The Protectors: Book 1 in the Protectors Saga (41 page)

“Don’t you say that to me.” Jade said quietly, “Don’t
you ever say that to me.”

From the look in Jade’s eyes, Avery knew her words
had hurt her. It wasn’t what she had intended to do. In fact, right
now, she wasn’t sure what she had intended to do. She knew Jade
would never leave her, and she had a pretty good idea that the
Elementals would never really let any of them leave. Avery was just
scared, and wounded, and thrown by what the creature had said to
her.

All strength seemed to drain out of her and she
collapsed back into her seated position on the ground, staring out
at the sunset, “I just don’t want you to get hurt.” Avery said
softly, on the verge of tears, “I don’t know what I would do if you
got hurt.”

Jade stared off into the distance at the sunset for a
minute, the deep orange and purple rays lighting up the sharp
angles of her face. She then took a seat on the ground, next to
Avery.

“I’m going to say this to you one time, and then
we’re never going to talk about it again, alright, because I never
want to hear you talking like this again.” Jade looked at Avery
seriously, but softly.

Avery nodded.

Jade looked back out to the sunset and landscape as
she spoke, “I never told you this before, probably because I never
wanted to freak you out, or give you a complex, but my parents, and
Skylar, Sash, and Bunny’s parents always use to tell us to, ‘watch
out for Avery’, ‘keep Avery away from trouble’, ‘Make sure Avery
doesn’t get hurt’. I mean, I use to think it was because you get
into more trouble than anyone I know.” Jade laughed softly and
shook her head, “It makes sense now, with you being the leader of
the Protectors and everything, but I could never figure it out back
on Earth.”

Avery followed Jade’s gaze out towards the landscape,
she couldn’t believe none of them had told her that before. They
must have thought she was a complete weakling while growing up.

“Anyway,” Jade continued, “Remember that day, I think
we were about six or seven, and my mom was babysitting you and I,
and we were out in front of my trailer, building a fort out of old
car parts.” Jade smiled warmly at the memory, “You wanted to walk
out into the desert behind the trailer park and look for the
perfect stone to place upon our fort. I didn’t want to go, because
I didn’t want to get yelled at by my mom, but I followed you out
there, because…well, because that’s just what I do. We kept walking
and walking, until the trailer park became nothing but a speck in
the distance. Then, out of nowhere we came up on that big feral
Akita dog, standing over the pack rat he had just killed, and he
started growling and snarling at us. I jumped in between you and
the dog and pushed you out of the way.”

“I remember that,” Avery said, replaying the memory
in her mind, “you pushed me on the ground and I skinned my
hands.”

Jade rolled her eyes, “You would remember that part.
Anyway, the dog eventually picked up the rat and ran off with it,
but that was the moment everything became clear to me. I didn’t put
myself between you and danger because I was told to, or because I
thought it was the right thing to do. It was instinctual, and I
realized, that even at that age, you were the most important thing
to me. You weren’t just my friend, you were my sister. When I think
of my family, I think of you.”

Jade turned her face towards Avery, a small tear
forming at the edge of one of her eyes. Avery gave her a little
pouty smile, and fought back the tears from forming in her eyes as
well.

“I love you, too.” Avery told her.

Jade laughed and wiped at the tear in her eye, “Of
course,” She said, looking back out to the sunset, “about a week
after that, I come over to your house and that crazy Akita dog is
laying on your living room floor. You felt so bad for it. You
begged and begged your dad, till he went out with you and set a
trap in desert and caught that stupid dog.”

Avery laughed, “Yeah, Bear, he was my first dog. He
was such a good boy.”

“I was so
mad
at you.” Jade said, “I had just
put my life on the line, jumping in between you and this wild
beast, and what do you do…you go out, trap the wild beast, and
bring it home.” Jade smirked, “That dog loved you so much. After I
got over my anger, I realized something else. I realized that you
were the best person I knew, or ever would know. Both those
realizations have lasted till this day. You’re still the best
person I know, and you’re still the most important person in my
life, and both those things will always be true. So, those are the
reasons I follow you. Those are the reasons I’d die for you. Those
are the reasons I don’t
ever
want to hear you tell me that
your path is too dangerous for me. Your path
is
my
path.”

