Kalindra (GateKeepers) (2 page)

Their clothes were modern to the earthen world. Which meant these were no slaves brought over in the early days before gatekeepers existed, and kept alive by magic. The scent of Inverness infused every part of them.

But how had they crossed over without her knowing? Why had she not been summoned?

She looked around expecting…well…
something
to help her understand. Her fellow gatekeepers maybe, playing a joke on her, or… gods, she didn’t even know. But something to explain how these humans came to be here. A sign that would make some sense of the situation.

A rock clattered far to the left. Roughly a mile, if she had to guess. Her ear twitched, detecting the sound. Normally, she’d ignore it. Even now, she doubted the sound came from anything more than the m’ra rats that inhabited this area of Outremer. But duty demanded she at least check it out. Maybe, just maybe, something would shed some light on this strangeness.

With a sharp screech, Kalindra soared into the air and took off in the direction where the noise had originated. Scanning the ground as she went, she searched for any sign of life or movement below. Plants swayed in the breeze, catching her focus. Here and there an animal skittered away from her gaze. Nothing big enough to cause the noise she’d heard.

“Pick up the pace, we don’t have all day.” A man’s whispered voice stopped her in midflight. She strained, needing more to detect the direction.

“You heard her screech. She might be headed this way.” A woman this time. “She’ll kill you, too. Don’t think she won’t. We have to move.”

Shadows moved against the horizon, a hundred or so meters ahead of her. Kalindra moved toward the sound, careful to keep out of view, her wings quiet as possible.

Until she determined exactly what she was dealing with, she’d hang back. These people could be nothing more than travelers. Or they could be behind the slaughter on
her
doorstep.

A scuffle sounded up ahead, followed by muffled voices. Curiosity got the better of her and she swung closer so she could see what was going on.

Three beings traveled up ahead. Two males and a female. At first, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Until one of the males tripped and fell to his knees, his hands still clutched in front of him. Something silver glinted in the moonlight. Handcuffs?

The other male dragged the fallen one to his feet. The obviously harsh manner made her wince. Wherever they were heading, that one clearly didn’t want to go. It didn’t look like he had a choice in the matter, either.

She debated turning around. This wasn’t her fight. Anything that took her away from her true duty should be avoided.

Still, Kalindra didn’t believe in coincidences. Their appearance so close to the slaughter, a prisoner in tow, required investigation. She couldn’t risk letting them go until she was sure they weren’t involved in whatever had happened at her gate. If she did ignore them, and they were responsible, her reputation would never be the same.

Pulling her wings closer to her body, Kalindra dove down, landing in front of the startled trio.

“Well, well, well, what have we here?” she asked.

Was taking immense pleasure in the horrified shock on their faces really all that wrong? Really? Being frightening made her task as gatekeeper easier. So no, she didn’t think so. A healthy dose of terror was good. And in her line of work, there was no such thing as too much fear.

Kali examined the group. The un-cuffed male and female were clearly vampires. The white skin and fangs were pretty clear indicators. But the prisoner wasn’t pale enough to be a vampire. Definitely some kind of humanoid. Maybe a werewolf or demon in his un-shifted form? Something about this whole situation reeked. And it wasn’t just the vampires.

After a moment of shock, the vampire male pushed the two others behind him. Brave. Foolish, but brave. His eyes swept over her from head to talon, and recognition lit his eyes.

Now things would get boring. First, there’d be begging. Then maybe a pathetic attempt at fighting. And finally, once he realized defeat was inevitable, which always came faster than Kalindra would like, there would be tears and prayers, followed by more begging. Always the same. Always more pathetic than the last time.

Kalindra examined her claws. A deceptive trick. Her focus never really strayed from the figures in front of her. Not because she thought they were a threat. They weren’t. But that didn’t mean she should loosen her guard. Getting sloppy would get her killed.

“This doesn’t concern you, gatekeeper. We mean you no harm.” The words were right, but the tone dripped with condescension and smugness. Interesting. Not at all what she’d expected. Almost as if he thought he had one over on her. Now her interest was piqued.

“Is that so?” she asked.

The woman nodded enthusiastically behind the man’s back. But the prisoner captured her attention. Bruises marred his face and a trail of blood dripped from his hairline to the rag stuffed into his mouth. She met his eyes, and something in them refused to let her look away. He looked desperate and terrified. But not of her. He gazed at her as if there was something important he wanted to tell her.

And then she smelled it. Smelled him. The unmistakable scent of human. The man was from Earth.

Didn’t concern her, huh? Bullshit.

“You know, I don’t like killing people, despite my reputation. Believe it or not.” She paused for effect. “But I’ve got a pile of bodies outside my gate. Human bodies. Ones that clearly came from Earth, on the Outremer side of my gate. Which is impossible, since I would have been teleported to the gate the second they crossed worlds. But I wasn’t teleported. Which tells me something strange is happening. Something I need to get to the bottom of.” She met the man’s eyes. “You two wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”

The woman frantically shook her head. Not exactly the cool, emotionless vampires one read about in the human stories. Amazing how many things human mythology got wrong.

The man continued to try and stare her down. As if he thought he could frighten her. The idea made her smile, which seemed to make him nervous. Nothing like a smiling predator to unhinge one’s confidence. Finally, he shook his head.

“So why are you here? A bit far from home, no?” There hadn’t been vampires in this area of Outremer for some time.

