Earth Guardian (Deities Series Book 2) Read online

  Earth Guardian

  Deities Series

  Book Two

  USA Today Bestselling Author

  Kristin D. Van Risseghem

  Kasian Publishing LLC

  11923 NE Sumner St, STE 759356

  Portland, OR 97220

  www.KristinVanRisseghem.com

  Copyright © 2019 Kristin D. Van Risseghem

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Cover design by Mallory Rock

  Rock Solid Book Designs

  Author photograph by Jessica Krueger Photography

  www.JessicaKruegerPhotography.com

  Formatting by The Writer Lab

  Series edited by Melissa A. Craven

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: 978-1-943207-64-0 (Paperback)

  ISBN: 978-1-943207-70-1 (Kindle)

  Other works by Kristin D. Van Risseghem:

  Deities Series

  Flame Guardian, Book One

  Earth Guardian, Book Two

  Air Guardian, Book Three

  Water Guardian, Book Four

  Seascape Chronicles

  Seascape, Book One

  Landscape, Book Two

  Dragon Slayer Series:

  Dragon Magic, Prequel

  Dragon Slayers, Book One

  Dragon Wars, Book Two

  Dragon Protectors, Book Three

  Enlighten Series:

  Swords & Stilettos, Book One

  Daggers & Dresses, Book Two

  Wars & Wings, Book Three

  Fires & Fairies, Sidelle’s Novella

  Arrows & Angels, Kieran’s Novella

  Poisons & Princes, Finn’s Short Story

  Ninjas & Nephilims, Shay’s Short Story

  Do you like being in the know? Be the first to hear news? If that answer is “YES!!” Then you MUST sign up to my VIP Newsletter and get a FREE short story by yours truly.

  By joining this exclusive club, I will tell all of my rabid fans of new releases, giveaways, cover reveals and where you could meet me.

  Sign up today!!

  www.KristinVanRisseghem.com

  Be one with nature.

  I am earth. I am nature. I am vengeance.

  My name is Pamin Gabra, and I’m being hunted.

  I’m a street rat who survives in the slums of Egypt. Nothing is special about me—until I meet a group of soldiers and discover that I have the power to bend the earth to my command.

  War erupts. I have no other choice but to follow the soldiers into the Egyptian pyramids to escape those who pursue us. My friends are rare elementals, like me … but the government wants to use us for a sick purpose.

  I have no control over my magic. To understand my powers, I must perform the Earth Rite and hope I don’t kill us all in the process.

  Not everyone makes it out alive. Time is running short.

  I AM THE EARTH GUARDIAN.

  Table of Contents

  Part I

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Part II

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Part III

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Letter to Reader

  Acknowledgements

  About the Author

  Part I

  Chapter One

  My grief pours onto the dusty cave floor beneath me. As my body stops racking in pain, I lay as though dead in the dark tomb. Soft sounds reach me through the blackness. The others are talking quietly.

  “You had to get yourself shot in the ass, didn’t you?” the female American soldier teases.

  I open my eyes.

  “Just trying to save you, Tage,” Smoke answers. “Thankfully it’s in the leg and not really in the ass. You and my sister are the only pains in the ass I ever need.”

  “That’s enough, you two. Hold still, Smoke.” The older lady’s voice is firm. “This bandage should stop the bleeding for now. We may have enough to change the dressing a couple of times, but then we’ll need to get more. You’re lucky it was just a graze.”

  A hand rests on my back, warm and reassuring.

  “Pamin, I’m here.” It’s Ash. I know it’s her from the heat radiating from her palm. It spreads through me like the hot sun. “I heard that, Bro.”

  When I speak, my voice cracks. “I have to get back. They need me.” I say they, knowing my family is beyond my help. But my friends, my community, my extended family—our home, Zabbaleen, is burning. Maybe I can find the bodies of my mom and sisters, help bury them. Say good-bye.

  I make the sign of the cross before wiping my eyes.

  “Okay, Smoke, do not put any weight on your right leg. We’ll have to take turns helping you walk.” The older lady gets up in the room lit only by the fire in Ash’s palm. Whoa, that is cool. The flame draws my eyes. “How are you doing, son? Your name again is …?”

  “Pamin,” Ash answers for me.

  “Pamin Gabra,” I rasp out. The spell by the flames is broken at the sound of her voice.

