Seirs, Soul Guardians Book 5 (11 page)

The tallest of the group stood before
his brethren. With eyes as black as coal and an ugly pallid face,
he smiled wickedly at Kara.

“
What do we have here
boys,” said Ranab smoothly, “our special
prize
...and an elder. I’d say this
is a pretty good hunt, don’t you think?” He stepped forward, his
glossy black coat rippled at his heels. “I’ve been looking for that
old fool for years.”

“
How did you find us?”
Santo’s voice dripped with poison. He pointed the tip of his sword
dangerously and stepped forward in a challenge, his body locked in
a fighting stance.

Ranab raised his arms, his coat
billowing out like giant bat wings. “What? Didn’t you enjoy the
camp fire?” he laughed. “I’ve always enjoyed a good camp
fire...with a little song.” He watched the burning cabin with
satisfaction. “One among your kind has sold you out, my friend. We
have our spies within your pitiable little group.”

Spies?
Kara cast a nervous glance around the Sensitives. How could
any of them rat them out? It didn’t make sense. They almost died in
that fire.

Santo’s dark eyes shone dangerously
beneath the rim of his hat. He looked as though he would kill the
rat with his bare hands. One by one, the Sensitives shrugged and
shook their heads innocently. Tabbris scowled like a wild animal
protecting its offspring. He looked as though he would tear apart
anyone who got too close.

Kara watched the Sensitives more
carefully. Who among them had sold them out? Most of them were
burned. She doubted it had been one of the Seirs in the cabin. It
must have been someone outside of this group. She didn’t believe
the traitor would have risked their life in the fire. Traitors were
cowards. They would put their lives first. Ranab sneered. He was
enjoying this. It was clear to her that he was trying to upset
them.

“
Don’t listen to him,” Kara
called out suddenly. She stared at the Sensitives’ anxious faces.
“He’s trying to divide you. Stand together. They are the enemy;
there’s no one here who didn’t almost perish in the fire. We must
stand together.”

“
She’s right.” Santo tapped
his sword against his thigh. “It’s not someone here. Must be
someone back at the district. And when I find them...they will
answer to my sword.”

Kara pursed her lips. This wasn’t
going well. Although the Sensitives fought extremely well, they
were outnumbered two to one. The fire had somewhat sapped their
strength, and Tabbris wouldn’t be able to fight because he had to
protect Elder Otis. It would be practically impossible to get the
elder to safety without hurting any of the Seirs.

“
Where’s your mistress,
Ranab?” Kara called out. She tried to add the same kind of venom to
her words as Santo had done. She wasn’t sure it worked. “I thought
you never left home without her. Has she decided to cut you
loose?”

Ranab scratched his chin. “She is
occupied elsewhere at the moment. But don’t worry—your soul will
soon meet with her. She has something very special planned for it.
It’ll be a real pleasure ripping it out of your angel
carcass.”

“
I’ll kill you before you
lay a finger on her, clown-face.” David rushed past Kara. She
grabbed his jacket and pulled him back. He glowered at Ranab.
“Looks as if you forgot your red nose back at the circus, freak.
But I don’t mind giving you a new one.”

Kara shook her head and lowered her
voice. “This is what he wants, David. Ignore him. He knows we can’t
touch him. Don’t give in to him.”

David scowled. “It’s the stupidest law
the legion has ever made up. It’s retarded that we can’t defend
ourselves.”

“
Maybe. But we don’t have a
choice. We have to do our best to protect the elder.”

Jenny stepped in. “Do you have a plan?
What do you propose we do?”

Kara bit her bottom lip. “I think I
can distract them long enough for Tabbris to get the elder to
safety.”

“
How?” Peter interjected.
“There’re a lot more of them than us.”

“
We’ll just have to wing
it.”

Santo sliced the air with his sword.
“No angel is dying on my watch, Ranab. The blood that spills will
be yours. Mark my words—your angel killing days are
over.”

