Iris's Guardian

by Lisa Daniels

“No,” he stepped in front of her, grabbed her shoulders, and looked into her eyes. “I am not going to let you kill anyone. That is not a burden I will let you carry on top of your powers. It was what hurt your mother most, the knowledge that she had taken lives.”

  “She did? Oh, I… well, if she could handle it, so can I.”

  Ian shook his head, “No, she had training, and an army at her back. People knew about her powers. She was almost immune to threats. You have none of that here. And even if you did, I am not going to let you suffer through that. You aren’t going to just know that you killed someone, you will feel that person die.”

  Iris sighed, “Alright, then what do you suggest?”

  “Um, I don’t exactly know. We will need to use your powers in other ways. You will be able to draw on the other realm... Hold on.” He looked at her, the thoughts in his mind wheeling quickly. “There is one thing my father told me about, your mother only tried it once. It requires you draw from me.”

  “I am not taking your life.”

  “No,” he leaned forward and kissed her, “you are drawing from my strength and essence to anchor you here. My father almost lost your mother because they couldn’t find the same frequency, but I know yours. Use me, and start to draw the entire area into the other realm.”

  “I have no idea how to do that.”

  He scrunched up his face. “You have to draw on your pain and anguish. I have stored up two weeks’ worth, so you can draw from that. I will need to wait outside the range, but I will establish the anchor. They won’t try to kill you until they are certain you are a druid, and that is going to take a while.”

  “I trust you, but I am not sure I know what to—”

  “I will help you get started. Just make sure to return to me every so often so that you do not get lost there. I will always be here for you, okay?”

  Iris took a deep breath and blew it out of her mouth. “Okay, I will follow your lead.”

  “Then, you will also need to draw from the heat there to move things here. While the two worlds are merged. It’s called a force push, and I don’t think anyone has done it in more than 200 years because you have to draw from that realm. Well, druids, but no mystics. That one you will have to feel out, but you should be able to collect the heat and pressure there and push it forward. You can use that as a weapon to keep the Unwashed away from you and to counter arrows.”

  “Is there any way to try first?” Her eyes searched his.

  “Unfortunately not. You will need to have both places together. We should not do that yet because that will warn them that magic users are nearby.”

  “Okay. I understand, Ian.” She stood on her toes and kissed him. Ian wrapped his arms around her and pressed against her, his arms pulling her against him. When he released her, Iris took a deep breath. “I am ready.”

  The pair walked hand in hand toward the cave. As they neared it, Ian pushed her behind him and approached the guards. They were sitting down playing poker and did not notice Ian approaching until he had two swords pointed at two of the three guards.

  “You can’t kill us all, assassin,” the guard spat out the words.

  “I’ve killed seven with my bare teeth in less than a minute yesterday. And one of them was armed with a bow. But sure, you can see if my sword work is as good, if you want. I dare say you are at a distinct disadvantage.”

  One of the guards threw a set of keys on the ground and laughed. “You can’t get those and—”

  Ian threw one sword up in the air, spun around with the other, lifted the keys on the end, and flipped it in the air. They fell into Iris’s hands. “Why, thank you, gentlemen,” she said, giving them a slight bow. “Don’t get up. I can handle this.” Without looking back, she opened the door into the cave and stepped through.

  “Isn’t this where you kill us and catch up to your bitch, kitty?” one of the men sneered at Ian.

  “I think this is the part where she figures it out on her own. I haven’t been paid for the rest. But, I’ll bet the prisoners will be willing to pay me if I get them out.”

  “Your bitch just took the keys.”

  Ian flicked the sword and the keys appeared on the end. “Funny thing about bitches, they can do so much more than a sorry dick. After you.”

  The three men moved in a pack, and Ian couldn’t help but smile at the two small puddles under two of the three seats. They led him to a cave a little further away.

  Iris moved through the cave silently. As she approached the first guards, she closed her eyes and felt for Ian. His presence was strong, and she could feel the steady beat of his heart.

  “Hello, beautiful,” his voice said in her mind.

  “Are you ready, handsome?”

  “I am at your disposal. Always.”

  “Okay, that’s a pretty good way to upset me. I don’t like those two words together.”

  She detected a smile in his voice as he thought back, “Duly noted.”

  “You did that on purpose,” she accused him.

  “Just wait until you see what else I can do to arouse different emotions.”

  She got a sudden jolt of anger, and Iris felt the frustration and anger of her last lesson with Madam Louise. Ian certainly knew which emotions to trigger. She held on to that anger as she stepped forward. The two guards immediately began to whimper and curled up on the ground.

  “Is that what is supposed to happen?” she asked.

  “I don’t know. He didn’t tell me about the effects. Just be prepared, and use me.”

  Iris stepped over the sniveling men and walked further into the cave. It was far larger than she would have thought, and she knew that she was walking down into the worst of it. She pulled up several more negative emotions, some that were not her own, but the emotions were raw and intense. The world around her was shifting and moving, and she knew that she was pulling the realm of the dead over to the living.

  Finally, she emerged in a large opening with a room full of Unwashed sitting at a long table. They all turned to look at her, and she was very aware that there were as many armed Unwashed as unarmed. And Unwashed tended to use bows and arrows.

