The Guardian Chronicles 2: Dark Horizon (4 page)

“Shut up Ethan!” Both Ryan and Cody snapped at the same time.

They all three hit the pavement at around the same time and took off running toward the park.

At least it’s not freezing out here, Gabriel thought.

He was surprised – well, no, he wasn’t – that Tim had been able to talk his parents into their little plan. As far as Gabriel and Sean’s parents knew they were staying at Tim’s, watching movies, playing video games, and hanging out. They wouldn’t have expected their sixteen and fourteen year old sons to be out at a concert in a park at 11pm.

The stage was makeshift, just several large boards brought in and placed on cinderblocks. Two speakers were near the front of the stage with a large crowd gathered around. At the moment, Gabriel assumed that was where Tim and Sean were, although he had lost track of them shortly after they got there.

Gabriel was sitting at a picnic table, idly fiddling with his cell phone. He keep thinking about the events of earlier that day. Actually he kept thinking about a person that was involved in the events of that day.

Ethan.

Ever since he had gotten home his thoughts kept drifting back to Ethan and what happened in the hallway. Sure, he had seen attractive guys before -his school was full of them. Looking around the park now, he could see several more but there was something about Ethan that made him different. Something that made him…more alluring than anyone else, which was stupid because despite Ethan’s steel gray eyes, incredibly hot body, and charming personality he could still act like a total pain in the rear on occasion.

And until today, Gabriel was pretty sure that Ethan didn’t know he existed.

Gabriel shook his head, trying to get the images and thoughts of Ethan out of his head. There was no way that Ethan was into guys and even if he was, he could have any guy in the school, why would he be interested in someone like Gabriel. Dwelling what you couldn’t have could drive you insane and Gabriel was pretty sure that it wasn’t even remotely healthy.

“Lost in thought?”

Gabriel looked up to find both Tim and Sean standing there.

Gabriel just shrugged.

“Aren’t you going to get and mingle around some?” Tim asked.

“I’m fine right here.”

“But you aren’t talking to anyone, you’re just sitting here,” Sean protested. “You do realize that, like, no one here cares that you are gay. Hell, I don’t think there are even any guys from your school here.”

“Oh, there are,” Gabriel sighed. “Look, I really appreciate what you guys tried to do but let’s face it I’m just not party material.”

Tim and Sean both looked like they were about to protest when a commotion behind them caused them all to turn around and look. Gabriel almost wished that he hadn’t, barreling through the crowd were three…well he didn’t really know what they were. Following close behind them came several men, well at least he thought they were men. They looked like they had Halloween contact lenses in and their faces were caked with make-up.

“What the hell are those things!” Sean yelled.

“Move it!”

Before he knew it, Tim was yanking both himself and Sean clear of the rampaging creatures.

One advantage that came from the Guardian’s ritual was the fact that they were all blessed with almost inhuman speed, evident in the way that they were able to surge down the fire escape and arrive at roughly the same time as the Sintipedes.

“Where the hell are the Darklings?” Ryan asked.

“Found them,” Cody pointed as Darklings started to fan out through the crowd.

“Ryan, Darklings are yours,” Ethan ordered. “Cody, Sintipedes are ours.”

Ryan nodded, pulled his shotgun from the holster on his back and took off into the already panicking crowd. Luckily the trio of Sintipedes had stopped as soon as they entered the park, probably confused by all the noise. That wouldn’t last long though; eventually they would realize that they were surrounded by a very delicious dinner menu.

Cody grabbed an arrow from his back and launched into the center of the beasts, it sent out a gray cloud of smoke, causing them all to roar in annoyance and start thrashing about. Both he and Ethan charged forward into the smoke, hoping to catch them off guard. Their plan didn’t go entirely as expected as the creatures burst forth from the smoke and started to hone in on their targets.

“Uh oh, they look mad about something,” Cody said. He skidded to a halt, pulled another arrow and let it fly.

The arrow struck one in the side, causing it to let out a roar or pain and then turn around and launch itself at Cody. Cody dove to the side, pulling another arrow free and firing again, this time narrowly missing striking it in the head. He rolled to the side, barely avoiding the massive jaws full of razor sharp teeth as they came down toward him.

Ethan drew his swords, both of them made from blessed metal. They glowed a silver/blue color, which was fairly bright given the contrast of the night around him. He leapt toward another one of the Sintipedes, hoping to stop it before it consumed a rather scared looking teenager. He was only partially successful and knocked it sideways before it could strike at the frightened girl.

“Go!” Ethan yelled, getting back to his feet.

She took the hint and ran off.

“Come on smiley,” Ethan coaxed, watching as the Sintipede reared back up again. “Dinner is right here.”

Ethan side stepped as the creature struck out, sliding his blade along the edge of its head. The wound spurted black blood and the Sintipede roared in pain, it shifted its massive body around, trying to swat Ethan with his tail. Ethan jumped over it and landed in a crouch before having to back flip away as the creature stuck out again.

Ryan seemed to have the easy job, although he would have preferred engaging the Sintipedes, only because he knew they would offer a challenge. Instead he was working his way through fleeing crowd, looking for Darklings. He was surprised that they weren’t actively searching out the creatures that had gotten loose.

Of course they weren’t the brightest of creatures; strong and fast, but not bright. They were still dangerous though He had been taught early on in training not to underestimate them.

Ryan spun around, the hair on the back of his neck standing up. He fired on instinct, blasting the Darkling that had jumped toward him backwards to bounce off a tree. At first glance it seemed like the Darkling had jumped backwards. One look at the ragged hole in his chest told a different story, however. Now they were concentrating their attack on him. He blasted another one that was attempting to flank him and then holstered the shotgun as they moved in closer; he didn’t want to run the risk of hitting the still fleeing partiers.

