The Surien Series Blood Guardian (14 page)

“Okay guys, what do you want to see next? There's the lions, the penguins, the reptile house or maybe the …”

“The nocturnal house!!!” they all yelled in unison, interrupting Symarah's list.

“It's pretty scary in there, are you sure you want to go? There might be monsters in there,” Conner teased and then gave his most creepy evil laugh.

“Yeah, we wanna see the bats,” they all agreed.

“Okay, don't say I didn't warn you,” Conner said.

“Who can tell me something interesting about bats?” Symarah asked as they headed toward the nocturnal house.

“Bats are nocturnal,” Ella answered.

“And what does that mean?”

“It means they are active at night.”

“That's right Emma. What else can you guys tell me?”

“They can fly up to 60 miles per hour,” Jenna stated.

“Some bats hibernate for the winter and some fly south,” Gracee chimed in.

“Man you guys are smart,” Conner praised.

“Anything else?” Symarah questioned.

“They use echolocation,” Jake offered.

“Yes, they use echolocation; very good, Jake.”

“What's that?” Emma asked.

“Echolocation is when you use sound waves and echoes to figure out where objects are so you don't run into them. Bats can tell where things are by listening to see how long it takes the sound to come back to them. The longer it takes, the farther the object is from them,” Symarah explained.

“That is so cool,” said Jenna.

“Yes, it is very cool. Okay everybody, while we're in here we need to speak quietly and no running,” Symarah instructed, as she opened the door to the nocturnal house.

The first animal was an owl, which the kids made soft hooting noises at, followed by the clouded leopard and then the bobcat. Next was the Burmese python, which the kids loved, and then the aardvark which made them laugh. An hour had passed by the time they got to the bats, which was the last exhibit in the nocturnal house, and they were the only ones left in the building. They spent several minutes looking at the bats and asking questions about them.

“These are vampire bats; that means they suck people's blood right?”

“That is a common misconception Logan. Vampire bats prefer to feed on livestock. Besides, the zookeepers supply their food so there's no reason for them to feed from us,” Conner explained.

“Are you sure?” Ella asked timidly.

“There is a thick pane of glass between us and them, there's no way they’re getting through that. Besides, bats are nocturnal and it's still day time. Don't worry Ella, I won't let anything happen to you, I promise,” Conner answered reassuringly.

“How do they know when it's night time?” Ella asked.

“They have an internal clock just like we do, their bodies tell them when it's night and when it's day,” Conner replied.

“Hey look, they're flying,” Logan said excitedly.

“What?!” Conner and Symarah said in unison. As they turned toward the glass, they saw that Logan was right. The bats were flying around the enclosure.

“Something is not right here, bats don't fly like that and especially not in the middle of the day,” Conner pointed out.

“Come away from the glass,” Symarah said, staring at the bats' odd flight pattern. “I want you to back up against this wall.” She had a very bad feeling about this. Conner was right, something was definitely wrong.

“Do you think this has something to do with Vaiden?” Symarah asked.

“He can't come out in the day, but I wouldn't put it past him to send the unden,” Conner answered. “Animals can sometimes sense the poisoned blood of the unden.”

“They’re headed right for the glass,” Gracee said, pointing her finger at the enclosure.

Symarah and Conner turned just in time to see the bats fly right through the glass as if it wasn't even there. Screams erupted from the back wall as the bats flew over their heads. Symarah watched in horror as one of the bats turned into Farkas and then one by one the other bats turned into demmic as well.

“Get the kids out of here!” Conner yelled as he lunged at Farkas.

Symarah headed toward the door only to find it blocked by two demmic.

“You’re not going anywhere eino,” one of the demmic said, using the Atlantean term for human as if it were an insult.

She looked for another way out but it was no good, the demmic had all the escape routes blocked. She turned back to Conner for help but he was being beaten by half a dozen demmic. She tried to run to him but the unden grabbed her.

“Why are you doing this, you know you don't want to,” Symarah said to the unden.

“I do as thaison commands.”

“You don't have to do what he says. I know you can fight it. If you weren't stronger than the blood tie, you wouldn't have apologized for stabbing me before.”

“I am sorry,” was all he said.

“Fight it Euenor!” Symarah commanded, calling him by his Atlantean name.

The unden staggered back a few steps, a flash of recognition on his face. “I know that name,” he said, trying to remember where he had heard it from, but before he could fully recall, Logan jumped on his back.

“You leave her alone!” he screamed at the unden, hitting him in the head with his fists.