“We came after him. He’s nothing to you,” the woman declared, a quiver in her voice.

The man glared behind him until the woman’s gaze dropped to the ground. Interesting. If she had to guess, the woman seemed guilty. But the man seemed reluctant. Secretive. And if there was one thing harpies loved, it was secrets. Especially ferretting them out.

“Who is he?” Kalindra asked.

Whether or not they’d brought the humans here, she had no doubt they were behind the slaughter at her doorstep. But why kill the others, and take this one? What was so special about him?
And how the hell had the humans gotten through her gate in the first place?

“A criminal.” The male vampire this time. Short. Brusque. Apparently he didn’t know the trouble he courted.

“What’s his crime?” She crossed her arms over her chest, her sharp nails tapping lightly against her arm. She wanted information. These two had better convince her they had some.

“Theft.”

Again with the one word answer. One would think they didn’t want to talk with her. She was hurt. No, really.

Fine. Kalindra was done playing with them anyway. She had better things to do, and she clearly wasn’t getting anywhere.

“See, I’d like to believe you. Really, I would. But that man there is a human. I can smell it all over him.” And damn if that man didn’t stand up straighter as if offended. Her voice rose. “Add in the fairly modern clothing, and the human corpses outside
my
gateway, and I’m led to believe you’re lying. And if there’s one thing I hate, it’s liars.” Her claws visibly grew a few inches. Three sets of eyes dropped to her hands, and she stretched them for effect.

Now the vampire male looked nervous. He reached for his sword, but Kalindra struck before his hand could grab the hilt, swiping her claws from shoulder to waist. The man fell to the ground. Not dead–yet–but no longer a threat.

“Now, are you going to answer my questions?” she asked the woman, blood dripping from one claw.

That was all it took. The woman dropped the prisoner’s arm and started to run. Guess she didn’t want to answer any questions.

“Stay,” she said, gazing straight into the prisoner’s eyes. He nodded cautiously.

With a sweep of her arms, Kalindra soared into the air. Foolish vampire. Everyone knew harpies could outfly anything on two legs. A couple four legged creatures could outrun a harpy, even some six legged ones. But her measly two legs were no match for Kalindra’s speed.

When she caught up to the woman, Kalindra grabbed her shoulders in her foot talons. In this position, the woman was helpless. Kalindra rose into the air, taking the woman with her, until she reached optimal height.

“Let this be a lesson to those who think to trick me. Those who think they can take from Inverness without consequence.” There was no one to hear, but others would know. When they found the remains, they would know, and the message would spread.

With that, she released the woman, and listened to her scream as she plummeted to the ground. The sickening crunch of impact filled the clearing. She stared at the remains from her position above.

Should she feel bad for taking the woman’s life so easily? Guilty, maybe? Or victorious? Surely she should feel something. Anything. But she didn’t.

She tried to tell herself the woman deserved it for what she’d done to the humans. That the woman had it coming for lying to her. But truthfully, Kalindra felt…numb.

Not a good sign. Losing her connection to the world was the first sign of madness. Madness and defeat went hand in hand. For a warrior like her, defeat equaled death.

She’d been keeper for too long. The restless feeling had grown stronger in the past year. No one could handle the life of gatekeeper forever. After awhile, the loneliness and constant struggle to hold the barrier drove keepers insane, if they didn’t die on the swords of the invaders first. And she’d been keeper for a long time. But for now, the duty was still hers.

Looking over her shoulder, she saw the prisoner still standing exactly where she’d left him, his head turned away. At least someone followed her orders.

In less than a minute, she stood over the fallen male vampire. His wound already showed signs of healing, but still bled. She’d cut him deeper than intended. Maybe now he’d be willing to answer some questions. He’d live. Until she decided he shouldn’t.

“What were you doing here?”

Blood stood out starkly from his teeth when he smiled up at her. “You can’t win. Others will come. They know what he is, and what he has, now. Every race in this world will kill, and die, to possess it for themselves. You and your fellow gatekeepers will all fall.” His bitter laugh ended on a wracking cough. Eventually, his eyes drifted to the prisoner. “You should never have come into this world. Now nothing can save you. Not even her.” His laughter turned maniacal, not stopping until Kalindra picked up his own sword and removed his head from his body.

She stared at the corpse for a long moment. Such senseless death. If he had never come here, he would still be alive, his companion would still be alive, and those poor humans would still be alive. Foolish.

Her gaze shifted to the human before her. He stood his ground, even lifted his chin, as she crossed to him. Somehow his bravery didn’t bother her like the vampire’s had. On the human, it was a novelty that appealed to the warrior spirit inside her. She removed the rag from his mouth and pushed it so it hung around his neck.

“Key?” she asked, pointing to the cuffs.

“Front left pocket,” he said on a cough, nodding his head toward the vampire on the ground. At least it hadn’t been on the woman. That would’ve been messy.

Once she’d located the key, she released the man, and watched as he rubbed circulation back into his hands.

Anger flared. The vampires had cuffed him too tight. But why did she care? In surprise, she realized she felt sympathy toward him.

“Why you?” she murmured.

“Sorry?” he asked.

“Why did they take you when they killed the others?”

The man shrugged, but his gaze drifted away. She recognized diversion when she saw it.

“Dunno. Maybe for food?”