Protector

by Sam Ryder

  “Me either,” Beat said. She’d said similar before, but for the first time I really felt the full extent of the truth in her tone. Her eyes narrowed as she glanced at my chest. “Those white vein things are getting worse. You know, where the siren bit you?”

  I didn’t look. I didn’t need to. I’d felt their progress, like a cold working its way through my system. I didn’t know what it meant. I didn’t really want to—not at this exact moment anyway. Maybe tomorrow. Or the next day. I needed a vacation. I was about to tell Beat as much but closed my mouth when I saw Eve striding down the hill. Beat and I watched her in silence.

  “Any news?” I asked when she was within earshot.

  “You’ve been summoned,” she said.

  “Ooh!” Beat said, like I’d just been told to go to the principal’s office. “You’re in trouble!”

  “Shut your Warrior face,” I joked back, standing. Then, to Eve: “The cavern?”

  She nodded. “Hurry. There’s not much time.” Her expression was serious—too serious even for her—which erased all jokes from my mind.

  Beat stopped grinning too. “Go,” she said.

  I started to move up the hill, but Eve said, “Use the backdoor. It will be open for you.”

  I ran, because I needed to see Airiel one last time. I’d put everything on the line for her, and then she’d done the same for me. She didn’t have to. Yes, one could argue she was just trying to save her own life by helping us retrieve her heart, but it didn’t feel like that. The sky goddess had never come across as selfish, not once. Maybe when her kingdom had been overthrown she’d been a bad person, as selfish and nasty as Persepheus, but that person was long gone. Everything she’d done, she’d done for us. Her way of thanking us for trying to save her life.

  I wanted to thank her for saving mine before her last life point faded into the nether.

  As Eve had promised, the backdoor was open, blocked by foliage. I pushed through, blinking so my eyes would adjust to the dimmer lighting created by the flickering demontorches.

  “Come in,” Minertha said. She sat with her head in her hands, refusing to look at me.

  My heart sank to my toes.

  Persepheus was less gentle with me. She stood in front of the waterfall wall, her chin defiant. “You destroyed our palace, Protector,” she said.

  Even though I knew her words were borne of sadness, anger coursed through me. I’d brought back her sister’s heart and helped kill one of their archenemies, and she was worried about an old stone monstrosity she hadn’t called home for more than a century? I was furious and about to do something stupid like tell her off when I noticed the slight curl of her lips on one side. She was joking. I thought I’d seen it all, but not this. The goddess of the sea’s idea of a joke was usually a nasty barb that left one feeling like a shadow of themselves. But this really was a joke. “Ha?” I said. I glanced at Minertha, trying to understand what the hell was happening. The earth goddess looked up. She was also smiling. “What am I missing?”

  “Come with me,” Minertha said. She extended a hand. I stepped forward and took it, my slow brain still trying to catch up.

  Hand in hand, she led me into the next room, the one with all the artifacts gathering dust. Airiel lay on the soft bed where we’d talked for a while. She was so still it was like she was dead.

  But she wasn’t. Her chest was rising and falling ever so slightly. Deep relief rolled through me. Given Eve’s expression and the sister goddesses’ greeting, I’d expected the worst. I’d been pranked. Which was mean, but it didn’t bother me at this moment.

  All that mattered was that Airiel was hanging on to life.

  “Do you want to see, Protector?”

  I almost asked See what? but then I understood what she was asking. “You can do that?”

  “Yes.”

  I was scared to see, but I also knew I couldn’t say no. I needed to know the truth. “Please,” I said.

  She waved a hand, red shimmering light radiating from her fingers. There was still magic inside these women—all of them. They just couldn’t use it regularly, like they probably used to.

  In the trail of the red light a number appeared. Just like that, hovering in the air over Airiel’s slumbering form.

  It was the number five.

  Five.

  Which could only mean one thing: “It worked?”

  “It worked. You saved her.”

  I shook my head. “She saved herself. You should’ve seen her. She looked badass, all glowy like a falling star.”

