TERRA: Earth Warder Chronicles

by Adrian M Ferguson

  Hissing at us, she ripped at the wire once more, testing it, but it had wrapped quite effectively around her. Pushing at her prison, she gave us one more look and, touching the ground with her palm, pulled herself through the wire links, compressing and slithering down into the earth and disappearing.

  ‘Keep your guard up!’ I hollered.

  My eyes flickered everywhere, as I started moving back towards the others. The gnomes ran to me, circling me, forming a guard. I turned and ran to Erdgeist.

  ‘Do you think she's given up?’

  ‘She's anything but stubborn, Warder. Keep up your guard.’

  I kept my eyes on the area where I saw the pieces of the gnome fall. I glanced at Erdgeist.

  ‘But firstly I need to check something, as I have an idea.’

  I raced over to where I saw so casually thrown the button gnome’s top half. I found it lying there facedown; hesitantly I picked him up, turning him over.

  He was heavy, rock solid actually, his shirt hung off the torso area. I dreaded seeing entrails and blood spill out but he was composed of a lifeless inert clay-like rock instead. Eyes closed, his skin was solid, pebbled and grey; all that vital life in him had been torn away.

  Walking over to the other half I noticed I was being quietly trailed by the other gnomes; their eyes were glassy black and solemn. I watched as one shed a silent tear.

  Reaching the midsection I crouched down. Erdgeist rose up from the ground next to me.

  ‘This is a war, Warder. Lives will be lost; there is nothing you or I can do.’ I heard a faint tremor of anger tinge his voice.

  His control was commendable.

  ‘You may be wrong, Gnome. I have to try something; please trust me.’

  He nodded.

  Dropping to my knees I winced at my broken arm, which I had almost forgotten about. I carefully joined the two pieces together making sure the sections were touching properly.

  ‘Warder,’ Erdgeist murmured, a warning in his tone.

  Indicating silence with a raised hand, I adjusted the gnome’s shirt, making sure his gold buttons were all there. I recalled his unconscious caress of one of them in my store — it was obvious these meant a lot to him.

  Placing both hands on him, flopping my broken arm carefully down, I silently beseeched Earth to respond.

  God, I hoped this worked. Recalling Ghob mention that the Earth’s Touch could heal I reached deep inside myself, centering my energy, feeling Earth respond. I envisaged the little tike’s cheeky grin, eyes solemn but caring and kind, remembering his bravery in attacking Agrona — no hesitation, just defending me, defending all of us. I imagined him whole and alive again, my affection for him pouring into my will.

  My hands slowly glowed, then the power rushed in without any warning and we were all blown back by a concussive blast of pure white light, so bright that I was blinking away the after images of my hands out of my eyes. Pushing myself back up, I heard multiple gasps of disbelief and astonishment.

  Erdgeist puffed out a ‘Oh my …’

  Struggling up on one little elbow, my gnome reached out to me, eyes glinting with tears.

  ‘Thank you, Warder,’ he gasped quietly, touching my outstretched fingers, before falling back and closing his eyes in exhaustion and immediately falling asleep. I watched one tiny chubby hand grab a button possessively.

  ‘Warder, this is unheard of. You have the Earth’s Touch; even I doubted its legendary claims.’

  The other gnomes, walking over to their sleeping companion, touched me reverently as they past, whispering.

  ‘Warder.’

  ‘Friend.’

  ‘Thank you.’

  Encircling the sleeping gnome, they gathered him up and sunk into the ground, leaving no trace of their passing.

  ‘You have become strong, and also compassionate and caring to elemental needs, bringing him back before healing yourself. The gnomes will not forget this.’

  Bowing deep at the waist, Erdgeist said ‘Thank you …’

  ‘You’re welcome, Erdgeist. I am just glad it worked.’

  ‘Onto other pressing matters, though. We have to warn Ghob about Agrona as soon as possible.’

  ‘Agreed. He might be able to stop this from happening to her again, if she returns that is.’

  ‘He is going to be furious, I warn you. He has had Agrona by his side for a very long time and won't be happy that she has been taken.’

  ‘I will deal with that when I see him, Erdgeist, and as much as I don’t like the bitch, I’m also not happy that she is being manipulated. We have enough to deal with right now.’

