Amethyst - Book One of the Guardian Series

by Heather Bowhay

  “One second,” Jason mumbled and held up his hand. Turning slightly, so he could talk to me but still keep them in sight, he said, “Alex, you have to do this.” He sounded determined, but I detected the anxiety in his tone. “It’s our only chance.”

  “No!” I breathed, shaking my head adamantly.

  “Yes!” he said angrily. “You’ll have a much better shot. She has no special abilities for you to worry about. You’re tough and you’re a fighter; I know you can take her down. When you do, I want you to run to the creek, get in the water, and stay hidden until Max or Madison finds you.”

  In a shrilly voice, Melanie sang out, “Will she stay or will she run now?” The melody was that of the classic Clash song.

  I glanced at her nervously and then back at Jason. “I don’t think I can,” my voice wavered. “I don’t want to leave you. Besides,” I pointed, “I’m sure that long-haired dude has a big-ass Mastiff around here somewhere.”

  Jason’s mouth dropped open at that comment. “I don’t have time to ask why you think that. I need you to go. I’ll have a much better chance if you’re not here to distract me. If nothing else, do this for me,” he said impatiently, his face rigid. He squeezed my arm once and shoved me towards the creek. “Now run!” He bellowed.

  Involuntarily, my legs started moving, and I found myself running at full speed. My feet ignored my brain, which was commanding them to stop. Fear propelled me forward. Covering ground quickly, I dodged around trees, hopped over shrubs, and scrambled over fallen logs. In time, the relentless laughter faded away, and all I could hear was rushing water.

  I stopped behind a huge tree stump and caught my breath. I needed to be prepared for Melanie. But how? She might not be linked or whatever, but if she’d ever been in a fight before, and by the company she kept, I’d say she’d been in many, she was more than capable of kicking my butt up and down the ravine. I didn’t have time to think about that, because it was imperative I get back to Jason. Once Kieran knocked him around, he might need my Essence again. And if Andrew joined the fight…well, I didn’t want to think about Jason’s chances then.

  Scouring the forest floor, I found the perfect weapon – a good-sized, forked branch. I stood perfectly still, clutching it tightly and barely breathing. The hot sun beat down on me; beads of sweat clung to my forehead. My lips tasted salty from the sporadic tears that had fallen during my flight through the woods.

  I surveyed my surroundings. I was on a sunny hillside, and the trees were sparsely scattered. There were several old, rotting logs which could really mess up my footing if I wasn’t careful. On the other hand, if I could maneuver Melanie in the right direction, I might be able to force her backwards, down the steep bank.

  “Yoo-hoo! Oh Alex,” she called in a sugary voice. “I know you’re around here somewhere. Your footsteps weren’t too hard to follow, you know.” Her voice sounded amused and excited. “You must be more careful in the future.” Her voice was getting closer. “Oh,” she laughed loudly, “what am I saying? You won’t have a future when I get through with you.”

  She had to be only a few feet away. A twig splintered under her foot, and I knew the moment had arrived. Leaping out, I swung my forked branch like I was trying to hit a home run. Lucky for me, she was completely unprepared. The branch slapped across her face before she could shield herself. Her head snapped back as the sharp tips of the limb scraped across her cheek, leaving two wide blood trails in their wake. I dropped the branch on the ground and advanced. With survival instincts I didn’t know I had, my leg shot out to kick her in the stomach. I accidentally closed my eyes at the last second and lost sight of my mark. Even though I made contact, it wasn’t with enough force to knock her down.

  Glowering, she lifted her head and wiped her cheek with the backside of her hand. She groaned at the sight of her bloody hand and rubbed it back and forth on her jeans. Seething with rage, she snarled, “You’re gonna pay for that.”

  I started backing up, but she lunged forward and took me down. We rolled around on the ground launching cheap shots at each other. Everything was so surreal. She was trying to punch me, and I was clawing back, trying to gouge her eyes. My head smashed against a jagged rock, and as we rolled sideways, it sliced through my scalp and I yelled loudly.

  Gaining an advantage, she pummeled me good. Sadly, I was beginning to doubt if I’d make it past a first round knockout. Her fist connected with my jaw, and the pain sent me reeling. Crying out, I started gagging as blood filled my mouth. My reflexes went to work, and I spit out the metallic tasting glob. As luck would have it, the bloody wad of saliva hit her smack in the eye. Screaming, she loosened her grip, so I jabbed her hard with my knee and rotated sideways.

