Guardian

by Jack Porter

A snap. A grunt from the animal. It was done.

  That did the trick. The darkness disappeared and the beast was dead.

  I was almost tempted to leave it there and crawl back to the cave on my hands and knees.

  Somehow, I found the strength to hoist the giant animal’s weight into my arms, and yank and pull and heave it back home with the others.

  At which point, I promptly fell face first into the ground and blacked out.

  The first words I heard when I dragged my eyelids apart was Piper’s shrill demand of, “What the hell did you do to yourself, Dexter? I sent you off to hunt, not take down the entire Spanish armada by yourself. Look at these wounds!”

  A quick glance down proved that several of the antlers had pierced me, after all. I just hadn’t felt it because the crystal cocaine and adrenaline were doing their wondrous magic to keep me alive.

  “Sorry,” I rasped.

  “Sorry. Sorry?” This was from Megan who was pacing by the cave’s mouth like a caged animal. “We just lost Hannah, and we thought we were going to lose you too, and all you can scrounge up is a measly sorry?”

  I caught a glimpse of bloodshot eyes and a fresh flood of tears before Megan stomped out. I tried to lift myself up to go after her, but I was in worse shape than I thought, and the world tunneled dark. I wondered for a moment if I would pass out again, but my vision steadied once my head was back flat on the ground.

  “She’ll come back. Let her have some time to vent. I can’t really blame her. You’ve been out for two days, Cap,” Layla said gently. In her hands she was sewing something together. I didn’t realize what it was until she bit off a thick strand of plant matter and slipped the boot on.

  All of the girls were wearing new clothes. They’d continued without me. Gods, I felt like an ass. I should have been—

  “Careful big boy, your self-deprecation is showing.” Piper smiled. “We knew something other than a hunt went down when you dropped like a rock from a cliff.”

  “Was it the darkness again?” Layla asked. Her brows were crunched together with worry.

  I nodded, not feeling up to speaking much more. Piper seemed to see this too, and she put a cold, wet deerskin rag to my forehead.

  It felt fucking amazing.

  “Go back to sleep,” she said. “I’m guessing it will take another full day for your crystal to completely heal you.”

  “But Hannah—”

  “Listen to the lady, Cap,” Layla warned, “or she’ll be the one to knock your lights out next.”

  I couldn’t help the grin that split my face. “Maybe you’re right. I should just send her to the darkness.” I joked, nodding at Piper. “Tell her it’s got a nasty cold and—”

  “The hell you will.” Piper smacked my shoulder lightly.

  I still winced. “Ouch, careful. I’m the pitiful patient, remember?”

  “You got the pitiful part right,” Layla said, bursting into laughter. Piper joined in, and after a moment so did I.

  Sometimes you needed a good laugh to keep your sorrows at bay.

  But it did take a lot out of me. Closing my eyes, I said, “You’ve got command, Number Two,” before letting sleep claim me again.

  The next time I woke, I felt good as new. Better than, in fact. I could fully feel the effects of my crystal’s power thrumming through my body.

  The girls were still sleeping. It warmed my heart to see them all curled around me with a long deerskin blanket tucked firmly over all of us.

  There was no quiet way to shuffle out of a nest of sleeping girls, but I did my best, moving an inch, waiting, and moving again. They looked tired and had to be as exhausted as I had been that first night.

  I’d just slip out of the cave, finish what needed finishing, and try to find out which direction Hannah was so we could begin our trek.

  I needn't have worried. I should have known my girls were savvy enough to not leave a single scrap of work for me to do. Even the damn smoke rack had been dismantled and bundled into one of three deerskin bags for firewood later.

  Still, I tried to make myself useful. I noted that there were several unused fibrous plants sitting by the cave’s wall. I grabbed them and made for the bags, noting there were more supplies than I expected as I shoved the plants in one bag. How much had they been able to make?

  Quite a bit, as it turned out—clothes for the girls, a blanket, two bags, shoes for them and me, and a few scraps for washing up with and patchwork if needed.

