Guardian

by Jack Porter

  One of the beasts broke apart from its group and flew toward Piper and Layla. “Shit,” I ground out, grabbing Megan’s hand and yanking her back to the shrine’s door. “Fall back. I need to clear the darkness from all three of you. Do you think you can get them with the knife if they get close?” I asked, fishing the knife out of my buckskin boot.

  “Yes!” Megan said, taking the knife from me. “But what about you?”

  “I’ll manage. It’s more important to keep you three safe.”

  I squeezed my crystal hard in one fist and hoped it wouldn’t shatter while I focused on stretching out the cleansing protection of the crystal. I imagined a bubble in my mind, one that would engulf all of us. If the darkness could manipulate its crystal-like power to twist the elements to do its bidding, then it stood to reason I could too, with enough practice.

  I could feel my face flushing hot with the concentration it took to manifest the bubble around only myself. I bet if I put my hand to my forehead, I would have felt blood vessels popping out along my temple, jaw, and neck.

  I should have practiced this sooner, I thought, giving it up as a skill that could not be learned in five minutes.

  Layla was saying something behind me. Sounds of wings flapping, birds screeching, and my own pulse hammering in my ears were so loud that I almost didn’t catch it.

  “Got it! The fourth key goes in the first slot, and the second goes in the third.” Layla excitedly began clapping out the syllables along with her words.

  Seconds later, the sound of heavy doors creaking open sounded like music to my ears. Taking back the knife from Megan, and cleansing her aura one last time, I shouted, “Get inside with the others, close the doors, and lock them behind you.”

  “You can’t stay out here, Dexter. Those things.” She ducked when one came close enough to swipe at her cheek. I clipped it with the knife, and it flew off before arcing around once more. “They whisper bad ideas in my ear,” she said.

  “I know, but I’ll be careful, I promise.” When she gave me a desperate pleading glance and a tug on the arm toward the shrine, I said, “It’s my job to get rid of those bad thoughts. I know now that is what my crystal is for. It has to be. Let me do what I can to protect you and the island, Megan. Go inside.”

  Fear for my safety flashed in her hazel eyes, and then acceptance. She turned and darted into the shrine and moved to push the door closed behind her.

  A thought hit me, and a new worry cropped up. “Tell Layla not to go looking for her crystal yet.”

  The lock clicked into place behind me, giving me no way of knowing if she heard or not. I knew how strong the attraction toward my crystal was. Layla probably started searching the second she was in the shrine walls.

  So, I was on a time limit.

  I touched my crystal and formed the cleansing shield around me once more. I shouted at the advancing birds. “Okay, you overgrown entrées. Let’s get this over with. I’m hungry, we’re all out of venison, and I’m willing to bet my crystal that with a little work, you’ll taste pretty close to roasted duck.”

  Twenty-Six

  Finishing the job took longer than I cared to admit. It had started off well until things took a turn I wasn’t expecting.

  The first two birds were almost stupidly easy to kill. They came at me at the same time, like a bad action flick with no regard for self-preservation. It seemed like the darkness surrounded these more than the last bird, who stayed above to watch.

  Twirling the knife in my hand, I struck their long necks as they came a little too close. The first never touched me. I slashed with my knife, deep into its neck, and it dropped like a boulder at my feet.

  The second, having watched the first fail, made a half-assed attempt to gouge my nose or ear in passing. That struck me as odd. It was almost as if it didn’t want to mess with me but was forced to by the darkness urging it.

  So, some of their animal instincts remained deep within. Good to know.

  It was messy work. I noted there was blood all over the ground, making me grimace. At the Shinto shrine I’d visited in Japan a few years ago, a monk told me his religion saw death as impure when I had asked about ceremonies.

  They mostly left funerals to the Buddhists.

  So I felt bad for sullying this sacred ground with the blood of animals.

