Warden (Elemental Paladins Book 1)

by Montana Ash

  Poor Darius had been properly chastised and had scrambled after her for the next hour, hoping to regain her good opinion. Ryker snorted thinking of Darius and Beyden. Both of the knights had poorly concealed crushes on the red head. They were utterly smitten by her kindness, humour and courage. Ryker couldn’t blame them but it was a distraction he was hoping they would get over as soon as Max was no longer under the same roof.

  Axel was just as infatuated, but where Beyden and Darius trailed after her like lost puppies, Axel was more overt in his attraction. He was constantly making comments and eyeing Max like she was his favourite chew toy. And Max was lapping it up, flirting and charming the fire paladin with her wit and charisma. If Ryker didn’t like Axel so much he would have cut out his tongue and removed his eyes by now.

  And as for himself, well, he was just managing to keep it together. His eyes tracked her movements whenever she was in the same room, the sound of her voice was like freaking music to his ears, and he popped wood every damn time he saw her … or smelt her … or thought about her. He was officially in a living hell and he was beginning to like it. Which was as crazy as it was dangerous. He couldn’t come to care for and fail another warden again. He just wouldn’t survive it. But it was almost fucking impossible to stay distant when her vulnerabilities kept showing just as much as her strengths. He was a knight after all and it was his nature to protect those weaker than him.

  Take last night for example. The scream had woken him from a fitful sleep and had his heart pounding in alarm even as he took the extra seconds to pull on a pair of pants and grab one of his sickles. The sound had been feminine and filled with terror. Racing into the hall, he followed the high-pitch sound straight to Max’s room and grabbed the door handle, keeping low in case danger lurked on the other side. But a quick sweep of the room had revealed no immediate threat other than Max thrashing violently in the middle of the bed. She was obviously in the throes of a nightmare. He had heard whimpers and restless movements the previous four nights as well but hadn’t mentioned anything in the light of day. Her nightmares were her own business just as his own were his.

  He had been startled shitless though when her eyes popped open and were no longer the strange turquoise he was beginning to grow accustomed to, but a swirl of colour; hues of reds and greens and blue, somehow opaque and translucent at the same time. They were absolutely extraordinary. He had never seen a warden’s eyes change like that but somehow he knew they had been glowing with power. It was just one more eccentricity to add to the growing list of strangeness that was Max. But what really had his gut clenching in concern last night had been the stark terror and fear in those rainbow depths. He had approached the bed cautiously, speaking her name quietly, hoping to draw her out of the nightmare slowly. She had lashed out and slapped his hand away like a child would ... or a cornered animal. It had damn near broken his hardened heart. It had apparently done the trick though for she had swiftly dismissed him, but not before he saw her start to shake violently.

  The woman needed to refuel her vitality in the worst way but she was being ridiculously and unaccountably stubborn about the whole thing. She was also not picking up the nuances of building a shield and controlling her powers as quickly as he believed she should. He wondered if she was stalling for some reason.

  He was just walking past the window to grab his clothes when a flash of flesh from below caught his eye. Cali was dressed in her usual tight shorts and sports bra but it wasn’t the sight of the willowy blonde that had him freezing in his tracks. No it was the shorter, curvier red head, dressed in tights and a belly-revealing singlet top. She was bending over, head flush with her knees, arms wrapped her legs with all that glorious hair brushing along the ground. So much for negative reinforcement, he thought as he glared accusingly at his once again rigid dick. The woman’s arse was a thing of beauty, all round and firm, and his hands literally flexed with the need to touch. As if sensing his gaze, Max whipped herself upright, her turquoise gaze latching onto his form that was no doubt outlined perfectly in the early morning light. Hell, the window he was standing at was even arch-shaped, like he was posing for some cheesy romance novel or something. Panicking and acting purely in self-preservation rather than rational thought, he allowed his limbs to go loose and face-planted on the floor below the window.

