The Protectors: Book 1 in the Protectors Saga (9 page)

Avery told Gumptin to stay in the car, then got out
and slammed the door shut. She spotted Jade lying on her back in
her front yard, working on an old motorcycle that had definitely
seen better days.

Jade’s prize 2001 Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle that she
used to ride around town terrorizing the residents with speed and
noise, was perched in its usual spot, under a large canvas shade
covering next to her family’s trailer. Jade had purchased the bike
relatively cheap two years ago, it was run down and broken, but she
had spent two straight months fixing it up and airbrushing it a
slick black. It was now her pride and joy.

“Jade?!” Avery called out as she approached her. She
grimaced a little as her nerves made her voice crack, something she
was not expecting.

Jade lifted her greased stained face towards Avery.
Even smudged in grease and oil, Jade was still beautiful. It was a
different kind of beauty than Sasha’s, whose looks were more
sophisticated, or Avery, who always had a sort of ethereal beauty.
Jade had none of that, her beauty was strictly dangerous. She stood
a good few inches taller than Avery and had flawless pale skin
covering her slender, but muscled body. She had straight midnight
black hair that fell down to her mid-back and pouty vixen lips. Her
cat-like eyes were a dark chocolate brown, but turned a dangerous
black when she got angry.

Jade knew her looks were intimidating, and she played
it up, always wearing black and motorcycle boots, driving around
town, breaking the speed limit on her bike, skipping school, and
acting tough.

The people of Redemption saw her as a troubled girl
with absentee parents, too much anger, and no future. Jade knew
what they thought of her, so she played the part, but Avery knew
the truth. Avery knew that Jade was like a double sided coin. One
part of her was the tough, motorcycle riding; devil-may-care girl
from the trailer park, but the other side of her was sensitive,
vulnerable, insecure, and even goofy. It was the people that were
close to her who got to see that part, and that was the part of her
that Avery loved.

Jade stood up from the ground, wiping a dirty wrench
off on her black jeans, “Avery?” She asked, looking a little
puzzled, “What are you doing here?”

Jade knew that the trailer park had always made Avery
uncomfortable. Although most of the residents of Rebel Moon Trailer
Park were perfectly lovely, there were a few who were not the most
respectable in Redemption. One in particular was Curt Weiner who
lived next door to Jade. Avery hated how he couldn’t put one
sentence together without having at least four explicative’s thrown
in, or how he never wore a t-shirt over his wolfman chest, all the
while telling Avery what a pretty girl she was growing up to be.
Plus, Avery knew for certain that it wasn’t an herb garden he had
begun planting on the side of his house. Then there was the Draper
family who lived three trailers down and collected guns the way
some people collect Pez dispensers. Their favorite form of
entertainment was getting black-out drunk and shooting their guns
into the sky.

Thinking about the usual uneasiness she felt in the
trailer park, Avery realized her nerves were blotting out her
discomfort. For the first time in her whole life, Avery actually
began to appreciate the value of being nervous.

Avery was about to explain to Jade why she had come,
but as she stared into Jade’s dark eyes, she found herself lost for
words, “I…um,” she struggled for something, anything to say, “you
weren’t at school today.” Avery knew that was lame, but it was the
first thing that popped into her head.

Jade laughed, “Avery, the real news flash would be if
I actually went to school. I’m never there…you know that better
than anyone.” She picked up a towel lying across the seat of the
motorcycle and began to clean the grease off of her face, “Don’t
tell me you drove all the way out here to give me my homework.”
That made Jade laugh even harder, the thought of her actually doing
homework, mixed with the thought of Avery actually driving to the
trailer park to give it to her.

Jade’s laughter help erase some of Avery’s nerves,
“You know, it wouldn’t kill you to do homework once in awhile,
Jade. It is something you have to do to actually pass high school.
Well, that and showing up.” Avery scolded Jade. Avery hated the
laissez-faire attitude Jade took towards school and she could never
understand why Jade didn’t care more.

“Oh, Avery, I love you to death,” Jade said,
sauntering up to Avery and placing her hand on Avery’s shoulder,
“but,” she shrugged, “let’s face it; you’re the geek in this pair.
You always have been and you always will be.” Jade flashed a sharp
side smile, “I’m just the incredible looking brawn.”

