Guardian

by Jack Porter

  Still, the girls were getting away safely and Megan’s guardian cloak kept most of the animal’s mouth full with the buck’s thick hide.

  With effort, I spun around swiftly, causing my new accessory to dig in deeper. I backpaddled. The ripping of the guardian cloak was loud in my ears and the powerful bite of the creature’s jaws went deep as it pushed through the hide.

  I had to breathe through it—demanding my body pick up my momentum instead of allowing myself to stop and give into the pain.

  I glanced over my left shoulder to see where I was going. This caused the muscles in my neck and trapezius on the right side flex under the vice of the panther’s teeth. Biting back a yell, I braced myself and charged toward a jagged cavern wall that was only feet from me now.

  The panther never suspected what I was doing, or it would have let go. It probably thought it was winning. I touched my crystal and tossed myself and the panther back, slamming its big body against the wall with all my strength.

  The panther’s teeth released me immediately and it let out a pained growl. I felt its bones crunch beneath the squeezing pressure of my body and the wall. I was sure several organs had been punctured.

  It dropped to the ground, taking a chunk of my back with it, and whimpered in pain for several long moments. I frowned when its breath took on a liquid wheezing sound. I hadn’t meant for it to suffer. I had hoped it would be a clean death.

  Still, it wasn’t long before the eyes glazed over and its panting stopped.

  I walked back out of the cavern with our things on my good shoulder and worried that my blood would seep into and stain the guardian cloak before my crystal healed the wound.

  It surprised me to see the girls hadn’t run away at all but were surrounding the shrub that the panther had slunk out of.

  I cleared my throat. “Um, what are you all doing? I thought I told you to run.”

  Layla shot up, a guilty, sheepish look on her face. “We figured you had it handled, Cap.”

  Megan straightened as well. “Plus we heard another noise coming from the shrub.”

  “So you thought sticking your hand inside it was a good idea?” I asked, voice incredulous.

  “Slow your roll, big guy, this little fella can’t hurt us,” Piper replied softly. She turned and I saw a small bundle of black fur in her arms. “It was a mother just trying to protect her cub.” I could hear the tears threatening in her voice.

  Layla’s eyes flicked to the cavern. “Is she—?”

  I blew out a breath, stomach churning at the amount of innocent blood on my hands. That they were animals didn’t seem to matter much. “Yeah, she is,” I replied.

  “Well, that settles it, then,” Megan said firmly.

  “Settles what?” I asked, but I had a sneaking suspicion from the determined fire in her eyes that I wouldn’t like it.

  “We keep the little fella.”

  I was right. “Gauging from the size of mom’s teeth,” I began, touching my shoulder to find the blood dried and several new permanent divots, “this little fella isn’t going to stay that way very long. In six to eight months, it will be a grown wild predator.”

  “So? We can train it.” Megan crossed her arms. Obviously, the wild predator part hadn’t phased her.

  “There are many large felines that, when raised from a cub, can come to see their caretakers as part of the family,” Piper added unhelpfully.

  “They are usually kept in cages at a certain age though,” Layla added, uncertain of the twist in the conversation. “And it would be a lot of work to try and train a baby panther while traveling to find our crystals and Hannah.”

  Megan stomped her foot in a haughty display, tears now dripping down her face. “We did this. We entered its territory and we killed its mother. This baby,” she stressed the word, “will die as well if we just leave it here, defenseless and alone. I refuse to do that.”

  Piper nodded solemnly to everything Megan had said.

  This seemed to change Layla’s mindset as well. She gave me an apologetic look. “I am responsible. I am the one who went to check what made the noise in the bushes. They probably would have stayed there until we left otherwise.”

  The cub, no bigger than a Pomeranian, mewled a long lament as if to prove the girl’s point. Probably begging for its mother to come rescue him from the clutches of the funny smelling, two-legged monsters.

