Edward let me go and I fell, narrowly missing my
dinner.
“Holy Hell, what was that?!”
Edward crouched beside my head and I could feel him
staring with curiosity. “It was a lot quicker than it should’ve been. Then
again, most Guardians are born into it.” He sounded far less worried than the
situation called for.
It took a few minutes before I was able to sit up. I
opened the top button of my shirt and revealed a new symbol across my heart.
The symbol, about two inches across, had most of a pentagram with other lines
crossing it and looping around themselves. Despite being brand new, it was
faded black like an old tattoo.
“Is that gonna go away?” I asked, still panting. The
skin around it was numb, but pink from irritation.
“No.” Edward pulled the neck of his shirt down so I
could see his mark. It even managed to look slightly Japanese. “Can you stand?”
I nodded, but didn’t try. “Why didn’t you tell me it
was going to hurt like that?”
“The buildup for it is worse. I was warned about the
pain, but I was marked as a baby; I don’t remember. Do you still hurt?”
“No, it’s just numb. Is your book going to be that
bad?”
“The pain was caused by becoming a Guardian, so
signing other books will not be painful. You should try to stand.”
I stood just fine… in my head. In reality, I got
halfway up before falling face first into the grass. I screamed out a few words
I would normally have been ashamed to say and Edward pulled me back into a
sitting position.
“Magic really won’t help you fight if you can’t stand
up.”
“I can, just give me a minute,” I said. Edward looked
around, almost like a predator sensing another predator. “Do we have a minute?”
“At least a few, but they know we’re near. I believe
they’re searching for traps.”
“Maybe we should have set some. Do you feel a little
like a worm on a hook?” The stare he gave me made me roll my eyes. “Never mind.
Help me up.” I reached out my hand and he took it.
“I can help you get up, but I can’t help you stay
up.” He pulled me up to my feet with surprising ease, even when my body felt
like lead to me.
“Yeah, I know,” I said.
Edward turned to peer into the woods behind him. He
didn’t need to tell me; I had heard the twig snap. I thought I heard leaves
rustle before thunder drowned everything out. I glanced up as thick raindrops
fell from the clouds. A storm had come.
Edward grinned with relief while the rain made his
hair stick to his face. “The gods are good.”
I nodded and scanned the forest. “So, how do I make
the lightning strike?” I asked.
He looked horrified at the idea. “Don’t try; it takes
too much control. Just focus on defending yourself.” There was another sound
ahead, but Edward looked behind us, toward the skateboarding area.
It was too late by the time I could turn around; the
creature was there. I could feel the cold radiating from it and suddenly, I was
back on the ground. Instead of it coming down on top of me, there was a
blinding light and deafening noise that sent the beast rolling away. Then it
caught its footing and was gone before I could even identify what had attacked
me.
Edward grabbed my arm to pull me back up. “This was
possibly a very bad idea.”
“What’s the fun in life without a few bad ideas?
Mistakes and bad ideas caused a lot of scientific breakthroughs.” I knew I
would have rambled if I weren’t so out of breath. We looked around and judging
by Edward’s posture, we were surrounded. “How many are there?”
“Still only three. One is very angry.” There was
silence. “And one is walking away. The other two are circling.”
How come I already knew that?
“I think I can
feel them, Edward.”
He spared me a doubtful look. “That’s very unlikely,
for it takes skill and training.”
“You were just saying I had one of those two. I don’t
feel any different, though, I just think I can sense them. It’s like that
feeling you get when you’re being watched, except it’s stronger.” I looked
behind me as he did. From the black shadows of the pine trees came forth a
beast I really wasn’t expecting.
I believed that if a dark god was going to send some
creature to retrieve something, the god would be creative. I was expecting a demon
of some horrifying disfigurement or even a shapeless spirit of black smoke. I
was wrong.
My first impression was that it looked like a giant,
scaly cat. However, as it came to a stop under a streetlight, I could see very
little resemblance. Its head was much flatter and its ears were sharp and to
the sides of its head, more like horns than anything else. Its lips curled up
rather like a canine’s to show ridiculously sharp, small teeth. A lot of sharp
teeth. Its body was also thinner, and more reptilian. Its scales ended with
wicked sharp edges and they glittered black in the rain.