  Minertha chuckled. “You should’ve seen us in our glory days. Back then we were, as you say, ‘badass.’”

  A huge smile split my face. How could it not? We’d brought a goddess back from the brink of death. I didn’t know whether restoring the Three to their kingdoms was the most important thing in this world, but defeating the Morgoss was. And we’d beat one of them. “I’ve got to go tell the others,” I said. I wanted Beat and Lace to share in the news.

  “Stay a little longer,” Minertha said.

  Normally, I would. But I had responsibilities. “I can’t.”

  “Shut the fuck up, Protector,” Persepheus said, joining her sister inside the artifact room. “Time to Level up. You’ve earned it.”

  It was the last thing I expected them to tell me. I felt like I’d only just Leveled up to Protector. I felt like I was just beginning to fit the role.

  But I also knew we needed a Seeker. And I didn’t want to stand in the way of one of my Warriors—Beat or Lace, presumably—Leveling up. “I’m ready,” I said.

  “But first, one thing,” Persepheus said. Her lichen bikini faded out of existence, revealing smooth, taut curves. “I would hate to miss out on one more opportunity to enjoy your current form.”

  Minertha, whose rough, rocky clothing had also disappeared, took one of my hands while Persepheus grabbed the other. They led me to the bed in the other room.

  I enjoyed using my Protector body one last time with them too. Very much.

  NINETEEN

  SEEKER

  I emerged from the ooze-filled cocoon a different man. Physically, but not mentally. Inside, I was still plain old Sam Ryder. But on the outside, I was leaner, more chiseled. Even without moving, I felt faster and nimbler. Gone was the hulking smash-first-ask-questions-later brawler I had become during my transition from Warrior to Protector.

  There were other changes too, ones I noticed immediately. My vision was sharper. Everything appeared more in focus. The glowing vines were blinding. The edges of the rocks were so clear I could make out the varying textures. Similar improvements had been made to my hearing. The tinkle of the nearby pool of water was too loud. But that cacophony didn’t stop me from hearing other sounds—deep breathing, heartbeats. I was hearing fucking heartbeats.

  Holy shit.

  I had spidey senses.

  I looked around, my eyes meeting Eve’s as she sat, watching. “I’m a Seeker?”

  She nodded, a small smile playing on her lips. “You look damn good.”

  Gods, this woman. Like the Three, she’d done awful things. I wanted to hate her half the time. But the other half of the time she seemed to be trying to be better, to change. “If I look damn good, then you’re on another planet,” I said. Was I seriously flirting with her? It felt like playing with a stick of dynamite.

  “Sometimes,” she said. “Not at the moment.”

  “I can hear your heartbeat.” I frowned, because her slow and steady heart wasn’t the only one I could hear. There were others. And the sounds of deep breathing.

  I looked behind me. There were two other cocoons besides the one I’d torn my way through.

  When had she had time to go on another Finding mission? Normally she needed to rest a few days in between.

  It hit me.

  I turned back to her. “Who?” I asked.

  “See for yourself.” She gestured to the cocoons. When I looked at them the second time, they were moving. I could h
ear every scrape, the accelerating pace of the heartbeats of those inside. Razor-sharp claws punched through the side of one of the cocoons. The claws were at least a foot long, slightly curved at the end.

  My mouth widened into an O and I took a step back. Rapidly, the claws slashed across the cocoon’s side, turning it to gossamer ribbons drenched in ooze. The primordial slime splashed out but the cocoon’s occupant performed a full flip and landed on her agile feet. Perfectly balanced, a snarl on her face. Twin fangs, longer now, protruding from her lips. Cat ears pricked up and catching every sound.

  “Protector Lace,” I said. “You look like fucking Wolverine.”

  Specifically, she looked like a wild animal ready to carve anything and everything to bits. Her body, which looked similar but perhaps a few degrees more muscular, softened slightly. “Who is fucking Wolverine?” she asked.

  “Never mind,” I said. “Congratulations. You’re a Protector now. Level 3.”

