Guardian by Sam Cheever Read Free Book Online Page A

watched the horrible thing of legend descending on me.
    She was ten feet tall and a deep, dark, purple…nearly black. She had normal shoulders and upper arms, but where her elbows should have been her arms turned into wings. Her body was smooth, shaped like a human female, and she wore tiny scraps of cloth over the pertinent areas. Her slim legs widened out at the bottom, into heavy, black claws rather than feet. Her head was crowned by a tuft of long, silky purple-black feathers and the face beneath it would have been pretty, except that the wide mouth was open and several rows of jagged, deadly looking teeth gleamed in the low light of the passageway. Her knee-buckling stench preceded her. It was the smell of death and decay, with an earthy bouquet of rotting garbage thrown in for good measure.
    “Gods save us.” I murmured as, with a final shriek, the thing attacked.

Chapter Four
     
    Temporary Reprieve
     
    I t came at me claws first, using its formidable wings to hold it off the ground so it could slash at me with its razor sharp claws. The harpy’s evil face was horribly distorted by the incredible size of its tooth filled maw.
    The thing’s claws ripped through my flesh, tearing narrow, bloody slits in my stomach and chest before I managed to swing the long knife, grazing its flat, hairless belly.
    The harpy lifted off me with a shriek and flapped its massive wings twice before dropping toward me again.
    This time the claws ripped my shoulders in deep furrows. I flicked the long knife across the nearest leg and felt the tough flesh rip under its razor sharp edge. Thick, black blood sprayed my face.
    As the harpy screamed in pain I jabbed her in the chest with my electric fork, and gave her an annihilation level of juice. She shimmered before me for a second and then disappeared.
    I gave a sigh and closed my eyes in relief.
    When I opened them again she was standing in front of me. I screamed as she reached her thick black claws toward me and wrapped them around my throat, squeezing slowly so she could enjoy watching the light fade from my eyes.
    I looked into her black gaze as she squeezed the life from my body and saw pleasure there and not much else.
    My lips opened as I struggled to breathe and my body went limp. She pulled me off my feet and up hard against her huge body. On some level I recoiled from the stench, but my imminent death took precedence over the list of things to focus on at that moment.
    She shuddered against me as my heart fluttered, enjoying my death in an almost erotic way. My gaze never left hers.
    She never saw it coming.
    Just before I blacked totally out, I lifted the long knife and, with a single, last ditch swipe, severed her nasty head from her nasty body.
    She fell backwards, releasing me, and I dropped to the floor. Behind me the sounds of battle continued. I knew I should go help Ian. But I just needed a few seconds to recover my equilibrium. My throat felt as if it had been crushed. I closed my eyes and brought healing energy to the spot. After a moment I could breathe again.
    I stood wearily and turned toward Ian, just in time to see him dispatch the harpy with his sword.
    His pretty brown face was speckled with ugly black splotches and his chest had long, slimy black smears of harpy blood on it. He swiped the sword over the harpy’s beautiful purple wing to clear most of the blood from it and dropped it back into its scabbard. A faery scabbard, I noticed, made of highly burnished gold with silver accents. It bore Tana’s royal seal.
    I lifted an eyebrow but, before I could ask, Ian turned away, toward the back of the cave. “You ready?” He didn’t wait for my response.
    We entered a large cavern that was so dark I couldn’t even see Ian a few inches in front of me. I reached out and felt for him. When my fingers touched smooth, warm skin I slid them down until they encountered the rough waist of his faery breeches. I tucked my fingers inside so I wouldn’t lose