Avery rolled her eyes, thinking how unbelievable Jade
could be sometimes.

A car door slammed behind Avery, causing her to
freeze. She saw Jade’s eyes grow wide, and she knew exactly what
Jade was looking at.

“Who the hell is that?” Jade asked, pointing the
wrench she was still holding in her hand towards the direction of
Avery’s car. All the humor and laughter was gone from her
voice.

Avery turned around, already knowing what she was
going to see.

Gumptin had gotten out of the car and was now
standing in front of it, in full view of Jade.

Avery scolded herself for actually trusting him to do
what she said and stay in the car. Up to this point, he hadn’t made
anything easy for her; why should he start now?

There was nothing else that Avery could do, but
simply tell Jade the truth.

“That’s Gumptin.” Avery said, her brain unable to
form any other thought at that moment.

Jade looked at Avery like she had gone insane, “Oh,
that’s Gumptin, is it.” She said sarcastically, “Well, that
explains everything, doesn’t it?”

This wasn’t getting off to the start that Avery had
hoped for. She opened her mouth to try and say something else, to
explain who Gumptin was, but her mind and mouth seemed to be having
a communication problem.

“Um…” Avery began. However, it didn’t really matter
what she was going to say next, as Jade barged in with her next
question, not bothering to wait for Avery’s fumbling
explanation.

“Did he just get out of your car?!” The abrasive tone
in Jade’s voice and the way she was staring at Avery, like a parent
getting ready to take away every toy from a disobedient child, made
Avery desperately wish she could lie to Jade. Unfortunately, she
needed to tell Jade everything and that included Gumptin. So, Avery
steadied herself for the admonishment she knew was about to come
her way and answered Jade’s question, “Yes.” She said.

Jade grabbed hold of Avery by her shoulder and moved
the two of them farther away from Gumptin, “How can you be so
naive?” Jade hissed.

That struck a nerve in Avery. If she had been
anything today, it wasn’t naïve. It wasn’t like she had decided to
follow some little man down a rabbit hole because he offered her
candy. She hadn’t even agreed to go with Gumptin until he brought
up the safety of her friends and family.

“Jade, I’m not a child.” Avery said, defending
herself, “I can make my own choices.”

Jade shook her head in disbelief, “I can’t leave you
alone for a
second
.” She told Avery, tightening the grip on
her shoulder, “You just don’t go around picking up circus freak
strangers.”

From behind her Avery heard Gumptin cough, “If you
two are done with the domestics,” he said, as Avery turned towards
him, “it would be nice to get to the point of why we are here. We
really do not have time for the two of you to stand around
tongue-wagging.”

Jade’s eyes became dark daggers as she stared Gumptin
down. Then, those daggers switched over to Avery.

“So, not only did you pick up a stranger,” Jade told
her, “but you picked up an ass.”

Gumptin snorted in the background.

Avery backed away from Jade, freeing her shoulder,
“Look,” she said, “he’s not technically a stranger…to me, or to
you.”

Jade gave Avery a ‘what the hell are you talking
about’ look.

Just say it, Avery urged herself…just say it,
“Alright, Jade,” she began, “I’m about to lay some pretty heavy
stuff on you, and I just need you to keep your mouth shut until I
finish, alright?”

Jade looked like she was about to argue, so Avery
made her eyes look as puppy dog as she could and added,
“Please.”

This maneuver had always worked with Jade in the past
and Avery was more than sure it would work now. No matter how upset
Jade got she couldn’t argue with Avery’s well practiced sensitive
eyes.

Not looking too pleased about it, Jade took a deep
breath in and nodded in agreement.

Now that she had as much cooperation as she was going
to get from Jade, Avery decided to just start at the beginning,
“Alright, like I said,” Avery started, “this is Gumptin.” Avery
pointed behind her to where she knew Gumptin still stood, “I met
him at the park by the school and he’s…um,” Avery began to falter.
Suddenly the idea of just blurting out the truth didn’t seem like
such a good idea, but she was too into it now to stop, “well, he’s,
um…he’s a gnome.”

Even though Avery had told Jade to keep her mouth
shut, the look Jade was directing towards Avery, like Avery had
just told her she had ridden there on a unicorn, compelled Avery to
ask, “So, what are you thinking right now?”

