Logan and Connor emerged behind him.
They all rushed over to her.
Alyosha looked from Leah’s bloody hand to the dead zombie.
Something like recognition flashed across Alyosha’s face. It disappeared immediately.
“What happened?” They all cried at the same time.
Leah was still shaking from her near death experience.
“There was a zombie…It tackled me, and I punched it. Then… I guess my hand went through the think and came out the other side.”
Alyosha jerked the body up by its head, its blood spilling out onto the floor.
“This hole is like a large bullet made it.” Alyosha stated.
“No, I punched it.” Leah stated.
“My bullets did not go through. This thing’s skin is tough enough to stop them from emerging the other side of it. Your punch went in and out of the zombie. How did you make more power with a punch than a bullet?”
Leah shook her head. “No, I’m sure that’s not it! It must have a weak spot there.”
Alyosha shrugged. “Useful to know. Did you find book?”
Leah glared at him. “Are you kidding me? I nearly died!”
“All of us “Nearly died.” Get used to it, and find your book. We have ours. They are at door, in a large pile.”
Leah nodded, and wiped her hand off on the shirt of the zombie.
She shuddered.
Connor hugged her. “Let’s get your books and get out of here.”
Leah nodded shakily. She turned into the isle, and grabbed all the books with the word “Plant” In them.
She emerged with a towering stack. Connor took half of them. “Let’s go.”
They went back down the stairs, and dumped Leah’s books into the pile.
“Great. I guess it’s time to start reading.” Logan rubbed his hands together.
Connor sighed. “Oh great.”
“You don’t like reading?” Logan asked.
Connor shrugged. “It’s ok, I guess. But look at that huge pile!”
Logan shrugged. “Just skim over the book. If it has any use, you’ll be able to tell. Like, something that teaches you how to do crop rotation, or a book of plant types and medicines. That stuff.”
Connor nodded, and pulled a random book out of the pile. The rest of them did the same.
The hours flickered by as they went through the books, tossing the unwanted ones to the side while keeping the useful ones next to them .
A while later, Chuck opened the door to the library. Abby and Thad walked in behind them.
“Hey guys!” Logan said, putting his book down.
They explained what had happened.
Chuck rushed over to Leah, looking her over for cuts.
“None if it is mine.” Leah muttered.
Chuck frowned. He tapped Leah’s shoulder, and she winced.
“Except for these claw marks down your shoulders.”
“I didn’t feel them before.” Leah replied.
Chuck sighed. “We’re going to need some clean cloth and alcohol to make sure this doesn’t get infected.
Leah shook Chuck’s hands off.
“Yeah, but first we need to finish here.” She waved a hand towards the book pile.
“Where is the zombie?” Thad interjected.
They brought him up to the second floor, and pointed to the pool of blood around the P section.
Chapter Eight
Thad shook his head. “No, show me the body.”
“I don’t feel like getting my shoes soaked in blood.” Connor said.
That shook his head. “But can I see the body?”
“Why do you need to see the darn thing’s body?” Leah asked.
There was a golden flicker. The pool of blood receded rapidly.
He rushed after it, but it sucked itself up into a swimming red circle. There was a pop, and all traces of the zombie disappeared.
“Damn it!” Thad cursed.
“What just happened?” Leah trailed off.
Thad turned to them. “How did that thing…no matter. I guess things got a little rushed. I am Thaddeus, Guardian of the First order.”
Alyosha raised his eyebrows. “And that means?”
Thaddeus sighed. “Come along. I was hoping to have a little more time before I had to explain, but I guess it was not to be. I will introduce you to the others.
They headed downstairs, and the pile of books was gone.
Thaddeus led them to a restaurant.
“I thought you were going to explain, not feed us Chinese food.” Connor said bitterly.
“Not that I mind Chinese food.” He quickly added in.
Leah grinned at him.
Thaddeus clapped his hands together. “They know. Stop hiding, it is time to Appear.”
