Marked, Soul Guardians Book 1

by Kim Richardson

Splinters of wood from the door exploded as though a bomb had gone off. Tom and Kara flew backwards in the air. Tom hit the wall first and crumbled to the floor. Kara flew farther back and crashed hard on the kitchen floor. Putrid gas blanketed her in smoke. She raised her head from the floor and gasped.

  A massive creature with four insect-like legs crawled towards them. Its humanoid head, torso, and arms sprouted from the beast’s middle. The human skin was blistered and raw. Green pus oozed onto the floor in thick puddles. It had two abnormally large red eyes, on a man’s face that looked as though it had been stretched like melted wax. The air smelled of rotten flesh. Kara could see a third eye on the creature’s forehead, as though it were branded there.

  The monster opened its mouth and wailed. The sound burned. Kara put her hands on her ears and cried out in excruciating pain.

  With a roar the demon leaped into the air and crashed down beside the terrified Tom. The creature snarled, black liquid dripping from a gaping mouth. The smell of rotten flesh was all around them. It stuck to her M suit like a filthy mist, trying to wiggle its way inside the skin.

  Tom staggered and fell. The demon lifted its molten head and sniffed the air, like a wild animal smelling out its prey. It cocked its head to the side, and pounced.

  Kara jumped to her feet. She threw her backpack on the ground, and pulled out a Soul Blade. She leapt to Tom’s aid brandishing her weapon.

  But the demon had Tom in its grasp. Tom kicked and screamed, like a rabbit caught in the talons of a great eagle, but with no effect. The demon lifted him up in the air like a ragdoll. Kara watched horrified as the demon pierced Tom’s forehead with one of its forelegs. Tom opened his mouth in a soundless scream. Bright white light spilled from his throat. The demon brought Tom closer to its putrid face. Its red eyes flashed hungrily. It opened its mouth and placed its bloodless lips around on Tom’s forehead. Kara moaned as it began to suck out Tom’s essence.

  “NO!”

  Kara threw her Soul Blade with precision. It hit its mark, and perforated the demon’s neck.

  The creature threw its head back and wailed, momentarily distracted from its feast. It reached out with one of its insect legs and pulled out the soul blade. Black blood oozed out of the wound and spilled onto the floor in heavy droplets. Kara watched in horror as the soul blade bubbled and smoked. The black blood ate away at the metal like acid. The blade dropped to the ground, like a thick mass of silver pudding.

  “Kara—help me!” Tom wriggled desperately, hitting the creature with his legs and arms.

  Hoping she could distract the demon long enough, Kara pulled a Firestone out of her bag and threw the glowing red orb at the demon. It hit. With a thundering boom, red light exploded and for a moment Tom and the creature disappeared into a cloud of red smoke. Then it dissipated.

  The demon stood with Tom in its grasp, and it was unharmed.

  She watched in horror, helpless as the demon pressed its mouth against Tom’s forehead again, sucking out his soul like a vanilla milkshake.

  Desperate, Kara ran into the kitchen, grabbed a large butcher’s knife, and charged to meet the demon head on—

  She staggered back. Tom’s mortal clothes lay crumpled in a pile on the ground. Kara blinked. As her eyes adjusted to the brightness, she could see an illuminated figure as bright as a star dangling from the demon’s grasp. She knew she was staring at a naked angel desperately clinging to his delicate soul.

  Without a second thought, Kara flourished her knife and charged at the demon. She raised her arm and slashed with her knife, slicing off a leg. Black blood exploded in a fine spray out of the wound. It showered at Kara’s chest. She leapt aside. Grey smoke coiled from her clothes. The cotton withered and peeled back. The demon’s blood burned its way through her mortal clothes, and Kara wailed in pain as the creature’s blood burned at her core like liquid fire. She dropped the knife and fell to her knees. She trembled and rolled on the ground. The stench of burnt flesh burned her nostrils. Was she going to die? For good this time?

  She heard a faint cry and lifted her head. With a final ingestion, the creature sucked up the rest of Tom’s life form until he was no more. Tom the rookie had vanished.

  Kara stared in disbelief, unable to move. The demon threw back its head and released a revolting moan. It shuddered in ecstasy. It turned its misshapen head her way. Its eyes grew wide and flashed with white-hot energy. Its body shivered, twisted and cracked, as its severed leg grew back. The face of her nightmares grinned hungrily at her with a mouth full of pointed teeth.