  For the next five minutes he could do no more than mewl like a kitten … he had landed directly on his stiff cock.

  ****

  Max stared up at the arched window, blinking over and over again, trying to get her eyes to recreate the image of a very naked and very erect Ryker. One second he was standing there in all his naked glory and the next second he had disappeared. Perhaps she had imagined it, after all, she had gotten practically zero sleep last night and one’s brain tended to play tricks when one didn’t get enough REM cycles. But surely this wasn’t one of those times. There was no way she could have dreamed up a dick like that! Not even her imagination was that prolific!

  “Max? What are you doing?” Cali asked her. She turned to the female knight and blurted;

  “I just saw Ryker’s meatcicle!”

  Cali’s azure eyes rounded comically and immediately darted to Ryker’s bedroom window, “You saw what?”

  “His meatcicle! I totally saw his meatcicle!” Cali offered a hand in the air and Max high-fived her in silence, both of them paying the appropriate respect to the auspicious moment. That was until she registered the wheezing sounds behind her. Turning, she saw Darius shaking his head frantically and seemingly having trouble breathing. She would have been concerned except Axel was laughing his fool head off. Beyden and Lark were both staring at Max wide eyed and in apparent shock.

  Darius began to shake his head, muttering to himself, “No, no, no. She did not just say that. It does not mean what you think it means. The woman is not that crazy.”

  Axel slapped Darius on the back, “What exactly do you think it means?” He laughed before Darius even had a chance to reply.

  Darius scowled at his fellow soldier before pointing an accusatory finger in Max’s direction. “Don’t you ever, ever, use that word again! Do you understand me? It is now banned from your vocabulary!”

  Max pouted, “But it describes it perfectly, I mean, have you seen that thing? It –”

  “Enough! La la la la la.”

  Max couldn’t help giggling at seeing the prissy warrior plugging his ears and singing out loud to drown out her voice. She turned to Cali and said, “You know, I could have called it a meat missile.”

  “Aargh! Stop saying the word meat!” Darius yelled frantically.

  Cali high-fived her again and Max sighed in satisfaction at the strange turn her life had taken. She was really beginning to like these guys. They were outside in the fresh air and Cali was going to take her through a series of exercises to help calm her mind and settle her powers so she could hopefully successfully form a shield. They had been working diligently with her for the last two weeks in order to help her understand how to shield herself so she wasn’t seeping energy everywhere she went. Max really wanted to get it right. It meant the chades would no longer be drawn to her from far and wide. Apparently the chades were unavoidable and an accepted part of their society. They were the counterpoint to the wardens. Where a warden’s instinct was to nurture and protect their domain, chades were fated to destroy. They were the balance the world demanded for their existence. Ostensibly, everything was about balance. Wardens needed vitality to survive and so did the chades. Unfortunately, chades couldn’t recharge like wardens could, so they tried to suck the life out of the biggest batteries they could find; wardens. Which explained why Max had so much trouble with them over the years. She was like a walking halogen lamp to them. But hopefully she would soon be able to turn down her brightness.

  Unluckily, she had little success so far which she found totally frustrating. She knew how to meditate – had been taught by the best. That was when she went through her whole angry phase. The paladi
ns had spent the last couple of weeks lecturing her and tutoring her in all things warden related. Max had followed the paladins instructions to the letter and although she felt better than she had in a long time and she hadn’t had a seizure in days, she was still experiencing nightmares and was apparently still mislaying energy. They all kept pestering her about replacing it by using their vitality but it still weirded her out. She felt comfortable with them, was soothed by their presence and trusted them so much that she no longer carried her tanto sword everywhere with her. But it still didn’t sit right with her to use them in that way. They were unbound by choice so clearly they actively sought not to share with a warden. She didn’t want them offering to her out of obligation. Also, it seemed too much like what the chades tried to do to her every time they saw her. How was it okay for her to take energy but not the chades? She didn’t see a clear distinction and the moment she had suggested the same to the paladins, Max thought they were going to blow a gasket, especially Darius. So she hadn’t broached the topic again.

