

  “No!” He fell to his knees, his pants soaking up the mud and blood around them.

  His sister would never hold her child, never watch them grow up, and the fact that he’d never again see her infectious smile killed him. His other half, his twin was dead. His entire family gone in one night.

  “I’m sorry for your loss,” the woman said behind him. “But we need to go. Now.”

  He wiped tears away from his cheeks and fought the urge to vomit as he looked at the flames. He wouldn’t even be able to bury them. Why had the creatures attacked? Was it just to destroy the academy? Why tonight? Wouldn’t it have made more sense to wait until the families had gone home? To wait for the extra Guardian forces to leave?

  Stiffening, Dax stood slowly and turned to face the Sage. Her white tunic was sprayed with blood, her face streaked with it. What part had she played?

  “Why are you here?”

  “Trying to make sure you don’t do anything stupid.”

  “Why did they attack?” Without his sword, he wouldn’t stand a chance against her, but the rage building in his chest didn’t care. All that mattered was that his family had been murdered by magicks, and she was the only magickal creature nearby.

  “I don’t know.” Her teeth bit down on her bottom lip as she stared up at the fire. “I really don’t know.”

  “Then why are you here? Guardians don’t allow Sages on the grounds.”

  “I had my reasons. We need to leave.”

  “Why did you save me? You do know I’m a Guardian, don’t you?”

  The Sage narrowed her eyes. “I know you’re of Guardian blood, but you’re no Guardian.”

  “And how do you know that?”

  She cocked her head to the side again and studied the tree line. Ignoring him, she said quickly, “You need to go. They will kill you.”

  “Who?” He looked but couldn’t see anything.

  “Those who orchestrated the attack, they’re coming.”

  “Good.” Dax bared his teeth.

  She scoffed. “Don’t be a fool. You won’t survive.”

  “Doesn’t matter that much, does it?”

  The Sage grabbed the front of his tunic and looked straight into his eyes. “For all we know, you’re the last Guardian, the final member of any of the Guardian bloodlines. Get your ass out of here before you are the reason the entire line ends.”

  “I’m not a Guardian.” Adrenaline still pumping in his veins, he stared her down and channeled all the grief he was afraid to feel into rage. Rage for all magicks, for those who’d slaughtered thousands of innocent people.

  “Your revenge is not worth your life.”

  “You don’t get to decide that.”

  “One day you will thank me.”

  Before he could respond, his vision blurred. “What are you doing to me?” Pain split his head, and he screamed, falling to his knees.

  The pain intensified just as it had inside, and he dug his fingers into his temples, desperate for relief from the skull-splitting pain.

  “You did this to me inside! You stopped me from saving them!” he roared.

  “I saved your life.” Kneeling beside him, she placed a hand on his shoulder. “You need to leave or you and your friend will die. Right now, she’s completely helpless, a waiting meal for what will be here within moments.”

  Corrine. She couldn’t fight. Even if he stayed to get revenge, it would come at the cost of her life. Could he live with that?

  “Live to fight another day, Guardian.”

  The pain subsided, and Dax looked up into her eyes. “You are just as responsible for their deaths as the monsters who took their lives. You should have let me fight in there!”

  “You would have died and the line would have perished with you. Ensuring the safety of the realm is more important than your revenge.” Her words were filled with cool logic, which only pissed him off even more. His family was far more important to him than any fucking bloodline.

  “You are going to get yourself and your friend killed if you don’t pick yourself up and move.”

  Dax glared at her, and for a moment, their gazes held. He considered pulling his dagger out and ramming it into her throat, giving him a chance to get back in and search for his family. Surely the tunnels below were still clear. Maybe the fire hadn’t reached the ceremony room yet.

  The Sage stood, her eyes glowing an eerie lavender as she accessed her power. “You can either go on your own, or I’ll knock your ass out and strap you to the horse.”

  Slowly, Dax got to his feet. He towered over her, glaring down. “I will find you after all this is over.”

  The Sage smiled, a warrior’s smile that both stunned and chilled him. “I’ll be waiting.”

  Dax ran for the stables, leaving the Sage behind him. “Corrine!” he called, searching for her. As he came around to Shadow’s stall, he saw her, unconscious but breathing on the straw.

  Shadow whinnied and nuzzled him as soon as he stepped inside. Lifting her carefully, Dax set her on Shadow’s bare back before tossing his saddlebags over his shoulder and climbing on behind her.

  Having ridden through battles before, Shadow was steel backed as Dax urged him outside.

  “Good luck, I’d avoid any of the main roads,” the Sage shouted. “Don’t go straight to Cambria, they will be looking for you there.”

  Dax didn’t answer, just stared at the flames shooting up into the dark sky as he studied the burning academy one last time.

  No bodies, no proof. There would be nothing linking the creatures to the massacre. No one would know. No one but him, Corrine, and the mysterious Sage who’d rescued him.

  “Go! Now!” the Sage yelled, raising her hands as bright violet light came to life in her palms. For the first time, Dax spotted the creatures racing toward them from the sides of the burning academy.

  There were dozens, and suddenly his thirst for revenge against the Sage was replaced by concern for her life.

  “I can stay and fight with you!” he said, not wanting to leave her behind. She’d saved his life, what kind of man would he be if he left her to die?

  “I assure you, Guardian, I don’t need your help.” She snarled and raised her hands, dirt shooting up from the ground below and thrusting toward their enemy. “Now get going before I let you both die!”

  Dax squeezed his thighs against Shadow’s back, urging the horse toward the stone bridge.

  Clutching Corrine to his chest as they crossed the sto
ne bridge, Dax hoped like hell Shadow’s steps would be steady enough to keep them from slipping off the edge as the rain began to hammer down on them once again.

  Stone-faced, Dax rode as quickly as he could, the fire behind burning away the blood and bodies of his family, as he swore his revenge.

  He would find who did this.

  And he would fucking slaughter them all.

  * * *

  Turn the page to read the first chapter of Warrior Of Magick, the first full-length novel in The Cambrexian Realm series, coming January 7th!

  Warrior Of Magick Chapter 1

  Two hours late. Perched atop a pine deep in the heart of the Terebrix forest, Sienna Faremin rolled her shoulders, groaning with relief as the bones popped and some of the stiffness eased.

  Three hours she’d been sitting on this branch, waiting for her marks to show up. She’d even arrived an hour early just to be sure she wouldn’t miss them. It was just like creatures of the night to be late to their own damn meeting. Selfish, bloodthirsty bastards.

  Reaching into her pack, Sienna removed a package of dried fruit and stuffed part of a pear into her mouth. The sweetness still preserved in the drying process was lost on her as she waited.

  Typically, her orders came from the Magick Council made up of a group of Sages. They were humans born with power, who oversaw all magickal issues within the realm. They spent decades being trained for the position, only to hold it until death or retirement. Their choice.

  And the bastards owned her. Until death do them part or her sentence ran out. She’d bet everything it would be the former.

  This time though, it had been the Non-Magick Council who’d reached out and let her know that this particular meeting was of the utmost importance to the king.

  They’d even promised to put in a good word for her in exchange for her discretion.

  Dangling her freedom in front of her like a fucking carrot, knowing she’d jump right on it.

  Since this meeting was supposed to be taking place between a Werewolf and a Vampire—two species that tended to despise each other—it was believed they were plotting an attack, and the Non-Magick Council worried an overthrow attempt was imminent.