Jade stood silent for a moment just shaking her head,
which wasn’t like Jade, she usually had something to say about any
and everything.

“Honestly, Avery,” Jade said after a few seconds, “I
don’t even know what to say to that. I mean, obviously gnomes don’t
exist
, but up until this minute I thought you knew
that.”

Avery rolled her eyes and thought that if Jade ended
up calling her naïve again she was going to have to slap her, “I
know they’re not
suppose
to exist,” she barked, getting
agitated, “but, I mean, just look at him!”

Jade glanced over Avery’s shoulder towards Gumptin, a
deep scowl forming between her brows as she looked him up and
down.

Gumptin stared unflinchingly back at Jade, giving her
a small little wave.

Avery continued on, stopping Jade from further
protesting the believability of Gumptin’s existence, “Jade, you’re
gonna have to wrap your head around the whole magical creature
thing, because that’s just the start. He came from another world,
which, I guess, as it turns out, happens to be our world as well.
Well, one of our worlds.” Avery felt herself getting off track and
quickly tried to remedy that, “Anyway, he came from this other
world to get us…you, me, Bunny, Sasha, and Skylar, and take us
back. You see, apparently we were some hard core warriors and we
were killed by this evil Emperor. Although, I don’t actually know
how hard core we were if we ended up dying, but, whatever,” Avery
shook her head, realizing she was straying from the point, “it
doesn‘t matter, because this planet really needs us back to stop
the guy that killed us.”

From the start of Avery’s explanation Jade hadn’t
moved a muscle. She just stood with her arms folded, keeping her
mouth shut like she had agreed to, until now, “Did he drug you?”
She asked seriously, “Because if he drugged you I’ll kill him.”

Avery’s mouth opened, but she had no idea how to
respond to Jade’s question. So, instead, Gumptin spoke up.

“That was one of the most pathetic explanations of
anything I have ever heard in my life, and I am over a thousand
years old.” He said.

“Hey,” Jade shouted gruffly, arms still folded, “you
don’t get to speak until I find out exactly who you are.”

Gumptin rubbed at his forehead with his little
fingers, “This is why I wanted to avoid dealing with you until the
last possible moment.” He said more to himself than to Jade or
Avery, “Fine,” Gumptin sighed, “I am Gumptin, I am a gnome, and
Wizard and I was your mentor back on Orcatia, the planet you were
originally born on. You…are Jade Kai, a Protector with the ability
to control the power of water and one of the most aggravating
individuals I have ever known. You were killed on Orcatia by the
Emperor, a powerful dark Warlock who controls an army of over
twenty thousand vile creatures. You were sent to this planet to be
re-born. Your memories will not be returning to you, and, now you
must come back with me to Orcatia to save the planet from certain
destruction.”

Avery was in awe. The only thing she couldn’t figure
out, is if it was because Gumptin had summed up in a few sentences
what would have most likely taken herself an hour to explain, or
because for the first time in Avery’s life, she was witnessing Jade
completely dumbstruck. Jade had no retort, no sarcastic comeback;
she could only look at Gumptin like he had just appeared out of
thin air.

“Well?” Avery asked, nudging Jade out of her
trance.

At Avery’s question Jade shook herself out of her
mesmerized state and slapped her eyes back onto Avery.

“What do you want me to say?” Jade shrugged,
“Obviously, I don’t believe a word of it.”

Avery didn’t believe her, “Oh, come on,” Avery urged,
“you have to admit a lot of what Gumptin said somehow sounds
familiar to you.”

Jade scoffed.

“I saw your face when he said Protector.” Avery
continued, “When he said Orcatia. Those words mean something to
you, even if you don’t know what it is. The same thing happened to
me.”

Jade waved her hands in the air, as if she was trying
to swat away everything Avery was saying to her, “That’s enough,
Avery…enough!” She shouted, “Even if some of the things he said
sound vaguely familiar in a very tiny part of myself, that doesn’t
mean that I’m about to throw reality aside.”

A small cloud of dust rose up as Avery stomped her
foot into the ground. She grunted in frustration. It upset her that
she was having to argue so hard to get Jade to come back with her
when Avery was pretty certain she didn’t even want to go back
herself.