Marked, Soul Guardians Book 1

by Kim Richardson

  “Run!”

  The angels split up. Kara rocketed down the eastside of the courtyard as the others disappeared from view to the west. She hurtled over debris and large boulders as she ran deeper into the castle. Fragments of the north and west curtain walls outlined what remained of the large square. Shadows veiled the deep corners of the courtyard, and Kara blinked through the impenetrable darkness. She raised her hand in front of her face and kept running into the thick blackness—not looking back—trying not to imagine the horror that followed closely behind her. She lowered her head and ran harder.

  Something caught on her boot. Kara stumbled and fell hard.

  A grunt sounded behind her.

  Kara whirled around. A filthy man in a torn and bloody white shirt shuffled towards her. His eyes glistened with the ruthless look of a killer. He flailed his arms in front of him as though he were sleepwalking. Dark blood oozed from a large gash across his chest.

  The man lunged.

  The bitter odor of his sour breath stung her nostrils before she rolled out of the way. As she pushed herself up, excruciating pain exploded in her calf, and she went down again. The man clung to her leg with his teeth, as though her calf was a piece of corn. He pulled back his head with incredible force and tore off a piece of her mortal suit.

  Kara cried out in pain as the man’s teeth pierced her mortal flesh again. She kicked out madly and hit the side of a crumbling wall with her boots. A shower of pebbles and dust fell down onto them. She kept kicking. The wall quivered, and a large rock fell onto the man’s head with a sickening crack. He went down like a dead tree.

  She froze. She had just killed a mortal. Frozen in fear of what was going to happen to her, she waited. Wails echoed into the night, and Kara waited.

  The man lay on his side. His chest rose and fell almost imperceptibly—he was still alive. Swiftly, she patted herself down and peered through the darkness for any irregularities. Everything seemed in its place. She was still standing; she hadn’t vanished into oblivion.

  Without a second thought, Kara ran back towards the main entrance. She felt renewed strength from her M-5 suit and soared over deranged mortals as though jumping over hurdles in a hundred meter race. Angry shouts of kill and destroy followed her as she ran on. Cold fingers groped at her, but Kara pressed on harder.

  She searched for her friends frantically. The veil of darkness lifted slightly as she passed the large arched entryway. Jenny and Peter stood on a partial wall. A throng of enraged mortals threw themselves repeatedly at the wall below them. Foaming from their mouths, they wailed angry unintelligible gibberish. They smashed at the stone border with their fists, and rocks and dust poured down on them in sheets of grey. The wall cracked. An entire edge of stone slipped and crumbled down toward them. Jenny screamed as she jumped out of the way. Peter took her hand in his, and they retreated further into the corner, their eyes wide with fear.

  David appeared suddenly behind the mortals.

  “Hang on, people. I’ll distract the zombies,” he called out. With a sinister look in his eye, he jumped in the air and waved his arms like a mad man. “Hey, hot guy over here!”

  The mob turned slowly towards his voice, and he pointed to himself. “That’s right, these good looks are killer. You wanna piece of me?” David smacked his behind. “Yeah? Then come and get me!”

  Heads twitched and limbs flailed in a jagged line dance. With a cacophony of rasping moans they focused their maddened eyes on David.

  And then they lunged.

  “Crap. They’re smarter than I thought.” David laughed hysterically as he turned and sprinted away from Jenny and Peter, but towards Kara. The bloody murderous throng followed closely behind him.

  “What are you doing?” Kara’s eyes widened as David approached her. “You’re bringing them straight to me!”

  David ran past her. “Sorry!” He galloped ahead into the shadows of the courtyard. “It was the only thing I could think of to get them off Jenny and Peter,” he yelled back.

  With a frustrated sigh, Kara turned and ran to catch up. She stole a look behind her. The seething mass of mortals still thundered towards them. Their mad wails gave her goose bumps. It was like a nightmare in which a horde of zombies chased her through the streets of her hometown. But this was no nightmare.

  How could the entire village have gone completely mad? Who had done this to these poor people? How was it even possible?

  A name burned on the inside of her forehead.

  Lilith.