  Stabbing the second bird dead center in its chest, I was surprised that I could channel my cleansing power through the knife if I pushed really hard. The blade acted like an ink-tipped quill, seeping the blue-white energy into the bird.

  This would open a whole new set of skills to me when it came to dispatching the work of dark creatures, as I could cut and cleanse at the same time.

  Did that mean I didn’t have to kill them first, just wound them? What would happen if I put the knife somewhere not fatal?

  Welp, I had one more bird left. Why not find out?

  The third condor, in particular, was more cunning than the others. It looked to be the alpha of the flock.

  If birds even had alphas. I doubted they did, but if there was a name for a bird boss, I didn’t know it.

  It skipped out of my view. I spun on my heel, hoping to catch it in the wing, but devastating talons clipped the back of my skull with savage abandon. Blood flowed down my back, soaking into the guardian cloak before the wound sealed itself again.

  This bird only struck when my back was turned. After two more attacks, resulting in as much pain as the first, I had to jump around like a kangaroo to keep its powerful body in front of me.

  And despite my best efforts, this bird also managed to stay just outside of the range of my knife. My arms were growing heavy and my heart was racing from drawing so much power from my crystal. The high elevation was starting to get to me too. Every breath was like breathing air through a thin straw, never quite enough.

  My eyes narrowed as the bird flapped its giant wings, pulling it higher into the sky. It appeared to be waiting for its next opportune moment. And then I realized it was wearing me down on purpose.

  I had to end this. I didn’t much feel like ending up in another two-day coma like after the fight with the buck. I couldn’t let my guard down either, or the condor would make me into a dark host like itself. Plus, I had to get in the shrine with enough stamina to help Layla find her crystal, have some fun, and then let her soak up enough magic to transform before helping her defeat her guardian.

  Is that all? I’d be fine. Probably.

  Knowing that I needed to be smart about this, a plan began to form in my head.

  What I wanted to do was risky, but it just might work, and it would save me energy. Plus it could mean at least one dark creature could be cleansed without killing it first. That was a high enough reward to warrant a few potentially devastating scratches.

  With my dagger in hand, and the bird still high overhead, I crouched to a sitting position and then lay down flat on my back with the brilliant green grass covered in condor blood cushioning me.

  If the bird couldn’t get behind me, it couldn’t strike without getting close enough for me to strike back. I closed my eyes almost all the way, hoping it might think it had wounded me enough to make me drop from its safety net high in the air.

  It was like the old play-dead for a bear trick, except instead of remaining still as the condor moved in for the kill, I would have the knife ready to fend off its attack and gain the upper hand.

  Every speck of rain cloud in the sky had disappeared. The storm had moved on, leaving warm beams of sunlight free to soak into my body.

  The plan worked. Taking the bait, the condor began to lower its massive body, talons first, toward the soft fleshy part of my stomach. With claws that size, I had no doubt they would cut through my guardian cape like butter.

  Another animalistic trait the darkness couldn’t fully subdue. This was a predator, a carrion scavenger. The condor wanted to eat my dead body about as much as I wanted to roast its felled companion’s body over an open fire like a Christmas day tu
rkey’s.

  I fought instinctively not to curl my legs into my chest, protecting my important organs, as the bird became surer in its victory and gained speed.

  Keeping my eyes slitted and by breathing slowly, I waited as the shadow of the condor fell over my face. Not yet. Not yet.

  I tried to picture in my mind where I needed to aim the knife so that I could wound it without maiming the animal bad enough that it couldn’t survive afterward.

  Fear gripped me when I realized there was nowhere I could stab it directly without major harm and blood. The wings were an obvious choice, taking up most of the condor’s enormous size, but it needed them to fly and thrive.

  The body was a guessing game. I had no idea what organs lay beneath or where. Based on at least two of the dead condors splayed on the ground, their necks were one big artery.

  So, a little nick then, a scratch deep enough into the skin that I could let the crystal’s energy cut through the darkness but wouldn’t bleed a lot and could heal quickly.

