Protector

by J. A. Armitage

  It was just desserts for all the years we’d suffered, for the dragons who’d lost family members. To have the soul sucked out of them by their own magic served them right.

  I swung left and right, sucking away soul after soul, and with each one, I felt stronger. Not just because I now held a soul-filled sword, but because I felt sure of myself. For the first time in my life, I knew what it was to be a Slayer. I wasn’t doing it for glory or for tradition, as the others in my village had. I was doing it for survival, but I had to admit to myself, it felt good. I now knew why my father had fought the dragons for so long. This was what I was born to do.

  I looked around. Morganna was the closest ally to me. She was expertly fighting two Goblins at once, but she was sure of herself. She didn’t need my help. The Wolvren were also fine without me. In battle, they’d shown themselves to be aggressive. They didn’t need weapons; they had their teeth and they were using them brutally. The strewn-about limbs of fallen Goblins were testament to that.

  That’s not to say we hadn’t suffered casualties of our own. A couple of Wolvren were down, as was one of the dragons. It’s blue-green scales told me it wasn’t Ash. I wanted to go to them, to see if they were still alive, but there were more pressing needs I had to attend to. Slightly farther up the mountain, I could see Jasper. He was hopelessly outnumbered, and yet he was doing a magnificent job of keeping them at bay. I ran, jumping over the scattered bodies, pushing my muscles to the extreme, to get to him. I wasn’t about to lose another family member.

  There were six or seven of them surrounding him and he was struggling. I jumped in the circle of Goblins and brother and sister fought together for the first time, engaged in a battle for our lives.

  These particular Goblins were good. Not because they had superior skill at fighting, but because they were using magic to fool us. One minute they were there, then they were gone, only to reappear moments later a few inches to the right or left. I could tell that their magic was waning by the way they were jittering in and out of vision. Their glimmer wasn’t working as well as it should, thankfully for us, because if it did, I was positive Jasper and I would both be dead. As it was, we were able to anticipate their movements and attack as soon as they appeared. I speared the first and he went down quickly, giving a slow death rattle before succumbing to his wound. I felt a slight jolt as this soul left his body and entered my sword, strengthening it further. Behind me, Jasper fought as we circled around back-to-back, trying to keep one step ahead of our opponents. I heard a scream, too high-pitched to be Jasper. He must have killed one, too.

  I was currently battling three of them, one of which kept disappearing on me. He was the one I needed to get first. The other two would then be a piece of cake. He was sneaky, though. As I did everything I could to defend myself from the other two, he’d appear and try to get an attack in. As soon as I lunged for him, he was already gone.

  I knew he was still there, just invisible, but he was quick, and every time I delved my sword into what should have been his body, he had already jumped to the side.

  Suddenly, a sharp pain in my side made me jump. I looked down to see a bloom of blood appear on my tunic. The pain seared through me, clearing my head. I didn’t need to fight these guys. I didn’t even need to see them. I could kill them all with one swoop. The two Goblins I could see had hesitated, taking in my injury. They were probably waiting to see if it would kill me. I raised my sword to my side and with a cry of “Not today!” I swiped it at their neck level. One, two, and finally three heads flew clean off, the invisible one suddenly appearing long enough for me to see his head roll down the mountainside.

  Feeling triumphant and stronger than ever thanks to the souls of the three I’d just killed, I turned to help Jasper. He was down to two Goblins himself, neither of whom were using magic. I crashed my sword down to the first, who jumped to the side and launched an attack of his own. I was ready, though, and as he ran forward, I held out my sword at arm’s length. The stupid fool was running too quickly to stop and impaled himself on my sword way before his reached my body. His eyes went wide with shock before he slumped, his lifeforce leaving him. I lowered my sword to let his body fall off and once again, I felt the now familiar jolt of his soul entering my sword. At that moment, another Goblin fell. I turned to see Jasper with a huge grin on his face. At some point, he would find out about our father, but now was not the time to tell him. I let him indulge in his victory for a few moments before pointing down the hill at a group of Goblins who were attacking Alpha.

  He ran down the mountain with a war cry, leaving me alone. I looked down once again at my tunic. The Goblin had managed to spear me at the very edge of my body in the one place the protective leather didn’t cover. It was a flesh wound and hadn’t hit any major organs, but if I didn’t get it bandaged soon, I was at risk of bleeding to death. Ripping a bit of clothing from one of the dead Goblins, I did the best I could to make a bandage. I wrapped it around my waist and at the point of the wound, I stuffed in more fabric to stem the bleeding. It was gross but better than dying.

  I scanned the scene below me. As I was the highest person on the mountain, I was able to see the whole battle. It was still going strong, although with far fewer people and Goblins. Bodies littered the ground and the stench of blood was unmistakable. It filled my nose, making me want to vomit. I had to keep breathing, though. I was feeling dizzy with grief and with loss of blood, but I couldn’t fall now. Fainting would probably kill me. I didn’t want to have to go through all this to die because of exposure to the cold. I felt weak now, but my sword and my heart felt strong. If I could keep myself standing, I could see this through to the end.