  “About time,” she muttered. Her claws were still out and I wondered whether she had the ability to retract them. “And you’re Level 4 now. Shocking. You always were the goddesses’ favorite.” This time, I could tell, she was joking. Any animosity between us was gone. We’d survived too much together.

  The continued shifting of the other cocoon dragged both our attention away from each other. “Who’s that?” Lace asked.

  A massive fist smashed through the side. Powerful fingers opened, stretched, knuckles crackling. “I’ll give you three guesses, but you’re only going to need one,” I said, grinning so hard my face was starting to hurt.

  Right on cue, Beat barged through the cocoon, her body—now half again as big and strong as before—tumbling out with none of the grace Lace had exhibited. On hands and knees, Beat spat out a wad of oozy gunk. “Fuck these cocoons,” she said.

  She looked up, her eyes darting from Lace to me, then back to Lace, narrowing when she noticed her newly improved claws. “She turned into fucking Wolverine,” she said.

  I laughed. Yep, everything was good, at least for now. “C’mon,” I said. “It’s time for you both to meet your new Warriors.” The only thing better than having one Protector was having two.

  ~~~

  The Leveling up celebration had died down. There were still a few hours before the next Black, and most of the Warriors had gone to sleep. Lace had invited Asfandiar to go with her, but he’d taken one look at her claws and made an excuse of being too tired. I didn’t blame him. She still hadn’t figured out how to retract them.

  Only Beat and I remained sitting by the fire, finishing off the last of the leafrat.

  “I’m bigger than you,” Beat commented.

  “Bigger isn’t always better.”

  “In this case it is,” she said.

  “True. You could mash my head into pulp with your fists.”

  “True,” she agreed. “But I won’t. Unless you piss me off.”

  “It’s inevitable. You might as well get it over with.” I offered her my head.

  “Nah,” she said. “Maybe tomorrow.”

  It felt good to just talk with the best friend I had on this planet. Hell, she was the best friend I’d had anywhere. “It’s weird,” I said.

  “What is?”

  “So many people on Earth and yet so many feel alone.”

  “Deep. Are you talking about yourself?”

  “Kind of. If I’d met you on Earth, would we have been friends?”

  She shook her head. “I avoided dumbasses like the plague.”

  “Har and har,” I said. “Seriously. If we’d—I don’t know—worked together or something, would we have been friends?”

  “Look, Ryder, I didn’t know how to talk to real people on Earth. I didn’t want to talk to them. I always assumed they were looking at me, judging me. Online was different. Maybe online we would’ve been friends. But not in real life.”

  That made me sad. Sad for all the others like us out there who would never take a chance because they were too scared. Looking back, I wished I’d taken more chances. Well, I was sure as hell going to make up for it here. “Fair enough,” I said. “At least we’re friggin’ Warriors now.”

  “Noooo,” Beat said, rounding out the word. “You’re a Seeker now. You’re supposed to sneak around in the shadows and look for interesting shit. I don’t even know if you could take on a bludgeon one on one anymore.”

  I feigned annoyance. “I could.”

  Beat pretended to think about it seriously. “Well, maybe a small one. A child bludgeon perhaps.”

  “Fine. I’ll leave the adult rock-smashers to you.”

  “Thanks. What’s next?” Beat asked. “Do we need to go out again to find the other goddesses’ hearts?”

  I shook my head. We had a little time left before things became urgent. Airiel was recovering. Minertha and Persepheus were still heading in the wrong direction, but the situation wasn’t dire. Yet. We had time. Not much, but enough to get a breather. “No,” I said. “Now we build our army.”

  “Ooh, me likey that idea,” Beat said. “I call first pick of Warriors.”

  I laughed. A little healthy competition between the two new Protectors might not be a bad thing. “I’m not sure it works that way, but if Lace is cool with it, so am I.”

  “Hey, Ryder?” Beat said.

  “Yeah?”

  “Once you do get off your lazy ass and go out to seek precious artifacts, do you think you could find me a magic spear? Pretty please?”

  I pretended to consider it, like I was on the fence.

  She raised a big ol’ fist in my direction.