  I sighed. “Well, enough of this back and forth. We need to get moving if we’re going to make good time before sunrise. In a couple of days, I bet we can be climbing that peak.” I pointed to the largest purple shadow to the east that was covered from what I could see in snow.

  The girl’s faces fell, and I couldn’t contain my smile. “All of us, I mean. Now, what should we name the newest member of our family?”

  Twenty-Three

  The girls decided on the name Salem, from the show, not the history books. I liked it. A play on this weird magical island and his black fur and animated kitten expressions.

  The girls and I walked most of the night. They fawned over Salem’s cute ears as we pushed onward. The presence of Hannah through her crystal grew minutely stronger, and I was sure we were going the right way.

  With the sky beginning to lighten, I watched Salem wrestle with Megan's hand. He had warmed up to her the most, but still was trying to make his discomfort over his missing mother known with his prickly little teeth.

  Megan caught me looking and must have seen my worried frown because she said, “It doesn’t hurt.” Her tone was defensive. “Salem is just doing what cats do normally.”

  “I know.” I smiled at her maternal affection for the kit. Megan would make a wonderful mother. I could almost see the chubby faced toddlers winding around her feet, with hair as red and wild as her own.

  Nope. Not going there.

  “That’s not the problem,” I amended when she continued to eye me.

  “What is the problem?” This came from Layla, who didn’t turn her head to address me, but spoke to the open air in front of her. She and Piper were in front tonight, and Megan and I took up the back.

  Two days ago, we were all able to all walk side by side, but the paths toward the peaks were growing steadily narrower and if the terrain ahead was any indication, I figured it would continue to get more treacherous the farther up we went.

  The moment I tried to put my concern into words, I knew I was on to something, “That panther could have easily attacked and killed any one of you.”

  “But it didn’t,” Piper said, trying to reassure me.

  “But it could have. And I realized I can’t be everywhere at once. What I am saying is until you girls get your crystals, you need weapons that can defend against any future predator attacks.”

  Megan’s eyes went wide as she swiveled her head. “I don’t see any semi-automatics around here.”

  I could tell she was joking, but she was startlingly convincing as she searched for gun-sized easter eggs in the trees.

  Rolling my eyes, but still unable to help a chuckle at her sarcastic humor, I said, “Well no. But like these buckskin clothes, we’re going to have to be inventive.”

  “Primitive weapons,” Layla mused, holding up a few fingers to tick off. “Spears, bows with arrows, we have your knife that we could attach to a stick.”

  “We need that for gutting our food,” I said regretfully.

  The girls and I were silent as we each tried to think of what, if anything, we could cultivate around this crumbly shrub-infested area to use as weapons.

  Megan kicked a decent-sized pebble out of the way. “Bows and arrows are out. There aren’t many trees here like back in the rainforest. And we’d have no axe to cut and shape them into bows and arrows if there were. The most we have is a bunch of sharp stones, but the twigs we’d attach them too would just snap under the pressure.”

  Piper picked up Megan’s thought as she trailed off, almost like they were close enough to finish each other’s sentences. “We hold the heavi
er stones in our hands and could club a small animal with them if needed. But a large predator like Salem’s mom would have to be super close for it to be effective. By then it would be too late.”

  I could hear the grimace in her words.

  “What about a slingshot? Ancient Romans loved them.” Layla said, pointing to one of the bags on my shoulder. “If we have any more of those fibrous ropes, we could use them and the buckskin scraps to set the stones in.”

  Piper and I made sounds of agreement, but Megan shuffled from foot to foot and shook her head. “Uh, maybe we could think of something else?”

  “Why? A slingshot would be perfect,” Piper said.

  “I have bad aim,” Megan blurted.

  Piper and I chuckled good-naturedly, knowing Megan had a knack for being clumsy.

  “Everyone does at first,” Layla said sympathetically.

  “I’ll teach you,” I said, thinking of my childhood where I’d been a mischievous little scamp, aiming for car tires and squirrels in trees whenever I got the chance. “I used to play around a lot with rock tossing when I was younger. Plus my time in the military has coached me in tricks for improving my aim.”