Avery couldn’t help but understand. She felt the same
way. There was nothing Jade could ever do or say that could cause
Avery to abandon her, so how could she ask that of jade.

“Plus,” Jade added, “I get to kick ass and save
lives, which, let’s face it, is a lot better than any prospects I
had on Earth.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Avery said, trying to control the
smile threatening to take over her face, “I think your path from
juvenile delinquent to downright social menace seemed to be going
well.”

“Be careful, Kimball,” Jade warned, standing up and
grabbing onto Avery’s hand, to help her up, “we’re standing at the
edge of a very high cliff, and you look like you just lost a fight
with a tiger. Pushing you over would be more than easy.”

It was past dark when Avery and Jade finally rode
back into the village. Avery was thankful for the darkness. She
felt it would allow her to make her way home, without people
noticing the monster claw marks on her neck and the trail of blood
leading down from them. All of her hopes for an inconspicuous
entrance were dashed, however, when Gumptin, the other girls, Pip,
and Thomas came rushing out of the stables to meet them.

“We were about to send another search party out for
the
both
of you.” Sasha told them, an expression of slight
relief unfolding on her face. It was such a rarity for Sasha to
show any sign of concern, Avery knew she must have been really
worried.

“Avery,” Skylar gasped, “you look horrible!”

“Are you alright?” Bunny asked.

Pip ran up and grabbed onto Phantom’s reins and Avery
hopped down.

“I’m fine, guys.” Avery told them, uncomfortable with
the fuss being made over her.

“Are ya sure?” Pip asked, looking concerned, “If ya
want, I could…”

“I’m fine.” Avery said, cutting off Pip. She felt
slightly guilty when she saw the hurt in Pip’s eyes, as he lead
Phantom back into the stables, but she had just wanted the subject
dropped. Thinking about her injuries made her think about the
fight, which made her think about what the Demon had said to her.
Her talk with Jade had made her feel better, and she didn’t want to
be brought back down with dark thoughts.

“So,” Gumptin inquired, walking up and inspecting
her, “what did happen to you?”

Avery sighed, resigning herself to the fact that she
was going to have to relive the fight, no matter how hard she tried
to avoid it.

“Sasha encountered an ogre.” Gumptin told Avery.

From what Gumptin had taught them, all Avery really
knew about ogres was that they were slightly bigger, more agile,
and human looking version of a troll. There weren’t near as many
ogres as there were trolls, and they were known for their glutton
appetites, which, at times, consisted of feeding on human beings.
Avery’s mouth fell open, and she looked towards Sasha. She couldn’t
believe Sasha had encountered one on her own and still managed to
look so calm and unharmed.

“Do not look so awed Avery.” Gumptin told her, giving
Sasha a discouraging glance, “Sasha, although, claiming to have
been thoroughly vigilant, failed to not only kill the beast, but
also find out what it was up to.”

“Enough.” Sasha snapped at Gumptin, placing her hands
firmly on her hips. She turned towards Avery and told her,
“Alright, so the thing got away,” Sasha breathed out heavily,
shaking her head, “but what Gumptin failed to mention, is that I
did
wound it. It knocked me off of my horse, I shot it
through the knee with an arrow, and then it ran off.”

Gumptin let out a disgusted sigh, “And chasing after
a limping ogre is such hard work!”

Before Sasha could retort, which she was more than
getting ready to do, Gumptin said to Avery, “Anyway, Sasha
encountered an ogre. Jade ran into a small party of dwarves.”
Gumptin ignored Jade’s snicker when he said the word ‘small’ in
reference to the dwarves, and continued, “What happened to you?
What did that to your neck?”

Avery reached her hand up and let her four fingers
slide down along the four claw marks, “A Demon with a really bad
attitude.” Avery told Gumptin, letting her mind drift back to the
fight she had been trying to forget.

“A Demon?!” Gumptin questioned, getting a little
excited, “Avery, defeating a Demon is marvelous news! What kind of
Demon was it?”

Avery didn’t really hear Gumptin’s question. Her mind
was still back on the fight with the Demon, “An insanely bad
attitude,” She continued, “and icky yellow skin, red eyes, sharp
little teeth, and,” Avery pointed to the gashes on her neck,
“
claws
…knife-like claws!”

