The Wardens Boxed Set

by Heather D Glidewell

  “You are not ready,” my mother said sternly.

  “With all due respect Angie,” Helen started, stepping forward toward my mother, “I have been doing this for the last six years, I think I know when I’m ready and when I’m not.” She puffed up for a second. “I’m ready.”

  My mother looked at her and stepped forward as well; her eyes were flaming. Helen had unleashed the Kraken! I looked around, trying to find somewhere to hide after Helen’s head exploded. They were eye-to-eye and toe-to-toe when my mother spoke again, her mouth moving but her facial expressions unreadable.

  “I don’t care if you have been doing this for six years. I have been doing this for millennia.” Helen flinched. “So when I say you are not ready to dive headfirst into a bloodbath I suggest you listen to me. Otherwise it’s going to take an act of God and Lucifer to place your shard in another offspring’s core since it is forbidden for the one to be with the other.” My mother’s voice did not crack; it was straight and monotone, her eyes never leaving Helen’s.

  “And look where you are. Banished from your post,” Helen bit. My mother still did not flinch.

  “I admitted to my responsibility and did not push my child to be raised by others. Which is more than I can say about yours.” Helen blinked, I could see the tears forming in her eyes. Had my mother actually managed to make the girl cry?

  “What is that supposed to mean?” Helen asked, blinking again.

  “That means I don’t see your parents standing here sticking up for you, protecting you. If you have a problem with living by my rules then the door is right behind you. However, it’s your funeral,” my mom said calmly. I wasn’t sure if I should step between them. I was conflicted and yet I was quite attached to my head. Thankfully my father took it upon himself to step in.

  “Angie, take a step back, you’ve made your point.” My father took her hand in his and was trying to coax her to look at him but my mother’s gaze did not falter.

  “I don’t think I have,” she said to him.

  Helen’s eyes moved as she broke the contact and took a step back. My mother smiled, satisfied. Helen’s gaze turned to me and she spat daggers at my face. I smiled slowly, unfazed by her reaction. It seemed to irritate her even more and she stormed off away from us. I had a feeling I was going to pay for it one way or another.

  “Does anyone else have anything to say?” my mother questioned, making it obvious she wasn’t messing around.

  “Nope,” I said quickly.

  All Krista could do was stare back, wide-eyed.

  ***

  It was rather quiet for the next two weeks. We had a few more allies join but none of them had witnessed the demonic rage that was the Queen’s Army. They were sent by Nick in fact. He was still chasing down our fourth when he came across them at hotels and rest stops along the way. He was pointing them toward Harrisville and telling them to ask for any of us by name.

  It wasn’t until we were standing in the backyard amongst the warlocks that a very upset Shawn made his way into our vicinity.

  “He’s been spotted again,” my brother said.

  It had taken Helen almost a week to look my mother in the eye again. Took even longer for her to speak to me. So when she smiled at me and clasped Shawn’s face in her hands, kissing him smack on the lips, I was rather surprised.

  “Awesome!” she wailed, almost too enthusiastically. “Now that’s my idea of fun.”

  We followed her, grabbing our weapons along the way. This was going to be interesting to say the least. We piled into the SUV and were off to find the creature and hopefully bring him in or turn him into compost.

  Chapter Four: Thump Thump

  I leaned against the wall of an old building in downtown Harrisville. I was trying to catch my breath after running from the unexplained creature that was sniffing around after dark. It had seen me for only a second before taking off in a dead sprint toward my location.

  So this is what Helen considers fun?

  I could see her walking toward me with her wings unfolded, ready to take to the sky. Krista was skipping along behind her humming the Battle Hymn of the Republic! Both of these girls were crazy. I rolled my eyes and felt the hilt of the sword behind my back and a slow comfort crossed my flesh. I would give anything to be sitting on the couch in the lush living room playing Halo with Adam right about now. Not chasing odd four-legged creatures around an old town.