  Megan’s lids lowered to half-mast and her sunburst hazel eyes took on a lustful glint. “I bet there’s a lot you could teach me, Dexter,” she said seductively, in low tones so only my ears heard.

  The pleasant words went down like honey, straight to my groin, and I allowed my gaze to drop to her perky triangle shaped breasts.

  I would be lying if I said I’d gotten used to her and the other girls being naked around me. I didn’t think I ever would. The urge to reach out and touch those rosy nipples and soft white skin was so strong that I didn’t have much of a choice but to go along with it.

  To hell with it. She wants me and I can’t hold myself back from that kind of desire.

  Megan seemed to feel the electric charge in the air too. I vaguely thought the island must have been urging us on before she stopped at the same time I did, letting Piper and Layla carry on, none the wiser.

  I set the bags down and massaged Megan’s breasts with both hands. Bowing my back, I leaned far down to kiss her full lips. She tasted like heaven. Smokey and berry sweet and my body responded in kind. I was so large now that the tip of my member poked into the soft bare skin of her stomach even though we were a respectful enough distance away from one another.

  Tiny claws pricked at my most sensitive parts and I sprang back in surprise.

  “Salem!” I screeched. “My cock is not a toy.”

  “I beg to differ.” Megan giggled, putting her hand up to her mouth as if trying to hide it. Heat still flooded her cheeks, a pretty pink color from our kiss.

  “Well maybe, but it's definitely not a cat toy,” I said with a mock-angry tone at Salem, pointing my finger. Then I stepped back, my head clearer. “Perhaps we should save this tempting thought for later, when you don’t have a fierce feline in the making in your arms.”

  Megan said, “I’ll hold you to that.”

  I picked up the bags and we set off at a sprint to catch up to Layla and Piper. Salem bobbed and bounced in Megan’s grip, clearly not enjoying the faster pace.

  The pettier part of me thought, payback, but I slowed my pace to a walk to make the kit more comfortable and Megan did the same.

  “What’s the hold-up?” Layla asked.

  I considered telling them the truth, but I feared they would all get that hungry look in their eyes. The one I couldn’t resist. And I knew we needed to press on, so instead I replied, “Checking the bags to see if there was enough rope for the slingshots.”

  “And?” Piper asked when I didn’t continue. Her tone sounded grouchy, but I didn’t let it get to me.

  I swallowed, having not actually checked. But since I was the one that packed it, and I had a rough estimate of how much we needed for the slingshots, I said, “Yep, but only enough for two. You’ll need to rotate to make sure everyone is getting good enough practice.”

  Hoping I was right, I pulled out the bag I’d stuffed with the fibrous plant and pulled out several handfuls. I began peeling away the outer layer and twisting it into two twelve-inch braided ropes like the girls had shown me for their clothes.

  Considering it, I twisted a third layer into each of the ropes. “These will need to be thicker so they can handle some weight.”

  Showing the girls what I meant, I grabbed a scrap of buckskin that looked to be the size of my palm and used the knife to poke small holes through the fabric to bend to make it breathable. Then I knotted the fiber ropes through it. With the sling finished, I held it out to Layla, who had the most experience with how this ancient tool was used.

  Layla scoured the ground and came up with a sizable rock. Taking the sling, she made a small loop in one end of the rope and a small knot in the other. Then she placed the rock and the sling back in my hands, nodding to herself as if satisfied. “How about I talk you through it. Knowing how it works and actually performing the task are worlds apart.”

  Shrugging, I took the rock and nestled it in the sling.

  “Put the loop around your middle finger so it stays with you. Pinch the knot of the other until you’re ready to let go. You’ll pick a target and swing it around over your head or at your side, like a lasso.” She showed me the motion. I was hard pressed not to watch her breasts bouncing with the motion.

  Damn this island, we couldn’t stop and satisfy our lust at every whim. We needed to rescue Hannah.