  ‘I will inform him now if you wish, Warder?’

  Looking up at him, I shook my head, ‘No, I think I will tell him myself. He can then deal with her. In the meantime we have a mess to clean up, I think,’ looking around at the graveyard.

  CHAPTER 23

  Clutching my arm, the pain throbbed through my shoulder working its way down my side - fucking hell it hurt.

  ‘I thought I was meant to be tougher?’ I hissed, looking accusingly at Erdgeist.

  ‘Heal!’ he bluntly replied.

  ‘Really, Erdgeist, is that the best you can do? Heal? Well, no fucking shit.’

  ‘Use the earth, Warder. Heal yourself!’ he calmly intoned.

  ‘Oh,’ I realized, sheepishly looking down at the ground, then back into his deep, old eyes.

  ‘Alright, alright,’ I gingerly crouched down, onto one knee, quickly looking up at him again.

  ‘I apologize, Erdgeist,’ I stammered.

  Erdgeist’s eyes widened and he took a step back, raising both hands.

  ‘Do not ever apologize to me, Warder. I am but your humble servant and sworn warrior. You have no need to apologize, particularly when you’re in pain and distress, which I failed to prevent.’

  ‘I’m not one to apologize, usually, but nevertheless being in pain is no excuse, and you did your job well. We’re a good team.’

  I placed my hand on the ground, pushing it down hard, frustrated with being injured by Agrona but grateful it wasn't my freaking neck instead.

  Closing my eyes I concentrated, silencing my mind, shutting off extraneous sounds. The energy I willed found me. It trickled up at my behest, responding to my will. I felt the Earth symbol on my palm respond and direct the flow upwards. It slid into my arm, delicately playing along my nerves, bathing them in calm and soothing energy. Reaching the section that was snapped it inched slowly over it, resolutely covering the whole area.

  Erdgeist looked at me sharply, ‘Warder, brace yourself.’

  The once cool energy flared and constricted my arm. It coursed through the bone and sinew, slamming it into place while healing it in one mind-jarring movement. I cried out at the abruptness of the pain, throwing back my head and falling onto my side out of my crouch.

  ‘Holy shit!’ I sobbed, glaring at Erdgeist through my watery eyes. ‘Agrona’s got a reckoning heading her way,’ I vowed.

  After I got my breath back and had tested my arm, finding it sore but healed, I announced it was cleanup time. With the wicked witch of the west’s warning in mind — the one about not alerting any humans to these paranormal happenings going on around them — we cleared the area, repairing all we could. This involved a lot of work, probably a bit more from Erdgeist than me. I think he sensed that I was surprised by the turn of events. Agrona had never been on my buddy list, but she was high up on Ghob’s trust list and I wasn’t relishing what he would do once he found out.

  We finished up and I gazed around me, taking in the normality of my surroundings compared to the grisly scene that had played out not long ago. The circles were gone, all the ground was back to looking undisturbed, not soaked in blood and grisly bits, and the fence was repaired. I still wasn't sure how Erdgeist had done that, but was too numb to bother asking.

  Running my fingers along a finely chiseled broken tombstone marker, I looked over at Erdgeist. He was silent and broody staring at me from under
those dark, heavy brows. ‘What?’ I asked.

  Looking away, my eyes flickered back to him. Geez. ‘Okay, okay, let’s get going. I know we can't leave off telling Ghob or he will have a huge elemental tantrum …’

  Nodding, ‘Yes, as you say, Warder.’ God, what a killjoy.

  We both slid under the ground, Erdgeist guiding me again. I felt more comfortable encasing myself in the earth now, but the whole directional thing was going to take me some time. Setting our sights on my home, we arrived to find the sun peeking over the mountains, brilliant swathes of gold and amber cut through the early morning cloudbank, igniting inside, refracting and giving us a spectacular light show.

  My breath plumed in the cold, reminding me that we'd been at this all night; it gave me the sensation of déjà vu, reminiscent of my days on the force and the constant all-nighters. This was a job, though, on a scale that was slightly mind-boggling...

  Shaking the weariness away, I glanced at Erdgeist. ‘Would you mind calling Ghob?’