  Maybe three animals was overshooting it. Turned out I probably didn’t need that last buck after all, and could have saved myself the trouble. Still, I was glad for the extra comforts. They would prove handy on the journey.

  “Morning, Dexter.” Megan greeted me as she strolled out of the cave. Her tone was soft and her hazel eyes downcast in apology.

  My shoulders sagged. She had absolutely nothing to be sorry about. I told her as much and then pulled her into a tight hug. “It was my fault. I should have taken better care to judge my own limits.”

  “Can you promise not to let it happen again?”

  “I’d like to say yes, but if I am being honest, I can’t make any promises. The magic is too unpredictable to me yet, and the darkness too strong to think I won’t get my ass handed to me again.”

  “You were brave. Like one of those wild warriors in the fantasy novels. In fact...” She pulled away, eyes glittering. “I made you a little something.”

  I leaned against the wall of the cave, curious as to what it could be while Megan dashed back into the cave and out again.

  In her arms sat a hunk of deerskin. Probably the full hide of the largest one. I took the heavy thing from her and opened it up, marveling at the craftsmanship that went into it. She’d used red and blue berries to stain patterns into the hide. It had wide sleeves and could accommodate my larger crystal-enhanced body.

  “I call it a guardian cloak,” she said, running her hand along the patterns. “Something that can keep you warm and protect you from getting hurt like you did by the buck that made it. The hide is extremely thick and can deflect some serious damage.”

  “Why guardian?” I asked.

  She toed a rock, maybe feeling a bit embarrassed for giving it a name. “I’ve been thinking. That guardian you killed in the ruins was dark, like the mouse and buck. It stands to reason that once the other girls and I begin finding crystals, the guardians we’ll have to face will be dark as well. But they were originally the island temples’ protectors, right? That’s what you told us you saw on the tapestry. I think they weren’t always consumed by darkness, but we won’t know unless we find out what really happened on this island. But if it’s true, now that the guardians can’t do the task given them anymore, it seemed only appropriate that you’d accepted their duties. That you’ll protect the crystals and the island.”

  “You’re right,” I said after a moment of thought. “I have been thinking that I needed to protect the crystal’s power and rid the island of this accursed darkness. But I’m not sure the title of guardian fits me. I mean, you saw those beasts back there. They were so powerful and godlike.”

  Megan let her gaze caress my body from my toes to the crown of my head. “Trust me. Guardian fits you perfectly.”

  I snorted, but slipped the guardian cloak over my head and pulled it down. It fit more like a tunic, a shirt that fell to the middle of my thighs. “I love it,” I told her honestly. It fit like a glove. I’d forgotten what it was like to put on new, clean clothing. This had been my first shirt in over a month. I thought I’d gotten used to the feeling of not having one.

  As soon as I put it on, I knew I’d never want to take it off again. “Thanks, Megan,” I said again, willing my throat not to close.

  Megan and I sat and talked while we waited for the other girls to wake. Inside, I knew we were both itching to get on the road, but I also knew if we left before the girls were rested, we’d pay for it later.

  Lucky for us, they didn’t keep us waiting long. Bot
h were fully dressed in their new clothes. It was like they’d all tried to make their clothes as sexy as possible. Megan had a tank top and no pants. She said she’d make herself some, but this would keep her from being weighed down if she wanted to go for a dip in the water.

  Both Layla and Piper had pants, but the fashion was so vastly different. Piper opted for style, with pants that hugged every single curve and a tube top around her chest. Layla went with a mini-skirt and had cut up the old blanket into leggings that looked warm under her deerskin clothes. Her top of choice was an alluring halter top that ended just below her breasts. The clothes were supposed to keep them warm, but I think they’d put a lot of effort into other outcomes.

  Goddess, help me.

  “Ready?” I asked.

  They all nodded. With all of our gear shouldered on my back, I began to lead the way up the mountain. Toward the familiar pull of Hannah’s power.

