Protector

by Sam Ryder

  BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

  The explosions were followed by a frightening CRACK! as a massive split ran up the side of the ward shields. Higher and higher it went before arcing over the top of the cliffs, vanishing down the opposite side.

  The domed shield had been split in half like an egg.

  I was out of time. It was now or never. Vrill still seemed to be fighting the will of the dragon and the twin collars that choked her neck, but it was an impossible task, the massive beast rearing up in preparation for a final blast of heat that would burn the wards to ash.

  I plunged my hand into the membrane, my fingers disappearing, along with the vial of Syrene blood. I could feel the heat, the dragonfire searing my flesh as if I’d shoved my hand into a pot full of flames. Though I couldn’t see my hand and fingers, I could still feel them, control them. I screamed with pain and release as I tipped the vial completely over, spilling its contents.

  Nothing happened.

  The shield in front of me continued to burn red-hot, my hand with it.

  I withdrew my hand quickly, looking at the glass vial. It was empty, the blood having run out. The glass was black, scorched by the heat. My hand was black too, all the way to my wrist. Like meat left in the pan for too long.

  I dropped to my knees, the pain immense. And yet eclipsed by the pain of failure.

  I’d waited too long to act. More cracks formed on the ward shield, spiderwebbing across its surface. I could see chunks breaking away, lit up like sparks.

  My head lolled to the side, where the dragon arched its neck and then plunged it forward, a violent act that would shatter the shield forever.

  Something caught my eye the instant before the dragon’s head crashed into the shield. A white glow on the shield, right where I’d plunged my hand in. Where I’d released the Syrene blood-elixir stuff. The glowing spot radiated outwards, the surface glittering like dewdrops in a meadow on a sunny day.

  The dragon’s head smashed into the damaged wards and its teeth tore at the shields, sparks flying. More pieces broke off, but then the spreading white glow reached it.

  The dragon screamed, flinching back, pawing at its nose, which was also glowing.

  More than one head turned in my direction, Warriors and demons alike.

  I stood up.

  I raised my glowing hammer in the air.

  And then I charged into battle.

  A cry went up from my Warriors as I ran. In my peripheral vision, I could see the beautiful magic continuing to spread across the dome, knitting the cracks back together, cooling the surface, smoothing it over. Strengthening. Fortifying. Renewing.

  One-time use, echoed in my mind.

  The next couple of hours would make or break us. If we could hold off our enemies on this day, we had a narrow chance of survival. All I wanted was a chance.

  “You’ve always got to make a grand entrance, don’t you?” Beat said without looking at me as I ran up. She stabbed a demon through the chest, her spear point exiting out its back. She lifted a powerful foot and kicked the monster to dislodge it from her weapon.

  “You know me, I like the attention.” Despite having not slept, having run for miles and miles without rest, I was energized. This was our fresh start. I swung my hammer so hard I knocked the head clean off one of the demons, the impact sending a blast of light into the air.

  It felt odd that I’d once been scared to death of these pesky little critters.

  Beat said, “Whoa. What’s with your weapon?”

  “Not sure,” I said. “It got powered up somehow.”

  “No kidding.”

  We stopped talking as more demons came at us. Two attacked me from each side, but I shoved my hammer like a spear at one and backhanded the other. They fell to the ground, their bodies going limp, more white light flashing.

  The rest of the Warriors were battling just as well. Millania was whirling about, her trident stabbing and slashing. Lace bounded around, sinking her teeth into demons’ necks and slashing at their throats with her claws. Eve and her panther left a trail of demon corpses in their wake. The newbs didn’t look like newbs at all. Floot stampeded about, head-butting her enemies with her horned snout. Jak was a force of nature, grabbing demons by the handful and slinging them around like toys. Even Guz was impressive, his white-furred body a blur as he cut and stabbed with a pair of knives. There were two I didn’t recognize. A human dude who resembled Conan the Barbarian, tall and muscular. He wielded a two-handed sword with mighty swings that lopped off heads and arms. And a lioness, her thick fur coat turquoise blue in the manner of her kind, which I knew heralded from a planet called Primo. The demon horde’s numbers were dwindling already.

