Daughter of Earth (Tales of the Guardian) (28 page)

“Alexander! What would you have me do? I will do anything to have to back. Do you want to leave Eden I’ll do that. Just name the terms I don’t care anymore I just want the old Alexander back.” Emily desperately pled.

“Ah, that’s sweet but long past due. You had your chance and …”

Xavier seized the opportunity while Alexander’s attention was diverted and made a lunge for the sword. But his movement was easily detected and Alexander removed the sword from his grasp, slicing it across Xavier’s chest in the process.

The wound wasn’t deep enough to seriously injure him but it was enough to make him flinch and step back.

Lexington now took his cue and raised his blade to the back of Alexander’s neck. The tip was only centimeters away from his skin.

“No!” Emily cried, fear making her voice sound icy and strangled.

“Oh, how quickly prophecies become real. It only took a moment before our Guardian here broke the rules and is now using his sword for a purpose other than deemed,” Alexander chuckled deeply.

“You drew blood first, general,” Lexington confidently rationalized, but the slight tremor of his hand indicated how uncertain of his actions he truly was.

Alexander spun so quickly it was hard to think he hadn’t already been facing Lexington’s direction. “You cut Emily. You drew first blood, not me.”

It was now Lexington’s turn to stare down the long sword that Alexander held. He backed up a few steps, then braced his feet.

Alexander thrust at him and the young Guardian was barely able to deflect the threatening blow. Xavier dove once more at his friend but Alexander was too quick again and caught Xavier on the arm, filleting it open like a tender piece of fish.

This cut was much deeper than the one on his chest but all he did was grimace, he did not step back this time, which forced Alexander to reposition his footing.

Lexington dropped his sword and leapt onto Alexander’s back, trying to quickly lock his arms around his neck.

But Alexander was as agile as a cat and as strong as a bull. Lexington was flipped over and on his back in a flash.

Damarus now joined in and made a team effort with Xavier to assault Alexander from the front. Between the two of them, they were able to force Alexander backward.

Xavier caught a punch Alexander had directed at him and used his momentum to twist his arm while Damarus went for his legs, driving his entire body forward, crashing into Alexander’s pelvis and sending all three of them to the ground.

Before Alexander could retaliate, Athos and Matthias were now on top of him as well, using their knees and arms to pin Alexander’s flailing limbs to the ground.

It took four Guardians to restrain Alexander and even then they had to exert every ounce of their strength to hold him there.

“You fools, I am a god! I am greater than you all. You will pay for this, all of you will,” Alexander howled.

The fight had been so quick Emily had hardly understood what was going on before it was over. She watched as Alexander’s face became twisted and fierce and then she saw it, a flash of yellow and then another one.

Alexander’s once bright green eyes had just turned yellow, the same yellow she’d seen in both Dante’s eyes and Sandros’.

“No,” her hand flew to her mouth, to block her curdling scream. “No that’s not possible,” she shook her head.

Alexander squirmed with all his strength and almost broke free. Lexington now joined the team and other Guardians flashed down from the stands to help restrain him.

Aldara rushed forward so she was at Alexander’s feet.

“His eyes Damarus, watch his eyes!” she shouted.

So she’d seen the frightening color, as well. It was the first time Emily had ever heard Aldara sound panicked.

“You must render him unconscious, and you must do it now!” Aldara commanded.

Damarus did not hesitate.

He swiftly slammed his elbow down on Alexander’s temple. A sickening crack resounded and Alexander’s body went limp.

Emily wondered if Damarus had actually broken bones in his face. As everyone released their grip and backed up, she rushed to Alexander’s side.

Her sobs were uncontrollable.

“Why were his eyes yellow? His eyes were yellow, why did they turn like that? You saw it, Aldara! Tell me. Please”

“Athos, call the surgeon,” Aldara demanded as she fell down on her knees on his other side. She lifted his lids to look at his pupils. “I should have known this was the cause of his actions, I should have seen the signs.”

“What signs? What are you talking about?” Emily asked through her tears.

“The question is, how?” Aldara ignored Emily and instead hunted for Xavier. “Xavier! Has Alexander been in contact with an Ancient One recently?”

Xavier stepped forward, rubbing his neck, “No not that I’m aware of, not since that fight at Cooperstown where he killed Dante. But, you knew about that.”

“That is too far back. It would need to be more recently. When did you first notice strange behavior from him?” Aldara interrogated. “Was it before or after you entered Eden?”

“I guess the first time I noticed anything was just before we came to Eden. He told me about the vision Dante gave him and…”

“A vision,” Aldara breathed out, she looked as though she just might faint. “Dante gave him a vision?”

“Yes, in Cooperstown,” Xavier seemed confused as to why that would alarm Aldara. “Why do you act so surprised, Cyreena saw the battle.”

“I saw the battle but I cannot see Ancient Ones. They are blocked from my view. I had no way of knowing Dante had given Alexander a vision,” Cyreena said from behind.