There was a blur, and suddenly the restaurant was chock full with people eating and talking.
Leah rubbed her head. “I have a headache.”
“Hey! Quiet down!” Thaddeus roared.
Everyone stopped talking, and turned to look at them.
“Guardians, we have new recruits. They made their way here with little to no help. Their knowledge level is 0. Would you all stop, and help me make the introduction?” He called.
There was a general roar of agreement.
Thaddeus turned back to them. “Ok, I’ll fill you in now. I’ll start with the total summary. You have all been assembled because of differences in your DNA. You have a strand that normal humans do not have. It is normally dormant, but it will activate under extreme pressure or eminent death. The GOP, or Guardians of the Planes, all have this strand. Everyone’s is slightly different. We keep peace between the three Planes: Hell, Earth, and Heaven. Well, mostly Hell and Earth. The Big Guy Upstairs doesn’t interfere with mortal affairs directly. Free choice and all that. Anyways…I’ll put it simply. We screwed up. There was a traitor in our ranks, and he killed the guards watching over one of the portals between Earth and Hell. A few plague demons got out. It took about a day or two for them to infect a huge portion of the earth. Maybe sixty percent or so. Now there are a bunch of plague demon flunkies running around. The DNA strand in you makes you resistant to the virus, and a bunch of unawakened people are left out there to fend for themselves. We have to fight the Demons off, and then we can cure the norms.”
They were quiet for a while. “You really screwed up.” Logan finally said.
Thaddeus nodded.
“I’m not sure I can believe you. From what I understand, you’re telling me that we have superpowers?” Leah asked.
Thaddeus snorted. “I guess you could say that.
Connor rolled his eyes. “This is hard to take in, but I saw those zombies with my own eyes. But superpowers? Really? Could you show us?” He asked, voicing all their concerns.
Thaddeus shrugged. “Very well.”
White wings erupted from his back, and a shimmering spear formed in his hand. His clothing changed to shining white armor.
“Does this work for you, or do you need to see a different power?” Thaddeus asked. He thumped his shining spear against the ground to emphasize his point.
(heh, point.)
“You’re an angel!” Logan whispered.
Thaddeus shook his head. “Most assuredly not. It’s a misconception that angles look like this. What’s with the swan feather wings humans thought up? Honestly. They don’t have fluffy white wings. Angel wings look like condensed sunlight. Baddies can’t stand them. Angels don’t wear togas either. Just because they were seen once in a toga back in the day doesn’t mean that’s all they wear. Last time I saw an angel, I think he had jeans on.”
Leah grinned. “Ok, I guess we can believe you on that. You’re telling me we can all turn into this human perspective of an angel?”
Thaddeus sighed in frustration. “No, durak. We all have different powers. But, there are a few base classes that they all fall into. A warrior, mage, healer, enchanter, or shifter. Wa
rriors are all the close range classes. Their powers range from gaining some type of weaponry and armor to shifting into a heavy element like metal or rock. Mages are all the powers that pretty much defy everything you know. They aren’t always long range, but it’s common that they are. Healers are tricky. There are really only two types of healers. One has the ability to pass the joy or general good feelings around him or her into a patient and heal wounds. The other is constantly leeching small amounts of joypower from the air and boosting an attribute of himself or herself. Enchanters can make normal objects take on a special ability or power. One could make a sword catch fire when it is drawn, or a map change along with its respective area.” He glanced pointedly at Chuck, and continued.
“Shifters are simple. They can take the form of something else. They can usually only take one different form, but they can sometimes change to more than one different form. They can partially shift, which is where norms get their werewolf legends.”
“This sounds really cool, and I think we all buy this. But, what makes you think we have powers?” Abby asked.
Thaddeus shrugged. “Because most of you have used your talent at least once.”
Logan looked around. “I haven’t.”
Abby shook her head. “Nope, I haven’t either.”
Connor shrugged. “Not me.”
