Descendant: The Protector (The Descendant Series)

by Daniel W. Koch

  “Are you okay?” Aderes asked as she turned to me. She was the closest she had ever been, but I still couldn’t see her. The hood seemed to project a black force field across her face.

  “Yeah, I just a need a minute.” I leaned against a tree and tightened the blanket around my body. “How much further is it?”

  “Hold on a second.” She leapt into the air and disappeared. I looked around the woods in fear that Grath or Rose would try to kill me again while Aderes was gone. Every single noise made me nervous, but luckily Aderes came back shortly. “We only have about five minutes left. You think you can make it?”

  “I think so.” With that, she grabbed me by the arm, and we were off again. Just as she had said, five minutes later we emerged onto on empty road. The Long Island Sound was straight ahead, and I got a strong whiff of salt water and could hear the waves lapping against the shore. Aderes came to a stop next to a broken old sign reading, “Welcome to Stratford Marina!” She set me down and took both of the blankets.

  “Stay here for a minute. As much as these are the good guys, some might not have had any blood recently, and I don’t want to have to kill one of my friends because they are attacking you.” I was hesitant for her to leave me alone, but I didn’t let her know that. She ran down the marina driveway and vanished around the corner of a building.

  I walked over to the edge of the road and sat on the curb to wait for her return. About five seconds later, a small hiss came from behind me. I jumped from the curb and turned around, but saw nothing. I figured it must have been my imagination, but I decided to stand anyway. When I turned back to see if Aderes was coming, I was hit hard by something large and smashed into a tree off of the road. I was pinned by a blonde Dahmshed who had his left arm against my chest and his right hand around my neck. His mouth was wide open, exposing his sharp teeth with long canines.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked me in an almost calming voice. I didn’t know how to answer him. If he really didn’t know who I was, and he was a bad Dahmshed, then telling him I was here to see the resistance could get me killed. But, if he was with the resistance and I didn’t tell him, he might kill me anyway. Luckily, I didn’t have to make a choice because another Dahmshed with long blonde hair ran into the road.

  “Peter!” she yelled. “Get off of him!” The Dahmshed holding me sighed and turned his head to look at her but didn’t let me go.

  “Why? He’s trespassing on restricted lands. I’m teaching him a lesson.”

  “Aderes is back, you idiot! That’s Jason. She just told me to come get him!” Peter took both of his arms away from me very quickly, and I almost fell to the ground from the loss of support. He backed away a few steps.

  “I’m so sorry, Jason, I didn’t know. Please forgive me.”

  “It’s okay.” I was still shaking a little bit, but I didn’t think he noticed.

  “Andi?” Peter turned back to the other blonde-haired Dahmshed. “Please, go let Aderes and Elliot know that I will bring Jason right in.” Andi ran back into the marina without another word.

  “Please, follow me.” He began to walk towards the marina, and I followed close behind him. “By the way, I’m Peter,” he added as we turned the corner by the building. From there, I could see we were on a small river that led out to the Long Island Sound.

  “I’m Jason Hook.” I smiled, giving him my hand. He laughed as he took it in an iron grip.

  “Oh, I know who you are, Jason,” he said, releasing my hand. “Aderes has told us much about you and your family. I’m just sorry you had to come here, although, it is very nice to meet you.” He took me to the building, and we started to walk up an outside flight of stairs to the second floor.

  “Who was that other girl?” I asked him as we reached the top of the stairs.

  “Who, me?” The other blonde-haired Dahmshed walked out of the building. “I’m Andi, Peter’s sister.”

  “It’s nice to meet you.” Her long blonde hair bounced as she walked over to me and shook my hand. She couldn’t have been older than I was, but her shake was as strong as Peter’s.

  “You, too,” she said nicely. “I’m very sorry for my brother’s behavior. He can overreact a little when he’s on guard duty.” She smiled mockingly at her brother.

