The Protectors: Book 1 in the Protectors Saga

by P. M. Dooling

Chapter 10

  When they got back to Havyn, they dropped their horses off at the stables, and then walked over to the library to meet Gumptin.

  Gumptin was seated at the large round table, reading a big red leather bound book, waiting for them.

  “How did it go?” He asked the girls as they walked into the room.

  Avery slammed the satchel she had taken off of Bunny’s shoulder onto the table in front of Gumptin, “Here are the records you wanted.” Avery told Gumptin, smiling proudly.

  Gumptin opened the satchel and scanned through the documents inside it, “Are you sure this is everything?” He asked, looking up at Avery, “You remembered everything I told you I needed?”

  Avery hesitated for a second. She hadn’t actually been there when the other girls had gotten the records, so she wasn’t quite sure how to answer.

  “Well, it should be.” Avery said.

  Gumptin blinked up at Avery, “Could you please define what you mean by should.”

  “I’m the one who got the records,” Jade stepped in and told Gumptin, “and yes I got everything you told us to.”

  Without thanking or questioning Jade, Gumptin asked Avery, “Where were you?”

  Avery placed her proud little smile back on her face, “Oh, just getting Draven to agree to give us his army.”

  Gumptin looked a little stupefied, “You…what?”

  Avery furrowed her brow, not understanding why he looked so shocked. After all, he was the one who had sent them to try and get Draven’s army. Why would he have sent them if he expected them to fail?

  “Is that surprising for some reason?” Avery asked him.

  “Well…well…yes.” Gumptin stammered, “I thought he would either tell you ‘no’, or give you some vaguely ambivalent answer. Then, after he had time to think about it, he might say yes. Or, I would go see him and convince him of your pure intentions. I had no hope that he would willingly give you use of his army without any argument.”

  “Thanks for your confidence.” Avery said sarcastically, taking a seat in one of the chairs next to Gumptin, “Anyway, there were a few arguments, and a few catches. He wants you,” Avery pointed to Gumptin, “to write down and give him whatever past Avery’s full plan was, and he wants to be involved once he gives us use of his army.”

  Gumptin still just stared at Avery in amazement, “I am utterly astonished…well done. I will get to work drawing up the plan immediately.” Gumptin shook his head, “I cannot believe you were able to get through to him with reason.”

  Jade let out a snort, “I don’t think reason had anything to do with it.”

  Avery was starting to get sick of all the little comments made about her and Draven.

  She turned quickly towards Jade, who was sitting next to her, and told Jade sharply, “Just drop it. What is your problem with Draven anyway?” Before Jade could bring up the dog remark again, Avery stopped her, “Besides that.”

  Avery knew Jade well enough to know that one offhand remark wouldn’t bother her so much.

  “I…I,” Jade ran her fingers through her long black hair, “I don’t know. He just gives me a weird vibe.” She softened, staring Avery in the eyes as she said the next part, “I don’t trust him.”

  “Do not be ridiculous.” Gumptin cut in quickly, “He is the King of Nightfell. If anything, you, Jade Kai, probably give him a weird vibe.”

  “Says the weirdest of them all.” Jade scowled at Gumptin, leaning back in a chair and putting her feet up on the table.

  Gumptin continued to scan through the records the girls had brought back, “His army has more men than I had thought, very good.” He said more to himself, than any of the girls.

  When Gumptin looked up, it was as if he just realized the girls were still there, waiting for him to tell them what they were suppose to do next.

  “Oh,” he said, staring at them, “why don’t you girls go on home now. I have much work to do. Plus, you should all get a good night's rest. You have training first thing in the morning tomorrow, and then I’m sending you out on patrol.”

  The girls stood up to leave; grateful they had the rest of the night to themselves.

  “I’m gonna go home and change, then I’ll see you at your house for dinner later.” Jade told Avery, before walking out with Sasha, Skylar, and Bunny.

  Avery stayed seated, staring at Gumptin as he read through the records, “Gumptin.” She said, getting his attention.

  “Oh, my dear girl,” Gumptin said, looking up at her, his little reading glasses hanging off the end of his nose, “you are still here?”

  There were some things Avery had been curious about since she left the castle that she knew would be bugging her all night unless she asked Gumptin.

  “What’s Draven’s story?” Avery asked.

  “Pardon?” Gumptin said, trying to make himself look as if he didn’t understand the question.

  “Well,” Avery began, “he told me that he was raised by his mother, away from other people, and that he disappointed his father in some way. I was just wondering what his story was.”

  Gumptin pulled off the glasses from his face, staring dumbfounded at Avery, “He told you that?” Gumptin asked, shocked.

  Avery nodded.

  “Well,” Gumptin said, clearing his throat and collecting himself, “I suppose, since he opened the door, I shall tell you what is commonly known. For the past seven hundred years, give or take a few, when the King of Nightfell decides it is time to marry and have children, he travels far away, far away to distant kingdoms. He marries a distant princess or queen and has an heir. Then, when his son is of age, he travels back to Nightfell and takes over the kingdom. It is said that Draven’s father traveled to a distant kingdom, married a princess, had a son, and then died shortly there afterward. Draven was raised with his mother, and then came back to Nightfell a little over ten years ago.”

  “Ten years ago?” Avery asked, doing the math in her head, “How old was he when he came here, because he doesn’t look over twenty-five?”

  Gumptin shook his head, “I…I don’t know. He is rarely seen outside the castle, so no one really knows.”

  Gumptin’s explanation still didn’t really answer any of Avery’s initial questions, “But why was he only raised with his mother away from people? And how did he disappoint his dad?” She couldn’t help but be curious.

  “Avery,” Gumptin said, slightly agitated, “I do not know. Perhaps you should ask him, instead of showering me with such nonsensical questions.”

  “Meow,” Avery told Gumptin, giving him an insulted expression, “retract the claws kitty, I’m leaving.”

  Gumptin looked at Avery like he might take off his pointy hat and beat her with it. Instead, he fixed his glasses back on his face and turned his attention back to the records.

  That night, Avery was able to enjoy a satisfying meal of baked fish, roasted corn, and Jade’s favorite, blueberry pie. She and Jade played one hand of Jade’s favorite game, poker, and one round of Avery’s favorite game, chess. She then hugged Jade goodbye, without one mention of King Draven escaping from Jade’s lips. She kissed Cinder, her parents, and four legged family members goodnight. She slipped into her extra comfy Dawn of the Dead nightshirt and curled into her overstuffed bed and thick comforter. It would have been the perfect night for Avery, if she hadn’t stayed up for hours, tossing and turning, the image of Draven and his husky blue eyes piercing into her. She couldn’t help but replay every little moment they had together in her mind. It was well after midnight when she made a final toss under her covers. She fell asleep with the picture of his hand wrapped around her arm, playing across the inside of her eyelids.

  Early the next morning, Avery held onto the railing with a firm grip as she stumbled down the stairs with her eyes half closed. Of course, this was an improvement from her eyes being completely closed, which they mostly had been since her father knocked on her door to wake her up fifteen minutes ago.

  As she sat down at the k
itchen table for breakfast, Avery cursed King Draven for allowing her only four hours of sleep. She didn’t care that it wasn’t his fault. If he hadn’t been so damn enticingly mysterious, she wouldn’t have been up half the night thinking about him.

