Rise of Alpha (The Prodian Journey #1) (39 page)

“Shannon, no.” I sensed danger on all sides, and I pulled my weapon from my pocket. The reumdag extended to its full size as several Ergans appeared before us, gnashing their teeth.

“We’re made for this,” she said as we stood back to back while three Ergans circled around us.

Alpha, it wasn’t easy finding you. We’re going to finish this here or on the other side. You’re going to pay for what you’ve done to us.
The unspoken sentiment drifted in the acrid air.

Those words were meant to scare me, but they failed to do more than fuel my rage. “No. I’m going to make you pay for what you did to my father and my people. This is just the beginning.”
 

They rushed us at once, but instinct guided me. I struck out, and an Ergan fell to the ground with a loud thump, allowing me to give the final blow before I turned to face the next challenger. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Shannon going for the kill, and her movements surprised me. She jumped up, somersaulted in the air, and then jumped onto the back of the creature before plunging the dagger into its hide.
 

Stunned at her display of agility and courage, I let down my guard, and another creature lunged at me, catching me by the shoulder. Its claws dug deep into my skin. The sting was agonizing, making me stumble backward. I was saved by Shannon’s swift reaction. She flung her dagger at our party crasher, killing it in an instant.

My mouth gaped while she wiped off the grime from the blade on her jeans, as if she had been doing this all her life. Then she ran to me and began examining my injury.

“Brian, are you okay?” she asked, trying to get a good look at the damage to my shoulder.

“It’s nothing.” I waved her off, downplaying the pain from the deep gash.

“Don’t move. Let me see,” she scolded in a gentle voice. She took out a small bottle of the concoction she’d used on me before and poured out some onto my wound.

Her movements seemed so precise and automatic that I started to wonder. Had she been hiding knowledge of fighting from me all along?
 

A dart of pain distracted me. I hissed at the sudden sting when the liquid seeped into the cut and penetrated the affected muscle. I closed my eyes while I waited out the momentary discomfort, and when I opened them again, the deep gash was already closing up.

“Good as new.” Shannon grinned and pocketed the bottle.

“Thank you.” I rotated my arm and it did feel as good as new. “Wow.”

“You’re welcome,” she said, looking quite smug.

“What was that about?” I asked, still floored by her fighting skills.

“Which part?”

“The acrobatics and ninja moves. Since when have you been able to do that?”

Her eyes sparkled. “Detherina—I mean, my mother—mentioned something about that. She said that since I reached maturity today, I would know what to do when the need arose.”
 

“What does that mean?”
 

“I think I was destined to be your Prodian.”

I opened my mouth, but then shut it again. What could I say?
 

I had been given the exact opposite of the truth. The plan to keep us safe had worked, but that didn’t mean I liked it. Shannon, my beautiful girlfriend, was now
my
Prodian. I was overjoyed that this meant we’d be together, but I couldn’t help cursing fate for twisting our destinies into this deadly game.

“Come here,” I said, returning my weapon to my pocket.

“Yes, Alpha.” Shannon tucked her dagger back inside her waistband. When she walked into my arms, it felt so right.
 

“You knew about that, too?”

She looked up at me with a smile. “Yeah, but I still prefer Curly, if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all. As long as you don’t mind me calling you ‘babe’.” I kissed her forehead.

“Babe.” It sounded like she was testing out the word. “Hmm, I like it.”
 

“So what’s next for us?” After another quick kiss to her lips, I led her back to our earlier spot. I sat down and pulled Shannon into my lap, wrapping my arms around her.

“I leave tomorrow,” she said.

Although I’d known about her impending departure, this reminder still hurt.
 

“I don’t think I can handle being away from you.”
 

“It’s only temporary. Dethe– er,
Mother
said you’ll be following me right after graduation.” She shifted around and straddled my waist, making a shudder run through me. “I’m going to miss you.”

“Not as much as I’m going to miss you.” I kissed her mouth and tried to ignore how my body was reacting to her proximity.

“Okay, party’s over,” Matro said, appearing out of nowhere.

I kept my hands around Shannon, and she buried her face in the crook of my neck, giggling.

“I thought I gave you an order?”

Matro chuckled, hovering over us. “You’re still in training. Until we reach Tranak, I’m running the show here.”
 

“We’ll see about that, won’t we? For now, why don’t you take off?”

His eyes flickered. “Sure thing, but not because you’re ordering it. I’m just a nice guy giving you a little time to regroup before you get an earful from Detherina.” Matro promptly disappeared, but the lingering sound of his laughter echoed in the quiet night.

Shannon jumped to her feet. “My mother sounds like a terror.”

“Oh, you can say that again.” I took her hand and let her pull me up. We gathered our trash and headed to the car. Before I opened the car door, I pulled her in for a long hug. “I’m not sure what I’m going to do without you around.”

“Half a year will pass before we know it. Besides, you have a lot to learn before you get there. Imagine, you’ll be leading a group you hadn’t even heard of a year ago.” Shannon stood on tiptoe to kiss me.

For now, I would bask in the glory that I, the freak with a tic, was holding the prettiest girl on the face of the earth. Soon I would lead a realm of unimaginable beings on the path to safety and happiness. What more could a teenager ask for? If nothing else, it would make a great superhero story. I just had to make it out alive if I wanted the chance to write it.

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Sneak Peek from

Path of the Guardian,

the second book in

The Prodian Journey series

by Lorenz Font

Chapter 1 - Graduation Day

“Baby boy, aren’t you going to finish your Mickey Mouse waffles?” Mom called out from the kitchen.