  Too bad we still had two trolls and a dragon to deal with.

  Not to mention Vrill.

  I dashed that thought away, because I needed to focus. The dragon was still pawing at its snout, clearly in distress. Trolls first, I thought. That was the smart move, because they still had an entire wagon full of rock bombs. In fact, one of the stupid hulks had finally grown a brain and snatched up a handful of the explosives, drawing its arm back to launch them at our brand-spankin’-new shield.

  It was totally one of those dramatic moments where I should’ve started running toward it, everything moving in slow motion, my mouth opening as I shouted, “NOO-OOO-OOO!”

  It didn’t happen that way because this was real life and I was the leader of a squad of awesome fucking Warriors that included a cat-woman sharpshooter wielding a magical bow. Yeah, I’m talking about Lace, whose picture deserved to be featured in the urban dictionary’s entry for Master of Badassery.

  She fired an arrow on the run. Rather than aiming for the troll itself, she targeted its payload—the rock bombs it was gripping in its hand.

  The arrow sunk into one of its fingers instead.

  The thing about these magical arrows…your aim didn’t need to be perfect, even if Lace’s usually was. In this case, it was good enough.

  The arrow exploded, which set off a chain reaction of epic proportions. The cluster of bombs in the troll’s fist combusted, taking its hand in the blast. That explosion radiated outwards, tearing apart the wagon and everything in it.

  That’s right—more bombs. The entire godsdamn supply.

  KABOOM! It was a sound usually reserved for cartoon’s that involved Acme TNT strapped to a foolish coyote trying to find ways to keep up with the pesky speedster roadrunner. But I swear to the goddesses that was the sound this explosion made.

  The power of it knocked me flat on my ass, along with anything else within a mile radius. It incinerated both trolls and a bunch of the Maluk’ori. My Warriors would all have nasty headaches for days and plenty of scrapes and burns, but they were well clear of the explosion’s kill zone.

  A mushroom cloud rose up into the sky as I laid on the ground, gasping for breath. I glanced toward the wards.

  The shield barely flickered before turning invisible once more. Hell yeah, I wanted to scream. I’d never seen the shields at full strength. It was exhilarating to know I’d helped to restore them.

  The several demons that had managed to survive the blast fought to their feet and fled.

  I wanted to sleep, but we still had a dragon to deal with, one that was now royally pissed off. So I stood up.

  The dragon was stamping its feet like a raging bull, flames licking at the edges of its lips. Beat appeared at my side. “You want to take it or should I?”

  “All yours,” I said.

  “Pussy.”

  We both laughed, because it was the only way to stay sane. It was weird having so much to tell her as well as so many questions to ask her about what had transpired while I was away but knowing it would all have to wait until we dealt with the winged behemoth that looked like it was about to cook us all with a single breath.

  The rest of the Warriors were backing away. Even Lace, who was as fearless as anyone I’d ever met. They fell in beside Beat and I, a united group. Live together
. Fight together. Die together.

  I’d never been so proud in my life, even of the two newcomers whose names I didn’t know.

  Lace fitted an arrow to her bow. “What shall I do, Protector Ryder? This is your call.”

  I’d never known Lace to give a damn about much other than herself and her own survival. But I’d always known there was a heart beating somewhere inside her chest, even if she didn’t want to admit it. I knew exactly why she was asking me. Not as a sign of respect, or as a way of showing that she’d come to terms with me being selected as Protector instead of her, but because she knew I cared about Vrill. And if she killed the dragon with a magical arrow, Vrill would likely die too.

  She was giving me the choice, even if I’d rather not have it.

  “I—”

  Memories flashed in my mind. Vrill saving me from the Circle. Her delighted expression when she my reaction to tasting leafrat. The ecstasy on her face when I’d first rejuvenated her, our bodies intertwined like two pieces of the same puzzle.

  The horror I’d felt as I’d watched her vanish into the mirror in Annakor.