Ranab twisted his blades in his wrists
playfully. He lowered his head and grinned. “You’re wrong, angel
lover. You’re seriously outnumbered, haven’t you noticed? We both
know how this will end. I will take my prize, and the elder, if you
please. And I will kill you in the process.”

Tabbris stepped through the wall of
Sensitives. Elder Otis sat comfortably upright in his arms, like a
ventriloquist puppet. His skeletal arms dangled at his sides, his
frail body lost in the folds of his guardian’s arms. But he
continued to glare at Ranab in disgust.

“
You have been evil since
you were a child, Ranab,” wheezed Elder Otis. He lifted a bony
finger. “Too much evil flows in the veins of a son who kills his
father.”

Ranab tossed a death blade
in the air and caught it easily with a hand behind his back. “My
father was an old fool, just like you. He paid the price for his
stupidity. And it’s called
ambition
and the love for
power
. You’re just too stupid to
know the difference. You Sensitives are all the same—angel loving
fools. Can you not see how the angels are using you, old man? They
don’t care about you; they never have. You have been deceived old
man.”

Elder Otis’s blue eyes almost
disappeared into his scowl. “Your end is near, Ranab. There have
been too many deaths at your hands. Killing the innocent taking the
children; in the end, you will pay for what you have
done.”

Ranab clapped his hands. “Still
speaking in riddles, you pathetic corpse. It is certain your end is
near old man. By the looks of you, it’s going to be very easy.
Think of it this way. I’m doing you a favor by killing you, putting
you out of your misery like an old dog.”

Elder Otis smiled. “We shall
see.”

The elder turned his head to Kara. His
eyes twinkled with mischief as he nodded at her. Kara studied his
face closely. What was he trying to communicate?

“
Let’s go, brothers.” Ranab
brandished his weapons before him. “We’ve got some killing to
do.”

At once death blades appeared in the
Seirs’ hands. Black vapors coiled around their arms and the sound
of clashing steel rose around them, as the Seirs hit their death
blades together.

The hair on the back of Kara’s neck
stood up—two against one—their chances of winning were slim.
Although they were burned and weary, the Sensitives were undaunted.
They were prepared to fight to the death for the sake of the
innocent.

Kara gritted her teeth. She had to do
something to help. But what?

Jenny paced on the spot.
Peter stood in her shadow, petrified, like a mouse caught in a
trap. He held on to one of his contraptions, as though it could
save him somehow. David shifted his weight nervously with his hands
curled into fists. Kara shook her head at him and mouthed the
word
no
. David
looked away.

The Sensitives cried out. Smoke from
the burning cabin clouded the air. The Seirs roared and
charged.

A horde of big Seir warriors stampeded
towards Kara. The ground vibrated beneath Kara’s boots. Kara
stepped forward.

“
Angels, get back!” ordered
Santo as he pushed Kara back forcefully. He charged into the
oncoming crowd like a madman.

Five Seirs met him head on. But Santo
spun on the spot. In a flash he brought his sword up and down
across the chest of the first Seir. The man crumbled to the ground.
Santo stepped to his right, brought his sword up to deflect the
next blow, and swung at the second Seir’s left arm. The arm fell to
the ground and the Seir fell to his knees, wailing as he clasped
his bloody stump. Three more Seirs attacked, but Santo was ready.
He sidestepped and parried. With a powerful swing, his blade sliced
the three Seirs across their necks. Their death blades dropped to
the ground. They fell over and Santo ran into the onslaught and
disappeared into a wall of smoke.

“
There she is. Get her!”
Two Seirs rushed towards Kara.

Kara turned to Jenny, Peter, and
David. “Stay together—no matter what.” She dashed across the yard
leading the Seirs behind her. She didn’t know what she was planning
to do next, but at least the Seirs were more interested in her than
her friends.

“
Your soul is ours, angel
girl!”

A death blade whipped past her ear.
Kara kept running. She circled the battlefield, but when more Seirs
followed behind, she realized it wasn’t such a bright
idea.

A blade sunk into the soil at her
feet, and she raced over a dirt mound and across a clearing of tall
grasses, into another wall of Seirs.