  “And you are the one who controls earth.” The lady studies me. Her graying brown hair is pulled back into a military bun, at the base off her neck. She’s wearing a U.S. army uniform, same as the blond-haired female, Tage. “I’m Dr. Mara Novamori, but this team calls me Dr. Mara. I’ve been helping to train them with their powers.” I don’t answer her. None of that seems to matter anymore. “I’m sorry about your family, Mr. Gabra. The others here, they no longer have their parents, either, except for Tage.”

  I look at Ash, Smoke, and Torrent—my new friends. We’re all orphans? “Does this, being orphaned, have to do with our powers?”

  “Not directly, no. But there’s so much we don’t know about your abilities, all of you, and they have led to unforeseen complications.”

  Ash kneels beside me, draping her arm across my shoulders. “Pamin, I’m so sorry. It was my fault. I burned your house … just like when I burned our own house when I was little, killing my parents …”

  “No, Ash, you didn’t s
tart that one,” Smoke speaks. “It couldn’t possibly have been you, you were little and asleep in your crib.” Ash nods to her twin, but her eyes glisten in the flickering palm light.

  “Pamin’s house wasn’t your fault, either,” Torrent adds. “Ya did that to save our lives. It’s the soldiers’ fault. Effing army.”

  “Why didn’t they escape through the kitchen window?” My voice is low, but the whisper echoes in the black cave. As if in answer, the wall shudders, several loose stones clank and scatter down. Muffled shouting sounds from behind the blocked entrance.

  “Damn it, the army found us,” Tage says in a whisper.

  Chapter Two

  “Up soldiers, we have to go, quiet now.” The doctor and Tage help Smoke to his feet. “Pamin, is there another way out? Where does this hallway lead?”

  Ash gives me a hand. “I’ve explored a long ways back, but the underground tunnels goes much farther. I don’t really know where it leads.” I stand with her assistance.

  “Well then, we’ll have to find out, won’t we. Lead the way. Let’s move out.” Ash walks beside me, shining her light on the tunnel ahead as I limp along. I keep glancing at her, staring at her lighted hands. How is that even possible? We move quickly and quietly. The tunnel is rough, part of the cave we found ourselves in. It flows into unending blackness, natural walls that get larger and smaller. We stumble over protruding rocks and uneven surfaces. The hard stone is cool to my hands, giving me a firm strength, calming me. Somehow.

  “I have to get back. My friends, my cousins, they need me.” I slow my pace. What am I doing? I can’t go with these people. I have my own I need to check on them to make sure that they’re not dead.

  “Let’s get away from the U.S. army first, son,” Dr. Mara says. “Then we’ll figure out a way to check on your family. Are there other passages going back outside?”

  “I don’t know. There must be, feel the air moving?” Ash’s palm fire is flickering. We move slowly, so Tage and Torrent can help Smoke walk on his bum leg.

  I know this first part pretty well, it’s just a winding, natural tunnel. “Why is the army after you all?” I glance to the doctor behind me.

  “They fucking want to use our powers.” Ash tries to hold her hand steady, but the flame sparks.

  “Yes,” the doctor says. “They found out about these two, Torrent and Ashley, having unique abilities. Now they know about yours, too, Pamin. You control earth; the U.S. army will want that. I can’t believe we found you!”

  “We found him,” Smoke struggles to speak.

  “Actually, I found you.” I don’t smile. Why did I have to be so friendly? Couldn’t I have left these khawagas alone? Serves me right for loving all-things American.

  “That’s right,” Dr. Mara continues. “So, there’s one final gifted youth out there, who must control air. They’ll be looking for that person. We must find him or her first.”

  “Which one of you controls water?” I ask.

  “That’d be me.” Torrent points to himself. “As soon as we get out of this immediate danger, I’ll show you what I can do.”

  Ash then fills me in on the “missions” that Torrent and her were made to do for the army, and how they escaped with Dr. Mara’s help.

  “She’s been training us to control our powers.” Ash’s voice gets small. “Pamin, I’m so sorry …”

  “Don’t blame yourself, Ash. I think I killed a lot of soldiers back there, toppling both buildings.” Heaviness presses on me as I make the sign of the cross. What kind of Christian am I? Will I be killing people now?

  The ground shakes beneath us, dust and pebbles drop on our heads. We stop and brace ourselves.

  “What’s that?” Tage sounds scared. Our breathing is heavy in the dark.

  “Pamin, why don’t you try pressing your hand against the rock? I wonder…” Dr. Mara is coaching me now, I guess. I place my palm flat against the stone to my left. Uneven sensations move through my body. On instinct, I kneel and press my hand against the floor of the cave. Like electricity, my energy seems to flow through the hard surface. I close my eyes and let the strange sensations move around inside me.