  Her mother set something down in front of her, but Avery was too absorbed with thinking about all the reasons King Draven agitated her, to pay attention to what it was. Avery grabbed a pitcher sitting in front of her and poured its contents into the bowl in front of her.

  “Avery, sweetie” Her mother said, “are you alright?”

  Her mother’s question shook Avery out of her Draven thoughts.

  “What?” Avery asked, blinking her head clear, “I’m fine, why?”

  “Um…” Her mother raised her eyebrows, “because you’re pouring orange juice into your oatmeal.”

  “What?!” Avery gasped and looked down at her soupy, orange, ruined oatmeal.

  “That’s gross!” Cinder giggled through a mouthful of untainted oatmeal.

  “Oh, my God!” Avery shouted, setting down the pitcher of orange juice and standing up, “It’s not enough he ruins my sleep, now he’s even affecting my breakfast!”

  “Who?” Her mother asked, a puzzled look on her face.

  “Who?” Avery repeated, not sure how to answer, since she most definitely didn’t want her family to know that a king was beginning to take over her thoughts, “Um…well, Gumptin, of course. He has us all so busy that we’re just…we’re unable to function properly.”

  Her family just stared at her blankly. Cinder picked up an apple from a bowl in the center of the table and handed it to Avery.

  “Here,” her little sister said, “you can’t ruin this.”

  Avery snatched the apple out of her sister’s tiny hand and hastily said, “I gotta go.”

  Once outside of the house, she made a promise to herself that as much as she might be tempted to, she wouldn’t let herself think about Draven again. Even if she had an inkling of a thought about him, she would immediately turn her mind to something else. Avery figured that was the only way she would end up making it through the day.

  Training was just as exhausting and tedious as it always was, almost more so since they had gone two whole days without it. The only saving grace was that Gumptin cut it a few hours short.

  While the sun was still high in the sky, Gumptin stopped their training.

  “Today,” He told them, “you shall go on patrol. It is one of the duties involved with being a Protector, and I feel you are all finally ready. You shall each patrol a separate area of Wildwood forest. Therefore, you shall each be patrolling alone.”

  “Alone?” Bunny asked, wide-eyed, “You mean, we’re going to be in the forest all by ourselves?”

  “That is what alone means, Bunny.” Gumptin said, “If you run into anything you feel is too much for you to handle, ride back to the village and wait for the rest of the Protectors.”

  “That’s pretty much a guarantee.” Sasha said snappily.

  “Do not worry,” Gumptin told them, “you have done this over a thousand times in the past. If you remember your training and trust your natural instincts, you shall be just fine.” Gumptin stared directly at Bunny when he said, “So, whatever you do…remember your training.”

  Avery flashed back to the maps hanging on her bedroom wall and all the little incidents her old self had written down on them. She was sure that more than a few had happened while they were on patrol. It terrified Avery to think of herself alone in the forest and running into a troll like the one she had fought in Lilydale, but it terrified her even more to think of the other girls alone in the forest, running into one of those trolls, especially Jade. Avery didn’t know what she would do if anything happened to Jade.

  After going home, changing, and gathering up their weapons, the girls met up at the stables.

  Glancing around at the other girls, Avery could tell they were all just as nervous as she was. It was one thing to travel into battle together, it was a completely different story to go off on your own, without any idea of what to expect. Avery held onto Phantom’s reins and pulled his large head down to her level. She rested her forehead against his and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself slightly before addressing the others.

  “Hey,” Avery said loudly, lifting her head off of Phantom and getting the other girls attention, “I’ll see you guys soon.”

  It was a way not to say, ‘be careful’, and saying ‘goodbye’, which sounded so ominous, and ‘don’t be afraid’, which just sounded stupid.

  Sasha nodded and mounted Belle, “Like Gumptin said, we’ll meet back at the library at four.”

  “See you guys at four.” Bunny said, kicking Ajax into a trot, towards her designated patrolling area.

  Gumptin had given each of them an assigned route. There were four roads that led off into the forest from the village. On the far south side of the village, was the small Rumor Road. Gumptin had assigned Bunny to patrol that road. Then, on the far north side of the village, next to the stables, was the Thorn Road, given to Skylar. Behind the village, past the farm houses, fields, and orchards, was the wild Oran road, which Gumptin had given to Sasha. Avery and Jade were told to take the Main Road and all the subsequent roads leading off of it, with Jade patrolling the half closest to the village.

  Before Jade mounted up on Steel, she walked over to Avery. By the look on her face, Avery could tell she was just as concerned about her, as she was about Jade, if not more so.

  “Avery,” Jade said, her voice a little unsure, something that was unusual for Jade, “I’ll…I’ll see you later.”

  Avery smiled, “You know it.”

  Jade’s eyes showed no reassurance of her concern, but she smiled nonetheless.

  What had started out as a nerve-wracking experience for Avery, after an hour of patrolling, seemed like a quite uneventful and even pleasant experience. She had been riding in the forest for over an hour, keeping her eyes open and body prepared for trouble, but so far, nothing even remotely dangerous had happened. She had passed a man and his dog walking towards Knighton to look for work. She met a family from Klover who were headed into Lilydale, to purchase Everlily flowers for their village.

  Wildwood forest was enchanting, lulling Avery into a state of serenity with its clean floral scents, crisp air, lush green surroundings, lullabies of animal sounds, and dappled sunlight. Avery was back out onto the Main Road, trotting up to Cooper’s Bridge, feeling more at peace than she had in a long time, when she spotted a dark figure scurry into the forest about a hundred feet in front of her.

  Avery’s heart just about jumped out of her chest. The thing she had seen looked to be the size of a person, but moved more like a four legged animal. She fought the part of her that had been raised on Earth for sixteen years, that was telling her to run away from the freaky shadow and kicked Phantom into a gallop. When she reached Cooper’s Bridge, she pulled Phantom up to a stop. She knew whatever she saw didn’t cross the bridge.

  To the right of the bridge, was the small path that led to Wildpoint Lookout. On the wet soft dirt, Avery saw two distinct footprints that led off down the path and into the forest. She turned Phantom down the path and headed into the forest. The path to Wildpoint Lookout was narrow and dense. If Avery were to reach out her hands, she would have been able to grab onto the trees. Wild mushrooms and tall grasses grew along the edge of path. It would have been charming, if Avery hadn’t of know that somewhere out in those wild woods was a creepy moving creature.

  After fifteen minutes of walking Phantom down the path, Avery’s heart began to slow down. She thought maybe the thing she had seen was long gone, or maybe what she had seen hadn’t even meant her or anybody else any harm. As Avery was debating turning Phantom around and heading back to the Main Road, her right ear zoned in on a slight whistle. The whistling sound came closer, and closer, and closer, until finally Avery had to lean back in her saddle far enough that her head was touching Phantom’s back. The
instant she laid her body back, she saw a large bladed ax hurtling above her face. It flew past her face and struck into a tree to the left of her.

  Avery didn’t even have time to panic. A humanoid creature leapt out of the woods to her right and tackled her off of her horse. Avery landed hard on the ground, knocking the wind out of her lungs. The creature would have landed on top of her if Phantom hadn’t kicked his hind legs back, knocking the creature to the left of Avery.

  Before the creature had a chance to recover itself, Avery placed her hands behind her head and flipped up into the air, onto her feet. She slapped Phantom hard on the hind quarters, making sure he got himself out of harm’s way. Then, she reached her arm back behind her and pulled her sword from her back sheath.