  “What’s your master plan, genius?” Kara followed David around the edges of the massive courtyard. Roars filled the air behind them.

  “Me?” David yelled as he ran. “I don’t have one; I thought you did. You’re the one with the brains, not me.”

  “That’s just great! So what did you think? That we’d just run around the castle forever and hope they’d fall over—dead of exhaustion?”

  “Hey! That’s a good plan. That way we don’t have to hurt them.” David’s white teeth gleamed in the moonlight. “I knew you’d think of something, babe. Let’s go with that.”

  “That’s not a plan, and don’t call me that.” Kara gritted her teeth as she ran. “We need to think of something better.”

  David easily soared over a large boulder. “Well, let me know when it comes along. I’ll be right here...running.”

  Halfway across the courtyard, Kara’s temper started to flare. “I can’t think of anything while I’m running around like an idiot. We have to stop somewhere.”

  “Okay, hang on.” David looked around desperately and then pointed. “There. We’ll climb up to Peter and Jenny.” Jenny and Peter waved frantically at them from above the broken wall.

  Kara nodded. It wasn’t the best plan, but she needed to stop running in order to think. She stole another look behind her. The demented mortals shuffled onward like gruesome marionettes.

  David swung up against the wall and climbed it easily, as though he was a champion rock climber. He reached the top and pressed his hands on his hips, looking around proudly as Jenny and Peter rushed to greet him.

  Kara drew herself up over the edge. A hand wiggled in front of her eyes. David beamed down at her. “Take my hand, milady. Rescuing you is my life’s purpose.”

  Grudgingly, Kara wrapped her hand in David’s, and he pulled her up onto the ledge in a tight embrace. Their eyes were locked. David’s eyes danced mischievously, and his lips curled dangerously close to hers. She felt herself leaning in . . .

  Then she heard clapping.

  “Bravo! Bravo! What a performance! Encore! Encore!”

  Kara released David and they both turned towards the edge.

  Lilith stood amongst the angry mob. She was dressed in a tight red leather suit, and her long white hair rippled behind her like a cape made of mist. Her black eyes and pallid skin shone against the moonlight.

  “Will you look at that? Four little angels afraid of a few mortals? Quite pathetic, really.”

  The mortals wailed and backed away like a frightened pack of wild animals as Lilith walked causally amongst them.

  “What did you do to them?” hissed Kara.

  Lilith pressed a hand on her chest and raised her brows innocently. “Me? I didn’t do anything. Now, why would my own sister accuse me so quickly without any proof? A little harsh, don’t you think? What is it the mortals say—innocent until proven guilty?”

  “Cut the crap, Lilith. I know you did this. It has your signature all over it.”

  Lilith flattened the front of her jacket. She watched the crazed men and women with delight.

  “Well—if you must know—I did! Don’t you think they’re better off this way? They seem much happier, don’t you think? Mortals are a weak species, and so overrated. All their mindless expectations, desires, and hopes are gone.” She snapped her fingers. “And now they’re brainless beasts, just as they should be. Soon they’ll be a never-ending supply of food for my pets.”

  She
pulled her sleeve up her arm and uncoiled her fingers. A triangular object sat in her palm. Its blue light sparkled against her white face, and she held the object up towards the mortals. Her lips moved, but Kara couldn’t hear what she was saying. The light inside the pyramid intensified, and her hand disappeared in the blue glow.

  Suddenly, the ground trembled with the force of an earthquake.

  The air cracked around them as though hundreds of fireworks had just gone off. Wind slapped at Kara’s face, and she blinked through clouds of dust. She jumped back as stones broke apart from under her feet, tumbled down the side of the wall, and crashed on the ground below. Cries rose above the wailing winds. A powerful gust pushed Kara off balance, and she strained to regain her footing.

  The winds died and silence spread throughout the courtyard like the calm before a storm.

  Then hysterical laughter erupted all around and cut through the eerie silence, as though a live audience from a television show had just been instructed to laugh at that exact moment. Men and women fell to their knees and rolled on the ground. With their arms wrapped around themselves, they began to choke on their fits of laughter. Pain and fear masked their faces as they convulsed in their hysteria. White foam dribbled from their mouths, and then they were still. After a moment, their bodies sparkled like crystals. Glowing spheres formed and rose, hovering over the bodies.

