Warden (Elemental Paladins Book 1)

by Montana Ash

  “She’s playing with a ladybug. So what?” Darius answered before stilling and leaning closer to the window, “Wait a minute … what is she doing?”

  “Recharging.”

  There was a heartbeat of silence before Darius replied dubiously, “Recharging? Like vitality recharging?”

  “Yep.”

  “That’s not possible.” Darius’s response was swift.

  “It shouldn’t be possible. I’ve certainly never heard of it happening before, but that’s absolutely what she’s doing. She’s asking the trees, the earth, even the insects, if she can borrow from them. When they give her permission, she takes just a tiny amount of their life force.” He turned to Darius front on, “This is how she’s survived on her own all this time without a paladin … She’s Life.”

  “She’s Life? What do you mean?” Darius asked, but immediately answered his own question. “Her domain is Life?”

  “Yes.” Ryker answered simply. He knew Darius would understand the significance of this revelation.

  “Are you sure? Ryker, there aren’t many life wardens around and certainly not many females. Hell, I only know of a handful.”

  “There are twelve wardens connected to the domain of life scattered around the globe and only two of them are women.” He should know. Being a paladin allied with life, he was constantly hounded by those wardens to join their Orders. Life paladins were not as rare as the wardens but it was pretty darn close and every warden wanted at least one paladin in their Order that mirrored their own domain. Ideally, they wanted more than one for when the vitality came from the same elemental source, the more powerful the warden became.

  “Shit!” Darius swore harshly – well harshly for him anyway. Darius rarely cursed. “We have to report her to the IDC immediately.”

  The IDC was the International Domain Council and was the governing body of their people. It was comprised of seven Ambassadors, one warden from each of the seven domains of nature. They were all very old and all very powerful. They lived all over the world and congregated at the same location once a month to discuss business, uphold rules, pass judgements and address issues brought to their attention from paladin and warden citizens. The IDC acted as the judge and jury of their society; the Rangers were the executioners, but thankfully Ryker saw no need to include them. Ryker had met with the IDC numerous times in the past and although they were mostly fair they were also very inflexible and very out-dated in their thinking. Sometimes the old ways were not always the best ways in Ryker’s humble opinion. But he was nothing more than a modest soldier, so what did he know? He did know that he wouldn’t be informing them of Max’s presence quite yet though.

  “Not yet.” He told Darius. “We don’t report her yet.”

  Infinitely composed, Darius merely raised his eyebrows, “Any reason?”

  “My gut.”

  Darius nodded. “That’s good enough for me. I’ll spread the word to the others.” The friendly slap to his back forced him forward a step. Damn, that son of a bitch was strong!

  “So, she was telling the truth after all, huh?” Cali voiced from behind.

  Dammit! He hadn’t heard her approach either! Ryker grunted and figured that was enough of a response. He should have known better. Bloody females!

  “You going to apologise?” Cali asked.

  Ryker merely raised his eyebrows at her to convey his feelings. The water paladin had been living with him for over fifteen years. She had been one of the first castoffs he had offered refuge to so talking wasn’t really necessary anymore.

  Cali snorted and shook her head, “Of course you’re not. What was I thinking?” She leaned her hip against the sinks as she too watched the warden at work with narrowed, speculative ice-blue eyes. “Interesting.” She remarked.

  “Have you ever seen anything like this before?” He asked. Cali was originally from Sweden and had lived all over the globe before settling in Australia, perhaps she had come across something similar before.

  “Not even remotely.” She answered decisively.

  “What about you?” He asked Darius when he felt him once more by his side. As well as being the oldest paladin in the house at over a thousand years old, Darius was also their resident scholar, although Lark was fairly close to having him beat in the book-reading department. The two always seemed to have a book in their hands whenever they weren’t training or at the Lodge, but their tastes varied significantly. Where Darius was into the non-fiction and historic side of things, Lark enjoyed reading fiction in all its make believe glory. He read everything from crime to romance to sci-fi. He always said he had enough of the real world living in it every day so when he relaxed, he wanted to get as far away from reality as he could. Ryker couldn’t really blame the man given his past.