Two of the Darklings produced weapons, curved wicked looking blades that were coated in a deadly poison. If the wound didn’t outright kill you the powerful toxin coated on the blade would finish the trick in mere minutes. Ryan wasn’t concerned; in fact it sort of made him smile a little wider.

“Come on guys,” Ryan smiled. “How many times have we done this now?”

He ducked under a blow and then hit the Darkling with a snap kick that sent it flying backwards. He blocked another attack, grabbed the arm that had thrown the punch and hurled it into one of the nearby speakers, causing an explosion of sparks.

Ryan’s mouth turned into a grin as he withdrew two daggers from their holsters on his belt.

The first one charged and was sent reeling back as Ryan lashed out with a kick that connected with the Darklings side. He could both hear and feel the ribs break under the pressure, driving jagged shards of bone deep into the Darkling’s lungs and heart. It fell to the ground, unmoving. He turned his attention to the next Darkling that leapt toward him blocking, several jabs before breaking its arm and then slicing it across the throat with one his daggers, sending black blood cascading down the front of its shirt.

Now that just left the two with actual weapons. Both of them stayed back, watching the damage unfold around them. They both charged in fast, using their supernatural speed to their advantage. Ryan spun around both of them, avoiding even a glancing blow. That trick might not work twice, as dumb as they could be about some things, they were pretty perceptive when it came to actually close quarters fighting.

“Good god you’re ugly up close,” Ethan snapped, rolling sideways to avoid another strike by the Sintipede. The creature’s head slammed into the dirt before it snorted and annoyance reared back up, looking for its target again.

As big as they were, they were pretty agile, which was the reason that Ethan was having such a hard time landing a killing blow. The creature dove at him again and this time Ethan sent it rearing back with a powerful roundhouse kick. That only dissuaded it for a second before it went back on the attack. Ethan dodged another strike and surged forward, blocking several blows with his swords as Sintipede lashed out him. He turned to see the third one smashed through one of the many bonfires that had been set up around the area, charging right at him. A glance  to his right told him that Cody was still engaged in his own fight and probably wouldn't be able to render any sort of aid.

Ethan executed a series of back flips, putting more distance between himself and the now surging Sintipedes. They were taking a more measured approach this time; probably having learned slightly from what had transpired just moments ago. The one to his right struck first, lunging in with its mouth wide open. He threw himself the side and came back up slashing, sending black blood flying from several deep cuts on the Sintipede.

That got its attention. It flung its head sideways, smacking into Ethan and launching sideways and bouncing off a nearby tree. The armor he was wearing absorbed most of the impact, although it still stung slightly. Getting back to his feet he had to dive sideways as the Sintipede unleashed its self from a coiled position, almost smashing Ethan flat.

Cody couldn't get a shot off, what was worse was that they were already living on borrowed time. The police would be showing up soon, assuming someone had the intelligence to call 911. He did a back flip off a picnic table, landing some feet away as the creature slammed through it, sending chunks flying everywhere. Cody took off in a run; the Sintipede close behind him, at the very least he could draw it away from where Ethan was engaged with the other two.

Cody knew that he was running out of time, the Sintipede was crashing through everything in its path. He leapt over another concrete bench and landed to see that his attacker was still hot on his tail. He grabbed another arrow and fired. Second before impact, he punched a button on his bow, sending the tazer wire out and over the charging monster. The wire came alive with crackling electricity, causing the Sintipede to writhe in agony.

“Sucks, doesn’t it,” Cody grunted, pulling free another arrow and firing.

It hit the convulsing creature right in the eye. It roared in pain and tried to lurch forward, then another arrow buried its self into its left eye. Now thoroughly upset it roared again an oddly deafening sound in the wide open area of the park. While its mouth was open, Cody took aim and fired, lodging an arrow deep into the creature’s brain.

Cody took off in a sprint back toward where Ethan was dealing with the other two.

Ethan rolled to the side causing the Sintipede to crash head long into an oak tree. It would have been slightly comical had the things not been trying to eat him. He didn’t have all that much time to admire his handy work before being attacked again, this time by the one that he had managed to get tangled in nearby playground equipment, which was now a smashed wreck.

“You guys are creating a pretty big mess,” Ethan grunted, dodging another strike.

He spun around, the glowing silver-blue blades slicing through the flesh at the creature’s neck and sending a gout of black blood skywards. The Sintipede tried to roll away but Ethan was faster, striking out with his blades he stabbed it through the head, killing it instantly. He looked around, trying to spot the remaining one, which he assumed would be lunging at him at any moment. Ryan and Cody jogged over to him, looking at the dead creature.

“Well, that was interesting,” Ryan said, wiping black blood off his daggers. “This is going to be a real pain in the rear for the clean-up crews. Too bad not everything turns to dust like the vampires…wait, where is the third one?”

That’s when they heard the scream.

“Aw hell!”

Gabriel was an avid reader of most things; fantasy, science fiction, even historical books. And what he was seeing looked like it had crawled right off the pages of Lord of the Rings. He thought that he was seeing things initially, that maybe someone was smoking something and he got a contact high. Now, looking up at the snarling beast in front of him he realized that he wasn’t seeing things at all.

He wasn’t even aware that the scream came from his mouth. Gabriel was slowly backing up and away from whatever it was that regarding him curiously, cocking its head from side to side like some sort of confused puppy.