Guardian Read online

  The fire that blazed in her amber eyes reminded me of ten thousand setting suns. Shaking my spinning head to clear it, I nearly fell on my ass.

  "Repent or die?" Her wheezing laugh ended in a hacking cough. "It's just my luck...I got a dog of that blasted temple!"

  “Answer or I’ll…kill you anyway.” I hissed, trying not to let it look like I felt as if the world was revolving under my unsteady feet.

  For several seconds, all she seemed able to do was pant. Then she closed her eyes. “Fine. If you can get me off this rock…I’ll repent.”

  “Get up.” I somehow managed to give a weak whistle. “We’ll leave now.”

  She made an attempt, but flinched and fell back down with a grunt.

  She can’t even stand. Damn it. The priest will suspend me if she dies before she can repent.

  I staggered toward her, but my vision seemed to double and fade. The sound of horse hooves hitting the stone was distorted as I felt my knees buckle. Before I’d even hit the ground, darkness had swallowed me whole.

  A swath of pain tore through me, followed by a wave of unbelievable power. It faded for a brief moment before swelling again. A mind swam into mine, full of both power and weakness. It was hastily followed by desperation and pain.

  The Azhi drove into my mind, fighting toward my soul; even in my weakness, I slammed up my guards, blocking her out. She faded away for several seconds before trying a second time with the same results. When she returned a third time, she lingered at the edge of my guards.

  //I, Anshumali Sanquility, pledge to serve you unto death. I shall defend you to my last breath, and heal all wounds no matter the cost to my own. Soul for Soul, Sin for Sin, I make this vow. //

  I felt so sluggish...so weak…

  //Please, temple dog; complete the vow. //

  “Never!”

  //Then you wish to die? //

  “By your hand? Never!”

  //Vow! //

  “I suppose you’ll want my soul, then? Since you were so eager to steal it from me?”

  //Is there anything else I could possibly want from you, human? //

  “My free will, my entire being; to enslave me.”

  //I am too weak and your guards are too strong. Vow, and I promise I won’t take your free will from you. You are my equal in this vow, as you were in our battle. //

  I struggled to breathe. Air simply wouldn’t come.

  “I, Kariken Xia, accept your vow. In turn you shall devour my soul upon my death. Soul for Soul, Sin for Sin, I complete this vow.”

  Waves of her energy consumed me. Images flashed through my mind too vague and fast for me to understand, and I felt her rest inside of me.

  //Your soul is a dark, frightening place of grief and anguish, of blood and lust. Why did you resist me, when we are so much alike? //

  “Get out. Get out, please. Leave me…alone.”

  //We are one, and I cannot undo what has been done. //

  It felt as if something split and dragged itself away, coursing agony through me. Something about her mind within mine was comforting.

  It made me feel safe – everything would be okay – so long as she was there.

  //You will live – we will live. Rest and awaken upon the dawn, Kariken. //

  The sunlight was like needles stabbing into my eyes through my eyelids as I gradually became more aware. Everything ached and throbbed and my head spun as if it were attached to a wagon wheel. When I finally dared to open my eyes to narrow slits, I gazed down in amazement to see scars instead of gashes and burns. Feeling an emptiness in my mind caused a flash of panic. My mind frantically and instinctually sought another; the moment it was found all the fear vanished.

  “Keep the link intact, Kariken.” A quiet voice made me shoot into a sitting position.

  I quickly spotted the woman from last night, bathed in the noon day light. Sitting on a rock only a few feet away, she’d dressed herself in a wolf hide shirt, wolf fur vest and cape, leather boots and gloves. The clothing was tight enough to hug her broad shoulders, big boobs and powerful legs without constricting them.

  “I’m surprised you’re awake so soon with how badly your body took the healing.”

  “Sanquility…right?” Even my throat was sore, making my voice raspy.

  She hesitated a moment. “Anshumali Sanquility, actually.” Something about the way she said it made me realize I’d somehow offended her.

  “So Sanquility.”

  The woman sighed. “Look, if you insist on using my spoken name, at least call me San.”