  With the will of life still strong in her, she struggled to her feet and staggered into kitchen. But something hit her in the back. She fell hard, and her vision blurred with the burning pain.

  I’m on fire! She rolled on the ground. She was covered in the demon’s acid blood.

  She felt her M suit melt away, like ice-cream on a hot summer day. She wasn’t going to make it. Black vapors rolled off of her mortal body as her M suit’s skin melted like wax. She watched in horror as clumps of her human flesh roll off and exposed the bright luminance beneath. Whatever new demon this was, Kara knew she was no match for it. If only she could use her elemental power somehow? But she still didn’t know how it worked. And she didn’t think she had enough strength to summon it.

  She shut her mind from the rest of the world and searched around inside her. She willed the power to come. A tiny spec of warmth lingered in her soul, like a small ball of light. She reached out to it, but it didn’t come. It wasn’t answering her call.

  Desperate to escape the pain, she wanted the darkness to take her. She couldn’t bear it anymore.

  She was dying—yet again.

  The demon twitched and moved towards her, and a sickening smell oozed from it. Kara’s eyelids grew heavy. Her body crumbled to the floor. If only the pain would stop. Blackness crawled at the edge of her vision. She felt herself letting go—

  Kara … said the voices inside her head, Kara … don’t give up!

  It was like listening to a radio far away, where the sounds were scratchy and hard to hear. The voices which had given her the strength to vanquish Asmodeus were only a memory now. She used whatever energy she had left to open her eyes. She would stare death in the face, she decided.

  Like a fly cleaning its front legs after a meal, the demon clicked its forelegs together in anticipation. Hunger flashed in its lifeless eyes.

  The creature opened its unnaturally elongated jaw. It spit. Long black tendrils hit Kara. She felt her body lift in the air and spin. She could feel thick sticky strands wrap themselves around her. She felt her limbs press against her body. The creature was packaging her in a cocoon. The spinning stopped and the creature grabbed her by her feet. It dragged her like a body bag down the hall.

  She felt another sharp pain at her side, and she was thrown against a wall.

  The demon wailed a sound that was primal, of something that had been human long ago. Then blinding white light engulfed the demon. It dissipated and through squinted eyes Kara recognized David.

  He and two other GAs rushed through the damaged doorway. They stabbed and sliced the demon with gleaming silver swords. Black liquid sprayed the walls. The taller of the angels sliced off one of the demon’s legs. But with incredible speed the demon lunged at him and knocked his sword out of his hand. In the next second, it opened its mouth and sprayed him with its acid-like pus.

  David’s companion screamed and desperately tried to wipe it off. But it was no use. His entire body dripped in the demon’s blood. A moment later he fell over like a bowling pin and was still.

  The demon whirled around and locked eyes with Kara. It made its way towards her.

  “Over here! You oversized bug!”

  David threw himself in front of Kara. He slashed and stabbed at the creature with his blade. In one rapid movement he hurled his Soul Blade into the creature’s neck. Spurts of black blood escaped through the wound. It stumbled. Its eyes rolled back in its head
. David saw his opportunity and took it. He brandished another blade from inside his jacket, leapt forward and slashed at the demon’s neck.

  It took three full strokes to cut off its head. The headless demon teetered momentarily on the spot. Then it collapsed. It twitched and jerked. A mixture of black and green liquid spilled from its severed neck. Within seconds the demon’s body was nothing but a bubbling puddle. It slowly evaporated until nothing remained.

  Everything felt like a dream to Kara. Her vision blurred. David looked up and then ran over to her.

  “She’s in bad shape, David,” Kara heard the other guardian say. “I don’t know what this sticky stuff is. I’ve never seen it before. She’s like in a cocoon or something. And it looks like the demon’s blood did a number on her. It’s eating away at her. She won’t last long like this. We have to get her back to Horizon—and fast.”

  David gently touched her cheek with his fingers.

  “Kara,” he whispered. “Kara, stay with me. You’re going to be okay. I promise. Kara? Don’t close your eyes! Stay with me! Kara!”

  Kara wanted to stay awake more than anything. She tried to answer back, but nothing moved. And as she tried to muster the strength to smile—the darkness took her.

  Chapter 5

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