“I…think I might have.” Leah said.
Thaddeus grinned. “Of course. How else would you have killed that demon? So, what was it?”
The entire room seemed to lean in to hear her answer.
“I’m not completely sure. But, I remember my hand had small claws. Like the zombies do.”
Thaddeus chuckled. “Oh, the irony. You look like you’re a shifter what can morph into a plague demon.”
“Well, I only saw my hand change.” She said.
Thaddeus shrugged. “New Guardians are weak with their talent. I’m not surprised you could only change one arm. Bill, could you come up here?” He called into the crowd.
A man ran out of the crowd. He looked to be about thirty.
“This is the newbie shifter trainer. He will oversee your training.”
Bill grinned at Leah. “Good to have a new recruit.”
He shook Leah’s hand.
“What can you shift into?” Leah asked.
“Wolf. I’m your standard Werewolf.”
He flashed a grin to the rest of the party, and sat down at one of the tables.
Chuck cleared his throat. “I’m an enchanter. I was off duty from the GOP, but I knew what the plague demons where when I saw them. Sorry I didn’t tell you guys earlier.”
They stared at him. Alyosha started to grin. “The map. You…”
“Enchanted it, yes. I was going to bring Leah and Connor to the GOP base, but I had to get my wife and other daughters first.”
Alyosha sighed. “I think I am this mage. I make things…burn.”
Abby laughed. “When I met him, he was trying to steal a car from the military. He set an entire block on fire to get it.”
Alyosha held his hand out, and closed his eyes.
The air heated up again. There was a sizzle, and orange light flickered in Alyosha’s left hand. Molten fire pooled up in it, and began to dribble onto the floor. The magma crept up his arm, swallowing his leather jacket.
“I can do this. It happened when I was taking car from military. I was going to put bomb in water heater, and boom. Send whole block to the next world. But, this magma came. It just started coming from my hand. I wanted it away from me, and then it did so. It just shot out of my hand and hit the heater. Boom.”
Thaddeus nodded. “Pretty powerful. I haven’t seen a Guardian that could control magma in a while.”
A harsh wind blew through the restaurant, and ice began to form next to Thaddeus.
The ice formed into a sculpture of a hawk nosed man, and then shattered.
The man nodded his head to Thaddeus.
“In case you didn’t figure it out, I am the trainer for new Mages. My name is Daren. You look like an interesting challenge, Snake. I had my eyes on you when you were in the Mafia. I knew your father; he was a mage as well. If you do half as well as he did, you’ll be a prodigy.”
Alyosha grunted. “Maybe.”
Thaddeus cleared his throat. “Well, Now that you’re mostly filled in about your abilities, I’ll tell you the rest. This island can only be entered by Guardians or those with the DNA strand of one. There hundreds, maybe a thousands of these around the world. They were merged a long time ago by a powerful mage. A Guardian can call others to him by simply making some sort of attraction and thinking about seeing the other Guardians. Once you enter a base, and invoke the call, you enter the “main base.” It really isn’t a real thing, but the call twists the dimension. You leave the base you were at before, and enter the base where all the other Guardians are. You can then will yourself to any other base there is in the same way.”
“Whoa. So you can travel across the world instantly if you were in a base near California and wanted to get to…japan?” Logan asked.
Thaddeus nodded. “If there was a base in California and Japan, which there are.”
Connor grinned. “Ok, you got me. This is cool and terrifying at the same time. Is there a way I can find out my power?”
“Of course there is! I’ll warn you, you won’t like it.”
Connor shrugged. “It will be worth it.”
Thaddeus nodded. “That it will.”
He turned to Abby and Logan. “I assume you want to learn your powers as well?” He asked.
They nodded.
“Ok, all of you follow me.” Thaddeus said.
Chapter Nine
He led them out of the Chinese restaurant, and towards where the dirt fields were.
Instead of a dirt field, there was a huge indent in the ground. They peered into it.