  All she’d wanted was to survive and live on her own terms. And now here she was being controlled by the Morgoss, forced to fight for them, her independence stolen from her much the same way as she felt the Three had done.

  And yet she was still fighting against the control, her entire body straining against the will of her master’s.

  That’s when I understood. She’d been whipped because of her disobedience.

  My heart ached for her. And yet I knew what needed to be done. This was always bigger than her, even if she didn’t want to admit it. It was bigger than all of us.

  “I—” Still, I hesitated. How could I command one of my Warriors to kill my friend?

  “Don’t,” Beat said. I half-turned toward her, frowning. Her eyes met mine in the way that had always lent me strength when I needed it.

  I was out of time. The dragon was stalking toward us now, its footfalls thunderous.

  “Beat, we have to forget about Vrill,” I said. “The person we know is gone.”

  “Don’t,” Beat said again, gripping my shoulder with her free hand. “You haven’t been here. The dragon came at the end of each Black while you were away.”

  “It did?”

  She nodded. My gaze flicked back toward the dragon, which was closer now, well within Lace’s range. Which also meant we were in range of its jets of flame. “And each night, the dragon’s assault on the shields has been shorter than the last.”

  My heart hammered in my chest as I puzzled over the implications. “Are you saying…”

  She nodded again, her stare intense.

  Vrill was resisting the Morgoss’s control over her and the dragon. Somehow. Some way.

  It explained why I saw her fighting at it while it swept toward the damaged shield. But she had lost then. The dragon had almost destroyed our defenses. What hope was there of her winning now?

  I couldn’t think about one person. That’s not what leaders did, right? Sacrifice a few to save the many—that was the saying, wasn’t it? If I spared Vrill’s life and lost everything else, what sort of leader would that make me?

  But Vrill wasn’t just some person. She was the strongest person I’d ever met, and that included some incredibly strong people. Like Beat and Lace and Eve. Stiff competition.

  Vrill was stronger. She was stronger than me. A survivor. She’d lived on her own on this terrifying planet for years. Plural. It was unfathomable.

  But she’d done it.

  And she’d been there to help me when I needed it, going so far as to march into the demon’s stronghold by my side.

  I think I owed her a little faith now.

  The dragon stopped, cocking its head to the side. It almost looked confused. Vrill’s head appeared, peeking out from the side. Her lips were quivering, her jaw tight and rigid. Her hands were trembling. She looked angry and sad at the same time.

  Her eyes met mine and all I saw was the Vrill I knew.

  “She’s still in there,” I whispered, realizing what Beat already knew. She was still fighting.

  The dragon’s head snapped back to center, and I could see the power in its ancient expression, the instinct to kill flashing in its azure eyes.

  Vrill’s mouth opened, pain wrenching across her face from the effort. Whatever she was trying to say, it was contrary to the will of her masters, the Morgoss.

  She was unable to muster enough strength to vocalize her thoughts, but I could read her silent lips all the same.

  Do it, she mouthed.

  Lace said, “Ryder…”

  “No,” I said. “Don’t.”

  In my peripheral vision I could see Lace’s head turn toward me, but I ignored it. I was fully focused on Vrill now, who was shaking her head.

  “Vrill!” I shouted. “Fight it. You are strong. But this isn’t all on you. We’re with you. Don’t give up.”

  Tears leaked from her eyes, forced out by her struggle against the magic-infused collars binding her to the dragon and their demon masters. Flames poured from the beast’s mouth, stretching toward us slowly, probing.

  “Ryder!” Lace said again, more sharply now. Murmurs of fear rose up from the others as they began backing away. Only Lace, Beat and I remained in place, staring into the approaching flames.

  “No,” I growled. “Hold your fire, godsdammit!”

  The flames stopped as if they’d hit an invisible wall where there wasn’t one. I could almost see Vrill’s will holding them back. The flames vanished and the dragon leapt into the air, its wings unfolding, beating the air into a frenzy.

  It flew away, taking Vrill with it.

  I wondered what I had done, what punishment the Morgoss would inflict on my friend for her insolence.

  “C’mon,” I said. “Let’s head back to camp. We have much to discuss.”