  “Let’s go inside.” Peter passed Andi, and I followed him through a door that led into the building. I expected to find a room full of Dahmshed, but the room was empty. There was a single couch that sat in the middle of the floor facing an old, flat screen television that was hanging on the wall above an out-of-date DVD player. There was an old movie on, but the TV was muted.

  “Take a seat,” Andi said, walking silently past me and sitting on the couch. I walked over and sat on the other end of the couch. It felt awkward being in the room with two people I didn’t know, especially since they were Dahmshed.

  “I’ll be right back,” Peter spoke suddenly after a few minutes. “I’m going to find Elliot. He’ll want to talk to you, Jason.” He left the room through a door to my right, and I was alone with Andi. I pretended to read the captions on the muted movie, but Andi was staring at me. We sat for a couple of minutes like that until she finally spoke up.

  “So, what would you like to watch?” She got up and walked over to a closet that seemed to hold hundreds of old movies. “I don’t really know what kids are into these days, but we have a very wide selection of old DVDs.” I looked at her oddly. She looked like she was my age, but she was calling me a kid.

  “How old are you?” I asked her without realizing it.

  “You do know it’s impolite to ask a lady how old she is, right?” She looked at me angrily, and then she laughed. “I’ve been a Dahmshed since I was seventeen. Peter is a year older than I am.” She put a DVD into the player, and I recognized I Love Lucy right away. “I remember when they aired the first episode of this show. I loved it right from the beginning,” she said with a distant smile.

  “Wow, you’re old.” I let out an awkward laugh. She turned to look at me with another fake angry expression on her face. “I’m sorry, but this show is really old. I think my great-grandparents used to watch it.”

  “Do you even realize that you’re pissing off a Dahmshed?” she asked me as she tried to hold back a smile.

  “You don’t seem too pissed off to me.”

  “Well, you’re lucky that I’m not,” she chuckled, “or I’d reach across this couch and crush your head in.” She turned back to the TV, and we sat in silence for a while. Then, she turned to me again. “If you must know, I’m eight hundred and twenty one.” I was amazed. The things she must have witnessed firsthand were mind-blowing. Before I could respond, Peter entered the room.

  “Hey guys, Aderes and Elliot are still talking, but James and Johnathan would like to meet Jason.” Andi jumped up from the couch and grabbed my wrist. I had no choice but to go with her.

  “Andi, be careful not to pull his arm off,” Peter warned as Andi took me past him. He was serious about it, too.

  The next room was much like the one we had just left. It was painted a light blue, and it had couch and a TV. The couch was bigger and took up a lot of space in the already cramped area. I could see the backs of two heads as they sat and watched an old football game. Both heads turned at the same time and revealed that the two men sitting on the couch were twins. They both had short, dark brown hair and bony facial features that caused their black eyes to look as if they might pop out.

  “Hi,” they said in unison. They got up from the couch and walked over to me. Having shook both Peter’s and Andi’s hands, I was afraid to shake theirs. They looked very muscular, and even if they had been human, I thought their handshakes might hurt.

  “I’m Johnathan,” the first twin said as he almost broke my hand. The second twin had a lighter touch, although I felt he was holding back a little.

  “I’m James.” He winked at me.

  “It’s nice to meet both of you.” They nodded at me, and we all looked at Peter
when he began to talk.

  “Both of you need to be in the meeting room when we introduce Jason to the rest of us. Aderes will come and get him shortly. Elliot told me that we should all head over there now.”

  “Okay,” James said.

  “Let’s go, Andi.” Johnathan pushed her gently through the door and the three of them left Peter and me in the room.

  “Who am I meeting?” I asked him.

  “The rest of the High Members.” He walked to a door on the other side of the room. “We were the first that Elliot collected for his family. I’ll be at the meeting when you get there; I just need to tell Elliot one more thing.”

  “Okay, I’ll see you later, then.” He smiled and closed the door behind him. I took a seat on the couch and waited.