  ‘He's already on his way. He is sensitive to imbalances in the earth, so our disruption of the ritual and correction of the balance would have alerted him to our success.’

  ‘Great! Well brace yourself, Gnome,’ I snidely remarked. ‘I have a feeling that Ghob is a bit of a sore loser, regardless of whether Agrona was coerced or manipulated.’

  ‘He comes,’ intoned Erdgeist.

  Shit, shit, shit … Not that I was overly worried, flashed through my mind, yeh right …

  Just ahead of us on my gravel driveway a miniature maelstrom of gravel and dirt spun into existence, rising up rapidly. I watched in awe as all the gravel that sloped down to us, including what was under our feet, slid up towards the geyser, joining it and adding to it and leaving exposed dirt under foot. It rose higher than us, gaining girth and solidarity. There was a flash of light and Ghob stood there, at least 8ft tall, legs braced wide, his hammer blurring and humming. He glinted in the new morning light, his whole body composed of a pea-like surface of small pebbles. Imposing and tall, he flexed and sunk underground, appearing directly in front of me.

  ‘Are you alright, Deirdre?’ he breathed softly, reaching out and touching my shoulder in concern, with a gigantic hand.

  I froze, momentarily confused. He was more concerned with me then Agrona?

  ‘I’d be more concerned with who has possessed Agrona, Ghob. She wasn't herself, and I had to seriously injure her to scare her off.’

  ‘You injured her — again?’ Looking down at Erdgeist, his chin rose, ‘Some privacy, please, Elemental …’

  ‘As you wish, sire.’ Erdgeist turned and lumbered up to the house to wait patiently by the balustrade.

  ‘You did not use the Earth’s Touch again, Deirdre?’

  I shook my head quickly in denial. ‘No, just boosted my strength, and ripped an arm off. She gave me no choice, Ghob. She would have killed me otherwise.’

  ‘No, that is good. It will put her out of action for a little while. While we are all here, I think it might be wise for me to summon her and try to get to the heart of who is taking control of her. They would have to be very, very powerful to have a chance of controlling her. She is old and far too strong-willed.’

  ‘Ghob, I am not so sure about that. What if she tries to attack again? Can we risk harming her?’

  ‘I have no choice, Warder,’ Ghob replied firmly. ‘She is my lieutenant and my responsibility, and she is far too dangerous to have in someone else’s control. We are extremely lucky that they have only used her thus far to attack you, as she could cause untold damage if let loose.’

  ‘Fair enough’, I said reluctantly, ‘I guess you have a point.’

  Ghob bowed his head briefly and whispered Agrona's name. Waiting a minute, he frowned, head cocked to one side as if hearing something inaudible. ‘She is being blocked from responding, Warder. Please assist me; give me your hand, the one with the Earth symbol on it.’

  Reaching out to him, I held his hand, mesmerized by the size of it. My hand disappeared into the pebbly offering, engulfed to the wrist.

  ‘Close your eyes and focus on Agrona, her features, her personality, everything that you have observed about her, good and bad, then call her with me, draw upon Earth and will her here.’

  Closing my eyes, I envisioned the spiteful bitch. Yes, I know, how very petty of me, but she’d got everything she deserved, in my opinion, and a bit more. If what’s happened to her brings her down a peg or two, well, I can't say that wouldn’t be a good thing. But for Ghob’s sake, feeling his oddly textured hand wrapped around mine, I could make an exception.

  Concentrating, I pictured her in my mind’s eye: the sneer, the oddly proportioned slanted eyes, dark and empty of all feeling. I remembered how she appeared to me on the few occasions I’d interacted with her, her myriad physical features, covered in my kitchen tiles, made up of moist fertile earth or composed of road granite. Visualizing all this I called out to her, demanding her presence, ordering her to show herself to Ghob and me, not giving her a choice but a direct summons.

  I felt my mind hit hers, but I couldn't gain access. She heard me, though. Over layered with my calling was Ghob’s, overpowering but somehow blending with my mental call. His mental voice did not consist of words, though, but was a direct call from him and his power. He had created her. She was a part of him and hence he had a direct link to her that no other power could deny.