  Darius was staring at Max and appeared to be just as spellbound as himself and Cali. “No, never. And I haven’t read about it either but you know so many of the Warden Chronicles were lost during the Great Massacre.”

  Ryker grunted; a great many things had been destroyed during the Great Massacre.

  “It must have something to do with her domain. The fact that life is hers to see and hear and shape. Perhaps it is responding to the call of its master?” Cali suggested.

  “Maybe.” Ryker conceded, “But you know being a warden or a paladin of life doesn’t literally give the keeper powers over life as the name implies. It’s more of a spiritual and physical element – the mind and body.”

  “I know. But what other explanation is there?”

  Ryker had no idea, he was completely stumped. Given that Life Wardens were such a minority, he didn’t have much to do with them and didn’t know any he felt comfortable enough to ask. But he did know someone who might be able to shed some light on the situation.

  “Where’s Diana?” He asked looking at Darius. The other knight looked startled by the abrupt shift in topic.

  “How would I know? I don’t keep tabs on the woman.” He replied stiffly.

  Yes, you do, Ryker thought to himself but knew better than to say so out loud. Instead he turned to Cali, “Do you know where she is at the moment?”

  Cali nodded. “She’s in New York working with the FBI on a serial murder case. You want me to call her?”

  Ryker eyed the red head who was now sitting on the ground and running her fingers through the green grass; she smiled and laughed at something that apparently only she could hear. Yes, they definitely needed Diana here. Not only was she a seasoned warrior and associated to the domain of death, her previous liege had been a Warden of Life. If anyone would know the eccentricities of a Life Warden, it would be Diana. “Yeah. Call her. And tell her I want her back here ASAP.”

  “It will probably take a few days or more for her to get here. I didn’t think you wanted the warden around for that long?”

  “I’ve changed my mind … she’s not going anywhere.”

  TEN

  Max had managed to steal about an hour of ‘me time’ before the Goliath sought her out. He was still in those black cotton shorts that displayed his strong calves but had covered his nipple-pierced chest with a long sleeved tee. It didn’t really do much to calm her over active imagination, she already had enough material to keep her internal fires burning for years to come. Why did the man have to be so sexy? Well, at least until he opened his mouth anyway, then he turned into a total douche bag. Who tells a woman their face looks like shit? A man who’s lookin’ for a solid arse kickin’, that’s who! She had a feeling he was sorely in need of one and lucky for him, Max was the perfect person to deliver.

  She had felt his eyes on her through the window almost like a physical caress and had to force herself not to squirm under his heated gaze. She had no idea how long he had been watching her before she actually noticed because she had been so absorbed getting acquainted with the life all around her. It was absolutely glorious here – so much natural beauty and so many critters! She had always loved just sitting and playing with the environment
and she supposed now she knew why. She was like a steward of nature or something. She could talk to the trees and whisper to the oceans and joke with the animals. It was just something she could always do and she had taken it for granted that it was a normal thing until she had made the mistake of talking about it. Waking up with no memory had meant she didn’t realise what was socially accepted as normal and what was just plain fucking weird! Turns out, most people couldn’t bring a plant back to life by touching it, go figure! Which was probably why Max was feeling such a kinship with the people inside that house. To them, it was normal as well. Too bad tall, dark and handsome was also tall, dark and dumb!

  “What are you doing?”

  That was how he was going to start this conversation? Where was the apology? Max ignored him as she picked up a slater bug and watched it unfurl out of its protective ball. She loved watching the dozens of tiny little legs move under that grey body as it traversed the back of her hand. The little guy noticed how his legs tickled one particular area and he made sure to run back and forth over the same spot. Max chuckled at the cheeky little thing. She suspected most people would be very surprised to learn just how smart most living creatures were. Everything had its own unique personality. Insects had the best sense of humour for example, purposely dropping onto humans and clinging to their hair or clothes in order to achieve screams of terror or disgust. They were devilish little fiends, thriving on the chaos that they – a tiny little bug – could cause to the dominant species on the planet. They thought it was freaking hilarious!