  The creature couched on all fours, a few feet in front of Avery on the forest path. It wore a long black cape with a hood that completely covered its face and body. Very slowly, the creature unfolded himself, standing straight up. On his two feet, it stood a good six feet tall. It reached its arms far out in front of it, revealing a pair of long, slender, humanoid hands. Its skin was a scaly texture with a yellowish hue to it. The fingers were a few inches longer than an average man’s, and at the top of them were long, black, pointed fingernails, that looked as hard as steel. It brought its long fingers up to his overhanging hood. Avery watched in horror as the creature pulled back its hood, uncovering a face that resembled that of a man, but with a few distinct differences. His face was covered in the same scaly yellowish skin as his hands, and his forehead protruded out in a reverse triangle pattern. His eyes were a dark red color, and he had no nose, just two small slits. Behind his thin lips were a row of small pointed teeth, which he now showed off as he smiled widely at her.

  He moved his head back side to side, like a snake, as he stared her down, “Protector,” His voice came out in a high pitched hiss, “you should not have followed me.”

  Avery swallowed hard, trying to control her fear so the humanoid creature couldn’t see it, “You’re right,” Avery told him, “you don’t look suspicious at all. I totally should have let you scurry back underneath your rock.”

  The creature clucked his tongue in a scolding manner, “You hide your fear behind sarcasm, little one, but I can see the truth. I can see how scared you really are.” He let out a whistling laugh, “Nothing has changed. You are as pathetic now as you were before. As pathetic as you were on the day you died.”

  Avery was thrown off. The thought that this creature might have actually been there on the day she died was like a mini bomb going off inside her brain.

  The creature took advantage of Avery’s rattled state. It released a loud high screech into the air and charged towards her at full speed.

  The image of the snake man charging towards her, his body moving more in a slither than a run, would have made Avery scream at the top of her lungs, except she didn’t have time for that. He was almost on her in a manner of seconds. Avery jumped back and swiped her sword out in front of her, towards his head, but before her eyes could even adjust to his speed, he flipped up and spun through the air, landing behind her. Avery kicked back with her left foot, kicking him in his stomach. He doubled over, and Avery spun around to backhand him with her left hand. He stood up and grabbed Avery’s left fist inside his own, before she could land a blow. He took Avery’s arm and used it to turn Avery, twisting it behind her back. Avery brought her right shoulder down hard into the creature’s soft side, once, twice. The creature hissed and tossed Avery away from him, throwing her face first down onto the ground. As the creature approached her, Avery rolled herself over, stood up, and scissor kicked in front of her, slamming her foot into the creatures elbow. The creature hollered and grabbed onto Avery by her upper arms. He pushed her backwards, slamming her up against a large tree. He pinned Avery down with the right side of his body and held onto Avery’s wrist with his left hand. He pounded Avery’s right wrist and hand up against the hard trunk of the tree, over and over again, until she dropped her sword out of her right hand. Once the sword was out of Avery’s hand, the creature placed his right hand over Avery’s chest, holding her against the tree. He spread his left hand into a wide claw, his long sharp nails made ready to swipe at her face. Avery knocked the creature’s right hand away from her chest and ducked just as the creature’s nails sliced into the bark of the tree, leaving four deep claw marks where her face would have been. Avery drew back her fist and punched the Demon with all the force she could muster in the middle of his stomach. The creature exhaled sharply and staggered backwards. Avery advanced on him, punching him right in the jaw, and then slamming the base of her hand into his collarbone. She felt a snap and heard a loud crack, followed by the creature’s ear piercing scream. She had snapped his collarbone in two. The creature fell to the ground, near the edge of the forest. Avery pulled the long dagger out of her boot and walked towards him. She twirled the dagger around in her hand, to get ready for a killing blow. When she reached him, she grabbed onto a clump of long, scraggily, black hair, pulling his head back and exposing his throat. Before she could run her blade across his exposed throat, the creature had grabbed onto a heavy log of wood. He looked up at her, laughed once, and then hammered the large piece of wood into Avery’s chest, shoulder, and upper arm. A white hot pain immediately shot through Avery’s shoulder. She cried out and flung herself backwards, away from the creature. When she looked down at her shoulder she saw that it was hanging at a disgustingly unnatural angle. Avery steeled her throat to stop herself from vomiting. She knew the creature had dislocated it. The creature stood up and charged at Avery once again, his dangerous wooden club held high above his head. Avery stood her ground, face scrunched up in pain as her shoulder screamed at her. The second the creature reached her, Avery grabbed a hold of his club arm, with her good arm, and turned the good side of her body into him, flipping him up and over her back. The creature landed on the ground, on his back, with his arm still firmly held in Avery’s grip. While still holding onto the creature’s arm, Avery lifted up her right leg and brought her foot down in the creature’s face over and over. He spit up a large gulp of blood and one of his pointy teeth. The last time she brought her foot down, the creature lifted up his free arm and grabbed onto Avery’s ankle. With all his might, he pushed back on her leg, driving her knee up into her stomach and causing her to falter backwards. While the creature was still on the ground, spitting up blood, Avery staggered over to the closest tree. She knew what she had to do. She couldn’t fight with a dislocated shoulder, not if she wanted to live. Avery rested her shoulder up against the tree, a flame of terror rose up inside of her, but she pushed it down as she saw the creature begin to slowly try and get to his feet. She leaned her shoulder back, and then slammed it into the sturdy tree as hard and fast as she could. A popping sound exploded throughout Avery’s body, along with the worst pain she had ever felt in her life. The pain caused her to cry out at the top of her lungs, she couldn’t help herself. A warm tear slid down her cheek as she collapsed her body into the tree. The pain began to dull slightly turning more into a dull throbbing. Avery didn’t have long to rest her wounded body, the creature was up and facing her, claws spread out in front of him. Avery stared him down, all terror of the creature gone; now she was pissed. They charged each other. The instant before they would have collided, Avery pulled out her knife from the cuff on her wrist, spun under one of the creatures swiping claws, and plunged the knife into the creature’s back the moment he ran past her. It would have been a killing blow, severing his spinal cord, if he hadn’t moved a fraction of an inch at the last second. Instead of grasping for the knife, stuck to the hilt deep in his back, the creature immediately spun around, swiping Avery across the right side of her neck with his sharp claws. There was a stinging pain and a large spray of blood spurt out in front of her, staining the creature’s yellow hand, but Avery could immediately tell that it hadn’t punctured her jugular. She reached up to her neck and felt a stream of wet sticky blood, po
uring out from four long claw marks, running across her neck and down to her chest. While her hand was at her throat, the creature leapt on her, pinning her to the ground. He brought the arm at her neck, across her chest and over to her other wrist, so that he was able to pin both of her hands down with just one of his hands. The creature stared down at her, his eyes flickering over to the wound at her neck. He brought his face down close to her face. Unhurriedly, he moved his mouth over to her wound, which was still bleeding. He stuck out a long, forked, pink tongue and dragged it across one of the claw marks. Avery thought she may vomit from the grotesqueness of the situation and die choking on her own bile. It would be better than laying here, watching him feed on her.

  Deciding dying in a pool of her own vomit, wasn’t the most dignified way of going, Avery wrenched her top wrist slightly to one side, then yanked with her arm as hard as she could. Her still throbbing shoulder begged her to stop, but she ignored it, finally wrenching her wrist free. The creature jerked his head up. He let go of Avery’s arm, not bothering to hold them down, and instead, wrapped his hands around Avery’s throat. Avery grabbed at his hands, trying to wrench his crushing grip off of her windpipe.