  “This is going to be tricky,” she muttered. Again, she got a jolt of negative emotions, and she focused on it. The pain of the loss of her mother to the king. The way her father would not look at her, even as she was feeling guilty about hiding her loathing of her magic lessons. All of it came rushing back, and her voice was a nearly unrecognizable growl as she looked around. “Give me the merchant.”

  The Unwashed looked at her, obviously trying to figure out what kind of magic user she was. Then the world started to spin and she could see the red shimmering overlay of the other realm on the walls around the entire cavern. The Unwashed did not miss it.

  “Druid! The druids figured it out first! You know what to do!”

  She could sense the movement, but they were too slow. Iris focused on the negative emotion, and soon she found herself looking down into a large precipice. She heard the sound of the men running around, clearly unable to act as they had thought they should as their table began to wobble. Suddenly the chasm was opening up in the cave, and the voices grew to the point where they bled into the sound of the voices of the dead.

  “Iris! You must return. Do not stay there.”

  A voice inside her head broke her singular focus. Shaking her head a little, she looked around at the devastation. The men were huddled on the other side of the wall, trying to keep from falling in.

  They were shouting and pointing deeper into the cave.

  Iris raised her hand and pointed at the Unwashed with the biggest head piece. “Fetch him. And you had better pray that he is unharmed by the time he reached me, because I will redouble his wounds on every one of you.”

  The man quickly moved over a small bridge she made across the chasm. The entire cave was indistinguishable from the world of death. One of the men raised a bow and was about to shoot at her when Iris stretched out her hand and sh
ot a ball of light. The man dropped his weapon and cried as the light hit him. It took a moment before he realized that nothing had happened. The other man was walking back with her father by the time the Unwashed realized what she really was.

  Her father had a black eye and was wearing his arm in a sling.

  “We cannot fix him. You must know that we cannot do your unholy magic, druid.”

  Iris turned her eyes to look at the man. “Then you should not have caused any harm.” She drew back her arm and released a forced push that knocked the man off his feet and sent him skittering across the floor like a doll. The man’s leg went over the chasm as his hand grasped something Iris sent his way.

  “She’s not a druid. That’s a damn mystic!” one of the men shouted out. There was a lot of commotion on the other side.

  Iris raised her hand and the temperature of the cave began to skyrocket.

  “Iris!” The familiar voice was her father’s and he was standing next to her. “You can’t do this. You can’t!”

  “Leave now, Father. I have a guardian who will get you to the ship.”

  “He is supposed to protect you! How could Caden let you come here?”

  “He didn’t have a choice because I—” An arrow grazed her arm where she had been shot the day before. On the plus side, Ian had bandaged it, so it did not do much harm. On the other hand, it further enraged her, and for a second she completely lost concentration. The chasm widened, and the temperature caused the bows to burst into flames. Her voice was a growl, “Out. NOW.”

  “I am not leaving you.”

  “You aren’t leaving me. I am saving you. I cannot leave until you are out. Go!”

  She could see him looking between her and the Unwashed. Hanging his head, her father began to run to the exit. Once he reached it, she started to walk back to the entrance. The Unwashed clearly had been expecting something a lot more, so having one person walk in and out with their prize was much easier than it should have been. Iris fully expected some kind of surprise attack that never came. The whimpering man was still curled up on the floor.

  Once outside, she pointed her father to the ship. “I have to get my guardian.” The emotional jolts were far less frequent. “Get to the ship, Father.” She stamped her foot. “I have to get my guardian.”

  “I am not leaving you.” As he started to argue with her, a huge white tiger went dashing past them.

  “Ian!” Iris’s thoughts shouted to the tiger, but he did not stop. “That’s not him. Father, to the ship now!” She began to run after the tiger, her mind torn between this world and the next. Things started to swirl around her, but she ignored them.

  “Iris!” a familiar voice shouted into her mind. “You have to focus!”

  “Sorry, Ian. My dad wouldn’t listen, but I got him. We can leave. Also, I think—” Suddenly the connect went silent. There was a sharp sensation in her chest. As she looked down and saw nothing, she remembered what Ian had told her. She was feeling his pain.

  “No, no, no, no.” Iris was running. She wanted to look for the thread, but she couldn’t pull her mind back to this world and keep the Unwashed from acting. “Ian!” Her voice screamed into the cave as she ran in, uncaring about what happened to herself.

  Pandemonium met her eyes. This was where the rest of the pirates were, but these were proper pirates, not Unwashed. The large tiger was tearing them apart like he was shredding paper.

  “Ian!” she screamed. The pain in her chest intensified, and suddenly the world around them exploded in fire and despair. The pirates dropped their weapons and dropped into balls on the floor. Iris’s eyes scanned the wide cavern and looked for Ian. She saw a group of the other hostages cowering where they were. Stretching out her hand, Iris overlaid the world of the living where the group was. As one, they rose and began heading for her, running as the terror of the fresh hell reigned around them. The large, white tiger sprung over to the last of them. The tiger suddenly transformed and picked up a body from the floor. Iris’s heart leapt to her throat because she knew that Caden had Ian. Drawing from the pain, she caused the entire cavern to start shaking. The hostages ran past her as fast as they could. Some were fine, many were hurt, and a couple were carrying those who did not survive. Caden reached her last.