A mixture of recognition and shock flashed in
Gumptin’s eyes, “This is very important, Avery.” Gumptin said,
making sure he got her attention, “What kind of Demon was he?”
Gumptin looked anxious, waiting for Avery’s reply.

Since most of the information the Demon gave Avery
was when he was choking her, Avery was a little fuzzy on the
details, “I think he said he was a Serpent Demon or something like
that.” Avery shrugged.

“Serpentine Demon?!” Gumptin shouted in
excitement.

“Yep, that was is.” Avery replied, not near as
excited.

“Oh, oh, that is so…” Gumptin couldn’t have been
happier if he was a kid at Christmas, “did he say what clan he was
from?”

“I think so.” Was all Avery could give him. She
barely remembered the type of Demon; no way was she going to
remember the clan.

Gumptin helped her out, “Was he from the Vipa, the
Fanish, or the Drake Clan?”

“Oooh,” Avery said, getting excited herself at a
familiar sounding name, “the last one, definitely the last
one.”

“Great goodness!” Gumptin exclaimed, “You must have
killed Sevil. The Emperor only has five Serpentine Demons in his
service and only one of them is a member of the Drake Clan.”

“That’s him,” Avery said, remembering him telling her
his name as he choked her, “he told me his name was Sevil.”

Gumptin shook his head in disbelief, “Avery, I do not
think you fully grasp the enormity of what you have done.”

Avery just shook her head, she thought doing things
like killing Demons was all in a day’s work for a Protector.
Although it had been a big deal to her, she hadn’t thought Gumptin
would find it so huge.

“Serpentine Demons are incredibly dangerous.” Gumptin
beamed, “Avery, in your time as a Protector, you have never faced
anything as remotely deadly as a Serpentine Demon…except the
Emperor, of course. I cannot believe…I am utterly astonished that
you defeated it.”

“Thanks for vote of confidence.” Avery said
sarcastically.

“Ha, ha, ha,” Gumptin laughed and did a little
circular dance, that just about knocked Jade over with mocking
laughter, “the Emperor is going to want to eat rocks when he hears
you beheaded one of his precious Serpentine’s!”

Avery thought back to the gruesome fight, replaying
the entire thing in her mind. She got up to the point where the
Demon had his vice-like fingers around her neck. In that moment,
she had really thought she was going to die.

“You know,” Avery told Gumptin, “if it hadn’t been
for this crazy white light that shot out of my hands, the Demon
might have been the one rejoicing right now.”

Gumptin stopped his little dance, his back turned
towards Avery. When he did turn around to look at her a few seconds
later, complete shock was written all over his entire face.

Avery raised her eyebrows, as if to say, ‘what?’

“That is…that is your power, Avery.” Gumptin
stuttered, “Remember, each of you were given a power by the
Elementals. Jade has water, Bunny earth, Skylar wind, and Sasha
fire. You, the leader, were given energy. The power lends to your
strength and fighting abilities, but I never thought in my wildest
dreams, you could ever learn to harness it.”

“I wouldn’t exactly use the term ‘harnessing it’.”
Avery said, “It flowed through me, zapped the Demon off of me, and
then it was gone. I had no control over it. I don’t even think I
could do it again if I tried. It was like…sneezing.”

Gumptin cringed at Avery’s comparison of her power to
that of sneezing.

“You used a
power
.” Skylar exclaimed, “That is
so cool.”

Jade gave Skylar an exasperated look, “Despite it
being
so cool
, it didn’t do anything to you, did it? I mean,
you still feel…normal, right?”

Avery just knew that Jade would jump right into
Mother Hen mode, which is why she hadn’t said anything to her
before.

“I don’t feel any different.” She assured Jade, “It
felt a little hot and tingly when it happened, but then it was
gone.”

Skylar snorted, “Feeling hot and tingly is never a
bad thing.”

Jade reached over and slapped Skylar across the
shoulder, disapproving of her humorous tone on what Jade considered
a serious matter.

“How much power did you produce?” Bunny asked,
looking almost more curious than Gumptin, “What did it feel
like?”

Avery looked questioningly at Bunny, wondering when
she had become a female version of Gumptin, throwing rapid fire
questions at her.