The Blood of Guardians

Chapter 1

The Blood of Guardians

Lea Ryan

The characters in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

Copyright © 2015 by Lea Ryan

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, including by electronic or mechanical means, without permission in writing from the author, with the exception of a reviewer who may quote brief passages.

Lost souls are few and far between in the hazy wasteland that is Limbo. In the realm bordering the land of the living and the Hereafter, they wander, compelled by, or perhaps shackled by, some emotional connection they can't bring themselves to sever, despite the promise of peace the other side holds. Compounding the sorrow is the utter bleakness of the terrain. From stoic mountains to petrified forests to meadows bristling with weeds rooted in soil too listless to support anything living, the wilds grant them no comfort, which is all too appropriate for a place in which the dead aren't meant to linger.

Juniper wasn't so sure what she was meant to do. She felt as though she'd done everything she needed to, and yet, no portal to the Hereafter opened for her. She had no idea why. She had no yearning to keep her tethered, no regrets, really.

Since she died, she had helped a living person escape a dangerous situation, an act which was forbidden to the dead, but even that hadn't been enough to finish out whatever personal business held her in Limbo. She didn't mind her situation so much, as she'd become accustomed to the place, but the question always nagged. Why couldn't she move on?

In the months that passed since she saved Nikki's life, Juniper had too much time to dwell, too much time to wonder when Limbo's guardian would hunt her down and imprison her for the crime she committed. She began to hope he would appear, for she missed him, maybe even longed for him in some strange way.

When she came upon an anomaly in the wasteland, hope for a change surged within her. From atop a jagged ridge, she peered out from the trees, over the lowland the stone structure occupied.

"What do you think it is?" She moved her straight, dark hair onto her shoulder to address the doll of a girl next to her.

"This can't be good," Cricket said, and she would know. She disguised herself in the body of a five-year-old in a sweater, mittens, and matching pink hat, but she was something not of the mortal world. Limbo had always been her home. "I've never seen anything like it."

Most of the structures Juniper had seen in the wasteland were ramshackle shelters thrown together by spirits, more lean-tos than anything. The only real buildings lay miles away. There was the supernatural prison occupying the hollow and fiery interior of a mountain. The other was a cottage at the base of a chasm, a place brought into existence by one of the guardians. Otherwise, the land was wild, and this seemingly medieval fortress had no place amid the dead foliage.

Figures paced the tops of four high, stone walls connecting turrets at each of the corners. They kept their focus on the ground as if looking for some threat to manifest below.

"Could they be armed?" She was considering approaching them.

Cricket shrugged. "Maybe. They don't look like guardians."

The clothing they wore served as adequate evidence that Cricket was right. She had known two guardians - Gareth and Mordecai, and though they looked very different from one another, telling them apart from ordinary souls was easy. Both men were pale, more so than the physical manifestations of human souls, and they possessed long, claw-like nails and sharp canine teeth and eyes so light, the irises looked like they were made of glass. They wore dark clothing, long coats, and heavy boots.