  She screamed in anguish, her milk-white orbs staring off into the distance. I couldn't tell where she was, though. Screaming again, her whole body shuddered under the mental pressure from our combined wills and the will of the otherworldly power that I could feel holding her in its grasp. It was a filthy miasma, coating her thoughts and actions, drenching her in blackness and corruption. This will reared up, taking form, billowing around her, whispering false hope, lashing at her mind and creating fear and lethargy which it sucked up into itself, feeding off her, vampire-like in its application.

  She howled, hearing us but unable to break free. Ghob’s will rose up then, solid and massive, and instead of attacking the other will, he broke it like an unstoppable tidal wave, enveloping Agrona, snapping her free of the darkness and plunging her down into the earth, and away from the malignant force, his will supporting and offering her release.

  Our minds snapped back. I opened my eyes, and saw that Ghob's head was bent back, eyes closed. Calm, composed, and impenetrable, he gestured and Agrona slid out of the bare driveway beside us; her head and shoulders fell forward as if released.

  I jumped forward and stopped her from hitting the ground. She was so heavy, her body still composed of the moist ground of earlier, her arm still missing. Her whole body was wracked with spasms as she lay in my arms, looking up at Ghob. He strode down to her, his body shrinking down to normal human size with each step. Reaching us, he fell to one knee, and gently lifted her head up, opening one eyelid with his fingers. He confirmed that the color was back to normal.

  Nodding in obvious relief, he scooped up some earth from next to him and molded it onto her stump. Pulling away with both hands, he stretched the soil into the shape of an arm. Coming to the end he frowned, fingers formed and clenched, stretching, the earth shimmered around her arm and the soil that her whole form was composed of turned into the earth Ghob had just used, changing her from heavy earthy soil to the rock-hard composition of my driveway and land around it.

  She sighed and shivered. Looking up at me I saw the faintest suggestion of a hesitant smile. It flickered there I was sure of it, and then, looking up at Ghob, her head went back down.

  ‘I have failed you king of mine. Do what you will — punish me, please.’

  ‘Stop, Agrona, it’s I who has failed you.’

  She looked at him sharply opening her mouth to retort.

  Seeing the hardness in his eyes she blanched back.

  ‘I won't let it happen again. I have shielded your mind, and no other force will be able to control you again. Some battles, Agrona, are
n't fought on the battlefield, where you excel. Some are fought on a different scale and more subtle level. But enough — go back to your quarters now. I want you fully rested, as this battle is not over yet.’

  Looking at him with trepidation and disbelief, she nodded slowly. Then she slowly pushed herself free of my embrace. Pausing as if not knowing what she wanted to do, she nodded at me as she looked into my eyes, tears shimmering over her huge orbs.

  ‘Thank you,’ she whispered, slowly sinking out of sight.

  CHAPTER 24

  ‘I apologize for all this, Warder. You have been sorely tested so early on in your role.’

  Once more he touched my shoulder hesitantly, as if afraid of my reaction to his physical attention. Feeling his touch on my skin made me shiver, whether from exhaustion or attraction I wasn't sure. It was a bit of a blur, but I did to my surprise find myself leaning into his touch. He moved in and wrapped his rock-hard arms around me, I think as surprised as I was from the low, guarded exhale I gave.

  ‘I am sorry too — for Agrona, that is,’ I murmured. ‘She doesn’t deserve what she has been put through. As much as I wanted to knock her arrogant ass to the ground, she was violated, and I felt that evil, and I couldn’t imagine it wrapping itself around my mind and taking away my control. I think Agrona is similar to me in that respect — about not losing control. Now, that would have been terrifying.’

  Feeling the warmth of his body close to mine, I realized what I was doing and pulled hesitantly away. Turning to him, I found he had slowly metamorphosed into a more human form. His skin was a sun-kissed brown, though highlights of gold shimmered through occasionally. He smiled — probably the first time I’d seen a smile on his face — as he calmly watched me check him out. It made him look even more human. The warmth that he exuded quite literally gave me goose bumps. I rubbed at my arms involuntarily and he chuckled.

  The shit — he knew what he was doing to me. Holding out both of his hands, he cupped them together. I gazed on wondering what he was doing, a shimmer of heat forming under them. I could feel the gentle warmth bathing my face; the light expanded covering his hands in a globe of incandescence.