The Surien Series Blood Guardian (22 page)

“You are only using her to weaken me because you are not strong enough to kill me on your own.” Daire continued his desperate attempt to stall Vaiden. He knew he was running out of time.

“I don’t need to weaken you, to kill you. You are no match for me, you never were.”

“Then prove it, release me from this cage, and we will see who is more powerful,” Daire challenged.

“Ha, nice try surien, but I have nothing to prove; besides, it’s more fun this way,” Vaiden raised the dagger, and aimed it at Symarah’s heart.

“NO!” Daire screamed in vain, as he grabbed the silver bars. He fixed his eyes on her beautiful face. He knew that Vaiden wanted him to watch as he plunged the dagger into Symarah’s heart, but he refused to give him the satisfaction. As Daire stared into Symarah’s eyes, he was surprised to see, not fear, but sorrow. She was about to die, and instead of being angry, or afraid, she actually felt bad for him. Daire had never known anyone so selfless, so strong, and brave. He couldn’t bear to watch her die, not again. He pulled on the bars as hard as he could, but they didn’t budge. Daire knew that time had run out, and there was nothing more that he could do. He watched in horror, helpless to save her.

Vaiden let out an evil laugh as he thrust the dagger toward her, but before he could plunge it into her heart he was grabbed from behind, and thrown against the wall. He turned to see that the unden had come through the door behind him.

“How the hell did you get in here?” Vaiden roared, as he got up off the floor. “Those doors are sealed by blood magic. Only Daire, Symarah, and I can enter the portal.”

“Yes, but you forget, your blood is in me,” the unden replied with a smirk. “It may be poisoned, but it is still in me.”

“You are my slave,” Vaiden spat at him in disgust, “how dare you disobey me?”

“How dare you steal my soul, and force me to hurt innocent people?”

“I’m confused, I thought you were Kleito’s father, Euenor,” Daire said.

“This is Euenor’s body, but it’s my soul,” the unden explained.

“How the hell do you know any of this?” Vaiden demanded.

“I made a call to that little shop in Cadiz. Once the shop owner told me everything she knew, I figured the rest out for myself. You performed a ritual to steal my soul and put it into this body. You needed a soul to re-animate Euenor’s body so that you could get your hands on the dagger. I don’t know what Daire has done to you, but Symarah is innocent, and I won’t let you use her to get your revenge, like you’ve used me. I won’t let you destroy her soul.”

“You will do whatever I tell you to do unden,” Vaiden snarled.

“Stop calling me unden,” the slave demanded, “my name is Christian.”

“Do you really think you can stop me slave? Your body may be indestructible, but your soul is not,” Vaiden smirked, as he waved the dagger menacingly at the unden. “I am a god, and you are nothing. You have no powers.” Vaiden lifted him up and pinned him against the wall with a wave of his hand. He continued to taunt the man as he walked over and pressed the dagger against his throat. “If the shauri told you everything, then you know that once I stab you with the dagger, your soul will be destroyed and you will never be reincarnated again.”

“I’m not afraid of you Vaiden.”

“Then you are a fool,” Vaiden said, as he plunged the dagger into Christian’s heart.

“NO!” Symarah screamed, as she lunged at Vaiden, knocking him to the floor and landing on top of him. She had used the diamond bracelet Daire had given her at the party, to cut through the ropes around her wrists. Once her hands were free, she had untied the ropes around her ankles, and was slowly sneaking over to free Daire from his cage while Vaiden’s back was turned. She was a few steps from the cage when she saw Vaiden raise the dagger to kill the slave. She couldn’t let that poor man die. He had risked his soul to save her, and the least she could do was return the favor. When she tackled Vaiden, he hit his head and was knocked unconscious. Symarah ran to the slave, who had fallen to the ground when Vaiden was tackled, but it was too late, the dagger was lodged in his heart.

“I’m so sorry Christian,” Symarah said, as she held back her tears.

“Symarah, there’s no time, you have to get me out of this cage before Vaiden wakes up.”

Symarah ran to the cage, but there was no handle on the door; in fact there wasn’t even a door.

“How the hell do you open this thing?” she said, desperately looking for a way to free Daire.

“The button! You have to push the gold button on that wall,” Daire pointed.

Symarah ran to the wall where the button was, but before she could push it, Vaiden ripped the dagger out of the unden’s chest, and threw it across the room at Symarah. The dagger sliced through her back, killing her instantly.

“How does it feel to lose your soul mate forever surien?” Vaiden asked, as he walked over to the silver cage. “I’m going to enjoy watching you die.”

