Marked, Soul Guardians Book 1

by Kim Richardson

  Peter tried to turn and run, but he wasn’t fast enough. The battle—axe caught him on the side of his legs and tore them off completely. He flew in the air like a ragdoll and landed in a crumpled heap on the round. His mortal legs landed in a pile next to him. He opened his mouth in a soundless scream. His face was a mask of horror, and he cradled what was left of his legs with his arms.

  Jenny nocked two arrows at once and let them go. They hit the second giant in the chest, but bounced off like tennis balls—they didn’t even leave a mark. She nocked another three, let them go, and again they bounced off the creature with no effect. She staggered back in shock. The giant lunged at her and hit her in the chest with a great swing of his club. She flew into the air and crashed into the cave wall.

  Kara could see Jenny’s essence seeping out of the many deep holes in her body—as though she was wearing a polka dot outfit. She slumped to the ground and didn’t move.

  Without thinking, Kara charged at the giant that had attacked Jenny. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do—she just wanted it dead, or at least hurt it. Her anger surged through her like a hot fever. She thought she could sense her elemental power awaken, like a light buried deep within her, slowly coming to life. She felt her confidence return—she would blast them to pieces with her power. She would save her friends...

  But then the light flickered and died.

  Kara staggered and nearly fell, the fear was so overwhelming, and for the first time on a mission, she felt vulnerable and weak. Without her elemental powers to fall back on, her mortal body was no match for the giant rock—men. She had nothing but a puny dagger—as useless as a toothpick against mountains of rock. She swallowed back the bile in her throat. What a fool she had been.

  She looked up into the wicked yellow eyes and prepared herself. A giant club with spikes like razor sharp knives flashed towards her. She lifted her arm to protect her face—

  Crack!

  Pain shot up her arm. She flew back and tumbled to the ground. Her eyes watered as the excruciating pain emanated from her broken limb. Her cry died in her throat, and her arm hung lifelessly on her side, as though it were dead. Grinding her teeth, she felt the ruptures inside her arm. The shattered bones felt like shards of broken glass poking her skin. Wetness trickled down the side of her face. Her jacket sleeve was stained with red. The ground wavered, and she felt herself drifting into the darkness...

  “Kara, get back!”

  David rushed past her, determined to attack the two rock monsters.

  He ducked as a giant battle—axe missed his head by an inch, displacing a few locks of his blond hair. He rolled and jumped back on his feet, swinging his blade. He barely dodged the great strikes, but he sidestepped and blocked them with all the strength his M—5 suit could muster.

  The other monster charged again.

  David raised his moonstone in an arc and let it go. The brilliant globe left a single trail of white light behind it as it lit up the cave and flew into the giant’s face.

  The moonstone exploded, and the rock giant disappeared behind a cloud of brilliant white light. For a moment, Kara thought David had destroyed the creature.

  But when the mist evaporated the creature stood there, unscathed. Its ugly face was contorted in an angry frown. It let out a battle cry and charged at David, swinging its club.

  “Oops, I think the big guy’s angry—but it was worth a shot to see that look on his face. Did you two trolls ever hear of moisturizers?”

  David jumped in the air as the club grazed the soles of his boots. He landed on the ground and rolled—again the giant spiked club missed him by inches. He pushed up, parried, and jammed his blade with all his strength into the creature’s chest—

  The blade bounced back. The giant wrapped his great hand around David’s neck and lifted him up easily. David kicked out with his feet. His blade dropped to the ground. The giant roared, and green ooze splattered David’s face. The rock—man sneered and squeezed harder. Kara saw the panic on David’s face. The creature smiled, exposing rows of crooked teeth. David was going to get squeezed to death.

  Kara ignored her panic. She searched the ground for her blade with her unbroken left hand and touched its cool metal. With trembling fingers, she clasped the handle as hard as she could and struggled onto her shaky legs. She waited until the dizziness passed and staggered forward towards David’s attacker. She couldn’t see the other monster, although she knew it was there somewhere. She could hear it breathing.

  She heard Peter’s moaning from behind her, but heard nothing from Jenny. Focusing all her strength on putting one foot in front of the other, she thought only of saving David. Blinking the wetness from her eyes, her right arm hanging loosely at her side, she pushed on. She couldn’t just stand there and do nothing while her friends’ souls were about to die. She knew she would die trying to save her friends. There was no way she could defeat the stone monsters, but she had to try.

  The other rock monster marched towards her. It watched her every move, and its battle—axe glinted in the soft grey light. Kara cringed at the remnants of Peter’s essence on the edge of the blade. It looked as though it had been dipped into a bucket of glowing white paint.

  She measured them as best she could in the dim light. She knew their skin was unbreakable and as solid as rock. It was like fighting off giant cement boulders. And yet, these were living and breathing creatures, not demons. If demons had weaknesses, then these creatures must have a weak spots, too. Maybe they were like dragons whose underbellies were the weakest.

  “Kara, run!” screamed David, as he dangled in the air, his face screwed up in pain. “Get out while you still can.”

  “No. I’m not leaving you.”

  Kara set her jaw and planted herself before the two giants. She was surrounded. Her heart thumped in her ears like a machine gun—she could hardly hear herself think. She searched the giants’ skin, but she couldn’t see any weak spots on them. Their skin all looked the same...except for a beige discoloration that marked both sides of their chests just below their armpits—perhaps weakness in their crusty hide.

  It was her only chance.

  The largest of the creatures stepped forward. With a wicked sneer he swung his battle—axe skillfully and towered easily over her.

  With her last ounce of courage, and before the giant realized what she was planning, she leaped forward and jammed the blade into the creature’s side.

  The blade perforated the skin.

  The giant threw back his head and howled. It thrashed its arms in the air and knocked Kara to the ground. It yanked the blade out of its side. Dark blood gushed from the wound. The giant staggered and fell on its knees.

  If there was blood, then it could be killed. Kara pushed herself back onto her feet. A wave of renewed strength washed over her. She could save them all—but she needed another weapon.

  As she searched the ground for David’s blade, something hard hit her head. Stars exploded behind her eyes.

  And then everything went black.

  Chapter 12

  Olga the Cornish witch