  “Who do you think you are?!” He screamed down at her, “I am Sevil, a Serpentine Demon of the Drake Clan. You are nothing compared to me!” He laughed down at her, “You are still so stupid. Just like you always were, stupid and weak. They died because of you, you know. You led them into slaughter with your stupidity. Your weakness killed you…it killed all of them.”

  “Get the hell off of me!” Avery shouted, tugging at his hands. More than anything she wanted him to stop talking. It was a horrible realizing his words were hurting her worse than anything he could do to her body.

  He laughed down at her, picking her up slightly and pounding her back into the ground, “You’re just the same.” He hissed, “You haven’t changed. They’re stupid and weak, too. They would follow you right into their deaths, just like they did last time. I’m really doing you a favor by killing you. Saving you the trouble of killing yourself and everyone you love.”

  “Shut up!” Avery screamed agonizingly.

  “Don’t worry,” He whispered into her ear, “they’ll join you soon enough. I’ll make sure of that. I’ll taste their blood too.”

  She let go of his hands and tried pushing on his chest, anything to get him off of her. His hands tightened around her throat and Avery chocked. She couldn’t breathe and her vision was beginning to get fuzzy.

  Not like this, she thought to herself, I can’t die like this. I’m not ready. She thought about never seeing her family again, or hearing Cinder ask her a hundred nonsensical questions. She thought of her friends having to fight on without her, and she thought of Jade. She thought about never talking, or laughing, fighting with, goofing around, and touching the people she loved again. Avery couldn’t let that happen, she knew she just couldn’t.

  She placed her hands flat on the creature’s chest and pushed with all the strength she had left. As the world in front of her began to fade, she felt a warm sensation growing throughout her body. It began in the middle of her chest, and then spread out to every other part of her. A surge of searing hot energy went off in her body, snapping her eyes back into focus. A split second later, a blinding white light burst from her hands, sending the creature sailing backwards through the air, landing a good twenty feet away into the forest. Avery lay on the ground for a moment, shocked by what had just happened. She sat up slowly and examined her hands. They looked just as they always did, only covered with spots of blood and a few scrapes. She had no idea how she had done what she did, or where the powerful energy had come from. What she did know, is that whatever it had been, it was gone now, and she could see the creature painfully picking itself up from the forest floor.

  Avery stood up, taking in a deep breath of the cool air that she had been cut off from not too long ago. She turned and walked over to the tree where the ax the creature had thrown at her was still sticking out of. Avery heard the creature behind her, running towards her at a hasty pace. The ax was stuck deeply into the wood, but Avery’s Protector strength allowed her to pull it out with ease. The creature was less than three feet away when she turned around. She gave him a hard thrust kick to his chest, close to his broken collar bone. The creature cried out as he fell backwards onto the ground.

  Avery strolled up to the creature, lying on the ground, clutching at his collarbone. On his chest, where Avery’s hands had been when the electric energy had exploded out of them, were two large burn marks where his cloak had been singed away, and his scaly yellow skin was charred and bleeding. She looked down at the creature who had almost killed her. The last thing he had said to her, thundered in her mind, ‘I’ll taste their blood too’.

  Avery lifted the ax high above her head, and as he wailed, “Noooooooo!” she brought it down on his neck, severing his head from his body.

  The ax slid from her hands, and Avery gently backed away from the body. The adrenaline that had been rushing through her began to subside, leaving her feeling dizzy. Avery felt a tear sliding down her cheek. She hadn’t even realized she had been crying. If at that moment, Phantom hadn’t strolled up to her, giving her a sweet little nuzzle on the side of her face with his fuzzy nose, Avery was sure she would have collapsed into a shaking weeping ball. She wrapped her arms around Phantom’s neck and let herself release a few more tears. The tiniest of smiles touched her lips when she realized she was alive. She had done it.

  As she was about to mount up on Phantom and head home, Avery noticed a glowing orange light coming from around a curve in the road up ahead. She grabbed a hold of Phantom’s reins and walked him up the path. When she turned the corner, she had to catch her breath slightly.

  She had reached the end of the road. She was standing at Wildpoint Lookout. In front of her was one of the most awe inspiring views she had ever seen. The large trees of the forest ended, giving way to a small circular clearing about fifteen feet in diameter. At the other end of the clearing was a drop-off. Avery tied Phantom’s reins onto one of the branches of a large tree and walked over to the edge of the drop-off and looked down. It was a sharp fall, at least a good thousand feet.

  Avery took a seat on the cool grass, curling her legs up underneath her, and gazing out at the view below and in front of her. She could see everything. Directly in front of her was forest, green and lush treetops blowing in the breeze. She could see random clearings throughout the forest area. In a few of the clearings, she was able to see dots of tiny houses. Little puffs of smoke streamed out from a few of the clearings with houses. In the far distance was a mountain range. The sun was just beginning to set, lighting up the high rounded peaks of the mountain in a rust colored glow. In the very far distance, slightly to the right, Avery could see, what looked to her, like the outline of a castle. It sat mainly in a heavy forested area, only slightly elevated. Draven’s castle stood proud and clear to the left of her. She could see the entirety of Knighton Castle, resting on its hill, its black flags clear and waving. Avery could see the valley below, with its small farm houses. People that looked the size of ants could barely be seen walking around. To her far right, Avery saw, clear as day and unmistakable, the Emperor’s fortress. It was too far in the distance for Avery to see much detail, but what she could see gave her chills. The fortress was dark as night, with one high pointed tower in the center of it. The top of the tower was surrounded by high sharp pillars. The enormous wall surrounding it was heavy stone, with pointed towers protruding out from it. The fortress sat on top of a hill made of black ragged rock. The same black rock seemed to comprise the high mountain range that lay behind and to the east and west of the fortress. The forest that lay in front of the fortress looked nothing like the dense green Wildwood forest, teeming with life, that Avery was use to. This forest, which Avery knew must be Darksin, was filled with twisted and misshapen barren trees.

  Avery pulled her eyes away from nightmarish
sight and focused on the beauty around her. When Avery leaned her head all the way back, she was able to see the round full moon beginning to take over the sky, chasing the sun away. The moon on Orcatia was unbelievably big, at least twice as large as the full moon back on Earth. It lit up the entire land, like a giant night light. Behind the moon, Avery could see a planet glowing brightly, a delicate purple shade. It was about a third of the size of the moon, with wispy white cloud-like areas dotting it.

  Avery lost herself in the peaceful beauty of the moment. She let her mind wander to thoughts she would have normally preferred to keep at bay. She thought about what the creature said about everyone dying being her fault. She wondered how much truth there was to his statement. It had hurt her more than she was even willing to comprehend. The thought of her friends getting hurt just because they followed her was unacceptable, and the idea that Jade could get hurt was just something that Avery couldn’t let happen.

  A little while later, Avery wasn’t sure how long, but it was long enough for the sun to have almost set, casting the whole landscape in a bath of orange and purple, the sound of galloping hooves caught Avery’s attention. A moment after that, a worried looking Jade galloped around the curve in the road. She pulled up Steel, her worried expression turning to one of anger.

  “Where the flaming hell have you been?!” She shouted, jumping off of steel, “You were supposed to be back at the library over two hours ago! Everyone is out looking for you!”