  Beat said, “Weirdo,” slapped me on the back and shoved me toward the beautiful, perfect, invisible ward shield.

  FOURTEEN

  MAKING PLANS

  There was so much to discuss—I mean, crap, I needed to formally meet Eve’s new recruits—but Beat and Eve pretty much shoved me into a hut and told me they’d annihilate me if I didn’t get some sleep. I tried to object, because the Black was coming soon, but they assured me I’d be the first person they’d tell if any monsters attacked the ward shields.

  The new ward shields, I reminded myself, my last thought before I drifted off to sleep.

  I awoke with a start, bronze light pouring through the hut entrance. I sat for a moment, staring at the rustic walls and trying to remember where I was.

  The sounds of distant battle found its way to my ears. Not only did they not wake me up like they’d promised, they were fighting without me.

  I shook off the cobwebs and exited the hut at a full gallop, my head on a swivel as I tried to lock in on the direction of the sound.

  Somewhere past the edge of the cliffs. Which would place it near where the prior breach in the wards had been. I immediately thought the worst. The Syrene’s blood hadn’t been enough. The shields had broken again. I ran, determination flooding my veins. Four words echoed through my mind: Not on my watch, not on my watch, not on my watch…

  I rounded the edge of the cliffs, emerging from the shadows to find…

  I stopped suddenly, my mouth gaping open.

  The Warriors weren’t fighting monsters. Well, technically they were, but only some of the captured slithers from our pit. They were also fighting each other. They were training. Of course. I’d left Beat in charge and she’d taken it to heart.

  Besides the two newbs I’d seen in battle the evening before—the lioness and ripped human dude—there were three others. One was a slender but strong-looking male with whiskers. A cat, like Lace. There was another Oceanian, too. A male, taller than Millania, his green skin reflecting the bronze light like sun on the sea. The last newb captured most of my attention. She was a gian
tess.

  Holy shit. She was the largest woman I’d ever seen. Let me rephrase: She was the largest being I’d ever seen. She was bigger than Ton. Bigger than the tribal leader, Buttplug. Bigger than the trolls. As I watched her, I wondered why she hadn’t been in action the night before. If she had, maybe we could’ve taken down the dragon and freed Vrill.

  Then I realized why.

  Despite her size, she was as timid as a mouse, backing away from one of the slithers as it snaked toward her. Compared to her bulk, it looked like a worm. Her feet got tangled together and she tripped, falling backwards and landing with an impressive thud on her meaty backside. Beat immediately stepped in and brought her spear down on the slithers tail, pinning it to the ground and preventing it from attacking the giant woman.

  No, I thought, she’s not like a mouse. She’s like an elephant afraid of a mouse.

  It was illogical. Then again, I didn’t know this woman. I didn’t know what she’d been through or why she had no confidence. Every flower requires water and sunshine and time to bloom.

  Belle had taught me that.

  The giantess was apologizing to Beat, stammering out words like she might get hit for her failures.

  I stepped forward. “Don’t apologize,” I said.

  All heads turned in my direction. “Pro-Pro-Protector Ryder,” the giantess stammered, her broad cheeks flushing. “Munzy is sorry.”

  “That’s another apology,” I said.

  She raised a hand to her mouth in horror. “Oops. Me—me—me?” I still couldn’t believe a woman of her size didn’t have more backbone. All she had to do was roll over and I’d be turned into a Protector pancake.

  “I’m telling you not to apologize because you haven’t done anything wrong. This is training. We are a team. We fight together. We survive together. If necessary, we die together. We are charged with protecting the Three from the evils of this planet. If one of us falls, the others will pick them up. Understood?”

  She nodded sheepishly, still blushing, extending her hand so someone could help her up.

  Oh boy, this one’s a little too literal. But I needed to practice what I preached. “Uh, okay, let’s do this. Floot, Beat, lioness and new guy”—I pointed to the muscular human—“push from the back. All the rest, grab an arm.” Together, with much pushing and pulling, we managed to help the giantess to her feet. “I am Protector Ryder,” I said once she was looming over me.