Daire had felt the dagger as it tore through Symarah’s flesh. He felt the agonizing pain, felt her take her last breath. “You have to open the cage eventually, and when you do, I will make you pay for this Vaiden,” Daire vowed.

“Wrong, you will die, just like your precious Symarah. When your soul mate’s soul dies, yours dies as well. And when you die, I will leave you both here, where no one will ever find you.”

Daire knew Vaiden was right. As he lay on the floor, he could feel his life force slipping away. He knew it wouldn’t be much longer before he was dead too. He didn’t want to live without Symarah anyway, he just wished there was a way to take Vaiden out with him. “Athena will have the entire surien council out looking for you, they won’t stop until you’re dead.”

“Let them find me,” Vaiden sneered.

“Oh, they will, and when one of them does find you, I pray to the gods that it’s Dacian,” Daire said. That thought was the only comfort he had, and it actually brought a smile to his handsome face.

“It’s time I end this for good,” Vaiden said, as he walked over and pulled the dagger out of Symarah’s back. He reached through the bars, and grabbed Daire by his ankle, pulling him closer. “I’ll stab you myself.” He leaned forward, smoke filling the air as the silver burned his chest and arms. Vaiden raised the dagger, aiming it at Daire’s chest. He couldn’t believe after centuries of planning, and hundreds of failed attempts, he was finally going to have his revenge. He thrust the dagger toward Daire’s chest, but before the blade could pierce his skin the dagger was ripped from Vaiden’s hand by an unseen force. He turned to see Symarah slowly walking toward him with the dagger in her hand.

“That is not possible, I killed you.”

“You only killed her human half.”

Vaiden turned to see the unden walking toward him as well. “What the hell is going on? I killed you both.”

“No, you simply freed my soul. You see, the dagger cannot kill a soul, it can only capture it. The only way a soul can die, is by turning evil. When you stabbed me, the dagger took Christian’s soul, and returned mine.”

“You are Christian,” Vaiden growled in frustration.

“Wrong again Vaiden; I am Euenor.”

Vaiden lunged at Euenor, but Symarah lifted him off the ground and pinned him to the wall with a flick of her delicate finger. She lifted the silver cage up over Daire’s head with her other hand, and threw it against the wall with such force that it broke apart as it fell to the ground.

“You bitch, I’ll kill you!” Vaiden roared as he tried to wriggle free.

“THAIS!” Symarah hissed at him, using the Atlantean word for silence. She put her finger to her lips in a shushing motion, and Vaiden was suddenly unable to open his mouth. She rushed to Daire’s side. “Are you alright?” she asked, as she helped him up.

“I’m fine,” he replied, as he brushed himself off. “How are you still alive? I saw you die.”

“I think I can answer that,” Euenor interrupted. “As I said, the dagger was designed to hold the soul, not kill it. When Vaiden stabbed me, the dagger returned my soul, and captured Christian’s. The good news is, his soul is still alive, the bad news is, it can only be returned if his body is still alive, and since he is not a god, the chances of that happening are quite slim.”

“But if the dagger captures souls, why didn’t it take Symarah’s?” Daire questioned.

“Why do I have powers, and how do I know Atlantean words?” Symarah interrupted.

“When Zeus sank Atlantis to the bottom of the sea, Lachesis thought the punishment cruel and unjust, so she forged the dagger from an unbreakable Atlantean alloy. It was designed to hold the souls of the Atlanteans until their human loved ones could be reincarnated, so that they might be reunited. As a special gift, Clotho imbued the dagger with her power to give life. When the dagger is used on a human soul mate, it kills their human half, and gives them eternal life. Because the dagger was forged from Atlantean elements, once the bloodstream is exposed to the blade, the body becomes indestructible, and they are imbued with all the powers of an Atlantean god.”

“Meaning?” Symarah was still a little confused.

“I think it means that you are no longer mortal.” Daire stared at her in amazement. The only thing he had ever wanted was to have Meissen back, and to never have to worry about losing her again. Could it be possible, had he just been granted his only wish?

Symarah was stunned, she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “If I’m not human anymore, then what am I?”

“You are an Atlantean goddess, and with that title comes great power. Your body is now indestructible as well,” Euenor explained, “and since you were not an Atlantean when Poseidon cast his curse, you are immune to it.”

Symarah was so shocked by this new turn of events that she completely forgot all about Vaiden; that is until he came crashing to the ground with a loud thud.

“You’ve ruined everything,” Vaiden growled, as he lunged for Symarah.

