Vorans and Vampires (Book 1): Voran the Night Guardian

by Donald Wigboldy

  “We could try climbing higher and see if we can pick up a signal from there,” Taylor proposed as she lowered her useless smart phone. For all its bells and whistles, the piece of technology was little more than a dead piece of plastic in her hand without a tower to make a connection.

  Nodding, Emily said, “Let’s give Katie a minute to see if clearing the rotor will get the engine running again. If she can’t make it start then we’ll send a couple people up to test all the phones.”

  Curiosity forced Phoebe to ask, “Do you know much about motors?”

  “I’ve helped my dad and brothers with their cars. Dad has a garage. He and my oldest brother Jack run the place,” the girl said with most of her attention on the mess in front of her. “We don’t have a boat but I’ve messed with Emily’s a little bit. Usually I have tools to work with in a garage, so this is a little more challenging. As long as nothing’s broken or bent too much, it’s no big deal.” Glancing up to Emily momentarily, she asked, “Check the first aid kit. There might be a knife or scissors in there. This is pretty tough stuff.”

  Her friend did as she was asked while the other girls watched and waited with various levels of patience.

  After nearly half an hour and a little help from other hands, Katie managed to clear the rotor of tangling weeds. Despite the run in with both plants and what was guessed to be a hidden sandbar, the blades looked to be none the worse for wear. Using a Phillips screwdriver, the only tool they could find besides the small scissors in the first aid kit, Katie managed to open the cover on the motor and did her best to make sure there was no damage hidden that would ruin the machine even more if it was restarted.

  Phoebe watched as the sun continued to dip towards the horizon. Clouds caused the light to scatter looking more orange as the globe fell further and further. She didn’t want to rush Katie knowing that, if the engine was on the verge of failing, only bad things could happen. As it was, if the engine and rotor all worked properly or enough to limp home, it was probably going to be dark while they were on the river. The house seemed very far away.

  Turning away from a view that would have seemed beautiful had the circumstances not been so uncomfortable, the tall brunette decided it was time to either get into the boat or return to the beach. She and Katie hadn’t left the water since going in to help pull the craft to shore. Fingers were wrinkled and she could assume that her feet were as well just from the tightening that she could feel on her skin. As she looked past the boat, Phoebe noticed that the tide had indeed been rising. The channel was filling and the beach had shrunk. Their piled clothes were still there and in danger if being washed away by the water climbing the sand.

  “I’m going to move our clothes before they’re washed away,” the girl stated into Katie’s ear as she lay a cold hand on the smaller blonde’s shoulder. Being cold as well, she didn’t even start at the clammy touch.

  With a brief nod, Katie turned to look at her and Phoebe noticed that the girl’s jaw was fighting a shiver. She was cold as well, but refused to give up on the engine for fear of stranding them all on the island. “Yeah, if you could move mine to safety, I’d appreciate it. I’m going to want to snuggle into something warm in a minute. It’s getting pretty cold already.”

  The taller girl returned the nod with a smile. As she began to walk past the boat and the water slipped below her shoulders again, the breeze caught her skin making her shiver with its passing. The day had certainly taken a turn. It had been in the mid eighties Fahrenheit, so the Americans had said. Phoebe guessed that it was now closer to seventy as clouds began to build in the west. Another rain was coming which was another reason they needed the boat to work and flee for home or they would have to suffer with no shelter.

  In the midst of a shudder, Phoebe glanced up the newly filled channel and noticed a strange glint as the sunlight hit the cliff face.

  As she climbed from the water and gathered the clothes of all four girls, Phoebe felt movement in the ground as if some giant stone was grinding against the earth. Forehead wrinkling in confusion, the brunette pushed back a strand of hair that fell across her face and looked towards the cliff. She was almost certain that it came from that direction.

  Throwing on her shirt for the warmth it could provide after being heated by the sun and being dry, Phoebe glanced back to the boat noting the girls were gathered in the back of the craft. Katie must have been close to finished with what she could do for the engine, she thought.