  Twenty-Two

  On the fourth day of travel, Layla chewed on a piece of smoked deer meat, talking between bites. “All I'm saying is maybe we should have considered the fact that just because there is heavy snow on the top of the mountain, and while we may have need for these deerskin clothes for protection from a blizzard, we probably should have made another pack to keep them in until that point.”

  The sun beat down on us like a battering ram. Sweat clung to every inch of my torso, and we were all tired of our new clothing. Normally I wouldn’t mind so much, but the severe heat was made even more intense by the fact that I hadn’t slept in a great while.

  Several smaller dark creatures had tried to attack over the few days we’d been walking. Luckily, none were as big and dangerous as the buck, but still they worried me, so I had been standing guard while the girls slept each night.

  “I never imagined I could miss the endless rain back at the cave,” Megan agreed.

  The forest had thinned dramatically this afternoon as we began to reach an elevation higher than what could support the rainforest we were leaving behind. This left only scrubby bushes, gravelly rocks, and itchy knee-high grass as we clambered slowly upward.

  Even with the shade of the leafy canopy, the first two days of getting readjusted to life on the move had been a nightmare. Our new outfits weighed on our bodies like a layer of chainmail armor. We had not prepared anything to store our new clothes in. So, it was either wear them and sweat, or carry them and sweat.

  At least if we wore them, we had a margin of protection from the sun’s intense glare that had turned all but Piper’s flawless black skin into a dazzling hue of lobster.

  “If you want, I can repurpose my warrior cloak into something that will hold your clothes until we need them.” I thought I was being nice, but I choked on that good will when Megan bent her frame forward around Piper's long body so she could give me a death glare.

  “Or not.”

  “I would stick with the ‘or not’ part,” Megan said. “It’s true what you hear about redheads. Beware the temper that matches.”

  “Noted.”

  “Forget about that,” Piper said, tipping the open canteen upside down and giving it a shake. “We only have one canteen’s worth of water left and I don't see a scrap of moisture anywhere, do you think we should turn back and follow the river?”

  There had been a stream we considered following on the second day of travel, toward the opposite side of the mountain that we were currently on. The river in question stemmed from the mountain’s snowmelt and would have been a constant reliable water source for us. However, when I ran ahead to check things out while the girls rested in the feeble shade of a pine tree, I found the landscape was riddled with steep craggy passes that were stubborn to climb.

  Still, if we didn’t find water soon, we would have to turn around and lose days of searching while we followed the harsher course anyway.

  The girls all looked to me for a verdict. I glanced toward the path ahead. Not much of a view. And it was hot, sure, but what appealed to me about this plain jane slow slope was that it was also open.

  That meant we couldn’t be easily attacked without having time to prepare first. I hadn’t forgotten the way the darkness’s power-lust called to me when I jumped on the buck’s back, and I didn’t plan on giving it a chance to pick me off while compromised on a cliffside.

  Weighing the pros and cons, I said, “One full canteen left?”

  Piper nodded and I made my decision. “We haven’t been rationing our fluids since leaving the cave, but starting now we will. That will give us two days before the canteen runs out. Another two before the heat begins to slow us down. I am sure we can find a lake or stream before it gets to that point. Everyone hand me your clothes. I’ll carry them. From now on we walk only in the mornings, nights, and early evening when the temperature drops. That way we won’t become as dehydrated.”

  Without a word, the girls stripped and handed me every scrap of clothing they wore aside from their footwear.

  I couldn’t keep myself from admiring their breathtaking backsides as they began to walk ahead of me, chatting and wondering if the rainy season from the rainforest below ever stretched this way.

  It struck me that every one of them was so confident and comfortable with one another, and me. And the memory of the night in the cave with all of the girls floated to the front of my mind again.

  “Captain?” Layla called, glancing back.

  Whoops, I’d been standing in the same spot as before. I hadn’t moved. “Ahem, yeah coming,” I said. Picking up my pace, I caught up with the girls easily, but not before mentally stringing on, I wish I were coming.