  “Max? I asked what you were doing.”

  Ryker’s voice sounded closer to her this time and she realised he had taken a seat next to her on the grass, knees bent, arms resting across them. She moved her eyes to look at him, “I heard you. I’m not deaf. Like, take for instance back in the kitchen when I heard you tell me I looked like shit.”

  Max felt the petite spark of outrage from the little beetle still on her hand. Although she rarely communicated in actual words with animals she often felt impressions and emotions. She was very empathic. Mr Slater Bug then proceeded to generously give her a minute burst of energy, just as the spider and the leaves and the dandelion had when she had whined to them about the paladin’s crass comment. They were all just so thoughtful and Max had thanked each and every one of them for their kindness. She also had a feeling that Ryker may experience a deluge of spiders in his bed tonight … oops.

  Ryker’s massive shoulders moved up and down with the depth of his sigh, “I didn’t mean it like it sounded. I was just … concerned.”

  “If that’s how you express your concern, then please stop concerning yourself with me.” She responded.

  “I wish that was an option, believe me. However, I fear it no longer is.”

  There was that slight British accent again, Max thought. It almost sounded like it came from snobby upper class England somewhere. But surely a man who looked like he had done hard time couldn’t have had a stuffy upbringing, could he? Perhaps there was more to the man than meets the eye, Max pondered, perhaps he is a robot in disguise, she sang to herself and made herself laugh. She was so funny!

  Ryker, not being a party to her Transformers analogy, peered at her critically. “Why are you laughing?”

  “It’s a joke. Don’t worry, I’m sure you wouldn’t get it.” His frown dipped lower. Had she offended him by proposing he had no sense of humour? Men were so sensitive sometimes!

  “Can you focus for a minute please and answer one question?”

  Max rolled her eyes, “Fine.” He turned and faced her front on and Max had to force her eyes away from the huge scar that formed a trench down one side of his face. She was itching to stroke it.

  “You said you had no idea what vitality or recharging was until last night …” he let the sentence trail off.

  Max nodded, “That’s correct.”

  He pointed to the beetle on her hand, “So what do you think you were doing just now?”

  Max frowned, not understanding the question and cooed down at Bert. She decided that name suited him best. “I don’t understand what you mean.”

  He was staring at her intensely as if gauging her sincerity. Let him look, she had nothing to hide. Well, okay, that wasn’t exactly true. She actually had plenty to hide but not about this. He must have been satisfied with her innocence for his harsh features softened somewhat as he said;

  “Max, you were recharging just now.”

  He seemed very genuine but he was wrong. “No I wasn’t. I don’t know how. This little guy, Bert, just sent out a flash of energy and I absorbed it, that’s all. It’s actually not that hard to make use of the free radicals in the air. I can’t absorb much and it’s nowhere near as efficient as eating and sleeping, but sometimes I use the spare energy produced by things around me to give me a little boost.”

  “Max, I can tell you really believe that but that is essentially what vitality is. It is energy in its purest form. I have never heard of a warden being able to renew their vitality through means other than a paladin before but I have no doubt that’s what you were doing.”

  Max stilled, “What?” That couldn’t be possible. She wasn’t taking from these generous creatures and giving nothing back was she? “Am I hurting them? The bugs, the trees? Am I taking from their lives?” Max was absolutely horrified. She placed Bert back on the ground and scooted away from him.

  “Easy. I don’t think you’re hurting them, you would have realised that by now. And the amount of their life force you’re taking is so miniscule, it’s probably of no consequence to them.”