  “Iris!” he shouted to her.

  So focused on her pain, Iris did not hear him shouting to bring her back.

  “Iris…” the voice was weak in her mind, but it was there, “…we did it. We have… to go. You can’t kill them.”

  Tears began to stream down her face as the voice flickered out again.

  “Caden. Get him to the ship. NOW!” Iris refused to look at Ian. He’s alive. He’s not gone. He’s not going to die because I won’t let him.

  She turned to see Caden leaving the cavern. As soon as it was just her, Iris raised a hand and fires burst forth from the floors. “If you ever so much as touch a ship from Solona or the Merchant Guild, I will not be so merciful next time.”

  She turned and stalked out of the cavern while the pirates screamed as they put out the fires around them.

  As she walked past the first entrance, Iris saw the Unwashed emerging, this time with the right equipment. She snarled at them as she raised a hand. Building up heat from the other realm, Iris pushed it forward. The Unwashed fell over each other as they were pushed back into the cavern. Iris created another push, and thrust it into the top of the cave. It crashed against the top, bringing down rocks and debris in front of the cave. They could get out, but not before Iris was long gone.

  Iris looked at the cave. Her anchor was so faint she almost could not feel Ian anymore. Her temperature began to rise rapidly and Iris walked toward the cave. “Never again, you bastards. Never again will you kill a woman or her protector because of magic. Never again.”

  A faint voice broke into her thoughts. “That’s enough, Iris. We don’t have much time. Please come back to me.”

  Another tear tumbled down her cheek. Without another thought, she turned and began to run toward the ship.

  Chapter 10

  Finding the Balance

  Iris could feel herself slipping further and further into the other realm. Her temperature continued to rise, but not quite as rapidly. An image of a young boy at a funeral playing cards flittered through her mind. Then the feel of Ian as a tiger, and how happy she was to rub his head. Then the feel of his lips on hers. The tears were pouring down, but she could feel that she was smiling as she ran. He was anchoring her with positive emotions so that she could release the other one.

  There was a sense of déjà vu as she reached the ship, but this time, she stopped short. Trying to focus on the world in front of her, Iris found that she couldn’t see anything there. Voices were shouting at her, but nothing reached her. She felt something drive into her back. Slowly, her eyes moved down, and there in her shoulder was the tip of an arrow.

  “That shouldn’t be there.” Her mind worked sluggishly as she stared at the bloodied arrow.

  She felt the ground coming toward her, and realized she was falling to her knees.

  “No, you don’t. That’s not your role today.” The voice was a little stronger. “Not today, Iris.”

  Iris thought back, “I don’t want to live without you.”

  “Callie’s here.”

  “What?” Iris muttered it aloud.

  Suddenly a white blur went past her sight as a voice said into her mind, “I love you, even when you act like an idiot, I love you.”

  The sound of bone crunching behind her was disturbing, but it seemed to be part of something else. The pain in her shoulder intensified, and she looked down to see the arrow was gone. “That should be better, right? But it still hurts.”

  Suddenly she felt like she was floating. A warm voice in her ear muttered, “Yes, it is going to hurt, but right now, we need to get you back here.” Without another word, she felt something pressing against her lips. At first, she didn’t react, but then, she felt a tongue tickle her
lip. She giggled a little, then placed a hand in front of her. She pushed back, her mind filling up with something else. The swirls of red and black faded away as she smiled. Ian’s face was in front of hers.

  “Hello, beautiful. Sorry for making you worry.”

  “It’s okay. Just don’t ever do it again.”

  “I make no promises, but I think I will keep it on a much smaller scale in the future.”

  She giggled for a second, buried her head in his neck, then everything faded out.

  Iris felt very tired, but something was pulling her into the world. “I just want to sleep,” she muttered to no one in particular. “I will open up the shop, just 10 more minutes and I will open it.”

  “You know, for the longest time, I thought that story about the village sleeping was a wild story, but after meeting you and seeing that you have slept for four full weeks in a five-week period, I can see that it isn’t so far-fetched.”

  Iris’s eyes flew open. She looked around at her room. Directly beside her bed was a second, smaller bed. Ian smiled at her, “There are those beautiful eyes.” He scooted forward and leaned toward her, giving her a gentle kiss on her forehead. This was followed by a grimace.

  “I understand. If it has been two weeks, you’ve probably already found someone else to love.”

  “That’s not even remotely funny, and I will make you pay for it when you are doing a little better.”

  “Bring it, pretty boy.”

  “What? What did you just call me?”

  Iris giggled, “Yeah, it doesn’t really suit you now that you are grown up. But that was how I thought of you at the funeral. I thought you were a very pretty boy.”

  “You figured it out, then?”

  “Of course.”

  “Because I showed you the image?” His smile was lopsided because he already knew the answer.

  “I would have figured it out,” she pouted at him.

  He leaned forward and kissed her. “Pout all you want. I think it is adorable.”

  Iris smiled at him. “Maybe fancy man? Handsome ass?”