  Instead of returning to the beach or trying to ferry the clothes onto the boat for now, Phoebe let her curiosity carry her up the channel. Following the water inland, the girl found she could ford the water closer to the cliff and only step in to her knees. Quickly, passing through to the opposite side, Phoebe was able to see that the shape of the cliff led into a pocket only about ten feet from one side to the other. The water had climbed the channel and touched the stone of the cliff, but now there appeared to be a doorway where a large piece of the stone had moved away.

  As she watched, she noted the opening widening even as the feeling in the ground continued.

  Even more curious about such a strange mechanism being hidden on the island, Phoebe moved closer to look inside a darkened chamber. It almost seemed to absorb the day’s light in comparison and the girl found that her eyes could do little to penetrate the darkness within the chamber from where she stood in the daylight that was beginning to wane with the sun but was still much too bright to allow her vision to work at the mystery. All except one thing was hidden from her, a glint of metal flashing back the light of day as she turned her to head to peer into the chamber.

  Her mind suddenly reeled with what she believed her eyes had seen. With a big grin suddenly crossing her face, Phoebe turned to run back out of the depression yelling, “Hey, guys, you have to see what I found!”

  The other girls hadn’t heard the first cry but by the second all but Katie were moving towards the front of the boat aimed at the island.

  “What’s going on, Phoebe?” Emily asked as her cousin exited the hidden opening.

  “You won’t believe this, but I think I may have found a pirate’s treasure!”

  After a moment of disbelief voiced to varying degrees by the girls on the boat, Phoebe elaborated as she pointed back to the cliff, “There’s a hidden chamber. It opened up all by itself. Maybe it was the water triggering it. I don’t really know, but I think I see a treasure chest inside. Come on!”

  The girls in the boat all began to move as one. Such an odd find after the troubles with the boat seemed beyond belief. Katie had to be urged to worry over the engine later.

  Emily urged her most, as she said, “Come on, it will just take a moment and then we can come back and try the motor.

  Frowning, Katie quickly sighed then complained grumpily as she pushed through the water heading towards shore still shivering, “But I was just about to try it and we really need to pray that it works. As it is, we’ll be lucky if we make it home before dark.”

  “We’ll be fine. I just know it,” Emily said positively. “This must mean our luck is changing. If it is a pirate’s chest, we could be making the most important discovery found near Charleston in like a century, I bet.”

  Grabbing their shirts as Phoebe had, the older girls paused just long enough to fall a few steps behind Faith and Brook, who were eager to see what the Australian had found. As a group they rounded the obstructive wall, most gasped in surprise at a perfectly squared opening in the stone. It had to be a thing of man’s creation, but it seemed unnaturally brilliant in its operation. How could pirates have possibly invented such a thing of genius?

  “Look,” Phoebe pointed into the dark opening and noted a glint flicker within as they stepped towards the mouth of the man made cavern. “See that’s got to be a treasure chest.”

  The others caught sight of the flicker and the girls nearly ran full speed to the open doorway eager to find out the source of the reflected light. In a moment their eyes became accust
omed to the darkness of the chamber and they could tell that they were indeed looking on a treasure chest.

  The High King: A Tale of Alus

  Chapter 11- A Berserker Among Us

  Gerid wiped the sweat from his dirty brow. Leaning on his shovel, he turned to survey his progress. The dark line of the new irrigation channel, which he had been working on, appeared dark against the summer sun's bleached earth. The scrawny shoots of the Taltan continent's main staple, cracker corn sprang up in rows to either side.

  Summer was half over now. Nearly two months of slavery showed themselves in the hard calluses that were even rougher than from working in his family holdings. His upper body and face were dark brown from exposure to the sun, a stark contrast to his silvery, white hair. The youth still had to smile in satisfaction at his progress. The herculean feats that he had performed had begun to get Holtein's notice by now. New plans to impress the slave holders and ways of finally winning his freedom continually played in his mind. This channel, for instance, would normally take five men to complete in the same amount of time his pace would complete it, if he could keep it up. The smile played about his lips still as he returned to the hard labor.