  I could do that, but I would have to catch it first.

  I was out of time for planning. The condor was inches from my stomach. I dropped the knife and attacked with every bit of speed I could muster, snatching both of its feet in my hands and holding tight to keep it off balance.

  The thing squawked, trying to dig its razor-sharp talons into my stomach while it flapped to get away. The wings were so powerful that had I been closer to my original pre-island size, I would have been lifted into a sitting position.

  Immediately, the darkness began to seep into my fingers. But I couldn’t touch my crystal just yet.

  I rolled the two of us so I was above with the advantage of my weight and the frantic pile of feathers below without the advantage of the sky above.

  I pinned the body down with a knee low enough that it couldn’t use its talons to scratch me. Then I transferred one hand to its neck immediately after, when it bent far forward to snap at the flesh of my leg with its large beak.

  “That’s enough of that. Just give me a moment. I think I can help. And if I can’t, well, I think you’d thank me for what I’d have to do next.”

  My free hand went for the knife, curled around its familiar, smooth handle, and made the smallest cut just above the bird’s heart, where the darkness was thickest. I let go of the condor’s neck and it immediately began to dig into the arm that held the knife, trying to get me to let go.

  It was painful. Excruciating even. But I kept my arm solid and took the blows while I pulled as much energy from my crystal as I thought it would take to dispel the darkness.

  Relief settled into the warm body below me as the darkness began to erode away. The bird’s head flopped back as if it were exhausted. And I figured it must be. Who knew how much energy the animal had expended when it tried to fight the darkness turning it against its own will.

  I imagined it was a lot.

  When the last whips of darkness melted away, I stood and let the condor go. It gave me what I could only assume was an indignant look, gave a loud screech, and took off into the air. Its mighty wings beating fast to carry it back to its home.

  Dusting my guardian cloak off, I made toward the other condors and took care in preparing them for tonight’s dinner before tossing them over my shoulder and walking toward the shrine's entrance.

  When I promptly realized that I didn’t know the lock combination.

  I knocked on the large shrine doors and waited. “Megan? Piper? Number Two?” I called. No one came.

  Nausea twisted my stomach at the thought that I’d have to guess the combination and maybe get booby trapped in the process. Swallowing, I reached for the keys. “And after all I did to get you girls’ dinner!” I grouched, plugging in the middle one I knew for certain was correct.

  Just as I was about to place the second, with nerves rolling up my spine, I heard the welcoming sound of a lock sliding out of place. “Oh, thank the goddess. I was worried you guys took off and—” My words crumpled up in my throat.

  Before me stood a feminine figure in a long pale hooded robe. For a moment, I assumed it was Layla, but when she tilted her head up to meet my eyes, I realized she wasn’t any one of my girls, but a perfect stranger.

  “Welcome, White Guardian,” she said. “My name is Yua, the head monk of this shrine, and I’ve been expecting you for some time.”

  Twenty-Seven

  Yua’s voice had the heavy accent of someone who knew English but hadn’t spoken it recently—and really, she had an all-over rasp, like her vocal cords hadn’t been used in a long while. Which could have been true if she’d been in this shrine alone.

  My muscles tightened instinctively, not yet trusting this woman. “Where are my girls?”

  “Safe,” she said, dispelling my worry with a small raise of the hand. “All safe, I assure you. Come in but leave the birds. Their presence will offend the gods.”

  “I expected them to be our dinner,” I told her.

  “No meat in the shrine.” Her tone was firm and left no room for argument. “And take off your muddy shoes.”

  Curiosity got the better of me, so I dropped the condors unceremoniously by the door and kicked out of my moccasins. She gave me a look that could have been irritation, but I couldn’t tell because the hood shadowed so much of her face. I followed her into the shrine, keeping a sharp eye out for anything shady. There was a long hallway before us with lanterns that seemed to keep a steady glow despite the lack of candle or electricity. “So, this place is magical?” I guessed.