  Avery had completely forgotten that part. Although, after the fight she had just went through, she felt she deserved a little leniency.

  “I’m sorry,” Avery said, straightening herself up off the ground, “I guess I just lost track of time.”

  “You lost…you…lost” Jade raised her fist in the air, and clenched it tightly, trying to get control of her anger, “You just can’t do that Avery! People worry about you! You can’t just…”

  Jade’s words were cut short the second she walked up to Avery and took in the state of her. Jade’s eyes immediately went to the four gashes on Avery’s neck and the stream of dried blood that led down from them and covered her chest. Then she scanned over to the bruises left on Avery’s neck by the creature’s throttling hands.

  “Oh, my God, Avery,” Jade’s voice came out in a rushed high-pitched whisper, “what happened to you?! Are you alright?! Was it that headless thing back there on the road?”

  Avery laughed and it caused the wounds on her neck to twinge slightly, “I’m fine,” she said, “they just bled a lot, but they’ll heal soon. That creature was some kind of snake Demon…mean bastard to.”

  Jade nodded and took one more wincing glance at Avery’s wounds, “I knew something had happened.” Jade told her, “There’s no way you’d be cruel enough to leave me alone with Gumptin, Bunny, Skylar, and Sasha for over an hour.”

  “Whatever,” Avery scolded, giving Jade’s foot a little tap with her own, “you know you love them.”

  Jade smirked, “I never said I didn’t care about them; I just said that they bore me to tears. Seriously,” Jade continued when Avery rolled her eyes, “I mean, what do I have to talk about with those people? Their knowledge of movie quotes is pathetic. Sasha doesn’t even know the difference between Star Trek and Star Wars, and just a few days before we came here, Skylar referred to my Suzuki as ‘adorable’. She should have just hit me…that would have been less painful.”

  When Jade lifted up her hand to tuck a loose strand of dark hair behind her ear, Avery noticed that her wrist had a white bandage wrapped around it.

  “What happened there?” Avery asked, pointing towards Jade’s bandaged wrist.

  “Oh,” Jade said, looking down at her wrist like she had completely forgot it was injured, “it’s nothing, just a sprain. I ran into a group of dwarves trying to rob this family on some crappy little back road.”

  “Dwarves?” Avery asked, thinking how weird their life had become to have actual dwarves come up in a sentence.

  Jade nodded, “Yep, they basically looked like really ugly Gumptin’s. Gumptin said they were most likely dwarves from the Western Mountain Range, ’cause they’re the only ones that have joined the Emperor so far. You should have seen Gumptin’s face when I compared him to the dwarves.” Jade laughed out loud at the memory, “I thought he was going to put some magical hex on me.”

  Avery smiled and nodded, her mind still preoccupied with what the creature had told her. She thought it was as good a time as any to breach some of the thoughts she had been thinking with Jade.

  “Jade,” Avery asked tentatively, “if something had happened to me, if I didn’t end up coming back…you’d be ok, right?”

  Jade looked at Avery like she had just spoken a different language, her previous laughter completely gone from her face, “What are you talking about?” Jade asked her.

  “I mean, you wouldn’t do anything stupid, right?” Avery pleaded with her eyes.

  “Avery, what the hell are you talking about?” Jade asked again, her voice growing higher and louder.

  “Think about it,” Avery told Jade, “we all died last time. I was the leader, and we all died…and that’s when I was crazy single-minded warrior Avery. If you follow me now, there’s no telling what could happen to you.”

  “Well, it can’t be any worse than the last time.” Jade tried to joke.

  “That’s what I’m talking about!” Avery said passionately, “Jade, you could do anything you wanted. You don’t have to follow me.” As Avery spoke, the creature’s words continued to play in her mind, “I’ll have Gumptin talk to the Elementals. I’m sure if I promise to stay…”

  “Just stop!” Jade cut off Avery, “You know I’m not going to let you go fight without me. Somebody’s got to look after you. You’re more reckless than an adrenaline junkie.”

  “I don’t want you here, following me, because you feel like you have to protect me. That’s stupid, Jade. This whole thing is becoming way too dangerous.” The idea that her old self had possibly gotten Jade killed had put Avery in panic mode, “You have to get away from me. You have to think about yourself. This is your life!”

  “Don’t you say that to me.” Jade said quietly, “Don’t you ever say that to me.”

  From the look in Jade’s eyes, Avery knew her words had hurt her. It wasn’t what she had intended to do. In fact, right now, she wasn’t sure what she had intended to do. She knew Jade would never leave her, and she had a pretty good idea that the Elementals would never really let any of them leave. Avery was just scared, and wounded, and thrown by what the creature had said to her.

  All strength seemed to drain out of her and she collapsed back into her seated position on the ground, staring out at the sunset, “I just don’t want you to get hurt.” Avery said softly, on the verge of tears, “I don’t know what I would do if you got hurt.”

  Jade stared off into the distance at the sunset for a minute, the deep orange and purple rays lighting up the sharp angles of her face. She then took a seat on the ground, next to Avery.

  “I’m going to say this to you one time, and then we’re never going to talk about it again, alright, because I never want to hear you talking like this again.” Jade looked at Avery seriously, but softly.

  Avery nodded.

  Jade looked back out to the sunset and landscape as she spoke, “I never told you this before, probably because I never wanted to freak you out, or give you a complex, but my parents, and Skylar, Sash, and Bunny’s parents always use to tell us to, ‘watch out for Avery’, ‘keep Avery away from trouble’, ‘Make sure Avery doesn’t get hurt’. I mean, I use to think it was because you get into more trouble than anyone I know.” Jade laughed softly and shook her head, “It makes sense now, with you being the leader of the Protectors and everything, but I could never figure it out back on Earth.”

  Avery followed Jade’s gaze out towards the landscape, she couldn’t believe none of them had told her that before. They must have thought she was a complete
weakling while growing up.

  “Anyway,” Jade continued, “Remember that day, I think we were about six or seven, and my mom was babysitting you and I, and we were out in front of my trailer, building a fort out of old car parts.” Jade smiled warmly at the memory, “You wanted to walk out into the desert behind the trailer park and look for the perfect stone to place upon our fort. I didn’t want to go, because I didn’t want to get yelled at by my mom, but I followed you out there, because…well, because that’s just what I do. We kept walking and walking, until the trailer park became nothing but a speck in the distance. Then, out of nowhere we came up on that big feral Akita dog, standing over the pack rat he had just killed, and he started growling and snarling at us. I jumped in between you and the dog and pushed you out of the way.”

  “I remember that,” Avery said, replaying the memory in her mind, “you pushed me on the ground and I skinned my hands.”

  Jade rolled her eyes, “You would remember that part. Anyway, the dog eventually picked up the rat and ran off with it, but that was the moment everything became clear to me. I didn’t put myself between you and danger because I was told to, or because I thought it was the right thing to do. It was instinctual, and I realized, that even at that age, you were the most important thing to me. You weren’t just my friend, you were my sister. When I think of my family, I think of you.”

  Jade turned her face towards Avery, a small tear forming at the edge of one of her eyes. Avery gave her a little pouty smile, and fought back the tears from forming in her eyes as well.

  “I love you, too.” Avery told her.

  Jade laughed and wiped at the tear in her eye, “Of course,” She said, looking back out to the sunset, “about a week after that, I come over to your house and that crazy Akita dog is laying on your living room floor. You felt so bad for it. You begged and begged your dad, till he went out with you and set a trap in desert and caught that stupid dog.”

