Warden
Authors: Kevin Hardman
Tags: #Teen & Young Adult, #Science Fiction & Fantasy, #Fantasy, #Horror, #Coming of Age, #Myths & Legends, #Greek & Roman, #Paranormal & Urban
WARDEN
Without warning, Errol’s Wendigo dagger began to glow with an eerie, eldritch light. While not particularly intense, the luminescence spread out to envelope Errol and Bander, who stood back-to-back, and their campsite.
“What are you doing?!” Bander hissed over his shoulder as the light from Errol’s weapon washed over him.
“It’s not me!” he responded. “It’s the dagger.” Errol looked at the weapon with something akin to fury.
Then, as suddenly as it began, the light from the dagger seemed to wink out. Errol was on the verge of breathing a sigh of relief when the forest unexpectedly came alive. Two trees directly in front of him started moving swiftly towards their camp.
Errol went tense; he involuntarily took a step backwards, inadvertently bumping Bander. The older man peeked over his shoulder, then turned so that he and Errol were now standing next to each other.
“Gods!” the veteran exclaimed, tilting his head up.
It took Errol a second to orient himself, for his mind to adjust to the spectacle in front of him. He quickly realized it wasn’t trees that he was seeing move; they were, instead, the legs of a gigantic hominid. Like Bander, he quickly adjusted his frame of reference to incorporate more height in his assessment of the creature.
In general, it was shaped like a man, with two arms, two legs, and a torso. Aside from that (and not taking into account that it was about twenty feet tall), the only difference between it and a normal person was that it appeared to have no head. Instead, its face was on its torso, with eyes on its pectorals, a nose below, and then a mouth on its stomach.
It was a monster that Errol recognized, but had never encountered: a Blemmye.
Kid Sensation Series
Sensation: A Superhero Novel
Mutation (A Kid Sensation Novel)
Infiltration (A Kid Sensation Novel)
The Warden Series
Warden (Book 1: Wendigo Fever)
Warden (Book 2: Lure of the Lamia)
Warden (Book 3: Attack of the Aswang)
Short Stories
Extraction: A Kid Sensation Story
WARDEN
Book 3: Attack of the Aswang
By
Kevin Hardman
If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as
“unsold and destroyed” to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
This book is a work of fiction contrived by the author, and is not meant to reflect any actual or specific person, place, action, incident or event. Any resemblance to incidents, events, actions, locales or persons, living or dead, factual or fictional, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2014 by Kevin Hardman.
Cover Design by Isikol
Edited by Faith Williams, The Atwater Group
This book is published by I&H Recherche Publishing.
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address I&H Recherche Publishing, P.O. Box 1586, Cypress, TX 77410.
ISBN:
978-1-937666-18-7
Printed in the U.S.A.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank the following for their help with this book: GOD first and foremost for HIS incredible benevolence; my wife and kids, who constantly push me to write more (and give me the space to do it); and all the friends and family who continue to encourage and support me.
Table of Contents
Ward
/
wôrd
/ –
1. A division or district of a city or town, usually for administrative, representative, or political purposes;
2. A person under the protection, custody, or care of another;
3. A means of protection or defense; to protect or guard
Warden
/
wôrd
n
/ – A person charged with the protection, custody, or care of something
Chapter 1
Anyone peeking in through the window of the Station House would have been justified in thinking that Errol Magnus was having a tea party with a doll. Errol himself was seated at the dining table, preparing to eat his breakfast. However, just on the other side of the table and roughly a foot from where Errol’s meal lay on his plate was what appeared to be dollhouse furniture: a miniature table with miniature dishes, miniature cutlery, and – sitting in a miniature chair – what appeared to be a six-inch tall male doll. Closer observation, however, would have revealed that Errol’s presumed playmate was actually moving of its own accord.
In truth, the “doll” was actually a homunculus – a supernatural creature formed of clay and brought to life with earth-magic. Berry, as the little man liked to be called (he insisted that his true name was unpronounceable by human tongues), had been the star attraction in a traveling sideshow for generations. However, the troupe of performers who ran the sideshow had actually been a family of monsters.
While most of the troupe had proved to be non-threatening, one of them had gone on a vicious killing spree and ultimately had to be killed herself. A fight had broken out when Errol attempted to bring the killer to justice, and in the ensuing melee Berry had escaped. Somehow, the homunculus had made his way to the Warden Station, and over the course of the last month had managed to make himself at home there.
From Errol’s standpoint, it wasn’t a huge change in living conditions. Berry essentially stayed out of the way, generally remaining unseen. Errol had broken up a couple of wooden crates and used the pieces to fashion a crude, scaled-down version of a residence. The minuscule structure was located under a thin sheet of fabric at the back of the Station House’s storage room, and Berry presumably spent most of his time there.
