Guardian's Redemption Read online

  A Total-E-Bound Publication

  www.total-e-bound.com

  Guardian’s Redemption

  ISBN #978-1-906811-30-3

  ©Copyright Marie Harte 2008

  Cover Art by April Martinez ©Copyright October 2008

  Edited by Claire Siemaszkiewicz

  Total-E-Bound Publishing

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Total-E-Bound Publishing.

  Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Total-E-Bound Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.

  The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.

  Published in 2008 by Total-E-Bound Publishing 1 The Corner, Faldingworth Road, Spridlington, Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, LN8 2DE, UK.

  Warning: This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature readers. This story has been rated Total-e-burning.

  Storm Lords

  GUARDIAN’S REDEMPTION

  Marie Harte

  Dedication

  To all the readers who’ve patiently waited for Arim’s story.

  And special thanks to Rae, for sound advice.

  Glossary

  Aelle-a Shadow world

  Aellei-those who live on Aelle, a race of beautiful, vain tricksters, often mistaken for fairies by those on earth

  aeva-an Aellein word for destined mate

  affai-a Light Bringer word for a Storm Lord’s destined mate

  Balance-harmony between the Light and Dark energies in the Spectrum

  blooddrinker-one who must drink blood to survive, and who lives in thrall to the hunger

  cinarum-a fine ale, both expensive and hard to procure

  Dark-one end of the Spectrum, intense, seething, negative energy

  Dark Lord-a race of people steeped in Dark energy, their numbers are few, their power immense

  Djinn-a race of people steeped in Dark energy

  Darkling-anyone of Dark descent

  Earth-a world with little to no magic, where xiantopes live

  Foreia-the Djinn homeworld

  fhel-Dark Lord word for “shit”

  in truth-a Djinn’s natural state, whereby their bodies are of white energy surrounded by black flame

  Isle of Frigia-part of the Dark Lords’ homeworld, an island in Malern

  Kreer-a magical world founded by the Aellei, steeped in Shadow

  lekharn-Djinn word for “asshole” or “shithead”

  leraffes-pale, purple flowers with a sweet scent when in bloom, native to Tanselm

  Light-one side of the Spectrum, airy, powerful energy full of positive light

  Light Bringer-anyone of Light descent, most of whom live in Tanselm

  melea-Dark Lord for “whore”

  Malern-the Dark Lord homeworld

  Mount Malinta-a mountain in Malern, home to the demons

  Netharat-‘Sin Garu’s army consisting of wraiths, Shadren and Djinn, an evil conglomeration of monsters

  Nocumat-Shadren from Aelle who are made up of a red, gelatinous goo, and who have an insatiable appetite and gravitate toward mischief and calamity

  Orfel-a Dark Lord hideaway in the between

  overking-king who rules over all of Tanselm’s territories, a Storm Lord of immense power

  overqueen-queen who rules over all of Tanselm’s territories

  purie-Light Bringer for “little one”

  Royal Four-(also known as the Tetrarch) four identical quadruplet Storm Lords who will one day rule Tanselm; one set is born every generation

  Sarqua Djinn-those Djinn loyal to Ethim, who fight against ‘Sin Garu

  sertia-Light Bringer for “darling” or “beloved”

  Shadow-the middle of the Spectrum, where Light and Dark energy mix

  Shadow Dweller-one of Shadowy descent

  Shadren-creatures who live in Aelle, related to the Aellei but have less human forms (Nocumat and ogres, for example)

  Spectrum-the multiverse and all its energy

  Storm Lords-royal Light Bringer warriors who harness elemental power

  Tanselm-a sentient land currently ruled by the Light Bringers

  the between-the space between worlds

  wraiths-malevolent creatures that feed on human flesh and blood. Part of the Netharat

  xiantopes-beings of no magic

  Cast of Characters

  The Storm Lords

  Darius Storm-the Prince of Fire, one of the Royal Four

  Samantha Brooks-Darius’ affai, from Earth

  Marcus Storm-the River Prince, one of the Royal Four

  Tessa Sheridan-Marcus’ affai, from Earth

  Aerolus Storm-the Wind Mage, one of the Royal Four

  Alandra-Aerolus’ affai, an Aellein princess, Sava’s niece

  Cadmus Storm-the Earth Lord, one of the Royal Four

  Ellie Markham-Cadmus’ affai, half Djinn, Ethim’s daughter

  Ravyn Storm-Tanselm’s overqueen and mother of the Royal Four

  Faustus Storm-deceased overking of Tanselm, Ravyn’s husband, father of the Royal Four

  Arim Valens-Tanselm’s Sorcerer, Guardian of Storm and Killer of Shadow, a Light Bringer warrior and uncle to the Royal Four, Ravyn’s brother

  Muri, Esel, Sercha-Lexa’s dead foster mother, father and brother, respectively

  The Aellei

  Lord Sava-leader of the Aellei, uncle to Alandra

  The Djinn

  Jonas al Surne-aka Jonas Chase, Ethim’s second in command, a loyal Sarqua Djinn, Ellie’s guardian

  Ethim il Ruethe-the Sarqua, or king of the Sarqua Djinn, Ellie’s father

  Amanda Markham-“Mandy” Ethim’s wife, Ellie’s mother

  Alor-a Sarqua Djinn warrior

  Remir-a Sarqua Djinn warrior

  The Dark Lords

  Lexa Van Nostren-“Blue”, a powerful Dark Lord, Arim’s ex-lover, a woman trying to help the Storm Lords fight against ‘Sin Garu

  Ini-Lexa’s birth mother

  B’alen-Lexa’s deceased brother, a blooddrinker

  ‘Sin Garu-Lexa’s brother, and an enemy to the Light Bringers

  Caeth-‘Sin Garu’s favourite wraith, now dead

  Sirral-‘Sin Garu’s wraith

  Prologue

  Tanselm, two years ago

  Tanselm’s heart beat in time with the battered longing of lovers long parted. Light and Dark were the most basic components of life imbued in her chosen champion and the woman he’d once, and still, loved.

  Some of her inhabitants had an inkling of what Tanselm truly was, but most lived in oblivion of the gift she’d given them. They walked on her grasses, cut down her trees and inhaled the sweet air tinged with the perfume of pretty pink leraffes, flowers that bloomed year round.

  Tanselm was the earth that fed their flora, the stone with which they made their homes, and the waters which washed away their sins. Partial to neither Dark nor Light, she needed both in order to flourish. She was a land with sentience, and with the feminine need to bear fruit, both in nature and in her human children.

  A thousand years ago the Dark Lords had ruled her. Blood spilled, wars were fought, and the Light Bringers took control. Gentler than th
e Dark Lords, they nevertheless devoured her magic as greedily as their enemies. Years passed and the divide between Light and Dark grew stronger. Shadows barely whispered over her lands, giving her little respite from a steady drain on her magic.

  Recent battles for dominance over what she would have freely given hurt her greatly. She weakened more and more as Dark and Light continued to fight, yet she held out hope her champion would do what she needed him to. But he couldn’t do it alone.

  “Damnation. That I hadn’t expected.” Her champion gripped his sorcerer’s staff tightly and stared in shock at a woman who suddenly appeared from out of nowhere. Tanselm couldn’t contain her relief, and the wind sighed through the trees. Right now, in her fertile woods, Light and Dark fused between these two people who had the capacity for greatness if only they’d listen to their hearts.

  Arim, her champion and sorcerer, a stubborn Light Bringer warrior. Lexa, a Dark Lord full of cold magic and a love needing to be let loose. Two pieces of a puzzle long forgotten, long denied their perfect fit.

  Tanselm welled with love, feeling a kinship to the slight female and her connection to the Dark. Lexa called upon the Darkness Tanselm poured into her with undue haste. The land felt Lexa’s joy and returned the sentiment whole-heartedly.

  “My lucky day. The Guardian of Storm and Killer of Shadow. I’m humbled.” Lexa snorted. As petite as Arim was large. Pale of skin where he was darkly tanned. Solitary as opposed to Arim and his family. Equals in every sense, if they’d let themselves just be.

  “Light’s breast. You have balls showing yourself here.” Light arched from the stone atop Arim’s staff to his free, upraised hand. He wore his power well, a sorcerer and warrior with strength to spare.

  Yet Tanselm knew he’d felt her wavering strength these last centuries. She had tried, but she couldn’t spare him all her pain.

  “More balls than some,” Lexa said with a sneer. She sounded harsh, but her feelings vibrated with passionate energy, a calling to her other half, the man she wanted to deny. Years ago Lexa and Arim had been inseparable, the answer to Tanselm’s divide. Then innocent blood had tainted her grasses, destroying her tenuous solution to bridge the gap in the Spectrum. Arim and Lexa had fought. Lexa left. Arim remained. They both mourned.

  Life moved on, yet it remained the same. Damaged, declining. Tanselm could feel the sense of loss in both her chosen saviours. To survive, they needed each other, whether they knew it or not.

  “You come to me on my own lands. To what, apologise?” Arim sounded incredulous. “Still small-minded and cold-hearted, eh, Blue?”

  Tanselm felt his scorn and Lexa’s pain. The Dark Lord’s blue eyes blazoned with power. Negative emotions gave her strength and Tanselm anticipated another battle, but this one the land encouraged.

  Lexa reached deep inside herself and further into Tanselm. She thrust her hands forward, blue flame leaping from her fingertips towards Arim.

  He absorbed the blow and remained standing. Ice encrusted his front and his skin turned blue with cold. He stood vulnerable, but Lexa didn’t attack again. The part of her that still hoped waited, and Tanselm felt hope as well, that the woman and the man might come to some accord.

  Then Arim melted the ice, tapped his staff, and shot Light straight at Lexa’s heart. She narrowly avoided that blast and the next, and the two opponents danced around each other as if choreographed.

  Tanselm hummed with pleasure as their energy tangled, combined and grew stronger. Beautiful. Wonderful. Healing.

  “Why did you return?” Arim asked before hitting his Dark Lord squarely in the chest. He took her off her feet, and Tanselm felt Lexa’s pain as her own. Arim frowned and took a step back. He doesn’t know why he cannot press forward, and therein lies the problem. “You can’t be here. This is sacred land. Why didn’t Tanselm warn me of your coming?”

  Because you would have prepared to destroy her. If he knew how often Lexa had visited since her ‘banishment’ several centuries ago, he might destroy Lexa in truth. Tanselm had masked Lexa’s visits, welcoming the headstrong female’s healing Darkness.

  “The land did warn you,” Lexa lied. “I felt it. But my energy combined with yours when I entered through the void.” A truth, of sorts. Unlike most Dark and Light energy that cancelled each other out, Lexa’s Dark and Arim’s Light attracted one another. A perfect union, if only these stubborn humans would accept their appointed roles.

  Lexa recovered while Arim experienced, once again, an unbidden lust for her, a distraction that cost him. She blasted him, stealing his breath, and kicked him to the ground. Her foot held him in place while he fought her powerful Dark magic.

  “Your precious Storm Lords will die one by one when ‘Sin Garu wins. A Dark Lord once again in charge of Tanselm. He’ll kill everything you love, everything that is pure and Light in this land. And he’ll do it because you aren’t man enough to see the truth.”

  “In your fucking dreams.” Arim fought her hold but Tanselm made no move to help him escape.

  Finally. Someone understood what she’d been trying to warn her children about for years. As if the divide in the Spectrum weren’t bad enough, ‘Sin Garu, a scourge upon the living, had only grown more powerful with each passing year. In the last century, the evil Dark Lord had amassed an army of Darkness. His Netharat: wraiths, Djinn and monstrous Shadren, creatures that walked in both Darkness and Light, waged war on anything Light they could get their claws into.

  “Yes, ‘Sin Garu will kill us all. You need to make changes, you fhel. But you’re too bigoted to see what I clearly can.”

  “Oh? Is your perspective so much better from Malern?”

  Tanselm flinched and the ground under the pair rippled. She wasn’t the only sentient land. Malern existed, a world too steeped in Darkness to create balanced fruit. Too often his children killed and destroyed with ease. Foreia was better, a Shadowed world, and Krell as well. Poor Earth had all but died out, its magic nearly depleted by the greedy humans who dwelled there.

  “Malern? No, I’m talking about Earth, where I’ve been living on and off amidst those hapless xiantopes; beings of no magic make perfect victims for powerful Dark Lords. Imagine what ‘Sin Garu will do with Earth once he has Tanselm under his control. Your suffering is just the beginning.”

  Yes, tell him, child. Except Tanselm could feel Arim’s resistance. Instead of heeding Lexa’s warnings, he took them as threats.

  “I’ll kill you for this,” he warned through gritted teeth.

  “Promise?” she whispered in a husky voice. “Maybe next time you think to trample a girl’s heart and banish her from her own home, you’ll think about the repercussions. Send your sister and nephews my regards.”

  She vanished into the between, the void between worlds, in an instant. Lexa left no goodbye, only a pool of Dark energy where she’d been standing. Tanselm absorbed it, as well as Arim’s pain. His anger did her some good. He’d always manifested his darker emotions in swirls of energy, feeding Tanselm though she knew he was unaware he did so.

  Offering him what comfort she could, Tanselm wept her sorrows, rain pelting the land. He stubbornly refused to go after Lexa. No matter how much she tried pushing him to seek what he truly needed, what she truly needed, Arim couldn’t hear her.

  Time wore on, and Tanselm began to lose hope.

  Over the next two years, ‘Sin Garu’s attacks began. Storm Lords died. Light Bringers and Netharat bled on her lands, poisoning her with their hate. Chaos grew, until only four Storm Lords, the queen, and Arim remained to heal her fragile state. Two of the Storm Lords took foreign affai, foreign brides, from Earth. The other two, thank the Balance, found a Shadow Dweller and a Djinn, a Darkling, to love.

  Still, the gap remained. For Tanselm to be whole, she needed equal amounts of Darkness and Light. She needed Lexa.

  She needed a miracle.

  Chapter One

  Philadelphia, present day

  Arim Valens clenched his jaw as he glared at the satu
ration of eager shoppers crowding the festively decorated mall. He’d finally had Lexa in his grasp. No more battles ending in stalemates or conflicts never resolving. With all that had been happening at home, her capture was the one goal he could meet, the one thing he’d looked forward to more than any other.

  He’d had her within reach…only to lose her when she’d teleported right out from under him. By the Light’s Mark! The time had come for answers, and to take that final step into annihilating ‘Sin Garu, to finally free Tanselm from the threat of ever-present destruction. Tanselm—a parallel world with its own sentience, a land filled with magic, vibrant colour and abundant life. As opposed to this… Philadelphia.

  City of brotherly love, my ass.

  “Well now, looks to me like you could use my help.”

  Arim turned to face the bearer of the smugly uttered words, barely refraining from turning the Djinn, a damned Darkling, into a dirt stain over the grouted tile over which they stood. Jonas Chase looked like any other shopper during this harried season. Tall and laden with muscle, he wore his light brown hair cut in shaggy waves over a chiselled face. His brown eyes danced with humour, and he crossed his arms, clad in a blue knit sweater over snug denim jeans. He could have passed for a xiantope, like all the others looking for bargains around them, save for the powerful black aura that Arim’s magic clearly allowed him to see.

  Arim sighed. Had he been reduced to this? Tanselm’s most powerful sorcerer, a Light Bringer warrior, needing help from what he’d once considered the enemy, a creature of Dark? “If you want to help, tell me where to find Lexa. And trust me when I say you want me to find her before I lose my temper.”

  “In like what, the next two seconds?” Jonas scoffed. “And everyone says Darius has the temper in the family.” A cute blonde walked by and gave Jonas the eye. He grinned and raised his brows, apparently not at all inconvenienced by this out of the way trip to Earth. At this very moment, Arim should have been in an important meeting with his sister Ravyn, Tanselm’s overqueen, and with his four nephews, Tanselm’s last Storm Lords. Also known as the Royal Four, now that the rest of the Storm Lords were dead, his nephews sat poised to become kings, each commanding one of Tanselm’s territories. In addition to surviving the upheaval of so many of their family dead, the princes had recently taken royal brides. They had problems aplenty just trying to keep the land hale and hearty.