Marked, Soul Guardians Book 1

by Kim Richardson

  “Angel, help us!” the children pleaded and tears streaked down their dirty half-starved faces. Small hands reached out between the bars clawing at the air between Kara and the gate.

  “Please help us!”

  Kara cringed at the horrifying sight. Children with red wet eyes stared at her from heads too big for their bodies. Their clothes fell loosely around their grey-greenish sickly looking skin like clothes on a clothesline. Some children clung to the iron gate, while others gripped the sides of their prison walls, their legs shaking with the effort to stand. Those who couldn’t stand cowered in corners, their wet eyes sunken into their skulls. The smell of ammonia permeated the damp air, and there was the stink of something else that Kara didn’t want to think about.

  They could see her. They knew she was an angel. These were the missing Sensitive children. She tried to move, but her legs were stiff and glued to the ground.

  The oracles’ warning echoed into her head.

  For the sake of the entire mortal world, sacrifices are inevitable.

  The oracles had known she would be faced with this situation with the children. They had foreseen that the children would be there, and they expected her to leave them. Getting the weapon back was more important. She only had a few hours left. The fate of the mortal world depended on the little blue pyramid in her pocket. But what Lilith planned on doing hadn’t happened yet—and these children were right in front of her, begging for her help.

  “Angel! Angel help us!” cried the children.

  They were only a few years younger than her. She couldn’t let them starve in their own filth. These were innocent kids whose only sin was that they had a speck of angel essence in their veins. Kara could see red puncture marks on the sides of their heads and over their arms. There was only one reason they could be in the cave and covered with needle marks—they were being bled. She had no idea why the Seirs were bleeding them, but there was no denying that it was evil. They must have tried to escape because defensive scars were slashed across some of their faces and arms. Kara dug her nails into her palms. The children were being used like a blood bank for a vampire Seir—left to starve in a dark cave, alone and terrified.

  “Angel, please help us!” they pleaded. A little girl with blond curly hair let out a loud sob and fell to the ground.

  Kara cursed silently and ran to the gate.

  She wrapped her hands around the padlock and pulled. Her vision blurred momentarily, and she steadied herself with the help of the bars. Weakened by the amount of essence that had been drained from her, she knew she couldn’t pull the lock apart. She needed something to smash it. She found a rock the size of her hand near the left side of the gate. She bent down and grabbed it.

  “Okay, everyone, stand back.”

  The Sensitive children all took a step back, their eyes never leaving her.

  Kara raised her hand in the air, and with an arc she brought it down on the padlock as hard as she could.

  Snap. The lock shattered and fell to the ground in pieces.

  She pulled open the iron gate. It took a moment for the children to register what had happened. She took a few steps back as the children escaped their cage and flocked around her. She was shocked at how skeletal and light they felt as they hugged and held her. Though half starved and drained of blood, excitement and hope flashed in their eyes.

  The little blond girl interlaced her fingers with Kara’s. Her blue eyes beamed, “I knew you would save us,” she said with a little lisp. “I knew you wouldn’t let us die.”

  Kara held back a sob. She squeezed the little girl’s hand gently. “I’m going to get you guys out of here, if it’s the last thing I do. I promise.”

  She looked to a group of older kids. “Do any of you know the way out? I can’t remember, I think I’m lost.”

  “I know where it is,” said a half-starved boy with dark circles under his clever brown eyes. He took a step forward. “But even if we get back up to the main level, it’ll be packed with Seirs. They will see us trying to escape.”

  Kara put a hand on his shoulder. “Then we’ll have to run, and hope they can’t catch us.”

  She took a moment and measured the rest of the group. They almost looked as though they were about to topple over than run for their lives. Two of the smallest children sat on the ground at her feet. They were exhausted.

  “I can carry these little ones easily.” Kara looked at the others, “Can the rest of you run?”

  Heads bobbed in agreement. “Good. I know it’s asking a lot of you, but we can’t stop. We stop...we die. Do you understand?”

  “Yes,” answered the children in unison.

  Kara turned to the boy who knew the way out. “I’m Kara. What’s your name?”

  “Vince,” said the boy, and he shook Kara’s hand.

  “Okay, Vince, you’ll have to show us the way. Can you do that?”

  The boy nodded and made his way towards the bottom of the steps where Kara had first fallen. She was glad to see the older kids clutching the hands of the little ones. She picked up the two little ones easily and hoisted them onto her shoulders. She tried not to think about how long it had been since they had eaten.

  “Wait a minute,” Kara called back and stepped deeper into the cell. “There are children still sleeping in the back, we need to wake them—” Kara’s words caught in her throat at the look of grief in Vince’s face. He shook his head and looked at the ground.

  The children had done their best to cover them with pieces of their clothes. How horrible it must have been to witness them die.

  Her knees buckled, and she strained to stand. But then anger pulsed through her body and awakened her elemental power. It sizzled and popped on her mortal skin like golden electrical current. She knew her blackness itched to be released. She felt its power. It wanted her.

  The terrified children stared at her. Kara felt ashamed—the last thing she wanted was for the children to fear her. She suppressed her anger, and the elemental power drifted back inside.

  “It’s okay, I’m all right now. There’s nothing to be afraid of.” Kara did her best to look calm, even though her anger still bubbled inside. She looked to Vince. “Lead the way.”

  Vince nodded and leaped up the stone staircase. Kara wondered if his sudden burst of energy was from the hope of escape. She prayed the others had that same stamina.