“If we had known Alexander allowed Dante to give him a vision we would have taken the necessary measures long ago. Now, I fear it could be too late. Six months is too long. It is a miracle Alexander was able to fight off the poison for as long as he has. His heart and will have proven stronger than most. We need to get him on that table.” Aldara pointed to the large wooden table with the weapons display.

A Guardian cleared it with one swoop of his arms, flinging the blades and daggers to the ground as six of the men hoisted Alexander up and carried him over to lay him down upon it.

“What do you mean, poison?” Emily asked, the horror was beginning to take over every nerve in her body.  She fought to regain her ability to speak. “Too late? It’s too late for what, Aldara?”

“When a Guardian allows an Ancient One to penetrate his or her mind,” it was Athos who offered the explanation, “or in this case, when Alexander allowed Dante to give him a vision, an invisible yet very real poison is placed within the recipient of the vision. A small evil seed is planted, and all it needs is time to grow and take hold, and then spread through the blood stream, slowly turning and converting the host.”

“And, being in Eden only accelerates the spread of the venom,” Matthias added. “We heal quicker in Eden because our blood pumps faster throughout our bodies. The quicker Alexander’s heart pace, the faster the venom is pumped through his veins, spreading to each and every cell of his body. Once the poison takes hold of all of him, there is no reverting his blood. It will forever be blackened and we cannot save him.”

“Keep fighting, my son,” Aldara stroked Alexander’s hair back and wiped his sweaty forehead with the hem of her dress.

“What do you mean you can’t save him, how do you know what to do?” Xavier now voiced his concern.

“We know what to do because we have seen this happen many times before,” Damarus said as he glanced over Aldara’s shoulder, a deep look of terror had spread across his face. “This is one way the Ancient Ones gained their numbers in the beginning; this is how they stole so many Guardians from Eden and caused the Great Dissension. They poisoned their minds and let the venom spread until it had clenched down on every piece of their heart. Once a heart and all its blood turns black, there is no reversing it.”

“By the time we figured out what was going on we had already lost so many. We were only able to save a hundred or so who had not fully turned. We did not realize that is was truly an internal battle being waged and not one of just ideas and beliefs but of evil possessions. We should have recognized some of the things Alexander was saying. I should have known the moment he started voicing his distrust, and showing his anger while we were training weeks ago.” A tear slid down Damarus’ cheek, he refused to wipe it.

“Oh, how could we have not seen the signs, Damarus? How did we not know what was happening?” Aldara moaned.

“They have not used this method since the beginning; they know it comes with great risk to themselves, which is why they stopped. I had almost forgotten it was possible. It has been thousands of years since we have seen this,” he placed his hand on Aldara’s shoulder to offer comfort.

A Guardian suddenly appeared with a large leather satchel. He was out of breath but went straight to opening up his pouches.

“He’s turning, Adonis. He’s turning. Before Damarus rendered him unconscious his eyes flashed yellow,” Aldara ended her sentence in a whisper.

The surgeon’s eyes grew wide like a deer in headlights.

“No,” he said in disbelief as he reached into his bag and removed two long metal tubes. Their gauge was only a fourth of an inch wide but they were long and came to a sharp point on one end. “Drop his arms down, that will help speed the process.”

Emily watched, horrified as the surgeon jammed both metal rods into each of Alexander’s arms at the crook of his elbow. The sharp point slid in effortlessly but the sheer enormity of those needles almost made her faint. As if it wasn’t enough, a thick tar-like substance began to ooze from the tubes, dripping to the ground like sticky molasses. It flowed smoothly after the first few ounces had passed. When Mathaius had said the poison blackened his blood, Emily wasn’t sure if he meant literally, but now it was quite clear he did. There it was, thick as tree sap and black as coal as it spilled from the metal rods.

“What…what are you doing?” Emily could barely get her words out.

She felt as though she might vomit, although she wasn’t sure if it was because of the blood or the fact that she now understood just how critical this situation was.

“We are bleeding him out,” Cyreena said as she stood closely behind Damarus. “It is the only way to rid his blood stream of the venom. The surgeon will bleed him until we see red flow from those tubes. If we see red then he is saved.”

“And if we don’t? What happens if no red comes out?”

A crowd of Guardians now stood in a half circle around the makeshift operation table. They all remained silent, like they all somehow knew the answer to Emily’s question.

“We will bleed him until he dies,” Aldara answered with a barely audible whisper.

“What?” Emily jumped back from Alexander’s side where she’d been hunched over and stood straight up. “You can’t do that!”

Aldara looked across Alexander’s body to stare directly into Emily’s eyes. “It is better for him to die than for us to allow him to become one of them. In death he receives his eternal rest. As an Ancient One he will only know eternal damnation.” Tears streaked her face and soaked her neck as they traveled down to her gown.

A sudden twitch came from Alexander’s body and then another. The convulsions became more violent and the frequency began to build until there was no time between spasms. His body began to seize.

“Hold him down,” the surgeon shouted as one of the tubes fell out of Alexander’s arm. He worked to get the rod stuck back into place, using a thin leather strap to secure it to the forearm. Numerous hands reached over to restrain Alexander creating a web or over his body, blocking Emily from her previous position by his side.