  Presently, Ryker came around the corner and walked briskly to them purposefully avoiding Max’s eye. He had been so hot and cold to her over the last two weeks she was afraid of getting whiplash. She never knew if he was going to offend her or offer words of support. And now she had seen the man’s very happy and very hard rod silhouetted through the window. She was finding it hard to look him in the eyes too but only because her eyes were glued to his crotch.

  A throat clearing drew her attention, “I’m going to the Lodge. You all behave yourselves. And you,” he jabbed a finger angrily in her direction, “try not to cause any more damage.”

  What had she done now? Before she could ask, he turned and stalked away. Was he limping slightly? Max wondered if he had hurt himself somehow.

  “Why does he have so much repressed hostility?” She asked Cali. The men, having now limbered up in a very erotic show of stretching and lunging, were off on their morning jog.

  “To be fair, it’s not really repressed.” Cali pointed out, seating herself on the ground.

  “Very true.” Max agreed.

  “But it is his story to tell, not mine. I’m sorry.” Cali did look sorry and Max could hardly fault her for not wanting to gossip about her friends. “Now clear your mind and picture a bubble around yourself. Then …”

  Max sighed and prepared herself for another day of lessons which she hoped wouldn’t prove fruitless once again.

  THIRTEEN

  The morning had been semi-successful and Max felt as if she had a little more energy, as though she hadn’t burnt off as much or lost as much as usual. Cali had proven to be a patient teacher and Max could easily picture her in a training role, schooling others. In fact, they were all rather patient with her; Darius had taken the role as historian, sharing his knowledge; Beyden had been teaching her to recognise when she was using her powers; Lark and Cali had been teaching her control and shielding; Axel was a constant humorous presence of support; and Ryker, well Ryker had been grunting at her and scowling in between dregs of information he dribbled out like crumbs. As welcome as she felt, it didn’t escape her notice however, that the situation was temporary for all of them. Not once had they mentioned her staying and she had overheard a few conversations about Ryker speaking to the Council about her. Apparently though, they were waiting on the prodigal paladin to return as she may have some magical piece of information that could solve the puzzle that was Max.

  Max could have told them not to bother … she was unsolvable.

  “We’re going out back to get some training in. We may not be bound to wardens but we still need to stay in shape.” Lark said presently, cleaning the table where they had been polishing their blades. Turned out the weapon of choice for a modern day knight was a sickle. How cool was that? Apparently the curved blade was the perfect weapon against the chades and they even had custom made holsters for them. Max thought they were wicked sweet and really wanted one for herself.

  “You all look to be in pretty good shape to me.” Max retorted, eyeing the earth paladin’s rear end as he leaned forward. It was muscled and tight and filled out his cargo pants to perfection. “In fact, you’re all insanely good looking. Is that something else that is branded into a knight’s DNA?”

  This produced a round of laughs and a couple of blushes from Darius and Beyden. They were just too cute! Max really wanted to dirty them up a little.

  “I don’t think so. That tends to be more of a warden thing. They’re all attractive and talented and powerful. If they weren’t so important, I’d hate them all.” The female soldier said.

  Axel nodded, “I agree. I’ve tasted my fair share off the warden menu. They are very tasty.” He smacked his lips together.

  Max knew she had been correct about him – he was a he-slut. Cali slapped him up the back of his head on her way past. The act was casual like it was an everyday occurrence and spoke volumes of the kind of relationship the paladins had. They were obviously as close as family and Max didn’t really believe they were here on a temporary basis or out of some misguided belief that they were all rejects and needed to stick together.

  “Can I join you?” She asked. It had been months since she had the opportunity to spar with others. She didn’t want her skills to get rusty.

  Axel shrugged, “Sure. Just try not to fall in love with me when you see my fine moves.” He winked, those azure eyes of his twinkling. Max barely refrained from sighing at the flirt.