  “Probably?” That wasn’t good enough for Max. She had no idea what she had been doing all these years. It had been so natural to her, so instinctive, she hadn’t questioned it. Yet another example of what she had taken for granted in her amnesiac state. She always gave back, couldn’t seem to help herself, but the thought of doing the opposite left her feeling a little queasy. She felt a heavy weight on her arm and looked down to see Ryker’s large hand.

  “Easy now. It’s fine. And uh, Bert seems fine too. See?”

  He pointed to Mr Slater who was furiously moving his little legs in her direction in an attempt to comfort her no doubt. They were both being nice to her and that only made her feel worse. She felt the same strange soothing sensation with Ryker’s touch as she had when Lark or Beyden touched her and she wanted to bask in it. Looking into his chocolate eyes, Max made her decision to cooperate more fully with the man. He had piss-poor interpersonal skills but perhaps his knowledge would make up for it.

  “Will you teach me?” She asked. The man looked like he was making a not altogether palatable decision but he answered simply nonetheless.

  “Yes.”

  ELEVEN

  Max had dusted her butt off and allowed Ryker to lead her into the house where the others didn’t even have the good manners to pretend they hadn’t been eaves dropping. Beyden had suggested they adjourn to the living room and she was now comfortably sitting in a soft armchair surrounded by cushy pillows. It made her want to curl up and nap.

  “What happened to your lip?” The blunt question was unexpected and made her jump. So much for the considerate, well-spoken man she had been conversing with outside. Maybe he was bipolar. Or maybe he had been pacifying her so she would drop her guards. She sniffed, amateur!

  “What happened to your face?” The whole room froze and Ryker’s brown eyes darkened almost to black. The serial killer had returned. She raised her eyebrows, “What? You’re allowed to ask me personal, invasive questions but I’m not allowed to return the favour?”

  He took one step in her direction before Darius blocked his path, “Not now Ry. We need to figure this situation out. Max, maybe you could try to be a little less combative …”

  “Me?” She poked herself in the chest. “He started it.”

  “So be the bigger person and end it.” Beyden suggested, effectively cooling her jets. She nodded her head once and he smiled.
>
  “Ryker thinks I’m recharging on my own.” She may as well change the subject. She didn’t want to discuss her health problems with anyone.

  “We know. That’s what we think too.” Darius said.

  “But I don’t know how I’m doing it. It’s not deliberate.” She added hastily. It was imperative they believe her.

  “It must have something to do with your domain. It’s very important as well as being very powerful. It’s actually the strongest element and I think you have somehow managed to adapt and evolve your abilities in order to survive without a paladin.” Cali explained her theory.

  Max frowned, “What do you think my domain is?”

  The six knights looked around at each other as if having a silent conversation before Ryker finally piped up; “Life.”

  “Life?” Max repeated, ruminating on that for a few minutes. It kind of made sense, she could see and feel and hear so many things and was able to manipulate living beings. But somehow it just didn’t seem quite right. “What makes you think that?”

  “When we watched you earlier, you were actively communicating with your domain, with all the life outside.” Darius answered.

  “That doesn’t really make sense. I was interacting with the animals and the trees. Why can’t Earth or Beast be my element?” She asked.

  “Beast Wardens can maintain the health and happiness of animals only. Their burden is to ensure species don’t become extinct, to ensure the diversity of the animal kingdom remains and to ensure harmony is kept between the animals. They cannot speak to the earth or listen to the wind or create fire, for example.” Beyden explained.

  “So each domain is distinct?”

  “Yes and no.” Cali said. “You see, each element naturally overlaps with the others. The earth cannot be maintained without water for example. Air Wardens can control fog but so can Water Wardens given fog is made up of moisture. But each domain still remains unique with its own signature and its own peculiarities. Only a warden of each domain can see those signatures and hear those peculiarities. That’s the intimate relationship we were telling you about last night. It is instinctive, something that is burned into a wardens DNA.”