  “Whatever.” I growled, examining the scars again curiously, honestly amazed. “So…you healed me, did you?”

  “Pf course I healed you. It's part of the vow. Stay down, damn it; you shouldn't be moving in your condition.”

  “Screw you.” I snarled as I forced my body to sit up. “I have people to see, places to be.”

  “Like the temple? I bet you have a lot of explaining to do, right?” There was small hint of guilt in her voice.

  I glared at her. “I should kill you for this.”

  “Sure. Kill us both; good luck with that.” Sanquility retorted dryly. The wolf shivered, and then flinched. Out of nowhere, it felt as if somebody were trying to rip my head in half. With a gasp of pain, I grabbed my head in both hands. “Stop trying to break that link.” She growled through clenched teeth.

  “I’m not doing it on purpose. Because of your antics last night, I needed my guards. Give me a minute…”

  Closing my eyes, I slipped into the back of my mind and located both our mental link and the guards. Then I merged them. Instantly a flood of emotions slammed into me like waves of salt water. The strongest were terror and pain. I bulked from it.

  Then it was gone.

  “Sorry.” Sanquility whispered. “Even after I’d merged our souls it was touch and go most the night.”

  “I’ve never had luck with magic.” I told her absently as I judged the time of day.

  “Then how do you put up guards and merge our link with them?” She sounded rather frustrated and insulted.

  That’s right, bitch. You weren’t strong enough to enslave me.

  “A friend showed me how.” I muttered absently.

  It’s already noon. I think I can make it to the temple in four days if I hurry.

  “Are you insane?!” Sanquility demanded through narrowed eyes. Her fury was like a fist to the gut. It took almost all my control not to slap her.

  “Don’t snap at me!” I shouted, whipping around to shoot this fiend a death glare. “I’m already in enough shit. If I’m late, I’ll be buried in it.”

  Great. I have to deal with this, and her. She’s going to have my ass for this.

  “Who’s she?”

  "You're even invading my thoughts?"

  "I can't help it, okay?" Her ears pinned to her head as if she were still a wolf.

  I gave an impatient sigh. “Isn’t there a private channel?”

  Looking away, she shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve always enslaved humans, and I have to hear their thoughts, or they go insane. With other Azhi, the link doesn’t involve a telepathic and empathic link; only one to our souls.”

  Rolling my eyes with a shake of my head, I wobbled to my feet.

  “You shouldn’t be up and about. Your body is still weak.” Sanquility rose to her feet to meet my eyes.

  “You expect me to get anywhere sitting around?”

  “We’re not leaving yet.” Her eyes blazed.

  When I whirled away from her, I lost my footing on the slick stone and flew upward. Strong arms caught me, held me a moment against a racing heart and steadied me back onto my feet. A moment of amusement passed in her tempered gaze.

  I brushed her hands rudely off me. “T-thanks.”

  She gave a rigid nod. "Look, you want to be in charge, fine, what the fuck ever. Just remember who the gods-forsaken healer is. No matter how much of a hurry you're in, I know you're not ready to leave. So sit your ass d
own and shut up."

  "How about you shut the fuck up and let me do as I please?"

  “Since I made this bond to save my life and spent half the night mending you, I say we're about the same strength. So you're too weak to go anywhere. If we wait till dawn, we’ll be able to travel faster and get to Taiyuan in five days – if we push it."

  Without waiting for an answer, she thrust a piece of boar meat into my hands. “I managed to hunt, but couldn’t eat it all. So eat it.”

  A horse’s snort made us both jump. My winged horse was nibbling at the shrubs that had managed to snare their roots into the mountain’s crevices. His snow-white hide was splattered with droplets of blood.

  “Is he injured?” My voice was strained.

  If he’s injured, I can kiss that gold good-bye now!

  “Not seriously; a few singed hairs. All that blood's from when he landed. I didn’t even see the fucker coming when he hit me.”

  “Good. That’s what he’s trained to do.” Slowly sitting back down, I took a small bite of meat. “I’m stuck anyway. He’s too weary to carry me.”