Kara skidded to a halt, jumped back,
and ducked, just as a volley of death blades flew over her head.
Shapes charged at her. Blades flew. Kara parried and kicked
sideways into the gut of a Seir. He moaned and went down, only to
be replaced seconds later by another. She swung at him with her
fist. To her surprise, the Seir blocked the blow with his forearm
and reached out for her neck with his right hand. Cool metal grazed
her neck as she leaned back. She grabbed his right wrist, hauled
him over her back, and tossed him through the air into the horde of
Seirs. They fell over like pins in a bowling alley.

Excruciating pain tore at Kara’s right
shoulder. She wrapped her hand around the death blade’s handle and
pulled it out, but the blade’s poison burned its way down her arm,
leaving it numb. She tossed the blade into the grass. The Seir
smiled and licked his lips. He drew another blade. Suddenly his
eyes went wide. Blood poured from his mouth and he toppled
over.

A Sensitive woman stood behind him.
She nodded to Kara and dashed back into the fight.

The smell of blood and smoke rose
around her. Bodies fell to the ground, but their brilliant souls
hovered above them, waiting to be saved by the guardians. Should
the souls of the Seirs be saved, too?

Kara saw Jenny and Peter gathering the
souls. She zigzagged through slashing swords and spinning daggers
to help them—

“
Tabbris!” someone
shouted.

Kara froze.

Tabbris teetered, struggling for
consciousness. Ten death blades perforated his back and shoulders.
He stumbled to his knees. The elder spilled out of his arms and
sprawled to the ground. Blood dripped from Tabbris’s mouth. His
eyes rolled in the back on his head. He tipped over and crashed to
the ground. He never moved again.

“
The old man’s mine.” Ranab
smiled wickedly as he stood over Elder Otis. “Told you you’d die
today, old man. I should have killed you long ago. And now you will
join my father.”

Elder Otis pushed himself up on his
elbows. He glared at Ranab. He took Tabbris’s hand, and with tears
flowing down his cheeks he held it close to his chest. The elder
closed his eyes and lowered his head.

“
I’m going to enjoy this
very much.” Ranab stepped forward and raised his blade over Elder
Otis.

Kara raised her hands and her
elemental power ignited. But this time it was different— darkness
like an icy chill was mixed with her hot elemental power. The giant
surge of strength intoxicated her. The darkness took control, and
she embraced it.

“
Kara! NO!” David ran
towards her.

Before she knew what she was doing,
golden rays shot out of her hands. They struck the Seir.

Ranab’s body spun violently in the air
as golden electric current coiled around it until he was covered
like a mummy. With a smell of burnt flesh the Seir screamed as his
body convulsed. With a sizzling blast and then a pop his body
exploded in a cloud of golden dust.

Only a tiny brilliant sphere
remained.

“
Kara, what did you do?
You...you killed him.” David clasped his hands over his head,
terror spreading over his face. His mouth fell open. “You killed a
mortal.”

“
Oh. My. God.” Jenny and
Peter rushed over, their eyes wide in shock.

Kara gazed at the dust particles
settling around the ground like soft snow. What had she
done?

A foreign coolness replaced the warmth
she usually felt when her wild power had abated. At once, stinging
pain shot through her body as though thousands of knifes pierced
her skin. Was this the end? Was she really dying an angel’s true
death?

She tingled in bright light. David’s
anxious face appeared. His lips moved, but she couldn’t hear what
he was saying. The world shifted around her as the faces of her
friends disappeared.

And then blackness took
her.

Chapter 10

The Crystal
Timer

L
ight shimmered behind Kara’s closed eyelids. She felt groggy
and sore, as if she had just wakened from a long sleep. Had she
been in rugby game against the Big Girls with Tempers from
Riverside High? Even her eyelids were sore. It must have been a
brutal game—but she couldn’t remember. Her memories were drifting
away like leaves in a breeze. She strained to focus, but it was no
use. A dull throb welled inside her head, pushing away her
concentration. Strange. Maybe she had been hit on the
head?