  Doing as Layla instructed, I aimed at a nearby boulder, swinging the stone by my side. Thinking about how I liked the weight of it, I felt a pang of loss. Hannah would enjoy this. We’d have to show her when we got her back.

  “Good,” Layla said, an excited note to her voice. I imagined she was excited to see this piece of ancient history at work. “Now when you’re ready, let go of the lower rope when the stone lines up with your target and fling with everything you got.”

  It took me several minutes to feel like the sling was lined up properly. When I did let go of the knotted end, the stone sailed through the air like a bullet. I didn’t hit my target, but it was close enough that I was happy. Also, my eyebrows rose when the stone finally did smash into a boulder farther off in the distance. It sounded like a small explosion.

  I went to retrieve the rock and found it had cracked in half. The girls squealed in delight and all demanded a turn when I showed them.

  Smiling, I relinquished the new weapon to them and took out the rest of the fibers and began to fashion another.

  Through the day, the girls practiced for hours on end, and only stopped when the night grew too dark to see by. We decided to get some sleep before walking again, and when Megan took the first watch, I fell asleep feeling much more comfortable that she could protect us from any predator that came our way.

  Chapter Twenty- Four

  The next day as the sun was rising, turning the sky a spectacle of purples, pinks, and oranges, we found a bushel of ripe blackberries sitting near some thick mud.

  “This isn’t drinkable, even if we boil it,” Piper commented, running her hand through the thick mud. “But for this bush to be here, I bet there’s more water somewhere close by. And here.” She scooped up some mud and began to slather it on Layla’s horrified face. Piper grinned. “It will keep you from burning in the sun.”

  Ecstatic that the mud would soothe some of the burns we’d gotten several days before, Megan, Layla, and I rubbed generous handfuls of mud wherever we were exposed.

  Then we packed as much of the fruit in our mouths as we could. Wonderful bursts of fruit juice teased our tongues but didn’t do much more to help our dry aching throats.

  To make matters worse, the rolling wide landscape began to change drastically as we looked for shelter. The path ahead cut upward in steep slopes. We’d need to walk in a switchback style in order to keep stable on it. That would put us hours if not days behind.

  I stopped the girls. “It’s going to be too
dangerous to keep going in the dark. We need to walk through today. Maybe we should get a few hours’ rest here.”

  “There’s no shade here,” Piper rasped. “And more than sleep, we need to find water. Those berries will keep us held over for another day at most, and Salem looks uncomfortably hot.”

  Reaching out, I touched the black panther cub in Piper’s arms.

  The situation was grim. Up until this point, we’d been sucking on dew leaves and prayers for moisture. It was time to bring up the alternative solution.

  “Nuh uh. No. Freaking. Way.” This came from all three of them, heads shaking in exactly the same way, as if they were connected on some psychic level.

  How did women do that?

  “It’s sterile.” I spread my hands in a helpless shrug.

  A deep rumbling sounded in the distance, saving me. We all looked up to find a blessedly welcome black cloud gathering above the peak of the mountain.

  We held our breath for nearly fifteen minutes, waiting to see what it would do. And as if the goddess forbears of this island took pity on us, the scent of fresh rain clung to the wind traveling down from just ahead of where we were.

  Jumping and shouting in jubilation, we set out to race into the rain.

  This proved easier as a theory than actually doing so. We had to tread carefully against the crumbling mountainside, lest we skid back down the steep slope and have to start all over.

  Along the way we found a leaf covered ladder made of thick, solid-looking rope. It was piled unceremoniously on the rocks below a cliff, as if it had been dropped there. Checking the ends, I saw they were cut clean. The darkness did this, I thought, Hannah was here.

  We were headed in the right direction. I only wished I could climb that sheer cliff face in order to catch up to them faster. But I wasn’t quite ready to try, especially since I wouldn’t be able to carry the girls with me. Leaving them alone in this wild place wasn’t an option, not unless I was forced to.