  “Good.”

  “Screw you.”

  “How do you think I feel about getting kicked by lunch?!”

  “It saved my damn life, bitch.”

  Sanquility plopped down next to me with a sigh of defeat. “Just go take care of your stupid winged pony.”

  Gods she’s got a spirit.

  For a moment, we were both quiet. I didn’t bother getting up as I nibbled on the meat. It was almost impossible to ignore how close she sat to me, or the longing way she leered at me. “Anything else?” I asked with a knowing look and raised eyebrow.

  Sanquility cleared her throat, looking away. “Sorry.”

  Why am I attracted to her anyway?

  “It’s the link.” She murmured quietly. “There’s no changing it, so don’t try.”

  Now she’s really going to get pissed.

  Jealousy swam through me. Instantly I recognized it as Sanquility’s. “You have a lover?”

  “If it’s any of your business, I do. One with an attitude problem that makes you seem like a puppy.”

  Sanquility growled under her breath.

  “Deal with it. I’m not fucking you.”

  “What’s the difference?”

  “She’s not going to take my damn soul.”

  There was a long, uncomfortable stretch without a single word spoken. Honestly it made the bickering seem friendly. Unable to take sitting still in this hostility, I brushed my horse down the moment I was finished eating. Then I laid grain out for him. Once he finished I led him down the slope, following the sound of water to the stream we’d passed on the way up.

  Images burned through my mind; shadows; a sense of overbearing power. I suddenly felt as if something strong leering from everywhere and nowhere. With shaking hands, I vaulted to our resting place, waiting to see some huge Azhi charging our way. Instead Sanquility stood at the edge of the camp; she’d watched us from a short distance.

  “Sanquility? Was that you?”

  //Stop. Please. //

  “Stop what?”

  //You’re going through my mind. //

  “Sorry.” The apology seemed weak. “I didn’t know.”

  She looked at the sky. “…It’s easy to do right now. The link has to be strong.”

  “Speaking of…how long until you’re out of my head?”

  “I don’t know, okay?” She growled. Then I felt her wrench her mind back a little, and put a guard around information in her mind.

  It made my head throb. “What in Lisken’s name did you do that for?” I held my forehead until the ache died down.

  “You do it to me, okay? Some things are private.”

  “Whatever.”

  I let myself collapse onto the ground. Sanquility got comfortable in the grass and slowly drifted off to sleep. At first I just watched her, looking over her curves; admiring the way the sun danced on her skin.

  Why don’t I record it instead of just staring?

  I returned to my stallion’s tack and ruffled through until I found two leather-bound books and a four-inch hollowed and sharpened river reed. It was strong and stained with ink.

  The larger book was three inches thick with parchment paper. The leather was worn and faded from constant use. The book was six inches tall and about the same length. Several pieces of twine were wrapped around it to keep it bound.

  The smaller book was of the same material, about half the size and bound with a single leather strap all the way around instead of twine. It was far newer, in better condition and clearly used at least half as often.

  Glancing to see if Sanquility was still asleep, I removed a necklace hidden just under my chainmail. From the tweed dangled a vile of thick, black ink. So not to waste a drop, I removed the stopper and poured the ink into the reed before carefully putting the vile on the string again and concealing it.

  Quickly, I sketched Sanquility. She happened to be laying in a very sensuous pose. I couldn’t help sketching a picture with her stretched all the way out too, spending some time on her bust and eyes. There was even a pleasant smile on her lush, dark lips. After I’d gotten the details, I jotted down the facts.

  Anshumali Sanquility the Black Wolf, 3rd class Azhi

  Age: Approximately 15 in appearance. 150 years…maybe 200.

  Magic: Uses fire and healing magic. So far, she’s not used black or blood magic, but they seem probable. Strong telepathic and empathic powers.

  Relationship: She was a Seeking Mark. In the fight, it nearly took both of our lives. So she made a soul-to-soul link with me to save her life. She’s a guardian, healer and possible lover and travel companion.