The Warden Station – which included the Station House, a barn, aviary, and a few other buildings – had been Errol’s home his entire life. In fact, as the job of Warden tended to be handed down from father to son, numerous generations of the Magnus family had lived there.
In this particular instance, Errol’s older brother Tom had taken on the title of Warden following their father’s death seven years earlier. Errol himself had assumed the duties (but wasn’t yet comfortable with the title) of Warden following Tom’s disappearance several months earlier. The circumstances of his brother’s disappearance were odd enough that one could easily assume that Tom was dead, but Errol held out hope that his brother was alive out there...somewhere.
Errol and Berry ate in silence for the most part, as the former was lost in thought and the latter seldom spoke.
“You might want to keep out of sight for the next few days,” Errol finally said as he finished his meal and placed his fork on his plate. “We have company arriving soon – possibly as early as this afternoon.”
Berry merely acknowledged this with a curt nod. Errol took that to mean that Berry was already aware of the fact that they would be having guests, which was entirely possible. According to legend, homunculi were incredibly wise – the repositories of all knowledge. There was certainly no denying that Berry was privy to arcane secrets, and he had helped Errol before – albeit with cryptic clues rather than outright information.
For the millionth time, Errol wondered if he should ask Berry about Tom. He had refused to do so when given an opportunity once before, mostly because he was wary of becoming indebted in any way to a magical creature such as Berry. Moreover, Errol felt that his ongoing refusal to ask about Tom had raised his estimation in Berry’s sight. He didn’t know why, but Errol felt it was extremely important that Berry continue to think highly of him.
Having finished his meal, Errol rose from the table. He then went to the Warden’s office, where he retrieved his log before retreating outside to the porch. There, on a bench near the Station House door, he sat and once again scrutinized his recent entries, making sure that all would be in order for his visitors.
As the name suggested, the log was a daily record of Errol’s activities as Warden. Maintaining such a journal (and a reference manual) was a requirement, one which the Magnus family had followed dutifully throughout the years, as evidenced by the high number of them that were maintained in the Warden’s office.
Unless it was important, log entries typically did not go into great detail about interactions with the human residents of a ward. Instead, they primarily focused on encounters with denizens of the Badlands – the region where monsters of every ilk seemed to abide in droves. Keeping track of the various creatures and weirdlings encountered (as well as their strengths and weaknesses) had become an invaluable tool of the trade. In fact, referring to the logs of predecessors had saved many a Warden’s life in the past, including Errol’s own. Thus, while he had once detested it as a meaningless chore, he now saw the value in leaving a chronicle of daily events.
At the moment, knowing the importance of maintaining accurate logs, Errol found himself battling a crisis of conscience. His duty was to report
all
encounters with monsters or magical creatures. Bearing that in mind, he had recorded his initial encounter with Berry when the homunculus was still part of the troupe of performers. However, he had purposefully neglected to include any reference to his erstwhile housemate since the little man had shown up unannounced on his doorstep. It wasn’t exactly an untruth, but it was a lie of omission.
That said, it wasn’t too late to fix things. He could always go back and
“
adjust” prior entries. Doing so, however, was likely to put Berry in a very precarious predicament.
The little man had already spent his entire existence as a sideshow attraction. Errol could only imagine that something similar – or worse – lay in store for him if the Wardens (or their scholastic equivalents, the Order of Scribes) got their hands on the homunculus. Errol had an odd feeling that they wouldn’t view Berry as a person, the way he did, but rather as a rare magical creature to be observed and studied.
No, Errol couldn’t – wouldn’t – let that happen.
His mind made up, Errol rose to his feet and peeked through a window back into the Station House. From where he stood, he could see the dining table. As usual, Berry had already cleared the dishes as well as his own miniature furniture.
Errol shook his head in amazement. Berry might not be the most visible or vocal of roommates, but he had made his presence felt in a very unusual way. Somehow, the little man always knew exactly when Errol would be ready for meals, such as rising for breakfast or arriving for dinner, and he always had the table set. Moreover, whenever Errol finished the meal and turned his back for even a moment, Berry would clear everything away. This often occurred in such a swift manner – sometimes in just a few minutes – that Errol knew that the homunculus was employing some type of magic. Apparently Berry viewed it as a means of earning his keep, and since it meant one less chore for Errol to do, he was satisfied with the arrangement.
Convinced that he was making the right decision in keeping Berry’s presence a secret, Errol returned his log, unchanged, to its proper place and then prepared to make his rounds.