  We jumped to our feet at the same time. With only a few paces separating us, we circled each other as if in a boxing ring. Exhausted, and needing a reprieve before another strike, we came to a dead stop, glaring at each other with open animosity.

  Blood trickled down her face, and pine needles poked out of her stringy, black hair. Several inches taller than me, she was also extremely skinny. With heavy black make-up smeared around her eyes, she looked like a witch whose spell had just backfired in her face. Except she wasn’t wearing a long black dress; she wore tight jeans and a short, yellow tank top which exposed her silver-hooped, belly button ring.

  Even though her face remained rock-solid, her shoulders twitched. That subtle movement indicated she’d made a decision to act, so I wasn’t surprised when she finally lunged. She swung her right arm, but the swing was high. By tipping my head, I avoided her fist easily. She immediately followed that attempt with a low jab aimed at my stomach. My reaction time was sufficient, because I slid out of the way just in time. Obviously frustrated with her failure to hit me, she stared viciously. Taking full advantage of her hesitation, I sprang a momentum filled roundhouse kick and sent her stumbling backwards.

  Her equilibrium was impressive, because she didn’t lose her balance. Not even when she staggered back over a dead log. But she didn’t stand a chance when I launched another blow – a front snap kick from my days of Tae Kwon Do training. My foot connected with her exposed stomach, tearing away the silver hoop in her belly button.

  Screeching, she fell backwards and shoved her hands out to soften the impact, but she wasn’t fast enough. Her butt hit the dirt with a loud “thump.” While she was down, I kicked her again. Frantically, I sought another weapon. When my eyes landed on a sharp rock, I grabbed it and turned back towards her. She was trying to regain her feet.

  “Hey,” I yelled, hoping to distract her. At the sound of my voice, she raised her head and set her fuming gaze upon me. Once she caught sight of the stone hoisted over my head, her jaw dropped, and she grunted loudly. Disturbed at committing violence by my own hands, I allowed self-survival instincts to kick in and heaved the rock towards her cowering body. As usual, I executed my dim-witted signature move – an attack with eyes closed. At least I was consistent.

  As she howled in pain my eyes flew open, and I winced. Blood oozed from a huge gash in her forehead, and her crooked nose looked broken. Repulsed, I grabbed my stomach, doubled over, and spewed partially digested salmonberries all over a wild blueberry plant. Holding my stomach, I staggered to a full stance and glanced up at the blue sky. Realization of what I’d done washed over me as I breathed unevenly. Reluctantly, I reached down and touched her arm. Relief swept over me when I felt her Essence still flowing. At least she wasn’t dead.

  Looking in the direction of the creek, I listened to the comforting sounds of the racing waters and thought of Jason’s last orders. However, the creek held no interest to me without him by my side. I turned and tore back through the woods towards where I’d last left him facing not one, but two Ray-pacs and possibly a Mastiff.

  My momentum carried me swiftly through the woods. Hammering against my chest like a sledge hammer, my heart throbbed painfully. My lungs expanded rapidly as I swallowed big gulps of air, and I was all too aware of
the pain emanating from the open wound in my head. My body was the least of my worries, so I didn’t stop to see if I could heal myself. Finding Jason was all that mattered.

  Loud grunts guided me to the right place. I snuck up and hid behind a wall of about six dead trees that looked liked they’d been laying on the ground for ages. They were stacked together like they’d all fallen over at the same time, maybe during a big windstorm. They were topped with a spongy, yellow moss, and strange fungi clung to the undersides. As a whole, the logs made a great protective wall and vantage point.

  Noiselessly, I climbed up and crouched on my knees. Sinking my fingers into the springy moss, I peered over the top of the highest log. In the center of a fairly open area, about half the size of a football field, Jason and Kieran were engaged in a serious physical battle. Only they fought with abnormal strength and speed.

  Rapt in wonder, I watched wide-eyed as they flew through the air with super-human force and crashed thunderously to the ground. They appeared equally formidable. Impressively strong, and extremely swift, they utilized several different moves: unmerciful punches, flying kicks, elbow jabs, and everything in between. Bruised and bloodied, it was obvious they’d already inflicted significant damage to one another. Stepping onto their playing field would be tantamount to placing a kitten between two wild dogs – I’d be ripped apart in seconds.