  The wind picked up and the earth shook. The creature turned its head. Fierce violet eyes and sharp pointed teeth: another experiment gone wrong. I heard a growl rumble from its lips. I pulled my mother’s broadsword from my back and set the blade on fire, a soothing blue-and-white flame emitting from the steel. I sighed, this was it. I took a step away from the wall. Turning the corner, I was face-to-face with the monster.

  “Here kitty, kitty,” I said, a wicked smile playing on my lips.

  The creature, a mixture of cat and warlock, had been stalking the Harrisville downtown after dark for several weeks now. No reported deaths, only the stories of the townsfolk that swore they saw the creature late at night walking the streets looking for something. The warlock was an unknown man as well. He moved into town at the same time as the creature so the assumptions we had were pretty clear that the beast before us was the warlock transformed. Now here I was standing in the middle of Main Street staring down at this monster.

  We weren’t sure if he was an ally or not. None of us had been able to get close enough to him to find out. Maybe he feared us, then again who is going to be scared of three girls? The way he stared at Krista was downright creepy. I wasn’t sure if he was marveling at the work of a resurrected being or if he was just enamored by her beauty.

  I felt the air around me move again as my two winged companions let their feet hit the ground. I heard Krista pull her whip from her back and then the clang of Helen’s pitchfork on the road. I rolled my eyes at the sound. Don’t ask me why the woman chose a pitchfork as a weapon. I think she just thought it was funny until my mother threw one at her and told her to attack.

  “I wish he would just turn back into human form,” Helen said, perturbed. I glanced over at her as her wings tucked safely into their imaginary pouch.

  “He’s not going to,” Krista’s melodic voice chimed in.

  I had grown used to her voice and the way it sing-songed its way into your mind. After we resurrected her from Purgatory it took her several weeks to be able to do anything without causing the weather to change. I still don’t know how many times the allies in their tents had to reset their camps because their homes fell over due to one of Krista’s mini tornados.

  “Naw, I think he will. Look how scared he is right now. He’s not going to attack,” I said, keeping my eyes locked with the creature’s as he backed slowly away from the three of us.

  There was a noticeable shift in the shoulders and the cat’s eyes turned green. Slowly the body changed into that of a young man. I say young, but I’m sure he was far from that. Probably frozen in time, as some of the other unfortunates that were inhabiting our backyard. He put his hands up and cleared his throat.

  “Here’s the deal, magic man.” I started flipping the flaming sword in my hand. “We need to know what side you are on. If you are with us, welcome.” I said cheerily. “If you are against us, and I do mean this with respect to your magic, then I’m going to have to kill you.” I smiled at him again and watched him shudder for a moment. I found myself hoping for the latter.

  “No, no need for death. I’m with you, I say.” He stumbled over his words as he stepped toward us.

  “What’s up with all the stalking going on around here?” Krista asked, wrapping the cracker of her bullwhip around her arm and securing the handle behind her back.

  “I can’t help it,” he said, pouting. “I have tried all sorts of magic to slow the transition but sometimes I just cannot control what my body does.”

  “Hey, that sounds like Dawn on a goo
d day,” Helen teased, and I shot her a glare.

  “How do I know that I can trust you?” I asked, popping my neck.

  “If I were a spy, do you think I would leave these people here alive? All I do is look for food, not for a human snack,” he said. His eyes were pleading.

  “Fine. I will believe you,” I sighed, pulling the fire from the sword back into my fingertips as Minerva had taught me. “Just so you know, I have no qualms with killing you if for any reason I feel you are lying to me.”

  “Is she always this feisty?” He asked, glancing at Krista who instantly blushed.

  “You have no idea,” Helen said dully.

  “What are you guys, the teenage musketeers?” He had to be joking me.

  “No,” Helen groaned.

  Technically Krista was the oldest but because of her preservation in Purgatory she had returned to an eighteen-year-old body. This put Helen as being the oldest, but not wisest, of us all.