  Chapter 5

  The Peacekeepers

  Aderes arrived within five minutes of Peter’s departure. She took me out the same way Peter had brought me in, but after we left the building, we took a right, away from it and further into the marina. We walked through a parking lot and past a large hangar where boats must have been stored in the winter. But instead of boats, there were thousands, maybe even millions, of books stacked in shelves that reached as high as the ceiling. I had no idea there were so many books in existence, but with some Dahmshed being over eight hundred years old, I guessed that they would come across quite a few in their lifetime. When I looked deeper inside, I could see three Dahmshed holding books in their hands. All of them stared at me and Aderes as we passed.

  We walked farther, and I saw large lots that had once held many boats. Now, only a few were left, and all of them were broken down. Some were even on their sides, as if they had fallen over dead.

  “It’s just over there,” Aderes told me as we came around behind the hangar. I looked and saw a small building in the shadow of the hanger. When we reached the door, I suddenly became nervous. I still had no idea what I was doing here, and everything was happening so fast. I wished I could have some time to myself to think everything through, but Aderes opened the door and walked inside. I took a deep breath and walked into a room full of Dahmshed.

  The room was very small. The walls were covered in a dark, stained wood, and the floor was carpeted. A large oval table sat in the center of the room, giving it a cramped feel. There were fourteen chairs around the table, with thirteen being used. Aderes took the empty seat at one end of the table. The other end was occupied by a good-looking man with such bright blue eyes that I could see them from where I was standing. His brown hair was waved to one side, making him look like a greaser from the sixties. He was watching my every move as he jumped quickly to his feet and swept over to me. He shook my hand with a firm grip that didn’t hurt at all; it felt almost human. For an instant, I thought he was human, with his blue eyes and human strength. Then he smiled, and I saw his teeth. He was most definitely a Dahmshed.

  “Hello, Jason,” he greeted me warmly, “it’s nice to finally meet you. My name is Elliot Worth.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, too.” I couldn’t help but stare at his oddly-colored eyes. He let a short laugh escape.

  “You like my eyes? I got them just last week. We are going to see if I can blend in with the humans. But enough about that; we have some people for you to meet. Please, come with me.” He guided me by my shoulders over to his chair. I was now looking at thirteen Dahmshed who were staring intently at me. I knew I shouldn’t, but I feared for my life. Six of them were on either side of the table, and Aderes was across from me. Her face was still hidden beneath the black hood.

  “Of course, you have all heard that Jason is going to be staying with us, and some of you have already met him.” Peter, Andi, James, and Johnathan all smiled. Peter and Andi sat directly on my left and the twins were on my other side. Eight others were eagerly awaiting their introduction. “So, Jason, you have already met James, Johnathan, Peter, and Andi. The young man sitting next to Andi is Matt. Across from Matt is Taddi.” They both looked younger than me but I knew better from my experience with Andi. Matt was tall, even as he sat, with long, dark, curly brown hair. He looked bored and only gave me a flick of his hand when introduced. Taddi, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. Her entire appearance seemed to be consumed in one giant smile, from her white teeth to her shimmering black eyes. Her red hair blazed like a flame as it framed her round, yet slender face. She was almost jumping from her chair as she waved at me.

  Elliot continued. “Next to Taddi is Bart. And across from Bart is Tommy.” Bart was older; he looked about the same age as Elliot, who was probably in his early thirties. He smiled at me with a mouth that was too big for his face. His long, dirty blonde hair lay mangled and twisted upon his shoulders, but he wore a preppy, brown sweater vest with a white undershirt. The two features contrasted each other in an odd, distasteful way. Tommy was out of place at the table. He looked like a child at first glance, probably only ten or eleven, but his face was hard, and something about how his small eyes hung low showed his age more than any of the others at the table.

  “Next to Tommy is JD. Across from JD is Philip.” I immediately received a strange feeling when I saw JD. Behind his charming grin, there seemed to be something hiding, but whether it was bad or not, I couldn’t tell. He was clean bald with definite wrinkles on his forehead, and from what I could tell, he looked only a little older than Bart. Philip was in his mid-twenties. He had curly blonde hair and an attractive face. His fingers were laced together as his arms rested on the table, and he looked at me with compassionate eyes.