  "Gerid!"

  He looked up to see Mateil coming through the path between patches of growth. The shovel was powerfully driven into the earth one more time and he left it to stand by itself. "What can I do for you, Mateil?"

  "Leoltus wants you to come to the soldiers' barracks immediately along with most of the servants. He wouldn't say why, but that it was extremely urgent."

  Gerid tugged the tool free of the earth and followed. On their arrival at the barracks, they found nearly every male slave that the Holteins owned gathered around the foreman. The men stood in various states of anxiousness awaiting Leoltus' news, but, when Gerid was entering the building, he had spied three men that he had

  seen very seldom in his stay at the farm. Karma, the only son of Master Carter Holtein, a dark haired, handsome young man, stood with two of his bodyguards wearing their light armor. Upon seeing the master’s son in his armor, the men all began whispering to each other in their surprise and a new wave of questions were whispered about.

  "Quiet! Quiet, all of you," Leoltus ordered. "Master Karma has come to deliver some important news, so be quiet."

  The slaves quieted as the young man moved to the center of those gathered there. "I'll get straight to the point. We've had word that there are bandits in the area headed here from the southern hills. We don't know if they're Tolmonan soldiers or simply bandits, but until King Colona can recall a brigade to deal with them, the farms to the south of the capitol are on their own.

  "My father cannot come here now, so I will lead you in the defense of our home in his absence."

  "And what do we fight with, our hands?" Gerid asked casually.

  Karma's eyes narrowed from annoyance. The guardsmen tensed towards their weapons in slight surprise at the rare questioning of the master's authority. Seeing that it was the rather intimidating giant, Gerid who had spoken, Karma held up a restraining hand to his men. Gerid thought that he saw relief in their eyes despite the weapons in their hands. He was nearly a head taller than even the tallest man here and holding a shovel that could be used as a weapon gave him a strong presence within the room. On top of that, they all knew the feats of strength that he had performed in the past months even within the main house as well. "That's why I had you all called here. Though you are all only slaves

  and untrained in battle, we still have weapons and shields. There is even leather armor here, such as it is. My men and I can try and show you what we can before the bandits arrive. They may not even arrive here, since the reports are not completely clear, but we must still prepare for the worst."

  Gerid didn't bother to reply to what he thought of that type of thinking. There was little that untrained men could learn if they faced real swordsmen, but instead of worrying over that point, the nearly two score slaves spent the next half an hour finding weapons that the mercenaries who had been trained at the Holtein's facilities had left behind. He had taken a stout club studded with nails and a foot and a half long knife for his own. Gerid figured that, if the bandits were well armed, as was probable, then he could steal a proper sword from one of the fallen enemies. If they weren't well armed, of course, the club would suffice in his strong hands.

  Leoltus moved over to him clad in mail. Karma had apparently decided that his overseer deserved better than the leathers which would do little more than the clothes that Gerid wore. "Aren't you going to put on some armor, boy? At least grab a shield."

  A wry smile crossed his face as he looked up from his seat on a bale of hay. "I'm too big to wear anything in there and a shield just isn't my style. I prefer two weapons. They're a lot quicker and less clumsy. If they use arrows, then I'll worry. Maybe I can hide behind you instead," he suggested with a grin.

  The older man laughed, "I'll lend you my shield and hide behind you more likely, thank you." His face began to change as he seemed to reappraise Gerid again. "You seem awfully confident. Were you a soldier already back in your old home despite your young age, boy?"

  "I've had some training though not in battle. A few duels that I found myself in with Lord Merrick's soldiers caused most of the circumstances which have brought me here. It was because I won them all, however."