Daire lifted him up with the wave of a hand and sent him sailing through the air. Vaiden hit the wall and fell to the ground, landing in the pile of broken metal that had made up Daire’s prison. Several jagged shards had pierced all the way through his body. He let out a blood-curdling scream as the twisted metal ate through his flesh, leaving nothing but a pile of ash.

It had been a week since Vaiden’s death, and Daire still couldn’t believe that it was finally over. He felt truly blessed to be sitting there at The Lone Wolf surrounded by all his friends, his soul mate by his side.

“So what happened to Christian, were you able to find him, and give him back his soul?” Kassie asked hopefully, as she took another sip of beer.

“Yes, he was at the medical center, in St. Pete. He’s really quite remarkable,” Euenor told her.

“How so?” Duncan questioned.

“The body of a mortal cannot survive without a soul. When Vaiden did the ritual to steal his soul and put it into my body, Christian should have died, but instead he went into a coma. What is even more impressive, is that he remembers everything,” Euenor replied.

“The fact that he was able to resist Vaiden is what impresses me,” Jareth said. “With the poisoned blood in his system, he should have been nothing more than a mindless slave.”

“Well, he is a Marine, and you know the saying; Marines never die, they just go to hell and re-group,” Jaysien smirked, as he patted his brother on the back.

“I didn’t know he was a Marine,” Symarah said.

“Yeah, Staff Sergeant, Christian Cassano, USMC,” Conner replied.

Duncan smiled at his brother’s attempt to sound official. He had been so relieved when they found Conner by the side of the roadway, where Vaiden had left him. He was badly injured, but still breathing. It took Jareth several minutes to fully heal him.

“Isn’t Athena going to be pissed that Christian remembers everything? And what about the three movies based on Symarah’s books?” Kassie wondered.

“There’s no telling what Athena will do, she can be somewhat unpredictable,” Jareth replied.

“Somewhat?” Daire scoffed. “That’s an understatement, hell she idles at unpredictable.”

“What did you expect from the daughter of the great and powerful Zeus? God of the sky? Please, god of the temper tantrum is more like it,” Jaysien groused.

“I’ll be sure to give my father your regards surien,” Athena said, a second before she appeared in front of them, “and to answer your question Kassaundra, I have already met with Christian, and he has agreed to become a day walker. He will be a great asset to the fight against the demmic. As for Symarah’s writings, humans stopped believing in the gods long ago, so I have convinced my father to overlook it, so long as she doesn’t write anything else. If it becomes a problem, I will erase all memory of it.”

“You can do that?” Symarah asked in disbelief.

“Only if it becomes necessary, it would require a great deal of power,” Athena replied. I must take my leave, but before I go, I wanted to give you this.”

“The scalphen dehiette?”  Symarah took the dagger from Athena’s outstretched hand. “Why are you giving it to me?”

“You are now an Atlantean goddess, and since you are immune to Poseidon’s curse, that makes you the most powerful Atlantean being in existence. We need you to guard the dagger, and keep it from falling into the wrong hands again. I trust that you will keep it safe, and use it wisely.”

Symarah was stunned, she couldn’t believe the gods had so much faith in her. “I won’t disappoint you,” she promised.

I have something else for you, a small gift to welcome you into our world.” Athena waved her hand, and Symarah was suddenly dressed in a beautiful white satin gown, that hung just below her ankles. Her hair was in curls and pulled up on top of her head. “What is this?” Symarah asked.

“This is a dress much more becoming of a goddess.” Athena smiled, and in an instant she had vanished.

“What am I going to do with this?”

“I’ll take it,” Kassie smiled eagerly.

“It looks like something a goddess would wear if she were getting married,” Symarah chuckled, “what do you want it for?”

Kassie smiled a mischievous smile, and Symarah instantly knew the answer to that question. “Oh my God, you two are getting married,” she shrieked excitedly.

“Yes. We are getting married next year, and I want you to be my maid of honor, of course.”

Symarah hugged her friend tight. “Of course, I’m so happy for you.”

“You could have the wedding in my castle, in Spain,” Daire offered.

“Really?” Kassie beamed. “That would be amazing, thank you Daire.”

“I believe this calls for a toast,” Jaysien said, as a glass of champagne appeared in front of each of them. “To the happy couple, may every day reveal a new reason to fall in love with one another all over again.”

Daire smiled, he was finally going to get his happily ever after, and nothing could ever take that away from him again. “And to you Symarah.” Daire spoke with his mind so that only she could hear him. “I will spend my every waking hour striving to be the hero you deserve.”

Symarah had never been this happy. She felt so safe, and peaceful when she was with Daire. She never dreamed that she would get to spend her life with someone so amazing. “You already are caria, you always were.”

THE END