  “And the two lovely ladies at the end are Simone and Jamie.” Simone’s light brown skin glowed in the light of the room. She was probably only twenty, and she was very beautiful. Her coiled black hair fell around a delicate face and just past her shoulders. Jamie looked a year or two older than Philip and could have been his sister. She had blonde hair, like him, and even much of the same attractive features. Her skin looked soft, and every piece of her face highlighted the rest.

  I cleared my throat and said, “It’s nice to meet you all.” There was a long awkward pause until Elliot finally broke the silence.

  “So Jason, these are my twelve High Members. They are all willing to help you with anything you may need. Do not be afraid to ask them questions as they are all great sources of information since they’re over eight hundred years old.”

  “All of them?” I asked in surprise.

  “Yes, all of them. We’ve been together for quite some time.”

  “Well, Elliot, are we finished here?” Aderes asked. “I’ve got some things to do before tonight.”

  “Oh, yes, I forgot all about that, Aderes, I’m terribly sorry,” Elliot said. “Everyone, you may be excused.” The High Members got up from the table and started to pour out of the room, with Aderes in the lead. Elliot stayed next to me until only two others stood in the doorway. Peter was one of them, and he was not on his way out. He stood by the door waiting for the rest to leave.

  “Jamie?” Elliot said quickly as the other High Member was walking through the door.

  “Yes?” Jamie turned back to Elliot.

  “I am relieving Peter from his guard duty for the time being so he can stay with Jason. Would you please find Mace and tell him to take over until next shift?” Jamie nodded her head and left us. Elliot waited a little while until he knew none of the others were in hearing distance. Then he said, “Jason, I have already talked to Peter, and he would like to stay with you and be a sort of bodyguard.” I looked at Peter, who smiled and gave me a wink. “I know it must be very hard for you to come here after living in the human world for so long. You’ve heard all the horrible stories about killings, and I know your family was lost last night to the Jagers. But I want you to know you can trust us here. We will do everything in our power to help you. Peter was my first recruit, along with his sister, and I would trust him with anything. I know you will come to trust him, and the rest of us, soon.” I wanted to trust him, but I was still very suspicio
us. After everything I had heard and been taught about Dahmshed, this seemed very peculiar. I had no choice but to trust them at the moment, but I hoped he was right, and I would fully trust them soon.

  “I guess I’ll take it from here, Elliot,” Peter smiled.

  “Right.” Elliot hurried past Peter and out the door. I got up from my chair and followed Peter outside. It was beginning to rain and I wondered how many more days it could rain before the sun would finally come out again. It felt like every day was getting darker and eventually it would be night all the time.

  “Hey, Peter?” I said. He turned to me with a smile.

  “What can I help you with?”

  “Elliot said something about a Jager. What is that?” Peter’s face became serious, and he spoke carefully.

  “De Jagers,” he said hatefully. “It means ‘The Hunters’ in Dutch, but it’s not something you need to worry about just yet. When the time is right, Elliot, or maybe even I, shall tell you all you need to know.” I could tell he didn’t want to talk about it at all. He quickened his graceful step and walked a little ahead of me as he led me around the grounds. I had no idea where he was taking me, but I followed him anyway.

  The marina was huge. I had only begun to see the boat graveyard when Aderes brought me to the High Members. Past the original lots I had seen were more, even larger ones, hidden behind tall sailboats. There seemed to be an endless amount of them, with not a single person in sight. If Peter had not been with me, I could have been lost for days in the maze of broken hulls and propellers.

  Peter finally stopped by a boat that was half buried in the ground. It was a thirty-four foot Sea Ray with the name De Vredestichters written on the back.

  “What does that mean?” I asked Peter as he helped me into the boat.

  “Oh, that? It’s Dutch for The Peacekeepers,” he said, walking towards the cabin. “That’s what we are. Elliot thought of the name when we were living in Holland.”