  To my right, a flash of red stole my concentration as it always did. It was Ash. It was like my eyes were trained to seek him out. A group of Goblins was firing arrows at him and as I looked more closely, I could see that some had already hit their mark, their shafts sticking out from between his scales. He was in pain. He wasn’t making any noise, but I could see it in his face. He blew a gust of fire at his attackers but was way off the mark. He needed my help. I raced around the mountain to where the Goblins stood. They were right on the very edge of the precipice where I’d been at the first avalanche, when I’d gone over only to be rescued by Ash. It was fitting I’d be able to return the favor.

  Standing on the edge of a cliff with their backs to me, they were easy targets, or they would be if I was quick. I didn’t need my sword for this, I just needed speed. I sheathed my sword and pelted at them with full force. All it took was a quick shove and the first was screaming down the cliff face. Without pausing, I moved on to the second and then the third, pushing each one to their deaths. The last one saw me, but it was too late; before he’d even had the chance to aim his bow at me, he was already hurtling to his death.

  “Ash!” I called out loudly. He followed the sound of my voice and came in to land beside me. As gently as I could, I removed the arrows that pierced his body. When he turned back into his human form, he’d be covered in the scars of war, just as I was. We’d both been through so much in such a short time and now it was nearly over. As I turned to look behind me, I felt Ash’s long tail curl around my body and his head rest on my shoulder.

  The Goblins were dead. All of them. We’d won the war. There were so many injured and dead from our side, too, but many were still standing. Morganna, Jasper, and Xander were checking the mountainside for our wounded. Up in the air, Spear and the other dragons flew around in circles, checking that everything was clear before they landed. The silence was deafening. After a couple of hours of listening to the sounds of war, all that was left for us was the clean-up. I stroked Ash’s head, glad to have him by my side. Our scars would fade in time, but the psychological scars would remain forever. I knew we had a long road of healing ahead of us, but I knew with him at my side, I’d get through it.

  I took a step forward, planning to help the others tend to the injured, when something passed quickly in front of
me. Whatever it was, it was almost invisible, but the way the light bent told me that magic was in play. Without thinking, I ran toward it and leaped into the air. As I suspected, I connected with something before knocking us both to the ground. I heard an “umph” below me as I landed on it.

  “Show yourself!” I demanded, holding my sword to where I suspected his neck to be.

  In front of my eyes, a Goblin appeared. It was Krikor.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  “Krikor! I should have known you’d be cowardly enough to leave.” I dragged him to his feet, my sword still at his neck. “I have the souls of many Goblins in this sword,” I said to him as menacingly as I could. “We need to talk, and I don’t want any more tricks, not unless you want there to be another Goblin soul in here. I have to say it would be quite fitting.”

  He looked scared. With his people dead and his magic almost completely gone, there was nothing left for him to do and he knew it. He gazed at me with sorrow in his eyes, which unnerved me. I was expecting anger or defiance. “What do you want?”

  “You know what I want.”

  “The souls of the dragons.”

  “Yes. I want them back and I don’t want to spill any more blood.”

  “Your blood would be useless now, anyway. You are no longer innocent. You are a murderer just like the rest of the people in your village.”

  “I killed to save my people,” I spat at him. “Something I wouldn’t have had to do if you hadn’t trapped them.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Your people? How interesting that you call the dragons your people, when in fact your people are the ones that slayed them.”

  “The dragons are my people Krikor, but I don’t expect you to understand that. You’ve manipulated us all for too long and today, it’s going to stop. I know you can free the dragon souls without my blood. You would need to be able to in order to turn their souls into magic.”

  “So, you know?”

  “No, it was only a theory, but I know now. How much magic do you have left? I know it can’t be a lot.”

  “It isn’t. Why do you think we were taking the swords back? We needed the dragon souls to generate more.”

  “Do you have enough to bring my father back to life?” It was a long shot, but I had to ask.

  He regarded me curiously. “You father died at the hands of a Goblin?”

  “Yes.”

  “If he died on a sword, the sword would trap his soul, just as your sword has trapped my fellow goblins. You only need to free him.”

  Hope rose within me. I could save him. “He was speared through the brain.”

  “Ah, well, in that case, there is no hope. The brain is the one part of a person that can’t be fixed by returning a soul. There is only one way to fix this, and that is to use magic. A lot of magic.”

  “So, do it!” I insisted.

  Krikor looked at me, a sly smile on his face as though he knew something I didn’t.

  “What?” I asked, holding the sword right up against his neck.

  “There is only one way to get all the magic we need and you know what that is.” His grin widened as I realized what he meant. To get enough magic to bring my father back to life, I’d have to sacrifice the souls of the dragons still trapped in the swords. I heard footsteps to my right and left. A war was raging in my head. I couldn’t let my father stay dead and yet, could I really give all those dragons to save him?

  Tears sprang to my eyes. Tears of frustration. A loud, guttural scream escaped my lips at the injustice of it all.

  “The dragon souls left in the swords might have been there so long that no one remembers them,” said a voice. It was Ash. He’d turned back into a human. “You can save him.”