  "Excellent." At Gerid's look, the older man amended, "Your training I mean, of course. If those bandits do come, I think that I'll be standing at your side. Master Karma has had some training as has his guards, but I doubt that they've truly been tested in a real battle either. I'll get Baitram, Jatan, and Mateil to join us. They've fought before though they were only trained in the basics before they were sold to the Holteins."

  "Do any of the others know how to fight?"

  "Not with the sword that I know of."

  "Then do you think that we should all stay together or try to lead the others through the attack?"

  Leoltus gave him a look that was meant to express the wisdom of all the overseer's years. With a shake of his head, he said gravely, "It may seem nobler to lead them to their probable doom, but we can do more by staying together. I'll get the others."

  As the man went to gather the other men who had become nearly like a family to him here, Gerid watched as Karma and his men sparred with the slaves in an effort to show them whatever techniques that they could. He had avoided them until now, but the giant arose from the seat he had taken and moved towards the trio and their students. After a short while of watching closely, he spoke to Karma as he paused, "You're leaving yourself wide open."

  "What?" the master’s son cried out in annoyance. With a hand raised to hold back the next student from approaching, Karma stared at his addresser with a mixture of anger and disbelief that any would dare second guess him. "What did you say, boy?"

  Gerid nearly laughed at the idea of the twenty year olds use of words for him. He answered instead, "Your shield is too low. If a blow is slashed at your face, you'll be unable to stop it in time."

  Karma's face was darkening swiftly with the red of anger at his insubordination. Gerid quickly realized that he had forgotten himself. It hadn't been the first time in his recent life, of course. He just seemed to enjoy ticking off authority figures with or without intention, especially when it was only inherited and not earned. Merrick's soldiers had probably at least earned their positions, but not Karma as far as Gerid was concerned. He almost missed Karma's order. "Prove it," the master said gesturing to a place before him.

  "Are you sure, Master Karma? You won't be too angry with me or embarrassed if I show you this?" the young slave asked as he remembered his current status.

  The master's eyes crinkled with disdain and he raised his nose slightly as if he had scented something rotting before him. Karma believed that no common slave, no matter how large, could possibly have learned enough to surpass his own skills learned from his father’s mercenaries. "Now," he ordered again.

>   Gerid stepped forward already watching the other man carefully, though he still noted the slave students all moving slightly away around them. The area went still as the others all drew back and the guards and their students turned to watch as well. He only half noticed Leoltus' look of worry as he clapped a hand over his eyes as if to block the sight though he quickly lowered it again to watch the event.

  Right hand swinging the club half heartedly at the man's shield, the knife slashed quickly behind only to be repelled by the sword in Karma's right hand. The smaller blade danced in a clang from the sword intentionally and counter slashed again towards the man's throat forcing the master to step back to avoid being cut.

  The club was in movement again and suddenly it thundered down upon the stout shield. Breath hissed through Karma's teeth as he gritted them from the contact. His eyes opened wider trying to adjust to the strength of the impact as he nearly lost his defense. Valiantly, the young master countered with his sword to drive the slashing knife away. Gerid deflected the attack away easily as he jabbed the club over the lowered shield just short of Karma's nose and stepped back laughing.

  "You see? When you drive in with your sword like that, your shield dips. These slaves couldn't see the opening to use it, but someone who does would have slashed your face with a blade. As it is, I could simply have chosen to club you to death instead."

  The sounds of Karma's teeth grinding angrily could be heard throughout the renewed silence in the

  exercise room. Gerid couldn't help himself as he added, "You might want to consider using a lighter blade as well by the way. That heavy thing is much slower than the light sword that I spied inside earlier. You seem to know how to use a sword well enough otherwise. I think that you’ll want to use your speed rather than power since you are only fighting some bandits. How trained can they be?"

  Karma was about to retort when a leather, armored slave came running into the courtyard in front of the barracks and training building. "They're here!" he shouted franticly.