  “No, really what are you?” the warlock asked, his lips curving in a smirk. It was nice to see he was getting comfortable around us.

  “We are the Wardens,” Helen answered and Krista broke out into laughter, both of us turning to look at her. The blonde glanced at us through her eyelids and shut up. I cracked a smile, getting what she was laughing about.

  “I’m Dawn, the brunette is Helen, and the blonde is Krista.” I put my hand on the warlock’s shoulder. “We are not superheroes as Helen would have you believe.” He let out a chuckle and looked at Krista again from the corner of his eye.

  “I know about the Wardens,” he said as we walked down the road toward the waiting SUV.

  “Does everyone in the world know about Wardens? Because just six months ago I had no clue who or what they were,” I said, hanging my head.

  It seemed all the allies knew what I was before I could tell them. For several nights I was treated to stories about the previous women put in charge of protecting the first elements. I, apparently, was nothing like the last one. She had been full of power that not even I had been able to master.

  “It’s pretty common knowledge in the Underground,” the warlock said, looking at me and smiling.

  “I’m starting to learn that,” I grumbled as I opened the back door to the SUV. “Just so you know there is one more step to the test. You will learn it when we get to the manor,” I said as he climbed inside and the door was secured behind him.

  ***

  I felt like we were being used as nothing more than a glorified welcoming committee. When something came to town we were supposed to hunt it down and find out if it was with or against us. So far, every being that had made its way to Harrisville had been an ally, excluding the demon who made her escape in the ambulance. However, I had got pretty good at handling my mother’s broadsword.

  We entered the manor with the warlock trudging behind us, his head bowed as he was introduced to my mother. She gave him a warm smile and reached out to take his hand.

  “Welcome,” she said sweetly, her eyes flickering and she nodded at me. She reached out and took the man’s hands in hers. Closing her eyes, she attempted to pull whatever she could from his memories. The warlock was as he said. I rolled my eyes, for once I would give anything to find a creature out there that wasn’t an ally.

  The warlock turned to nod at us as my mother led him to the backyard to be introduced to the others of his kind. Hopefully someone out there would be able to assist him in finding his place in the world. I think out of all the allies that we had seen over the last few weeks we were receiving an increased number of hybrids. The Queen was quite particular about who she wanted in her world and these were the ones that did not make the cut. These were the bad experiments, those that did not take the blood mix correctly, creating unnatural creatures, many of which could not complete a full transformation.

  We had second, third, and fourth generation element carriers. These men, women and children were trained in element usage as well as hand-to-hand combat. Even when their stamina was at its peak there was no way that they could hold out as long as the three of us. So they needed to learn how to protect themselves between recharges.

  We learned one thing about the fourth generations, while their powers were weak compared to the others, if we or another touched them they were fully charged in seconds. For a few moments they were able to pull power from us and amplify what they already knew how to do. Shawn found this fascinating and would run by, charging the other carriers to see what they could do.

  We had started a chain of command of our own when it came to the shard carriers. First generations we kept listed as carriers, seconds were lieutenants, thirds were sergeants, while fourths and below were considered privates. This was our way of knowing who was what. In a way, it helped us to understand the powers that were living in the compound. It also made it easy to keep track of each one of them.

  There was another amazing discovery when it came to the shards. They were not just inside mortals, they were also inside of the supernatural and the paranormal. We had a member of the fae that was able to work water as well as any second generation, a warlock that could manipulate the weather similarly to Krista. It was amazing how this little world worked.

  The backyard was full of tents and other temporary homes. We had classes and sessions, told war stories and roasted hot dogs on an open fire. We were large and continually growing. With each new being came a new gift. Angels and demons remained silent for the most part. Occasionally we would hear that a being was sent by Ramiel or Mara but for the most part they followed a feeling. When the stories started to hit the Underground about the Hybrid Queen many felt compelled to find the Wardens. Those that knew of the element shard within their core ran for aid when the ones that were unknown began to die around them.