  Upon perusing the surrounding timber, I found no sign of Andrew. It was like he’d disappeared. I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. Glancing back, I shook my fists in a silent cheer as Jason leveled a punch straight into Kieran’s cheekbone. Kieran’s head snapped back, and he sailed through the air several feet. He managed to tuck himself into a ball at precisely the right moment and roll to a stop before smacking into a tree.

  Vaulting to his feet, he roared, “I’ve had enough of these little sparring games. Now, let’s see what your ability really is.” With a cold, unblinking stare, he offered one vicious laugh and then stood perfectly still. I wasn’t sure what was coming, but I knew it wasn’t going to be pretty, because Jason flew back several paces. He watched Kieran with anticipation. Keenly aware of Jason’s location, I diverted my attention to Kieran and watched with the same intensity.

  I did a double-take when Kieran’s skin began rippling – sprouting short, light reddish fur at a rapid rate. His splitting clothes sounded like old towels being shredded into rags. Growing in length and size by the millisecond, Kieran’s body expanded, becoming slender and elongated, until eventually, he was standing on four legs – the hind legs longer than the front, each with big, soft-padded paws. A black-tipped tail, more than half the length of his body, swished powerfully behind him.

  The world as I knew it came crashing in around me, unhinging every fiber of my being and sucking the oxygen right out of my lungs – almost stopping the flow of my Essence. Kieran had inexplicably changed shape from human to animal. And he was not a giant, scary Mastiff. He was an enormous, probably close to eight foot long, ferocious mountain lion – the reddish one from my snapshots. I pressed my mouth into the log and allowed the spongy lichen to absorb my cries of horror. Clinging to the trees like they were my own iron curtain, I quivered as a high-pitched, throaty yowl echoed through the woods.

  CHAPTER 17 – DOOMED TO DIE OR DESTINED TO LIVE

  I started hyperventilating. This was the day I was either doomed to die or destined to live. Either way, wasn’t about to let Jason die. My heart missed several beats at the thought of Jason, who was really a Guardian, lying buried in the hard, cold earth. His life was more important to me than my own. That’s why fear clawed relentlessly at my insides. Maybe I could distract the mountain lion long enough for Jason to escape. Shaking, like I was eternally ensnared in a Clonic seizure, I peeked over the log again and spied the wild cat. His head was small, his face short, and his ears rounded. Long, two inch canine teeth, designed for slashing, flashed as his jaw widened. His glowing, amber eyes stole my breath away. They were the eyes of the Mastiff.

  In the flash of an instant, the huge animal charged straight for Jason with incredible speed. Fear and horror pierced my heart. I was too late! I was going to watch Jason die at the paws of a mountain lion – the one animal that sat deepest in my fears, haunted my dreams, and had dominated my thoughts for months.

  It was too much. I couldn’t watch the bloody assault. Before I could react, I witnessed something even more shocking than anything else I’d already seen. Something I’d never even considered. Jason, my Jason, leaped straight up in the air and transformed into a muscular mountain lion. The underside of his body was white, and although he was lean, he was also a blend of stealth and power. He landed gracefully on large paws directly behind Kieran. When he turned and faced my direction, there was no doubt in my mind that it was really him. The cougar’s eyes were aqua-marine. He opened his mouth and hissed. I stopped breathing. He was the tawny brown mountain lion from my snapshots. Only, rather than being terrified, I found myself captivated by his fierce beauty.

  Maybe my snapshots were about more than just me. Could it be that I was here to save a Guardian? Or, with his brawn and my Essence, could it be we were destined to save each other?

  All at once, the mountain lions pounced and came together with a loud “thwack” in mid-air. Falling through the air a good 15 feet, they landed with walloping “thumps” on a bed of compact pine needles. A temporary veil of dirt obscured my vision, but outlines of their huge bodies were evident as they rolled conjointly, grappling with each other. The air cleared, and I could see right down to the reddish mountain lion’s forepaws. His exposed claws were trying to tear into Jason.