  The children followed him up the staircase, their limbs flailing as they did their best not to fall. Kara waited at the bottom, and then when the last of the children had disappeared into the shadow above, she wrapped her arms around the little ones on her shoulders and ran up the stairs.

  When she reached the top, Vince pointed towards the side of the giant digging machine. “It’s that way—straight across to the other side—you’ll see those big doors. You can’t miss them. That’s the way out.”

  The polished metal sides of the Grimmer were covered with transparent tubes oozing black liquid, as though it were a living creature being pumped with blood. The green light covered their faces in an eerie glow and made the children look even sicklier. From what she could see, no Seirs were around at the moment. The gloomy hallway was empty. Perhaps they were all attending their dying king. It was perfect timing.

  “Well, there’s no time like the present,” said Kara. “Let’s go as quietly as we can. Maybe the Seirs won’t see us . . .”

  “Stop them!” A group of Seirs came thrashing down the tunnel, their blades at the ready. “Don’t let them get away!”

  “. . . maybe not. RUN!”

  Kara was surprised at how fast the children ran. They knew this was their only chance of escape, and they pushed themselves with everything they had. But the Seirs, heavy treads echoed behind them, and Kara knew that sooner or later the Seirs would catch up to them. The children’s burst of energy would only last a few more minutes, and then their starved bodies would run out of fuel.

  The two great iron doors stood ajar; the Seirs had for
gotten to close them. She could see the stone path that led to the lift on the other side of the doors. She stole a look behind her . . .

  The Seirs were almost upon them. The children would never make it to the lift.

  Kara balanced the two children on her shoulders while she dislodged a pipe from the wall. Black liquid sprayed her face. She ignored the disgusting warm liquid that dripped down her cheeks and waved the pipe around like a baseball bat. She waited for the rest of the children to pass her by. She waved to Vince and tossed him the pipe. “How good is your aim?”

  Vince beamed. “Very good. I’m a baseball pitcher in my high school.”

  “Good. I can’t hurt any of the Seirs, but you can. Try to hit the first one on the head. Do it now.”

  Vince raised his left leg, arched his back, and pitched the pipe at the oncoming horde of Seirs.

  Smack. It hit the first Seir right across the neck, and he stumbled and fell flat on his face. The other Seirs were taken by surprise and tripped over him crashing to the floor.

  Suddenly a volley of pipes and pieces of metal shot through the air from behind her. Kara whirled around. The children were hurling scraps of metal at the Seirs. It was payback time for the kids. Kara smiled proudly. She couldn’t do anything to the evil mortals, but watching the Seirs get their butts whipped by a bunch of kids was just as satisfying as doing it herself.

  The Seirs ran for cover as the barrage of metal projectiles assaulted them. The children hurled their weapons furiously until the Seirs lay beaten on the ground and didn’t move.

  “I’m impressed,” said Kara as she surveyed the children’s flushed faces. “You guys did really well. That should give us a few seconds before they send more. Come on!” She urged the children to follow her through the doorway.

  “I WILL KILL YOU ALL!” came a terrifying howl from inside the Grimmer, as though the vessel itself had spoken. The children halted, too spooked to keep going as the voice boomed around them.

  “I WILL FIND YOU AND KILL YOU!”

  “Keep going.” Kara led the children forward. “Never mind that. Don’t look back. We can’t stop. Go, go, go!”

  Once through the doorway, they climbed up a stairway made of jagged rocks. The lift stood at the end of the steps. Kara waited until the last child had stepped onto the lift and squeezed herself in. She pulled the iron gate across and pushed the red lever upwards. With a jerk, the lift started to climb. The children held on to each other and sobbed with relief. Kara wished she could join them in a good cry.

  With a sway and click, the platform settled and stopped. Kara swung the gate open and stepped off the lift. Cheers of joys echoed around the walls as the children raced down the hall and kicked the door open at the other end. She couldn’t help but be caught up in the children’s elation, and she ran along with them and out the door.

  The oracles would probably not be happy with her—but if rescuing starving tortured kids wasn’t part of being a guardian angel, then she’d rather not be one. The mission might still be a success: she had the Arath, and she had rescued the missing Sensitive children. She only wished she could have shared the experience with David and the others. It would have been especially fulfilling to get to tell Elder Otis herself—to see his face light up would have been the cherry on top.

  The moon shone like a white sun in the starlit sky. A cool breeze caressed Kara’s face, and the smell of rain was in the air. The children jumped and danced into the street. Having had a bag over her head when the Seirs had angel-napped her, she had no idea where they were. She knew they were still in Rome, but she had no clue as to where.

  The little ones squirmed on her shoulders, and she lowered them carefully to the cobblestone road. Children ran up to Kara and kissed her on the cheeks, thanking her for saving them.

  Kara sighed. This was the best part of her job.

  “Thank you, Kara,” said Vince. She hadn’t realized that he was taller than her. “We would have died if it weren’t for you. Thank you for stopping to help us.”

  A tinge of guilt wavered inside her—she had hesitated when she had first seen the children. Vince had seen it, too. With a shrug she stared at the ground. “It’s part of the job. I’m just glad it’s all over now. ”

  Suddenly, Kara was propelled backwards with extreme force and she hit the ground in pain. Tiny green sparks danced around her body. The sound of high heels clicking on the stone road neared her, and she rolled onto her elbows and looked up.

  An open toe red shoe was planted in front of Kara’s face.

  “Hello, dear sister,” said Lilith. “Thought I’d let you leave without saying goodbye? I don’t think so.”

  Chapter 19

  A struggle Within