  Avery laughed, “Yeah, Bear, he was my first dog. He was such a good boy.”

  “I was so mad at you.” Jade said, “I had just put my life on the line, jumping in between you and this wild beast, and what do you do…you go out, trap the wild beast, and bring it home.” Jade smirked, “That dog loved you so much. After I got over my anger, I realized something else. I realized that you were the best person I knew, or ever would know. Both those realizations have lasted till this day. You’re still the best person I know, and you’re still the most important person in my life, and both those things will always be true. So, those are the reasons I follow you. Those are the reasons I’d die for you. Those are the reasons I don’t ever want to hear you tell me that your path is too dangerous for me. Your path is my path.”

  Avery couldn’t help but understand. She felt the same way. There was nothing Jade could ever do or say that could cause Avery to abandon her, so how could she ask that of jade.

  “Plus,” Jade added, “I get to kick ass and save lives, which, let’s face it, is a lot better than any prospects I had on Earth.”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Avery said, trying to control the smile threatening to take over her face, “I think your path from juvenile delinquent to downright social menace seemed to be going well.”

  “Be careful, Kimball,” Jade warned, standing up and grabbing onto Avery’s hand, to help her up, “we’re standing at the edge of a very high cliff, and you look like you just lost a fight with a tiger. Pushing you over would be more than easy.”

  It was past dark when Avery and Jade finally rode back into the village. Avery was thankful for the darkness. She felt it would allow her to make her way home, without people noticing the monster claw marks on her neck and the trail of blood leading down from them. All of her hopes for an inconspicuous entrance were dashed, however, when Gumptin, the other girls, Pip, and Thomas came rushing out of the stables to meet them.

  “We were about to send another search party out for the both of you.” Sasha told them, an expression of slight relief unfolding on her face. It was such a rarity for Sasha to show any sign of concern, Avery knew she must have been really worried.

  “Avery,” Skylar gasped, “you look horrible!”

  “Are you alright?” Bunny asked.

  Pip ran up and grabbed onto Phantom’s reins and Avery hopped down.

  “I’m fine, guys.” Avery told them, uncomfortable with the fuss being made over her.

  “Are ya sure?” Pip asked, looking concerned, “If ya want, I could…”

  “I’m fine.” Avery said, cutting off Pip. She felt slightly guilty when she saw the hurt in Pip’s eyes, as he lead Phantom back into the stables, but she had just wanted the subject dropped. Thinking about her injuries made her think about the fight, which made her think about what the Demon had said to her. Her talk with Jade had made her feel better, and she didn’t want to be brought back down with dark thoughts.

  “So,” Gumptin inquired, walking up and inspecting her, “what did happen to you?”

  Avery sighed, resigning herself to the fact that she was going to have to relive the fight, no matter how hard she tried to avoid it.

  “Sasha encountered an ogre.” Gumptin told Avery.

  From what Gumptin had taught them, all Avery really knew about ogres was that they were slightly bigger, more agile, and human looking version of a troll. There weren’t near as many ogres as there were trolls, and they were known for their glutton appetites, which, at times, consisted of feeding on human beings. Avery’s mouth fell open, and she looked towards Sasha. She couldn’t believe Sasha had encountered one on her own and still managed to look so calm and unharmed.

  “Do not look so awed Avery.” Gumptin told her, giving Sasha a discouraging glance, “Sasha, although, claiming to have been thoroughly vigilant, failed to not only kill the beast, but also find out what it was up to.”

  “Enough.” Sasha snapped at Gumptin, placing her hands firmly on her hips. She turned towards Avery and told her, “Alright, so the thing got away,” Sasha breathed out heavily, shaking her head, “but what Gumptin failed to mention, is that I did wound it. It knocked me off of my horse, I shot it through the knee with an arrow, and then it ran off.”

  Gumptin let out a disgusted sigh, “And chasing after a limping ogre is such hard work!”

  Before Sasha could retort, which she was more than getting ready to do, Gumptin said to Avery, “Anyway, Sasha encountered an ogre. Jade ran into a small party of dwarves.” Gumptin ignored Jade’s snicker when he said the word ‘small’ in reference to the dwarves, and continued, “What happened to you? What did that to your neck?”

  Avery reached her hand up and let her four fingers slide down along the four claw marks, “A Demon with a really bad attitude.” Avery told Gumptin, letting her mind drift back to the fight she had been trying to forget.

  “A Demon?!” Gumptin questioned, getting a little excited, “Avery, defeating a Demon is marvelous news! What kind of Demon was it?”

  Avery didn’t really hear Gumptin’s question. Her mind was still back on the fight with the Demon, “An insanely bad attitude,” She continued, “and icky yellow skin, red eyes, sharp little teeth, and,” Avery pointed to the gashes on her neck, “claws…knife-like claws!”

  A mixture of recognition and shock flashed in Gumptin’s eyes, “This is very important, Avery.” Gumptin said, making sure he got her attention, “What kind of Demon was he?” Gumptin looked anxious, waiting for Avery’s reply.

  Since most of the information the Demon gave Avery was when he was choking her, Avery was a little fuzzy on the details, “I think he said he was a Serpent Demon or something like that.” Avery shrugged.

  “Serpentine Demon?!” Gumptin shouted in excitement.

  “Yep, that was is.” Avery replied, not near as excited.

  “Oh, oh, that is so…” Gumptin couldn’t have been happier if he was a kid at Christmas, “did he say what clan he was from?”

  “I think so.” Was all Avery could give him. She barely remember
ed the type of Demon; no way was she going to remember the clan.

  Gumptin helped her out, “Was he from the Vipa, the Fanish, or the Drake Clan?”

  “Oooh,” Avery said, getting excited herself at a familiar sounding name, “the last one, definitely the last one.”

  “Great goodness!” Gumptin exclaimed, “You must have killed Sevil. The Emperor only has five Serpentine Demons in his service and only one of them is a member of the Drake Clan.”

  “That’s him,” Avery said, remembering him telling her his name as he choked her, “he told me his name was Sevil.”

  Gumptin shook his head in disbelief, “Avery, I do not think you fully grasp the enormity of what you have done.”

  Avery just shook her head, she thought doing things like killing Demons was all in a day’s work for a Protector. Although it had been a big deal to her, she hadn’t thought Gumptin would find it so huge.

  “Serpentine Demons are incredibly dangerous.” Gumptin beamed, “Avery, in your time as a Protector, you have never faced anything as remotely deadly as a Serpentine Demon…except the Emperor, of course. I cannot believe…I am utterly astonished that you defeated it.”

  “Thanks for vote of confidence.” Avery said sarcastically.

  “Ha, ha, ha,” Gumptin laughed and did a little circular dance, that just about knocked Jade over with mocking laughter, “the Emperor is going to want to eat rocks when he hears you beheaded one of his precious Serpentine’s!”

  Avery thought back to the gruesome fight, replaying the entire thing in her mind. She got up to the point where the Demon had his vice-like fingers around her neck. In that moment, she had really thought she was going to die.

  “You know,” Avery told Gumptin, “if it hadn’t been for this crazy white light that shot out of my hands, the Demon might have been the one rejoicing right now.”

  Gumptin stopped his little dance, his back turned towards Avery. When he did turn around to look at her a few seconds later, complete shock was written all over his entire face.