“Logan, no! Symarah yelled, as she lunged at the unden, but before she could pull the boy to safety, one of the demmic grabbed him.

“You wanna be the hero?” the demmic snorted in derision. “Well, in this version all the heroes die, boy.”

“He has fangs and his breath stinks, he's a demmic!” Logan yelled.

Everything was happening so fast; Conner was on the ground under a pile of demmic, the kids were screaming and the demmic that had Logan was preparing to sink his fangs right into the boy's throat. Symarah ran for the demmic but before she could get to him the unden had snapped the demmic's neck.

“You will not kill children!” he yelled as he ran toward the back and grabbed the last demmic blocking the door. The unden put up a good fight but he was no match for the demmic. The demmic grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up off the ground. Just then Jake jumped on the demmic's back.

“Here, it's silver,” Jenna said as she threw her necklace to her brother. Jake wrapped the necklace around the demmic's neck and pulled as hard as he could. The silver cut through his flesh like butter. The demmic dropped the slave and fell to the ground.

“Get outside in the sun!” Logan yelled and the kids all ran for the door.

Symarah turned to see several demmic feeding from Conner.

“Daire!” her mind cried out to him. In an instant he was beside her.

“What's wrong?” he said anxiously, but he knew the answer before he even finished the question. Daire ran to the spot where Conner lay motionless, and flung the demmic against the wall. A second later Jareth was there fighting alongside him; then, as suddenly as they had appeared, all the demmic disappeared. Daire ran to Conner and knelt down beside him.

“Can you heal him?” Jareth questioned.

“I'm not sure, he may be too far gone.” Daire put his hands just above Conner's chest and closed his eyes. A pure white light emanated from his hands and in an instant Conner was bathed in the same white light. After a moment, Conner's eyes fluttered open and he groaned.

“What the hell happened?” he asked.

“You almost died fighting off the demmic but Daire saved you,” Symarah answered.

“Are the kids okay?”

“Yes, they're outside. Thank God you told them that story about the demmic or we would all be dead,” Symarah said.

“What do you mean?” Jareth asked.

“There was a demmic blocking the door. The only reason they got out was because Jake and Jenna killed him,” she answered proudly.

“Two kids killed a demmic by themselves?” Daire asked. “Impressive.”

“That is impressive, but we should definitely erase their memories of this.”

“I'll get them.” Symarah headed for the door. “Oh no, I forgot about the unden. He saved Logan and the demmic tried to kill him. Can you heal him too?”

“I've got it, just get those kids back in here before they tell anyone what happened,” Jareth replied.

It took some convincing, but Symarah managed to get the kids back inside and their memories of the event were erased. Jareth healed the unden, who thanked him and then ran off looking very confused. Once all the kids were picked up by their parents, Conner and Symarah returned to the nocturnal house where Daire and Jareth had been patiently waiting to flash them back home.

CHAPTER 10

“How could I be so stupid?” Daire scolded himself.

“Don't be so hard on yourself, it was the middle of the day, and the field trip was outdoors. There was no reason to think that Vaiden would send his minions out in broad daylight,” Jareth pointed out.

“I should have been more prepared, I shouldn't have let her go.”

“You know good and well that girl doesn't do a damn thing she doesn't want to do,” Jareth reminded him.

“She is very stubborn,” Daire agreed.

“Exactly; if you hadn't let her go, she would have found a way on her own and then she wouldn't have had Conner there for protection.”

“A day walker is no match for a demmic, he is lucky to be alive,” Daire growled in frustration.

“Yes, he certainly is.”

Daire's blood ran cold at the sound of the voice coming from behind him, he knew that voice well.

“Why have you come?” Jareth asked, as if he didn't already know the answer.

“You almost get one of my day walkers killed and you ask why I've come?” Athena said with a calm she didn't quite feel. “I thought that the two of you could handle this, you are my best suriens. Instead you almost get Conner killed, not to mention the innocent children who almost lost their lives, and the risk of exposure as well.”

“You know?” Daire was shocked.

“Yes, of course I know. The truth is, I should have intervened long ago. I did not think Vaiden would get this close.”

“It won't happen again,” Daire promised.

“It should never have happened in the first place. You should not have allowed her to go,” Athena scolded.

“I can't exactly force her to stay in the house,” Daire pointed out. “She's a grown woman, it's not like I can ground her.”

“You are an Atlantean god and she is just a mortal; I'm sure there must be some way for you to keep her under control.”

“We've tried, nothing works.” Daire said.

“She is very stubborn,” Jareth agreed.