  Lilith walked among them, gathering and ingesting the souls as though they were cupcakes. Her eyes burned with white-hot power. As she stood, her hair rose up around her, spilling out as if it were blown by an invisible breeze. Lilith licked her fingertips and smiled at Kara.

  Kara opened her mouth, but no words came out. She felt sick with guilt, and she wasn’t sure she could watch any more. “Stop it! You’re killing them!”

  Jenny moved beside Kara. “You psychotic monster, you better stop this—or you’ll regret it, I promise.”

  Lilith smiled. She stepped over a few bodies, careful not to soil her red boots. “What? Are you going to stop me? Janet, isn’t it? You really should consider a make-over. You look like a boy with that dreadful purple hair.” She waved a red manicured finger at her playfully. “Don’t forget that we have unfinished business, you and I; I haven’t forgotten.” Jenny looked nervously over to Kara.

  The air on Lilith’s left began to glisten like a heat wave. A strange groan erupted and then a loud suction noise, as though a pipe had finished draining. The air wavered and grew in diameter until it was a giant black hole, large enough to fit an elephant.

  Kara glared at Lilith. “So how did you do it? How did you change them like that?”

  “Wouldn’t you like to know? I’m sure it’s killing you inside, little sister.” Lilith giggled and raked her fingers through her hair. With her chin in the air, she pressed her hands on her hips and surveyed the remaining mortals. A self-satisfied grin materialized on her face. “Hmm...they can’t do much damage to you if they’re laughing like this.”

  Lilith raised her hand and voiced some words. Thunder reverberated throughout the courtyard. The winds lifted. The ground shook, and then silence fell.

  One by one the mortals pushed themselves back on their feet. They kicked the dead out of their way angrily. They slashed with their fingers at each other’s faces, gouging at their eyes, wild for blood and death.

  Feral wails erupted in the night air. Kara averted her eyes; she had preferred them laughing.

  Lilith smiled wickedly. “Ah...this is much better. I will leave you now. I wish I could stay and play, but I really must be going. So many things to do and so little time. But I leave you in very capable killing hands. How ironic. Killed by the very thing you protect.” She met Kara’s glare. “If they don’t get you, then my pets will. It’s time to say goodbye to your pathetic angel souls—ta-ta...” She turned on her heels laughing hysterically and stepped into the rift. With a crack, the rift and Lilith vanished.

  “God, I hate that bleached freak,” spat Jenny.

  David leaned closer. “Even with a tan, I’d still hate her.”

  “Look, we’ve got company,” said Peter.

  A group of Seirs strolled through the main entrance. Their white faces stood out from the gloom. The sound of their heavy boots reverberated in the square like the beating of drums. Their long black leather coats swished at their heels as they made their way across the courtyard.

  “We meet again, little angels,” called out one of the Seirs in a raspy voice that Kara recognized as that of their leader Ranab. “I’ve been very displeased since our last meeting, slipping away from us like that. I’m afraid this time your Sensitive friends are not here to save you. It’s time to say bye-bye to your angel souls.”

  Ranab led the group. His bulky muscles rippled beneath his black clothes. A wicked gleam glowered from his dark eyes, and a large vein throbbed on his thick neck. He turned his head, and Kara winced as the ever-watchful eyes tattooed at the back of his bald head stared up at her.

  “I was wondering when we’d see the hellhounds.” David cracked his knuckles. “We can’t kill them—but no one said I couldn’t bash their faces a little.”

  Kara pulled David around to face her. “Don’t. I think it’s best that we don’t touch any of them, even if it’s unintentional. All mortals are off limits, you know that.”

  David clenched his jaw and scowled. “I just wished I could...just once.”

  “Uh...guys...look.” Peter pointed down towards the horde of wild mortals.

  Some of the frenzied men and women stopped attacking one another and turned slowly towards the newcomers. Their glazed eyes focused angrily on the Seirs. With sudden fierceness, they lunged at them.