  Fighting Style: Uses a combination of physical and magical skill. She can become a huge black winged wolf, much like Lyrea can become a white winged wolf. She uses speed and seems to prefer distance to melee, but is capable with a sword as well.

  Note: She has a twin that didn’t appear in combat; I’ll need to discuss this with her to see if revenge will be sought.

  Shit. It’s dusk already? How’d I take that long?

  My eyes heavy and my muscles sore, I lie near her – but not too close – and drifted back off to sleep.

  I woke around dawn to see Sanquility scanning through the journal I’d sketched her in.

  “Is there anything private with you?”

  She didn’t even glance up. “It was open and turned to a sketch of me while I was asleep – and in an interesting pose, I might add. I had every right to look at it. There’s a lot of information about people, and their pictures.”

  “Wait…can you read it?”

  She gave me a dirty look I honestly really liked in a very bothersome way. “Of course I can. What, did you think that an Azhi as old as me wouldn’t be able to read Eastern Runes? Give me a break.”

  “…It’s a record book.”

  “That’s…uh…creepy.” Sanquility replied smoothly. The wolf Azhi glanced over at last. It hit me once again that her eyes matched the color of the rising sun, and blazed with a strength I couldn’t describe. “But I suppose it would be useful. Since your personal journal mentions temporary amnesia a few times, and how thankful you were the second and third time to have recorded that information.”

  “You read my personal journal?” I gasped with wide eyes, sitting up bolt straight to steal my personal journal away.

  Her brows furrowed as she flipped a page in the record book. “You’re not giving me anything about you, Kariken, and I need to know you to protect you. Between your comrades wanting to either kill you or pulverize you and abusive lovers, the Azhi may be the least of your troubles. This Quinn will learn to leave you alone if I ever get my teeth on his neck. Is it your comrades or the abuse driving away the three apprentices? You didn’t mark down their deaths, so I’m assuming they’re still alive and no longer under your care.”

  Clearing my throat in an attempt to steady it, I replied as an
grily as I could “I can handle my personal problems just fine, so stay out of them. The kids aren’t running off because of the jack asses around me, but because they can’t take my training. Two of them requested another mentor and the third quit. By the way, you can stop announcing my soul name to the gods-damned world now.”

  Sanquility had a look of absolute bewilderment on her face. Then she blinked and all emotion was gone. “We’re alone,” There was a strange sound to her voice, as if I’d hurt her feelings.

  “So? I don’t call you Anshumali.”

  “I’d prefer if you did, actually.” She informed me with hopeful eyes.

  I shook my head in disbelief. “I have no reason to use your soul name. Now use my given name.”

  “No.”

  Our eyes locked in a glower of stubborn dominance. Finally, I gave in with a sigh. “I suppose if you shorten it so others can’t use it and I know you’re not ordering me around, it won’t do too much harm. Call me Kari if you insist on using it.”

  The Azhi remained silent for several seconds. At last, she shrugged it off. When she spoke, her voice was quiet and drawn. “As you wish. But I’d like to keep the journals so something will tell me who is friend and foe, since you’re so inclined to your secretes.” When Sanquility flipped a page, she sucked in a shaky breath. It’d landed on an image of a woman with features strikingly similar to hers. “What’s this? Lyrea, White Wolf, 3rd Class Azhi. Age; Appears around 15, so approximate age is 150 or so years. Magic: I think she has the ability to use ice and telepathic magic, but she doesn’t use it much in battle so I’m unsure. Fighting style; wields broad swords in human combat. For her kind, she tends to rely on her physical prowess more than usual for her high class. Relationship: She was a Mark. After she repented she became my lover but I don’t trust her. Thankfully after she repented she went to the Palace to be a guard there. I wouldn’t have enjoyed working with such an unreliable Azhi, but she’s wild in bed.”

  The wolf Azhi looked me in the eye. “My sister is your lover? She’s a back-stabbing bitch and you won’t sleep with me?”

  A feeling of betrayal swept through, accompanied by a tide of pain, grief and a deep, fervent hatred I’d never felt from anybody but myself. I bit my lip as I shook with the desire and fear it brought.