“You will find a way. The humans do not leave this house until Vaiden is dead, do I make myself clear?” Athena ordered, in a voice so commanding that even Zeus himself would not have disobeyed.

“Like hell! You're not putting us under house arrest lady,” Kassie snapped from the doorway. She and Symarah had come back down for a midnight snack and overheard them talking.

“How long have you been standing there?” Daire questioned.

“Long enough to know that I'm stubborn and need to be controlled,” Symarah chided.

“Leave us, mortal.”

“Excuse me?” Symarah said, trying hard to control her temper.

“This does not concern you, human,” Athena admonished.

“Considering the fact that you are talking about me, I think it most certainly does.”

“You caused this problem, now be off and let us solve it.”

“I am the victim here. My life was great until you people came into it. I was happy. Now I'm being hunted by a psychotic vampire god who wants to kill me to get revenge on someone I just met, for killing someone I never met, before I was even born. How the hell is this my fault?”

“If you hadn't made an Atlantean god's life public knowledge, we would not be in this mess, mortal,” Athena said in that same commanding tone.

“First off, I have a name; it's Symarah, not human, nor mortal, just Symarah,” she said, with her head held as high as any goddess had ever held theirs. “I don't call you judgmental goddess of arrogance do I? And by the way, if you would have kept a tighter leash on your so called gods, I wouldn't have been able to write about his whole life story now would I?”

“And just how exactly did you come to dream of him in the first place?” Athena asked accusingly.

“How the hell should I know, you're the goddess of wisdom, you figure it out.....Bitch,” Symarah muttered, as she headed to the kitchen to get a snack.

“You're lucky you're a goddess or she'd have knocked you on your ass,” Kassie said, as she stormed out and headed for the kitchen as well.

“I like them. They are brave and honest; honorable characteristics, especially for a human.”

Daire and Jareth exchanged looks of bewilderment.

“Did you think I was going to banish them for standing their ground? I am not my father.” Athena smiled. “Now tell me, how did she come to dream of you?”

Daire told her everything that had happened so far, about the necklace, the attacks, the dagger being real, and Symarah being his reincarnated soul mate, Meissen.

“Have you seen this dagger?” Athena asked.

“No, but the shauri said that he took it from her shop,” Daire answered.

“The shauri are deceitful by nature, they cannot always be trusted,” Athena pointed out.

“She only cooperated because she wants him dead. I trust her information, if not her motive,” Daire assured her.

“Very well, we will assume the dagger is real and in Vaiden's hands.”

“Do you think Symarah is Meissen?” Daire asked.

“Let us ask the fates, shall we?” Athena closed her eyes and in an instant she and Daire were gone.

“No, you go, I'll stay here with the girls,” Jareth said sarcastically to himself, as he headed toward the kitchen.

When he entered the kitchen, he noticed that Symarah was alone.

“Where is Kassie?”

“She grabbed a carton of milk and a whole package of Oreos and headed off to her room for a movie marathon.”

“She does that a lot,” Jareth observed.

“Yes she does,” Symarah laughed.

“You're not joining her?”

“I'm not really in the mood,” she said.

Jareth could see that she was troubled. “Don't worry about Athena, she can be a bit stern at times, but she is fair.”

“It's not that,” Symarah said, “it's just, today at the zoo I felt completely helpless. I couldn't save Conner, I couldn't save the kids, I couldn't even save the unden. It's my fault that this happened. I put all these people's lives in danger and I couldn't do a damn thing to save them. I almost got them all killed.”

“It's not your fault, it is Vaiden's. He is the one who is putting their lives in danger and yours as well. You can't blame yourself.”

“I know you're right, but I still feel like a wimp, I got saved by a bunch of twelve year old kids.” She smiled a little. “If I ask you to do something, will you promise not to tell Daire?”

“That depends,” Jareth answered, “I won't do anything to compromise your safety.”

“Will you train me to fight like a day walker?”

“I'm not sure that's such a good idea, Symarah.”

“How would you feel if you had to sit by and watch everyone you care about get hurt trying to protect you?”

“It is very dangerous training.”

“As dangerous as being stabbed by an unden or drowned by a vampire god?”

Jareth really didn't like the idea of keeping anything from Daire, and he hated the thought of either of the girls going up against the demmic, but Symarah was right, it was not fair to expect her to sit defenseless while the people she loved were in danger.

“Please. Come on Jareth, please.”

“Alright, I'll do it. May the gods help me when Daire finds out.”

“Yay, thank you!” Symarah hugged him.

“We can start training tomorrow,” Jareth said, hoping he wouldn't end up regretting his decision.