Standing in front of the mirror, I rolled my eyes and checked my reflection once more before dashing down the stairs. Some things never changed. For special occasions or whenever I was sick, my mother made those waffles. They’d been my favorite breakfast, sure, but that was ten years ago.
 

“Mom, I ate two already.”
 

“Okay . . . fine.” I heard the clattering of dishes and was certain she wasn’t too happy about having leftovers.
 

“Come on. We’re going to be late.” I kissed her on the cheek, and she turned around with tears in her eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing.” She tried shooing me away.

“You can’t be crying for no reason.”

“I wish your Dad could have been here today. He would’ve loved to see you graduate.”

“I miss him, too.” I pulled her into my arms, feeling the gravity of my father’s absence today more than ever. He would’ve been so proud of me.
 

She let me go and dabbed her eyes dry with a tea towel. “You have everything you need?”
 

I held up my blue cap and gown for her inspection, but it was my outfit that caught her attention. “Shorts and T-shirt for graduation? Back in my day, we dressed in our Sunday best.”
 

Chuckling, I gave her a mock salute. “That was
eons
ago, Mom.”

She playfully pinched my arm. “You look like you just got out of bed.”

“No one’s going to see my clothes underneath this heavy drapery. Let’s go. I don’t want to be late.”

We hurried out of the house and into my car under the supervision of some of the fiercest warriors from Tranak. They had been watching over us since I turned eighteen, which was the official date my leadership began in their universe.
 

Unbelievable, yes. Since that day, I hadn’t been able to wrap my mind around the events of the year that followed. I’d come a long way indeed, from an outcast freak-with-a-tic to the leader of a parallel world I’d never known existed. Mom had struck a deal with Detherina, the interim ruler of Tranak, so I could stay with her until graduation day. It was fine with me. In all honesty, I wasn’t ready to be a leader and leave everything I’d ever known behind.
 

Mom’s request might have delayed the inevitable, but it pushed my other dilemma to the forefront. I missed Shannon McKesson.
 

Shannon had been whisked away after we celebrated her eighteenth birthday. The stain given to her by Axhatas, a prominent leader of our rivals from Pratrim, couldn’t be treated here on earth. She was better off where antidotes were available to her. With the promise that she would be protected and guarded by our best warriors, I’d agreed to let her go without me.
 

Fighters Matro and Carionis escorted my car while I drove my mother to the Greek Theater. Matro led the way inside a cannus, the preferred mode of transport in Tranak that was invisible to human eyes, and Carionis rode his motorcycle behind us. This had been the protocol ever since I’d reached my Aarmark maturity. I had to be guarded by an armed male or female wherever I went for my protection.

Good thing I wasn’t going on a date. Having armed bodyguards would be a total buzz kill. If Shannon were still around, hanging out would have been a big production with a bunch of colorful creatures following us around everywhere.
 

When we arrived, the venue was humming with activity. Cars were lined up outside, and security was trying to direct traffic. The colorful balloons, flowers, and leis added to the electric atmosphere, and I felt a small shiver of excitement. I spotted Mark Stanton and Darryl Martin, my best buddies, hanging by the entrance. They waved at me.
 

Even before I opened my car door, Krug, a hulking male with long, platinum blond hair, was waiting outside. “Go on and knock them dead,” he said and took over parking the car for me.

I quickly donned my blue gown while Car escorted my mom to my side. “We’ll be around. You have some toys with you?” he whispered.

“I never leave home without them.” The dagger belonging to my Aarmark father, Drenton, was tucked into my waistband while the reumdag, my favorite weapon, rested inside my pocket. Although Matro didn’t expect an ambush, we always practiced caution.

Axhatas had escaped during our last clash, and the Ergans had eased off, no doubt needing to regroup after they discovered they were after the wrong person.
 

My real father had planned the deception, and Detherina had executed it to the letter, even though it meant jeopardizing her own child. My Shannon had been made to appear to be the next heir to the throne, focusing our enemies’ attention on her. The ploy had worked, and it had given me time to reach my prime without constant threats to my safety. Being diagnosed with Tourette’s shielded me from suspicion, as well. After all, no one would ever suspect that the person with such an obvious weakness would be the leader of an entire realm.
 

I never thought I’d find a reason to be grateful for all the years of suffering from constant twitching and embarrassing verbal tics.
 

However, the ongoing war had become much more personal for me when my human father was killed.
 

“Bro, they’re about to start,” Darryl said, gesturing at me to hurry.
 

I gave Car a silent order to stay by my mother’s side. He nodded.
 

“I’ll see you in a bit, Mom.” I kissed her on the cheek and then joined my friends.

The three of us went to find our spots in the procession line, prodded along by anxious teachers and parents. Once “Pomp and Circumstance” began to play, we marched in alphabetical order down the main aisle and took our seats. Good thing Darryl was in front of me. The ceremony wouldn’t be as boring with someone to talk to. Although life had changed, I still felt self-conscious around other kids. My tics had disappeared as soon as I hit my Aarmark maturity seven months ago. I didn’t miss the spasms and jerking at all. It was a relief to be free from my Tourette’s symptoms, the F bombs in particular. Now, I wished more than ever that Shannon could see me, just a normal guy for once.
 

Darryl threw a balled up piece of paper at me, and I caught it just before it hit me on the forehead. “Dude, you’re spacing out again.”