  “Sure,” I said. “Since you asked so nicely.”

  Together, we watched the day drift toward another Black.

  It was almost time to fight monsters again.

  But not me. I had other things to do now.

  I was a Seeker.

  TWENTY

  DOOM

  The Morgoss were pissed off. Royally. The one with the many eyes kept shifting in and out of smoke form, roiling around the room and smashing into things. The other one—with the spiked armor, nasty whip and Morningstar—was calmer, but still full of rage.

  Something had gone down, and Vrill had a feeling it involved Sam Ryder. She wanted to cheer for him, but this close to the demon masters she was powerless. The collar on her neck made sure of that. Further away from their lair, the signal weakened somewhat, which had allowed her to thwart their plans on several occasions now.

  Which always meant punishment. The pain didn’t bother her. If anything, it made her feel alive, rather than the shade of a person she’d become. Her bond—from the other collar—to the dragon gave her a sense of the magnificent beast’s emotions too. It also enjoyed the pain. It was as much a prisoner as she was, a slave to the will and whim of their masters.

  Vrill watched the tirade continue, wondering where the third Morgoss was. The brutal knight with the big ol’ sword. Even in the hot depths of the tunnel system beneath Annakor, she’d heard the crash of thunder. A storm had raged aboveground, and she had a feeling it wasn’t just bad weather.

  Whatever had gone down, it had caught the ire of these two demons.

  One of the Maluk’ori appeared in the tunnel entrance, chittering away. Delivering a message of some kind. Or an update.

  Whatever it said, the smoky Morgoss didn’t like it. In a flash, it was on the small demon, which screamed. The poor sap vanished into the smoke. When the Morgoss reformed a distance away, bones clinked to the ground where the Maluk’ori had been. The rest of it had been devoured. It had kind of been like watching a parent eat their own child.

  Vrill felt ill.

  The cold-eyed Morgoss turned toward her. Here it comes, she thought, steeling herself. While the smoky one always raged hot and fast, this Morgoss’s anger was a slow-burning fuse that always led to her. And the dragon. She hoped it would focus on her this time. She hated watching the mighty beast laid low.

  She didn’t back away, didn�
��t flinch, even as the demon master raised its whip high in the air. She wouldn’t give it the satisfaction of seeing her fear.

  The whip snapped forward, cracking at the end, slashing open her neck.

  She gritted her teeth, unmoving, breathing in the agony. The pain meant she was alive, right? She clung to that thought.

  Crack!

  This time the blow snaked down her cheek. Warm blood rose to the surface, cascading down her face and dripping from her chin.

  Still she refused to step back.

  She could see how her defiance angered the Morgoss. And anything that made the demon angry felt like a victory for her, albeit a small one, especially considering she was the one bleeding.

  Crack!

  Her stomach flared with pain, a long red slash seared into her skin.

  Her defiance turned into something else: rage. Slow-building, like the first drops of rain before a major storm.

  Crack!

  Her arm bled.

  Crack!

  Her leg.

  Crack! Crack! Crack!

  Cra—

  Her hand shot out and she caught the end of the whip, relishing the burn of its lash on her palm.

  The Morgoss cocked its head to the side. Tried to pull the whip back. She held it fast. Its black eyes narrowed. Its voice rumbled. “Good. You have fight. Now fight us no more, or you will die.”

  She wanted to die if it meant she didn’t have to do what these bastards told her to do anymore. But that wasn’t a choice, not when given a direct order. It was a wonder she’d managed to defy the whip the way she had. Now, however, she felt her fingers open of their own volition, releasing the whip. Then her legs moved, carrying her toward the dragon, which had already dipped its head so she could climb on. A powerful creature turned into a house pet.

  It made her unbearably sad.

  And yet too weak to resist.

  She climbed on, feeling the familiar rough-smooth texture of the dragon’s scales on her fingers, her legs. Without another word, the dragon took off into the shaft leading up and out of the cave system. Into the darkening sky it soared, releasing a roar.