The Last Guardian by Isabo Kelly Read Free Book Online

 
Chapter One
     
    Run! The thought screamed through her head. Neeka picked herself off the ground one more time, stumbled a few steps in the darkness then ran as fast as her rubbery limbs would allow. Her chest burned, her throat ached. Her body stung with scrapes and cuts. Through the pain, she could feel blood trickling down her shin from the gash on her knee.
    But she didn’t stop running.
    The Soul Eater had finally come.
    Inside, she shrieked in protest. It wasn’t possible. It couldn’t be real. The Soul Eater was a myth told around campfires to scare children, to remind them all what they guarded and why. But no one believed in the nightmarish creature any more. It had become an allegory, a teaching tool.
    It wasn’t supposed to be real, damn it!
    She was the last of the guardians. She couldn’t think about her lost comrades, she couldn’t allow the grief in yet. But the horror of it lurked beneath her terror.
    The Soul Eater had grown stronger, more powerful, while they had forgotten some of the old magics. Generations ago, they could have fought the monster. But now…
    Now it was too much for the guardians. Especially one lone guardian.
    She needed help.
    She had one hope. Her only hope now.
    She pushed through the low-hanging tree limbs, cursing silently at the stings because she had no breath to waste cursing aloud. She wasn’t used to forests. Her people were a plains people. They lived in the grasslands, the open vistas beyond these woods. She used to think forests were beautiful. But at that moment, the trees were like a plague of demons slapping at her and slowing her progress.
    She could barely see now. The sun had set, plunging the woods into darkness. She’d only been here once before, three years earlier. She prayed with the last of her will that she’d be able to find her way in the gloom. She didn’t want to be caught out alone in the dark.
    The Soul Eater was more powerful in the dark.
     
    *****
     
    Gehan had been dreaming about her for three years. A longing so deep filled him, it made the years of isolation before meeting her pale in comparison. He remembered everything about her—her golden skin, her slanted green eyes, her luxurious red hair. Though to call that mass of fire red was like calling the sky at sunset orange. The sound of her voice, husky and richly accented, haunted his sleep. He’d stolen a single touch, brushing his hand over her cheek in farewell. The feel of her silky skin had kept him awake for nights afterward.
    He’d never thought to fall in love. Being honest with himself, he wasn’t sure if what he felt now was love or simply obsession. She hadn’t been the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, or the most elegant, or the most charming. Why this woman? He couldn’t explain what exactly had caught his attention. Maybe it was the color of her hair. Maybe it was the quiet way she’d greeted him, a known exile, as if he were just another man. She possessed a strength and compassion that stole his breath.
    And he wanted her more than he’d ever wanted anything in his life.
    He thought about her so often, and in such detail, that at first he assumed the figure stumbling toward him through the trees was another fantasy. He only realized she wasn’t a dream when she got close enough for him to see her hair. A breath later, the sight of her torn clothes and the sharp scent of blood hit him.
    She staggered to a stop, her eyes rounding in a moment of surprise. Then she slumped to her knees, looked up at him, said, “Please. I need your help.” And she collapsed to the ground.
     
     

 
Chapter Two
     
    For a heartbeat, Gehan couldn’t move as terror filled him. Then he dropped to his knees beside her, felt for a pulse. She was still alive, if barely. He scooped her into his arms, surprised at how light she felt, and walked up the hill to his cabin. The last time they’d met, her figure had been full and round. Now she looked gaunt, thin. The thought that