It was actually much more frightening in its realism.
As opposed to the fear of the unknown or supernatural, I faced a giant,
carnivorous animal that wanted to eat my face. At the same time, it was alien
enough that I couldn’t predict how it would attack or what supernatural
advantage it might have.
Before Edward could do anything about the cat-like
beast, the other one emerged out of the small patch of forest from the opposite
direction. Running similar to a rabbit, but too fast to see clearly, the beast
took Edward down before he could react.
I turned in time to see the first one in the air
above me. Fortunately, since I was already going down when it landed on me, its
attack was slightly off and it kept rolling forward, off of me and into the
metal rail I had been sitting on earlier. The pole snapped in half without even
slowing the creature down.
Using my own momentum, I rolled back to my knees and
then up to my feet with rare agility. Normally I was a complete klutz. I
grabbed the smaller piece of the pole, about three feet long, and turned to
Edward. Weapon retrieved; five points.
Please don’t level up.
Edward was
dazed, still on the ground, and the cat grabbed the bag in his teeth. Driven by
instinct, I swung the bar like a bat into the cat’s face. The bag went flying
but the cat didn’t even falter. It snarled up at me as the scales on the
injured side of its face turned a pale shade of purple.
The cat was on me before it even crossed my mind that
I made a mistake. I wanted Edward to use his lightning trick again so that if
the cat did eat my face, at least it would get fried as it feasted. I imagined
the lightning striking the beast and making it light up like a Christmas tree.
My fantasy was so vivid, I saw the blinding light that left spots in my eyes
and heard the thunder that made my ears ring.
To my honest surprise, the cat released me and fell
to its side. I sat up, dumbfounded, as it lay there, twitching. Its eyes were
closed, but it still breathed. The growl from right behind me was my only
warning before I was swept right over the injured cat by a massive paw. The cat
that had rolled away didn’t miscalculate its landing again.
I put my arms up to protect my face and neck, but the
pain as it bit into my limb was much worse than I had anticipated. Its jaws
enclosed my entire forearm, my bone broke in several places, and the beast’s
cold saliva burned. It let go of my arm with a fierce jerk and I saw its teeth
coming down on my throat. I wanted to close my eyes, but couldn’t. When the
sound of metal on rock filled my ears, I didn’t understand what it was. I
didn’t even understand why I saw Edward standing over me instead of the beast.
He had the longer part of the pole and had swung it
to knock the cat away from my throat. With the same momentum of the swing, he
struck the cat with the other end, forcing the cat up and away, but only a
couple feet. Edward turned away from the cat and slammed the jagged end into
its chest. Its screech was so alien I couldn’t compare it to the cry of any
animal or monster I knew. As if the pole weren’t plunged inside the huge body,
Edward pulled it back out to rise in front of him and drove it straight down
into the cooked cat at his feet. He turned back, grabbed my uninjured arm, and
pulled me up. And all that happened before I realized the monster wasn’t eating
my face.
I remembered then that my body felt cold, drained,
and wet. He shook me as I wobbled. “Did you use the lightning to electrocute
that beast?” he asked. I nodded, unable to comprehend why he was spinning.
“What were you thinking?! That was very dangerous.”
My following hysterical laugh would have gotten me
into any psych ward in the world. “I was being creative. Where is the other
one?”
“I don’t know. Quite possibly, it’s going for
reinforcements.” But then, as if to prove Edward wrong, it was back.
My mind was quickly becoming clear, my body began to
return to normal, and I could feel it, waiting just out of sight. When it
didn’t come any closer, I looked at Edward for direction. “Why isn’t it
attacking?”