  I’d read up on these wild animals and their hunting techniques in advance; I’d wanted to be prepared. This predator was trying to catch his prey in a death grip. He’d use his powerful neck and jaw to grasp Jason, before sinking his teeth into Jason’s neck, crushing it and suffocating him.

  Deafening hisses and growls filled the woods like human screams of suffering. The tawny brown cougar flipped over backwards but managed to escape, and then the race was on. After awhile, I couldn’t tell which mountain lion was which; they were a massive ball of red and brown streaking across the forest, slamming into trees. Branches cracked and logs snapped. At one point, they shot off in powerful sprints, vanishing into the undergrowth.

  For awhile the woods were unequivocally quiet, and I dared not breathe or move. Eventually, the tawny cougar poked his face through some ferns. After furtively scouring the whole area, he ran full force towards a huge evergreen tree, which stood only about nine feet away from my hiding spot. He climbed with amazing grace and quickly sprawled out on a high branch. I had a clear view of his face and could tell he was watching vigilantly for his enemy. Light brown fur dominated from his nose to his forehead. White patches popped above his eyes, surrounded his lips, and covered his chin and throat. The white was offset by a few black markings on his face, but white whiskers poked out around his muzzle and above his eyes. Despite his beauty, he looked extremely dangerous. While I admired his savage beauty, he turned, looked directly at me, and hissed faintly. I sucked in a shocked breath and froze, unable to blink an eye. Surrounded by a silence that rang loud, we stared at each other for what seemed an eternity.

  A branch snapped, and his head whipped the other way just as the reddish mountain lion returned with a hasty entrance. Hurdling through the air, into the center of the clearing, he came to a stop on top of an old, cracked stump. Sunlight coursed through the treetops, and one huge stream of light settled directly on his face. He stared into the sky and began releasing strange, low amplitude sounds. “Woh, woh, woh.” I knew mountain lions didn’t roar, but this sounded so unnatural.

  With the absolute worst timing of anything that had ever happened in my life, I sneezed. Three times. The reddish mountain lion’s head jerked my direction. His eyes lit up, and he purred. Loudly. He looked at me hungrily with those evil, golden eyes and suddenly vaulted off the stump directly towards me. Shock
ed to be experiencing my snapshots live, my heart banged against my chest, trying to pound its way out. I screamed just as the tawny cougar sprang forth from the evergreen bough. Colliding mid-air, they dropped and landed in a tangled mass on the hard ground. I sunk my face into the moss and whispered words of thanks to Jason for saving me. Again.

  Desperate to catch the action, my head snapped up, and I followed their every move as they fought viciously for several minutes. Spiraling over logs and tree roots, they hissed and clawed at each other, tearing clumps of fur from each other’s bodies. Covered with bloody splotches and breathing heavy, they seized each other and began slashing away with raw brutality. A loud “Rowww, rowww, rowww,” rose between them. The savagery and ferociousness of the onslaught was traumatizing, but I couldn’t take my eyes away.

  Sinking his jaws into my tawny mountain lion’s neck, the reddish one flung my beautiful cougar through the air. He landed in a heap at the base of my protective wall where I couldn’t see him. The reddish cat celebrated his victory with ear-shattering screams. It was all I could do not to jump out and run to my fallen cougar – Jason. I was numb. My hope had been crushed and lay dispersed among the dead needles.

  The screaming stopped, and the cougar’s body transformed, very quickly, back into the human form of Kieran. Leaning his head back, he drew in a deep breath and let it all out again in an eruption of depraved laughter. With an expression of superiority he strut, but with a definite limp, towards Jason. I panicked at having neither one of them in my sight. Worried sick, I knew I needed to get to Jason – if it wasn’t too late.

  It couldn’t be too late. I also needed to get to him before Kieran came after me. Grabbing two short sticks, I stretched out on my tummy and assessed the situation below me.

  “Not a bad fight for an Imitator,” Kieran said snidely and kicked Jason’s beat up human body. “But we Shapeshifters are stronger, especially when we’ve been feeding on Essence. Especially Guardian Essence. Those B.C. Guardians were easy prey; they didn’t put up half the fight you did. Of course, they didn’t know we were coming.” Kieran might be stronger, but he hadn’t escaped completely unscathed. Blood dribbled down the side of his face, and large, hideous abrasions covered his body.