The indent was ringed with metal, and metal wire formed a slight dome over the top.
“This is the training arena for Guardians that graduate from recruit training. It also serves another purpose.”
Thaddeus lunged forward, and pushed Connor, Abby, and Logan into the arena.
“What the heck?” Leah yelled, and lunged after them.
Thaddeus blocked her with an armored hand. “The DNA needs panic or eminent death to activate. They need to think they are in trouble. Play along.” He hissed.
He lightly knocked his knuckles against Leah’s head.
“Fall down.” He whispered.
She obediently pretended to fall to the ground. Alyosha “fell” next to her.
Chuck was already on the ground.
“You’re alone! If you can survive the wave of demons, I’ll let you live!” Thaddeus called.
“You won’t let them die, will you?” Leah whispered to Thaddeus.
He shook his head slightly. “There are two Guardians of the second order down there. One can fly and one can turn invisible. If one of them doesn’t have a power used in fighting, or can’t fight back, they’ll come in and save them.”
Leah edged over to the edge of the ring to watch them.
There was a clang, and a metal gate rose. Several monsters emerged. The things were humanoid in figure, but had the head of a bull.
“Minotaurs?” Leah asked quietly.
Thaddeus nodded again.
Abby reacted immediately. She pulled out her gun and opened fire.
The bullets didn’t even seem to faze the monster.
She tossed the gun aside, and drew her huge sword. She slashed at it, but the minotaur slammed the weapon out of the way with its hand. It pounded the ground where she was, but Abby rolled out of the way.
Logan ran to the edge of the arena. “I can’t fight! I’ll just stay here!” He yelled.
Connor grunted in assent, and drew his axe.
He engaged the second of three minotaurs, and swung his axe at its head.
“Mortal weapons won’t hurt a full demon! The
only things that can are faith and powers!” Thaddeus called down.
The minotaur knocked Abby’s weapon out of her hand, and she fell backward.
She dove for it, and the sword shivered.
The monster stood over her, and raised its hands to smash her into the ground.
There was a pulse of purple light, and her huge sword flicked straight up into the air. It shot forward, and slashed the monster’s head off.
It spun itself over, and embedded itself in the ground before Abby.
“Oho! We haven’t had an Enchanter that could animate anything in a while!” Thaddeus yelled down to her.
Understanding of what was going on dawned on Abby, and she nodded slightly.
“Abby! I need help!” Connor yelled as he jumped out of the way of another clumsy attack.
Abby “Fell” over, pretending to be wounded.
Connor tried to dodge another blow, but this one grazed him, splitting the skin on his left hand wide open.
He cursed, and scrambled back to his feet.
The final Minotaur turned to Logan.
He gulped. “Nice minotaur!”
It swung its hand at him, and Logan scrambled out of the way.
“Somebody help me!!!” Logan screamed as the monster chased him around.
Connor flicked his eyes to Logan, and back to the minotaur he was fighting.
The blood seeping down his hand stopped moving, and extended.
It formed a sharp blade, and froze in place. Connor looked at the blade extending from his arm in surprise.
He recovered quickly, and lunged forward.
The monster swung its arm at him, and he raised the red weapon to block it.
The monster’s arm was chopped off at the wrist, and the hand crashed to the ground.
He wasted no time slamming the blade through the monster’s chest.
Connor twisted his wrist, snapping the blade off.
Logan continued running from the monster, screaming profanities at it.
He tripped over a stray rock, and tumbled to a stop.
The monster roared in victory, and brought his foot down over Logan’s head.
“Red Flag!” Logan screeched.
The monster froze, and let it’s foot fall next to Logan.
“Red! Right over there!” He squealed, pointing at one of the fallen minotaurs.
The monster spun, charging towards its fallen brother.
“I know my power! Let us out of here!” Logan yelled.
A slight grin stretched across his face. “Or I’ll tell him how to use a weapon to cut through the steel above us.