  Nope. Bad me. This was not the time for thoughts of that nature. There were dangers at play here that I could only imagine. I couldn’t allow myself to be caught off guard.

  Even for three incredibly beautiful, completely naked women who more than suggested with their flirtatious glances backward that they were as interested in me as I was them.

  I tried to put myself back into the role of Captain. That strong mentality I’d kept for so long that held my body restricted from their advances thinking it was the right thing to do. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t become that man again. I was different now. Stronger, wiser, and no more capable of resisting my new family than a snake could slip back into its old skin once it had been shed.

  However, if it meant protecting them, I would do whatever it took.

  Later, when we found a decent-sized crevasse in the side of the mountain to stay during the highest heat of the day, I told them that I would take first watch.

  “Oh no,” Megan wagged her finger at me. “You’ve been taking first watch, second watch, and third watch for yourself for the past few days. You need to learn to trust that if there is a problem, we can either handle it ourselves, or wake you up if we can’t. Superhuman as you are, you still need to sleep sometime.”

  I couldn’t really argue with her. My eyelids were already hanging heavy, and I wasn’t sure I could take another full night of pinching myself to keep alert.

  “Just a couple of hours, then.”

  “As long as you need,” Piper argued. “We don’t need you sapping your strength and going into a coma again.”

  My eyes shifted to each girl’s no-nonsense face. I was outnumbered. “You’ll wake me up if you need me, though?”

  “Of course, Captain. Any sign of danger and I’ll shout. I have first watch,” Layla reassured me.

  That made me feel a little better. Piper was the type to handle everything herself. Megan liked a challenge and would barrel in headfirst despite knowing if she could handle it or not. But Layla would know how to assess the situation in seconds and call if she needed backup.

  It seemed I had only fallen asleep for a few seconds before a high-pitched scream startled me awake. I knew a significant amount of time had passed however, because the sun was hanging low in the sky.

  Jumping to my feet and wiping away the crust from my eyes, I darted out of the cool mountain-side sh
elter, past two naked female forms curled up beside me, and into the blinding light of the setting sun.

  The scream had come from Layla. She was frozen feet from the entrance of the cavern, looking like she wanted to run but couldn’t get her legs to respond.

  I saw why as I glanced around her delicate body for the danger. A midnight black fur body stalked its way out of the shrubs. Lean muscle and glowing yellow eyes were trained on Layla’s face.

  I wasn’t sure how the feline, so long and twice the size of a golden retriever, had managed to stay hidden under the small feeble coverage of the foliage.

  The wildcat flicked its eyes to me. The intelligent gleam in them took in my height and brawn and hesitated.

  “Layla,” I said, keeping my tone even and quiet so I wouldn’t startle the beast into action. “No, don’t look at me, just slowly back away toward the sound of my voice.”

  “Sorry Cap. I thought I saw movement and I didn’t call for help.” Her voice trembled as she tried to do as I asked. “Just like in the plane.”

  “It’s okay, you couldn’t have known a predator was hiding under that tiny shrub. I imagine you probably thought it was dinner.”

  She gave one acknowledging nod. Her body was almost close enough for me to reach out and touch her. The problem was the cat wasn’t backing off, taking one step forward to her every two back.

  Chasing her away, I realized. “This animal doesn’t want to eat us, it probably just wants us out of its territory.”

  “I’m more than happy to oblige,” Layla told the panther with a watery laugh. “No one wants to take your prey, kitty.”

  “You’re doing great,” I told her. “Talking like that as you move lets it know you’re both not afraid and at the same time intend no harm.”

  Layla’s back brushed up against my solid chest and I wrapped my arms around her. We took two steps back toward the cavern together before I spun us around and pushed Layla toward Piper and Megan, who were watching fearfully at the entrance.

  “Run, I’ll distract it,” I said, before the heavy weight of the panther on my back threatened to drop me to my knees. “Fuck!” I yelled, only then realizing I’d made a mistake in turning on the animal.