  The Seirs formed a circle around the mad mortals. Their blades shimmered in the soft light, and the sound of metal hacking flesh rang in the courtyard. The smell of blood reached Kara’s nose. Deadly cries filled the night air. The mortals crumbled to the ground. As the glowing spheres of their souls rose and hovered above their bodies like giant fireflies, Kara stepped forward, “Quick. We have to get the souls.”

  But David caught her arm and pulled her close. He cocked his head down towards the bodies. “It’s too late. Look.”

  A Seir drew a black net from his jacket. With a sweep of his arms, he trapped the souls like fish caught in a fishermen’s net. He hauled the net over his shoulder. The trapped souls clung together and bounced against his back. Kara shivered in rage.

  “Won’t you come down and play with us, little angels?” Ranab strolled casually towards the wall. His face broke into a large grin and exposed a mouthful of rotten teeth. He picked at them with a death blade. “You can’t stay up there forever. Your bodies won’t last all night, but we will.”

  “He’s right you know,” said Peter in a low voice. “We only have another hour or so before we start deteriorating. And then we’ll be really helpless.”

  Kara turned and faced the others. “Right. We need to figure out how to get out of here without getting killed. Did anyone see another way out besides the main entrance?”

  “I did.” Peter leaned forward and lowered his voice. “On the west side...it’s boarded up for renovations. We might be able to get through, but it’ll take some effort.”

  “So I guess the only way out is through the main entrance.” Kara studied her friends’ anxious faces. “It’s not the best option, but right now it’s all we’ve got.”

  “We’re trapped. Lilith tricked us—she knew we’d come here—and now we’re stuck.” Jenny shifted nervously and fumbled with her fingers.

  Kara squeezed her shoulder gently. “Not necessarily. We just need to make it through the gateway. There’s no way that the mortals or the Seirs can catch up to us once we’re out. We’re too fast for them.”

  “That’s right, amigos.” David flashed his pearly whites and jogged on the spot as though preparing for a marathon. “We’ve got super speed like The Flash, and all they’ve got is gingivitis and a serious case of dumbass.”
r />   Kara suppressed a laugh. “So all we need is a diversion.”

  Barking resonated throughout the courtyard and interrupted her.

  An enormous grey dog dashed through the main entrance. His dark coat shone in the moonlight. Muscles rippled along his powerful body as he galloped elegantly like a horse and halted in the middle of the courtyard. Buckets of drool dripped from his large pointed teeth as a thunderous growl erupted from his throat. The Seirs took a step back.

  “That’s our diversion!” David beamed and threw himself down the wall. Jenny and Peter exchanged a look and followed quickly behind.

  Something moved in Kara’s peripheral vision. Another small dog waddled into the entrance. Thor. Kara hoped that no harm would come to her sarcastic little friend, and she watched helplessly as he threw himself into the bloody battle.

  In a flash, she hauled herself easily over the edge. As soon as her feet hit the ground, Kara bolted towards the gatehouse. Her M-5 suit’s energy flowed through her as the rush of oncoming battle erased everything else.

  She ducked as a death blade’s black vapors stung her eyeballs as it flew past her. A wispy breeze brushed over her head and lifted her hair. The smell of musk filled her nose momentarily, and then someone swore.

  Kara ran on.

  She leapt over bodies and avoided the thrashing arms and blades that came at her from every direction. Over the loud angry roars of mortals, she heard David laugh and curse a selection of profanities at the Seirs. They followed him feverishly around the courtyard, like a pack of dogs chasing a rabbit. He was having too much fun for his own good.

  Kara sidestepped around two charging Seirs and increased her speed. Cool wind brushed against her face. Flailing arms grazed her, and she was super-charged for the last few feet. The gatehouse came into view. Almost there . . .

  Pain exploded in her back. She cried out and fell face first into the hard ground. As she spit the dirt from her mouth, a large black boot slammed the ground right in front of her face. Kara raised her head.

  Ranab sneered wickedly and stomped her fingers with his boot. “Told you, you wouldn’t get away from me this time, angel.”

  Chapter 4

  Lock, Stock and Barrel