  Avery raised her eyebrows, as if to say, ‘what?’

  “That is…that is your power, Avery.” Gumptin stuttered, “Remember, each of you were given a power by the Elementals. Jade has water, Bunny earth, Skylar wind, and Sasha fire. You, the leader, were given energy. The power lends to your strength and fighting abilities, but I never thought in my wildest dreams, you could ever learn to harness it.”

  “I wouldn’t exactly use the term ‘harnessing it’.” Avery said, “It flowed through me, zapped the Demon off of me, and then it was gone. I had no control over it. I don’t even think I could do it again if I tried. It was like…sneezing.”

  Gumptin cringed at Avery’s comparison of her power to that of sneezing.

  “You used a power.” Skylar exclaimed, “That is so cool.”

  Jade gave Skylar an exasperated look, “Despite it being so cool, it didn’t do anything to you, did it? I mean, you still feel…normal, right?”

  Avery just knew that Jade would jump right into Mother Hen mode, which is why she hadn’t said anything to her before.

  “I don’t feel any different.” She assured Jade, “It felt a little hot and tingly when it happened, but then it was gone.”

  Skylar snorted, “Feeling hot and tingly is never a bad thing.”

  Jade reached over and slapped Skylar across the shoulder, disapproving of her humorous tone on what Jade considered a serious matter.

  “How much power did you produce?” Bunny asked, looking almost more curious than Gumptin, “What did it feel like?”

  Avery looked questioningly at Bunny, wondering when she had become a female version of Gumptin, throwing rapid fire questions at her.

  “I’m just curious.” Bunny said, “We all have powers; I was just wondering what I should expect when I get to use mine.”

  “You may never get to use yours.” Gumptin told Bunny plainly, not bothering to spare her hopes, “You, as human beings, are more like vessels for your powers than wielders of them. It would take great oneness with yourself to be able to brandish your powers at your will. I am astonished Avery was able to use her powers so effectively, and as she is being very vague as to how she was able to use those powers…”

  “Vague?!” Avery cut in, offended by the use of that word, “I’ve told you everything! I can’t tell you what I don’t know, and I don’t know how or why I was able to use my power.”

  “Well, was there a trigger that caused the power to come?” Gumptin prodded, not letting the subject drop.

  Avery thought back to the moment right before she felt the warm energy course through her, “He was choking me to death; I almost died.”

  Gumptin waved his hands dismissively, “You almost died a hundred times before. You did actually die once! Why did it not work then?”

  “You’re supposed to be the expert, Gumptin, not me.” Avery told him, getting sick of the conversation. She regretted even bringing the subject up, and she dreadfully feared Gumptin wanting to add on ‘power practice’ to their already grueling training schedule, Avery faked a yawn and told Gumptin, “I’ve got to go home and get some sleep, or else I’ll never make it to training on time tomorrow.”

  “That statement would mean something if you had ever actually been on time to training.” Gumptin told her disparagingly, “Anyway, you do not need to worry about training tomorrow.”

  The girls’ faces lit up.

  “Seriously?!” Skylar asked, a huge smile on her face.

  “Do not get excited, Skylar.” Gumptin said, “The four of you will still have training and patrol tomorrow. Avery, I need you to travel to Vowhollow tomorrow and speak with King Audwode and Queen Vaniana. They are the rulers of the Vowhollow Fairies, the highest rank of Woodland Fairies, and one of the only Fairy groups that we have any hope of receiving help from. Vowhollow lies on the southwestern border of Blackmore, which means sooner rather than later, the Emperor will try to conquer them. They know they have no other choice but to work with the humans. They just need a little reminding of that fact.”

  “Why would they need reminding?” Avery asked.

  “Oh, there was a small incident.” Gumptin said, glancing sideways towards Jade, “I shall tell you about it later.”

  Jade and Avery shared a look, wondering exactly what the Wizard wasn’t telling them.

  “Meet me at the stables tomorrow fifteen minutes before training starts.” Gumptin told Avery, “Then, I will give you an update of the plan and a map to get you to Vowhollow. It is about a day and a half ride, so make sure to bring your bedding with you.”

  Avery groaned. She went from not needing to worry about training, to having to worry about getting up an extra fifteen minutes early, sleeping on a blanket in the forest, and dealing with mythical creatures that reminded her of children’s stories. All in all, Avery would have much rather had to put up with training.

  “So, are these winged bugs expecting us, or is it an unannounced visit?” Jade asked Gumptin, refusing to use the word ‘fairies’ in a sentence.

  Gumptin blinked up at Jade, “No, they are not expecting Avery. So, when Avery goes, she will have to take extra care to make sure her point gets across.”

  Jade stared down at Gumptin, “Well, when Avery tries to get her point across, I will be standing next to her.”

  “Absolutely not!” Gumptin passionately spit out, shaking his head, “Not you! You are not going!”

  Jade was taken aback for a moment by Gumptin’s vehemence, but she recovered quickly, “You are not the leader, little man. You don’t give the orders or make the decisions, Avery does!”

  If that was the argument that Jade wanted to take, then, from a leader’s perspective, Avery didn’t see why she shouldn’t go alone. After all, she was a Protector, and what could happen to her that would be more dangerous than what she encountered today.

  “I’m fine going by myself.” Avery said, leaving Gumptin with a look of relief, “Besides, Jade, you’re going to be
needed for patrol.”

  “Oh, shut up, Avery!” Jade hollered at her, then turned back to Gumptin and told him, “I’m going and that’s final.”

  “You just said I was the leader!” Avery shouted, wondering at how quickly her authority had been taken away.

  Without even looking at her, Jade waved her hand dismissively and said, “Only when you don’t make dumb decisions.”

  “You are not going and that is final.” Gumptin told Jade, sternly.

  Jade laughed, “You just try and stop me. Skylar, Sasha, and Bunny can handle patrolling. Just give them each a bigger area to cover.”

  Sasha, who hadn’t cared enough to say anything about the matter until now, spoke up, “Jade, maybe you should take your own advice and shut up. You want to give the three of us more work, not to mention, putting us at more risk, just because you and Avery are perversely co-dependent.”

  Jade just stared at Sasha, not knowing how to respond to her comment, or if she even wanted to.

  “I think it’s a good idea for Jade to go with Avery.” Bunny said, receiving looks of shock from both Jade and Sasha, “This is a dangerous place. I mean, just look at Avery.” Everyone turned their heads and stared at Avery’s clawed neck and bloody mess of a shirt, “She should have Jade with her in case she runs into any more trouble.”

  Avery was getting sick and tired of listening to everyone argue about plans that involved her without even consulting her. She remembered Jade telling her about how she and the other girls had always been told to look out for her. That was something Avery wasn’t alright with. They needed to look out for themselves, just like Avery needed to look out for herself.

  “I’m not a child!” Avery protested, “I don‘t need a bodyguard.” Even if she had wanted Jade to keep her company on the long trip, there was no way she was going to admit it now.

  Jade scoffed, and pointed towards Avery’s wounds, “Until you learn how to come back without being covered in your own blood…you’re a child.”

  Avery knew Jade far too well to know that this was an argument she was going to win. So, instead of standing out in the darkness and shouting about it for another hour, Avery just rubbed at her head, which had just recently started throbbing, and told Jade, “Fine, I don’t care, come with me.”