  Lots of heavy feet, walking, standing, running. Lighter, faster steps, moving away. Pounding and tapping on the rock at various spots, echoing through the stone to my limbs. Sticks being wedged into cracks—BOOM!

  The tunnel shivers again. I open my eyes and scramble to my feet. “They’re all over the church and at the entrance where we came in. They’re using dynamite. They’ll be inside soon.”

  Dr. Mara straightens. “Run!”

  Chapter Three

  I have to get back. I don’t want to go farther in. This is all wrong—I’m going the wrong way. What am I doing here?

  We struggle along, but we must walk slow for Smoke. We take turns helping him move as fast as possible. Dr. Mara wants me in front; I know this part of the tunnel well.

  We come to a few natural passageways veering off to the left and right; this will help slow our pursuers. I’ve been down many of these hallways, several loop back to the church cave at various points. I stick to the main tunnel, which forks to the right after a long ways. We struggle on and on, it must be many kilometers.

  Good thing I explored these so much when I was little. Something drew me here. Before I had to start working to help my family, at ten, I loved nothing more than to spend all my time in these caves and tunnels. No one else knew about them—I never told anyone. This was my own personal place to get away, to feel safe, deep within the rock.

  Now I’m about as far as I’ve ever wandered. I’m just guessing which turns to make now. The rough ground slopes downward, and we have to go even slower. The walls become clammy and wet.

  “I think we’re getting near the river.” I’ve wondered about this before, in this lower slope. I lay my hand flat against the cool wall on the right and close my eyes, relaxing my busy brain into a quiet state in the darkness.

  Flowing, moving energy … yes, it’s liquid. A lot of it.

  “The Nile is near, I can feel it,” Torrent says.

  I open my eyes. “I feel it, too.” I stare at Torrent while we walk. How does he know it’s water and not some other liquid? He’s told me his affinity is water, but does his body tell him?

  We continue down, down, down. I lead us into a left-hand passage, then turn to the right. Smoke and his helpers stumble and fall a couple of times. We think we hear our pursuers behind us. We scramble faster. I try to remember how I went the last time I explored here, several years ago.

  We’re descending so quickly I almost walk right over the edge of a steep precipice.

  “Shit.” Ash grabs my windmill flailing arms, stopping my fall.

  “This is new ….” I look around me. “I don’t recall this being here before.” Ash brightens her flame as she lowers her hand into the ravine. What she can do still amazes me. Her control over the flames is incredible. I wonder if Torrent has the same control. Will I? We’re on the edge of a steep cliff, plummeting as far as we can see. The walls going down are smooth, as if made by man—it’s a deep, square shaft, about six meters across.

  “What the?” Ash whispers. We all stare over the edge in shock seeing a chute of darkness.

  “Right, is there another way?” Dr. Mara asks.

  “I …” I rack my brain, trying to remember our every turn. “We’re about as far as I’ve ever been, but I must have turned another way this time. I’m sorry. I don’t know …”

  “Can you tell where the soldiers are?”

  I kneel and place my palm against the ground, closing my eyes to concentrate. The pounding of many feet, running, walking, strolling, standing.

  “They’re not too far behind.” My hope sinks. They’re going to catch us, then how will I ever get back? What’s going on in Zabbaleen? Did the whole place burn down? Who survived?

  “Okay. Tage, you have rope, let’s move.” Both the doctor and Tage rummage through their packs, each removing a lengt
h of thin, army-green nylon rope. We grope along the wall and below the edge, but there’s nothing to secure it to. “Pamin, can you tell how deep the shaft goes? And if there’s anything to tie the rope to close by? Torrent, can you feel the water? Is it at the bottom of this so if we fall, that’ll break our landing?”

  I look at the doctor, full of doubt, but place my hand against the wall, then another farther along, then the floor near the edge. I try to send my consciousness, my energy down the shaft, feeling the rock walls. They go down and down and down. I try again, but I’m filled with confusion. “I can’t tell how far it goes, and I don’t sense any place to tie a rope to.”

  Is this it, then? We’ll get captured right here? What good is controlling earth now? My thoughts jumble in frustration. We all grow tense, standing there, panting, and listening. Is that distant shouting?

  “Okay, there’s a solution, soldiers, think. We have power over earth, fire, and water. There has to be a way down.”

  “There’s nothing my fire can do here, except give light.”

  “I could create ice stairs using the humidity in the air, maybe, but I don’t think we’d make it without slipping and falling.” Torrent moves into the light.

  “Pamin,” