Birth of the Guardian

Birth of the Guardian

By

Jason Daniel

@authorJMD

Published By: Jason M. Daniel

ISBN: 9781310064883

*****

Smashwords Edition

* * * * *

©
Copyright 2016
Jason Daniel

All rights reserved, including the right to
reproduce this book or eBook or portions thereof in any form
whatsoever without the permission of
said,
author. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places
and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or
are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual events or
locales
or persons, living or dead, are
coincidental.

My
name is Jason Daniel. I primarily write YA, new adult fiction with
focus on fantasy science fiction, suspense and thriller genera’s. I
live in Maryland, near the Chesapeake Bay and I spend a lot of time
writing, hiking and hanging out with family.

People often ask how I come up with my story
lines. The answer is simple… I use my very active imagination. I
truly
believe anyone can write. Stories are
meant to told. So, if you have an idea or a story in your head, you
should take the time to write it down and share it with the
world.

If you like what you have read, please take a
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Concept
Image

The Eighth Dragon

Since the birth of humanity, good and evil
have been locked in a struggle.
Locked in an unending
conflict.
Unlike the conflicts of man, this ancient
battle
is fought by the forces of good and
evil. Good, or what man has come to know as God
chooses
one champion — the Guardian. Evil, or what man
has come to know as the devil
selects
seven —
one warrior for each continent of the world.

Book of Revelation

“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven,
holding in his hand the key
to
the bottomless
pit[a] and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient
serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand
years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over
him,
so that he might not deceive the nations
any longer, until the thousand years
were
ended
.”

BIRTH OF THE GUARDIAN

They first appeared
two
years ago; small creatures, thought to be relatively
harmless
by
most people,
they,
in fact, turned out to be a horrific plague on
humanity, which unleashed death and destruction upon the world.
Dragons: not the creatures of myth — they were small, but once they
completed the arc with their chosen human, they became unstoppable.
In all, seven men from around the world were
chosen
by evil in those first few days. The men were
already monsters — the worst of humanity attracted the spirit of
the dragons. The way a flame attracts a moth.

The Nations of the world quickly rallied
their Army’s to fight the scourge, but
a human
army had little chance against
the
godlike
power the dragons and their newly bonded humans held. Their ability
to rain down destruction was unequaled. Within a few short weeks,
the strongest nation, the United States of America, fell to
Armaros. He claimed to be an archangel; he also claimed the North
American continent as his domain. Shortly after Armaros claimed
victory, the entire world surrendered. People lost hope as well as
their faith. If a powerful nation like the United States of America
couldn’t defeat a single dragon and its host then what, possible,
chance did smaller countries have?

In the six days after the world surrendered,
Lucifer, the strongest of all the angels, came forth. He traveled
to each of the other six continents so he could secure his dominion
over the earth. Performing an ancient ceremony, he consecrated the
ground of each continent with his blood. Then he would offer his
blood to the angel of each continent, anointing each of them as his
emissary and granting them dominion over the land, each
claimed.

Lillian’s opened her
eyes
,
and she sat up, in
her makeshift bed. Sweat rolled down her
forehead,
and her hair was soaked.
Are you kidding
me
, she thought to herself, still panting as she fought to
catch her breath. She looked toward the corner of the room,
checking on Derik, her younger brother, before standing.

“Lillian, are you okay?” Jessica, Lillian’s
childhood friend, asked.

“I
'm all right
. Just
thirsty,” she said. Lillian eased around
her
and then stepped over the
huddled
mass of kids
that filled the small, makeshift, cabin.

“Are you going to the well?”

“Yes,” Lillian said, whispering so she didn’t
wake anyone else, “do you want me to bring you back some
water?”

“If you don’t mind,” Jessica said.

Lillian walked over to the shelf and grabbed
two tin cans. They were old, and a little rusty in a few places,
but they still held water. “I’ll be right back.” She turned and
smiled at Jessica, before pulling the rickety wooden door closed
behind her. Outside, the night air was
cold
.
Lillian reached up to the
back
of her neck and
lifted her damp, matted hair away from her moist skin.
That
feels
good
, she thought, as she gazed up at the never-ending
blanket of stars, and wondered about the date. She knew it was
close to her twenty-second birthday, but she wasn’t sure just how
close, or if it had already past.
What
the hell
, it doesn’t matter
anyway
?

“What are you doing awake?”

Lillian swiftly turned around; the sound of
tin can’s clinking together broke the still silence. “Jackson,” she
said, somewhat
irritated
, “you
scared
me half to death. You’re an asshole!”

“Calm down, Lillian,” he said, rising to his
feet. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Well, you did.” Lillian’s eyes narrowed in
disgust before she turned and stomped away.

“Lillian, wait,” Jackson said, quickly
catching up to her. “Was it the same one?” He asked.

“Yes.” Lillian rolled her eyes. “It’s always
the same one. You know that.”

“Stop!” Jackson grabbed her by the arm. “You
have to find a way to get over it, Lillian. It’s not healthy,
it
’s wearing you down.”

“Don’t you think I know that?” Lillian
said.
Tears welled in her eyes. “I can’t help
it.” Her bottom lip quivered as she fought the urge to give in to
her heartbreak. “I watched them burn. They were my parent’s and I
watched them burn.” She cringed at the picture in her
mind
as she dropped to her knees. The weight of such a
horrible memory was almost too much for Lillian to
endure. Nevertheless
, she found a way to survive.

“Slow down…breath.” Jackson knelt beside her
and tried to comfort her. “In and out — in and out. Go slow,” he
said as he
attempted
to stop Lillian’s panic
attack. Lillian’s, frantic, breath’s slowed, and she stopped
crying, but the deep pain and horrible memories were just under the
surface. She made it to the safety of the river the day her mom and
dad burned; she shielded her brother’s eyes from the
horrifying
scene, that was now, scorched in her memory.
However, that meant little to her; her only thoughts were of her
parent’s, and knowing that they died refusing to swear allegiance
to Armaros, as well as protecting her brother and her.

“I’m okay,” Lillian said. She then rubbed
away the tears and forced herself to smile.

“Yea, I know.” Jackson pulled her close,
kissed her on the forehead, and then helped her to her feet. “Now,
let’s get that water.”

“I don’t need help getting water, Jackson.
I’m not a kid.”

“I didn’t say that
you’re
a kid, but it’s almost dawn, and we need more than
just two cans of water.”

As much as Lillian didn’t want to admit it,
she welcomed Jacksons company. It wasn’t that the well was far
away, only one hundred yards or so, it was the fact that he made
her feel safe. After Armaros had
attacked
,
Jackson kept them together; he kept them moving west. Without him,
they would have never made it to the mountains. Years spent
hunting, fishing and scouting prepared him to live off the land and
helped keep their small group alive.