  “Of course, I’m coming with you.” Jade said to both Avery and Gumptin, “I don’t even understand why this was up for debate. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  After taking a few steps towards her home, Jade turned around and told Avery, “Make sure you take care of those gashes when you get home.”

  Skylar groaned, as she headed off with Sasha and Bunny towards their houses, “Tomorrow’s gonna blow!” She complained, picturing the extra work Gumptin was going to give the three of them with Avery and Jade gone.

  “Avery,” Gumptin said, before Avery had a chance to make her own way home, “may I have a word with you.”

  With his finger, Gumptin motioned for Avery to follow him into the stables. Not wanting to argue anymore, Avery obeyed and followed Gumptin.

  Inside the stables, Pip was brushing down the Protectors’ horses, while Thomas threw fresh green hay into the stalls.

  “It was not just because of Jade’s more than offensive attitude that I wished for her to stay behind!” Gumptin told Avery in a whispered yell.

  “What are you talking about?” Avery asked, her curiosity slightly peaked by Gumptin’s statement.

  Gumptin sighed, “The Fairies will not take Jade’s appearance in their kingdom very well.”

  Now Avery’s interest was really peaked.

  Gumptin continued, keeping his voice down, “Jade and the Royal Fairy Prince Eryk had a secret love affair before she died.”

  “What?!” Avery laughed loudly, causing a few of the horses to jump and Pip to turn around and stare at her.

  Avery couldn’t help it; she could never have imagined she would ever hear Jade’s name associated with the term ‘love affair’. Sure, Jade was as much of a fan of a good looking guy as most girls, but back on Earth, she preferred them just passing through, in town for a few days to help her have some fun and scratch a few urges, then out of her life forever. They never came close to anything involving love. Avery couldn’t wait to tell Jade about her past romance, with a Fairy Prince nonetheless.

  Perhaps seeing the joyous look of anticipation on Avery’s face, Gumptin told her, “Whatever you do, you cannot tell Jade. You must keep her far, far away from Prince Eryk.”

  Avery didn’t like that idea at all. She was already keeping what the Serpentine Demon had told her from Jade. Now Gumptin wanted her to keep Jade’s own love life a secret from her. Avery was used to telling Jade everything. They never had any secrets before Orcatia, and she didn’t like the feeling it was giving her.

  “Gumptin,” Avery said, “I don’t think that’s something I can keep from Jade.”

  “You have to!” Gumptin told her sternly, “Their affair was the reason the Fairies withdrew their support. When the Emperor first started gaining power, the Fairies worked with the Protectors to fight the Emperor. Prince Eryk leads their army, so he and Jade spent a lot of time together. Somewhere along the way they developed a relationship, one that they tried to keep secret from everyone. Unfortunately, the King and Queen found out. They were so furious; they ordered Eryk to never see Jade again and swore to never aid the Protectors again.”

  Avery thought that was one of the biggest overreactions she had ever heard of, “Why did they have such a fit?” Avery asked.

  “Jade is human,” Gumptin explained, “and Eryk must marry a Fairy princess, or he can never ascend to the throne. He is their only son and heir. It is out of the question for him to fall in love with a human. To the King and Queen, the Protectors betrayed them.”

  Hearing the rest of the story caused Avery’s heart to ache. The thought of Jade having to be ripped away from the man she loved hurt Avery more than any Demon attack ever could. The only comfort she had was the knowledge that Jade didn’t remember any of it.

  “If the Fairies think we betrayed them, why would they even consider helping us?” Avery asked.

  Gumptin shook his head, looking worn down, “I am hoping that your death and subsequent memory loss have alleviated some of the King and Queen’s anger. Avery,” Gumptin said, in such a serious tone that it demanded Avery’s complete attention, “we need the Fairies and their army. Without them, there is almost no hope. Do whatever you have to do; say whatever you have to say, to get them to help you. You have to make sure they understand the severity of the situation.”

  Avery nodded, swallowing hard. Gumptin’s words scared her. The longer she stayed on Orcatia, the more people she met, and the more monsters she fought, she realized just how serious the situation with the Emperor was.

  “And Avery,” Gumptin said, turning to leave, “whatever you do, make sure Jade stays away from Eryk.”

  After Gumptin left, Avery just stood in the stables, contemplating how she was not only going to convince the Fairies to help them, but also keep such pivotal information secret from Jade.

  “Avery.” She heard someone call her name, slowly pulling her attention away from her thoughts.

  When Avery turned towards the sound of her name, she saw Pip standing just a few inches away from her. His hand was on her shoulder and he was looking down at her with care in his eyes. Avery blinked a few times, clearing her mind, until she was fully back in the present.

  “I thought ya might need this.” Pip said, handing her a soft blue cotton scarf.

  It took Avery a second before she realized the scarf was to wrap around her neck, so that she could hide her wounds from her family. The fact that Pip would have even thought about something like that overwhelmed Avery with gratitude. After everything she had been through, getting attacked and almost killed by a Demon, learning she might have had something to do with them getting killed, dealing with the implications of Jade’s heartfelt speech on the lookout, the prospec
t of having to lie to Jade once again, and the weight of getting the Fairies help resting on her shoulders, it was almost overwhelming to have such a small but kind act done for her.

  Without even thinking about it, Avery stood up on her tiptoes and hugged Pip around his neck. If she hadn’t already been so emotionally drained, she would have cried into his horse scented tunic. He instantly reached around Avery’s waist and held her tightly.

  “You’re a good friend.” Avery told him, pulling away from the hug and wrapping the scarf around her neck.

  “Avery,” Pip said, a cautious look on his face and one of his hands still resting on her waist, “I…” Pip averted his eyes away from Avery and let his hand fall to his side, “I want ya to make sure ya get a good night's rest.” He smiled widely at Avery, a smile so wide that it almost looked forced, but Avery didn‘t pick up on it. She took off towards her house, the cool breeze outside the stables blowing her auburn hair and blue scarf into a peaceful dance.

  Avery rushed inside her house and pushed back her charging dogs, dashing up the steps to her room before Cinder and her parents could get a good look at her. The last thing Avery wanted was for her little sister to see her all clawed up.

  With too many emotions swirling around inside of her, Avery couldn’t bring herself to join her family for dinner, instead she lay on to top of her bed, not even bothering to take off her bloody clothes, and just staring up at the dark wood ceiling.

  “Can I do this?” She said into the darkness, the memory of the Serpentine fight vivid and sharp in her mind, “Can I really do this?”

  The reality of what it truly meant to be a Protector was becoming clear to Avery. It was a life of struggle, and fighting, and carrying the weight of being responsible for keeping the people you loved alive. Just a few hours ago she had almost been killed, but she had also been strong enough to fight back, to use her powers, and defeat a Demon powerful enough to impress even Gumptin.

  All Avery knew for sure as closed her eyes was that it had been the longest few weeks of her life, that she had seen things she could never have imagined existed, done things she never thought herself capable of, and that her journey was only just starting.

  The End...

  To be continued in Dark Fate: Book 2 in the Protectors Saga

  About the Author

  Paige Dooling was born and raised in Arizona, where besides a healthy love for writing, she also developed an obsession with Chuck Taylors, Jim Henson, and classic rock. In what little free time she has she enjoys writing fantasy, visiting observatories, and spending far too much time reading travel narratives.

  If you enjoyed this story and want to find out more about upcoming books, the world of the Protectors, or the author; you can do so by following her at:

  https://paigedooling.blogspot.com/