  “I’ll go get my other blades.” Max said as she rose. She had her tanto sword on her as usual but she had a few other knives in her pack.

  “Whoa there cowgirl. Why would you need blades?” Lark asked.

  “Um, so I can practise with them …” Max said slowly, Lark hadn’t appeared dim witted before now.

  “You’re not practising. Not with knives, not with anything.” Darius’s voice was firm but Max was confused.

  “What? You guys just said I could come!”

  “Of course. Come out to watch. There is no way you will be participating.” Darius explained.

  Max stood and planted her hands on her hips, “And why not? I need to train Darius. Those phantoms or chades or whatever won’t magically stop coming after me just because I have some scraps of information now.”

  Beyden rubbed her shoulder, “You don’t need to train sweetie. You are a warden and therefore naturally passive. It is a great injustice that you have been forced to do battle in the past but those days are over forever now. You will meet your own paladins and if by chance the chades are still drawn to you, then it is your knights’ honour to protect you.”

  Max glanced around the room to see similar expressions on the faces of the men. Looks like they were all on board Beyden’s bullshit train. The only person apparently not riding was Cali, naturally!

  “There is so much wrong with what you just said, sweetie, I don’t know where to start.” More frowns from the men except for Axel who was grinning as if in anticipation. “One: I don’t have a passive bone in my body; Two: I have been doing battle my entire life, it’s not a hobby or a choice; Three: I don’t have paladins to wipe my arse for me and even if I do one day, I can assure you I’ve been folding my own toilet paper quite successfully for years now!”

  The tips of Beyden’s ears were red. “Jeez, Max. Paladins don’t go around wiping … you know.”

  Was he for real? Could he really be that sweet? There was no way she could stay mad at him, not when those amber cat eyes of his were looking at her imploringly. She stroked his arm, “It’s okay Bey. You can make it up to me by letting me kick your butt.”

  “Max, I know you’re not the type of warden we’re all used to and that fighting has been a common part of your world, but you’re in our world now. You are a Life Warden. No more fighting.”

  Wow, Darius was using his Mr Stern voice. Too bad she didn’t give a fuck. “I’ll tell you what. If any one of you can beat me in hand to hand, I promise to never ask to train with you again a
nd I will be a good little warden. I’ll even learn how to knit. How about that?”

  Silence. Nothing but silence. Seems the poor saps still weren’t quite used to her. “Well? Axel? Lark? You guys have seen me in action before. Remember poor Bounce?” She asked.

  Axel winced and grabbed his crotch. “I recall. And if that’s the type of training you have in mind, you can rule me out.”

  Max held up her right hand, spreading her fingers so a vee formed between her two first fingers and her two last. “I promise to stay away from the goodies … scouts honour.”

  Mr Stern exhaled forcefully and shook his head. “That is not the scout pledge. That is the ‘live long and prosper’ sign from Star Trek.”

  “Well, well, well. What have we here? Sounds like Sir Darius is a closet Trekkie!” She teased.

  “There’s nothing closeted about it. He’s out and proud.” Axel revealed, “He has all six television series and all thirty seasons. That’s seven hundred and twenty six episodes.”

  “Just when I thought you couldn’t be any more perfect.” She cooed and pinched Darius’s high cheekbone. “Say you’ll run away with me?” She batted her lashes.

  “You can’t charm me you little demon.” He said smilingly as he tugged on her hair playfully.

  “You can’t charm me either and I haven’t seen your mad skills yet, so I accept your challenge m’lady.” Cali mock bowed in her direction.

  Max whooped and fist-pumped the air. So did Axel. “All right! Girl on girl!” This earned him a slap to the back of the head as Ryker walked past but surprisingly he didn’t can the idea. He had returned in a much better mood only minutes earlier. Must have worked out some of his tension on a poor unsuspecting recruit.

  Five minutes later Max found herself outside next to the gym, on the dirt, facing off against four ancient knights. Her life was awesome!