  “Oh yes, the twin gods built this shrine long ago, and it is instilled with their shared power. As are all the structures they made scattered all across the island. Even the island itself breathes with their will and magic.”

  “Twin gods?”

  Yua tilted her head to one side as she fell into step beside me. “You know of them, don’t you? Kain and Zavier? There were twelve gods in total, but these two were the strongest.”

  I tried to pull the fuzzy image of the tapestry from the depths of my mind. “Not much,” I admitted. “I only know bits and pieces, it seems.”

  She nodded knowingly. “The two gods weren’t always at odds. Once upon a time, when the earth and seas still bubbled with the newness of forming, Kain and Zavier lived in harmony, traversing the physical world, here on earth, and the spirit realm. But as time passed, Zavier grew jealous that Kain always had more power than he did.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Yua sighed and paused, as if trying to find the right words. “If Zavier made moss that formed on sun-kissed boulders, Kain grew lovely flowers to surround it, taking away from the moss’s beauty. If Zavier created the delicate deer, Kain molded the powerful wildcat that hunted it. So, when Kain decided to search for a successor among the human realm, Zavier killed him, wanting to take Kain’s power for himself. However, Kain was onto Zavier’s plans. Figuring he was going to die, Kain made twelve crystals that contained his magic, to bless worthy mortals with his godly power.” She paused and stopped to face me. I stopped with her. “And then Zavier, with cunning and trickery, killed Zain. And he knew about the crystals. Wanting to take Kain’s power for himself, Zavier took one of the crystals, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not assume Kain’s legacy. So, he put all his rage and dark power into the crystal instead. Planning that once a human pulled on its magic, its bearer would corrupt all other crystals and crystal-wielders. And they in turn would eventually corrupt others, slowly ensuring the downfall of humanity.”

  “Why did he want that?”

  “I believe he was afraid. And of course, angry. Kain favored us humans, and thought it right to give them the magic of the gods.”

  I thought of the host that took Hannah and the empty black box sitting next to the one I pulled my crystal from. “So, where is the dark crystal now?”

  “I don’t know. Up until recently, the darkness on the island was contained. I can only assume the seal around the dark crystal was broken. Free t
o wander the island and corrupt whatever creature it pleases without its corporeal prison.”

  “Would Zavier have it?”

  “I doubt it. It is of no use to him personally, other than as a means to control a human.”

  I felt the blood leave my face and touched my own crystal dangling around my neck. Seeing this, Yua laughed, her voice high-pitched and smooth like the silk robe she wore. “No, the dark crystal is black as pitch. The one you wear, White Guardian, is one granted to you by Kain’s magic. One to protect the island and all the inhabitants of the spirit realm. The one that all the other crystals will pull power from. It was just a shame you didn’t get to the dark crystal before the seal was broken. You could have purified it completely.”

  My shoulders drooped. “If there once was a dark crystal in the chest at the ruins, it was long gone before I got to it.”

  “Not too long. The darkness has only been loose for a few months.”

  “Where are the other gods now?” I asked. “Do they visit the island often?”

  “Not that I’m aware. I’ve never seen them, and I’ve been here a long time. My guess is that they abandoned the mortal realm for the spiritual one. Or that Zavier killed them when he killed Kain.”

  That brought up another question. “How long have you been here? On the island, I mean.”

  She closed her eyes as if to concentrate on the question. “A little over three hundred years now.”

  I tried to peer at the face that was under her hood, to surely catch her in a lie.

  “You stopped aging too, the moment you set foot on the island,” she said. “It’s a gift to mortals from Zavier, if you can believe it.” She shrugged at my gaping mouth. “He wasn’t all bad at first. No one really is, I guess.”

  “Wow.” Weird things about this island had stopped surprising me quite some time ago. If Hannah could sprout wings, then Yua could be older than any other human alive. Because I couldn’t resist, I added a playful, “You look good for your age.”