CHAMPIONS (The Lost Chronicles of Eden, #1) [Published]

18: I TAKE CARE OF WHAT'S MINE

18: I TAKE CARE OF WHAT’S MINE

Gabriel didn’t feel much  like a Guardian, much  less a hero, when he saw the horde of demons flying towards their camp in terrifying speed. He took his position on the front lines, right where he thought the Champions should be, but Solenn was quick to bark orders to the Guardians.

“They’re necros!” Solenn called out. “Alphas and Zetas on the front, Betas stay in the shield!” She activated a barrier that enclosed the Betas in a protective dome.

The Alpha Guardians formed a solid line in front of the bewildered Betas, their different weapons at the ready.

“We don’t need protection, Alpha!” Joana snarled to Solenn as she started to push against the thick barrier of light and the heavy built of the soldiers that swarmed in front of her. “We’ve been trained for this, too!”

“Just stay back!” Solenn called out. “First wave, intercept!”

She led the first wave of Guardians as they flew towards the demons, hacking, slashing, shooting, piercing and stabbing as they fought with the beasts from hell. This breed was far more menacing than the ones Gabriel saw on his first day in Cielterra.

The demons were wolf-like creatures the size of horses. They had yellow eyes that almost popped out of their decaying faces, with sharp, rotting fangs growing out of their snouts. The ground shook as their clawed hooves pounded on the earth.

A few demons managed to get past the first wave. Solomon, his new mace and war hammer ready, called out the next order. “Second wave, intercept.”

The line of Guardians in front of the Betas, Lukas and Gabriel, disappeared and fought the beasts that managed to get past Solenn and her squad.

Gabriel felt something grip at his very soul as he grabbed his Memorare tight.

Fear. Strong and palpable, taking hold of his mind, his heart, his spirit. It latched on to his very core, taunting him, paralyzing him, making him tremble right where he stood.

“Calm down, Gabriel,” Lukas said. “They smell fear. When they smell it on you, they’ll grab hold of you, and there’s no telling what they would do to you.”

“Let’s see you try to calm down!” Gabriel snapped. He felt his chest tightening, as if an incredibly huge hand was trying to squeeze the air out of him. “Oh, my God. Why am I here? What the heck am I doing here?”

The moment he said that, shame, as powerful as the fear that gripped him earlier, washed over him. He had no right to be a Champion.

There is no room for fear ina Guardian’s heart. Samson had repeated that credo many times during the course of their training. Gabriel wanted the earth to swallow him. What business did he have, agreeing to become a Champion, when he cowered at the first sight of demons?

They shouldn’t have chosen him. He was just a whit of a boy, found abandoned in a dark alley. Maybe they were wrong. Maybe he wasn’t the Seventh they had been looking for. He was just an ordinary orphan with a trauma to the head, which is why he didn’t have any memories of his past. He wasn’t a Cielterran at all! Maybe somebody just bought that pendant from Quiapo and snuck it into his clothes when he was lost and wandering. Heaven knows many people sold and bought such amulets along the avenue right outside the church. Ironic, that.

Gabriel caught himself before his thoughts wandered farther. Shame, shame on you, Gabriel. Coward. You have no right to hold the Memorare, you weakling. You’re the weakest link. Haven’t you seen the look in their eyes when they had to slow down because of you? You’rea disgrace. Go back to the church and continue what you do best. Being nothing.