  My father’s plan to remove Wesley from the New Mexico location was taking a little more time than they imagined. They needed stronger warriors, those with training. So far we had a total of six ‘elite warriors,’ as my father called them. Men and women who were bred to fight, many of them with demon blood running through their veins.

  “Max!” my mother called, running up to a man with blue hair and hazel eyes. Max had been our first warlock to come to the compound. He was amazing with his power and wowed us in the first hour of his presence.

  “Angie,” he said with a smile, turning to look at her and our new ally running toward him.

  “Max this is …” she paused. “I’m sorry, I didn’t ask your name.” She turned to our friend and frowned.

  “Jeremiah,” the man said, giving her a nod in understanding.

  “Max, this is Jeremiah, he is new to the manor. Dawn and the girls picked him up in town. He’s a shifter with tremendous magical powers.”

  Max’s eyebrows raised. “Oh. Welcome Jeremiah. Please come with me, I will introduce you to the others.” He took the other man by the shoulders and led him to a small group of beings with multi-colored hair and odd-colored eyes. My mother turned to me and smiled.

  “I’m so proud of you girls,” she said, touching me on the cheek and smiling with approval.

  “Yeah. We do what we can,” I said, shrugging. I longed for that first real battle, one where I could try out my new skills. However, I had a feeling that it was coming soon enough.

  “I think someone inside is waiting to see you. It’s getting late anyway; you and the girls need to get to bed,” she said, walking past me. I looked back toward the house and took off into a sprint. I tore into the living room and dived over the back of the couch, landing on top of Adam.

  “Well hello there. It’s great to see you guys made it back OK,” Adam said, wrapping his arms around me. “So I take it there’s another mouth to feed?”

  “Yeah. For once I would like actually to be able to use the sword instead of just using it as a boomerang,” I groaned, rolling off of him and onto the floor. “What are you watching?”

  “Some movie about the rise and f
all of Rome. I think I fell asleep somewhere between the first five minutes and the last half hour. I have no clue what is going on.” He laughed, rubbing his eyes. “I tried to stay awake to see you when you got home.”

  “I’m here.” I grinned at him.

  “Your mom said it won’t be long till I can go out with you. She wants me to build just a bit more confidence. Apparently, I’m still a bit jumpy when I see all these beings coming to the house. The vampires bug me the most, they look at me like I’m their next meal.” He sat up, making room for me to sit on the couch.

  “It’s not that interesting yet,” I said, jumping back on the couch and wrapping my arms around his. Adam and I had a special relationship. I did things with him that I didn’t even do with Aaron or Wesley. The thought of both of them made my heart hurt. I was still dealing with the emptiness inside of me. Even though Adam had a way of making it better, he didn’t mend the void that had been created from losing both of them.

  “You heard from Aaron?” he asked me. It was as if he knew my mind was wandering. I shook my head. It had been two weeks since the last email interaction and nearly three since Aaron last called. “Don’t worry, he will come around.”

  “I don’t think so. Edmund made a trip to see him and said that he was doing well—he’d even made friends with a young girl his age. I think I have officially been forgotten about,” I sighed. I knew it was coming. I was ready to become a memory, at the same time I was finding myself counting the days till I saw him again. Edmund had said that it would be sooner rather than later. He still would not tell me what Adam and his family had become, no matter how hard I pressed him for more information.

  “Well it was worth a shot.” He gave me a reassuring smile. “You want to watch Halloween and pretend to be scared?”

  “You always know what will make me feel better.” I laughed as I got up to find the DVD amongst the stacks that we had accumulated since the start of June.

  Shawn had made several trips back to Midvale to check on things. The house was untouched and, little by little, he managed to bring back our clothes and other essentials. This included the collection of about one hundred movies that my mother and I had purchased while we were still in Texas.