  He was right. Dragons like Mary had been captured so long ago that they no longer had living family. No one would care if they just disappeared. No one really knew them. That is, of course, if they were all captured a long, long time ago.

  I turned to Ash. He was wearing one of the spare sets of clothes we’d brought up and already there were patches of blood from the arrow wounds. I loved him so much right then. “My father died to save them,” I murmured. “He wouldn’t want me to choose him over them. Saving the dragons was what all this was about, what it’s always been about.”

  I turned back to Krikor. His grin was gone. “My father died the way he would have wanted to. Making amends. Saving the dragons.”

  Krikor grimaced, but he knew he had no choice. My sword was at his throat. “So be it,” he said. “Follow me.”

  With one of my hands holding onto the scruff of his neck and the other with my sword to his throat, I had to walk slowly while Krikor led us to the entrance of his village. It was still partly submerged, but Ash and Morganna managed to dig enough of a hole for us all to fit through.

  “Over here!” I yelled to everyone else. It took a while, but eventually, they all converged around the entrance. “Is that everyone?” I asked, not wanting to leave anyone behind. They’d fought for this, and they needed to see it. The dragons and the wolves had all changed back into their human forms and gotten dressed.

  “It’s everyone that’s still alive,” Spear grunted.

  My heart fell as I took in how few there was left of us. A couple of the Wolvren were injured with various wounds. Xander had a nasty cut on his head and blood dripping from his arm. Most of the dragons looked uninjured, thankfully. Ash seemed to have come off the worst.

  The tunnel was darker than I remembered it, but before now, it had been lit by magic. Now, we only had the faint light from the entrance to guide us. In the main chamber, holes in the ceiling let in enough light for us to see.

  “This way,” Krikor said, leading us to the far end of the cavern and into a tunnel I’d not seen before. It was almost pitch black, but Krikor knew his way without the light. I held on to him tightly, knowing if I let go, he’d be gone in a flash.

  The tunnel seemed to go on for miles downhill. I was beginning to think it was some kind of trick to escape when we came into another cavern. This one was a lot smaller than the one I’d seen so many times up near the top of the mountain, but the beauty of it took my breath away. Intricate patterns carved into the walls surrounded us, and each one was decorated with precious jewels just like the ones the Goblins used in our swords. The artistry was magnificent and awe-inspiring, but it was not this that took my attention.

  There, in the middle of the floor were swords. Not just our swords, but the swords of others too. Other Slayers’ swords, just like the ones from the abandoned village downriver. They were not piled up as they had been at Spear’s house. Instead, each one was mounted in a placeholder that held them so the sword blade pointed upward and inward. They were in layers of circles, rising higher and higher around a central spire. My eyes followed the line of the swords to the very top, where there was a crystal, larger than any precious stone I’d ever seen before. Light emerged from it and it was this that enabled us to see.

  “What’s that?” asked Ash, taking a step towards it.

  “Don’t!” Morganna held him back. “There’s very powerful magic in this room.”

  “Not enough of it,” remarked Krikor dryly.

  I pulled the sword away from his neck but kept a firm hold of him. “What now?” I asked wearily, desperate for all this to be over. I was exhausted and losing blood at such a rate, I didn’t dare look.

  “I have to climb up and touch the crystal,” Krikor replied.

  I didn’t want to let him go, but at the same time, I wanted to finish this. “Circle the room,” I said to the others. “Morganna, can you stand by the exit in case he tries to escape?” Morganna nodded and moved into position. The others circled the wall and joined hands. If I let go of him now, there was no place for him to escape to. “No tricks,” I hissed in his ear.

  I let him go, but held my sword up to his back should he try and run. He didn’t, though. He walked forward and began to climb. Each foothold and handhold was between the blade
s of two swords. He was risking hurting himself with each step, and if he fell, he’d be extremely lucky not to skewer himself. Still, I held the sword to his back, lifting it higher and higher until he was beyond my reach. The crystal was about twenty feet up and so it took him a while to climb, picking out his route between the swords. I wouldn’t have been able to find my way up there. He hesitated for a fraction of a second before reaching out to touch the crystal. I wondered why he didn’t try to escape. As soon as he freed the dragon souls, everything was over for him. Not that I’d left him much choice in the matter.

  “Wait!” yelled Spear. “The dragons we already freed are dying. If we release the rest, won’t they fall prey to the same illness?”

  Krikor looked down at him. “Your dragons are not dying. They are being reborn.”

  “Reborn?” asked Ash. “What do you mean?”

  “The illness is not an illness at all. It is part of the magic. When someone stabs you, even with a magic sword, damage is done to your body. When the dragons’ souls went back to their bodies, the internal damage was still there. Healing requires a lot of energy. Right now your sick dragons are literally rebuilding themselves. Within a month, they will begin to wake, newer and fresher and younger than they were even before their souls were taken. Their outer skin will shed, leaving them with a beautiful new complexion. They will be reborn.”

  “But some of the dragons whose souls were not taken have fallen ill, too,” I remembered.