“It’s probably the little one who left in order to
stay out of the stronger ones’ way. It knows it isn’t strong enough to take on
two wizards when they can kill two of its superiors. That… or it’s much wiser
and more powerful than the other two.” He looked at me and I could tell there
was a plan forming in his head that I wasn’t going to like. “When you used the
lightning, you hit the beast perfectly. You have great power and great control
for such a young wizard who’s had no training at all. And the fact that you can
still stand is impressive.”
“No, killing two of those things with the
speed
of lightning, like you did, is impressive. Will I be able to get that fast?”
“Not on my world. The gravity of Duran is greater
than Earth’s; therefore, I weigh less here, so I can move much faster.
Normally, I wouldn’t ask this to someone who knows nothing about magic, but do
you think you could control the lightning again?”
“If it’s trying to eat my face, probably. I’m kind of
hoping you can.”
“I did what I could on this weak world and shocked
the stupid thing. You
thought
about it and burned its insides out. If I
could keep it off you and keep it in relatively the same place, do you think
you can fry it? And… try not to fry me?”
“I don’t know what I did, really, but I can try it.
If I burn your leg or arm off, you’re not gonna be mad at me, are you?” I
asked.
“Not as long as you also get the beast.” At least he
had a sense of humor… somewhere in him.
The rain was pouring harder now and the lightning
came more often, though it stayed in the sky. The moon was hidden by the thick
clouds, but the lightning and the light pollution from the city illuminated the
sky.
The creature approached cautiously. I assumed it
would do something to throw us off so I was surprised when it treaded out of
the woods directly in front of us. Edward picked up his bag and handed it to
me. I shuddered as the cat’s eyes focused on it; obviously the beast knew where
the books were. I had a target pressed against my chest. When Edward took a few
steps forward, the cat started walking to the side. It was circling.
The street light crackled, but the glow of the
city-lit sky made it all too easy to see the cat’s sparkling teeth. The instant
the street light went out, the cat sprang. It ran more like a feline than the
other two and was twice as fast. Somehow the cat seemed to appear to the sides,
like it was running from side to side, before it disappeared completely. The
ground exploded upward and the cat reappeared beside it, clearly having
stumbled over the debris.
It kept running. Though slower than before, it was
still coming too fast to even try the lightning trick. It stumbled again, this
time stopping cold with its head and back forced down. There was no time to
question Edward. I imagined the lightning striking the cat just like I had
before… Nothing happened.
“Kill it!” Edward demanded.
“I’m trying!” There was a loud crack and the cat was
suddenly running again. Once again, I found myself in the mud with a monstrous
alien cat above me and just barely enough time to put one arm up to protect
myself. The ground exploded beside me as it bit my arm like the other had.
Better my arm than my throat.
Then the cat was off me. Edward had his hands wrapped
firmly around its neck for a few seconds before the cat was on top and its
teeth were snapping mere inches from Edward’s face. Its snout was as big as his
face, and its body was longer than his.
My mind felt disconnected, lost in so much fear that
I couldn’t form complete thoughts. I didn’t realize what the blinding light
meant, or the sound of the cat’s shriek. I did understand the pain I felt, like
every inch of my body was being ripped apart and burned, and I understood the
numbness that followed. I was struck by lightning.
* * *
I hurt so badly, but I knew that was wrong.
I
shouldn’t hurt.
I always figured dead people didn’t feel pain. Suddenly, it
was clear to me, and my stomach turned over: I was in Hell.
Mother was
right? No! I’ll never hear the end of this!
But I heard heavy breathing.
That was odd.
I opened my eyes. It was dark, but I saw Edward
crouched over me. He’d been giving me CPR. What a horrible person to bring me
back to the broken thing that used to be my body.
He sat back, panting. “You are very fragile for
someone with so much raw power.”
“The cat!” I choked. I started coughing and couldn’t
stop.
“You killed it. You didn’t even merely knock it out
like the other one; you killed it instantly and fried yourself. But the good
news is that you didn’t fry me.”
“I thought I was supposed to be immortal!”
“Immortal in a sense. That just means you will never
age and are really difficult to kill. There are different levels of
immortality, and we are hardly indestructible. We will not die of age or
sickness. That’s pretty much it.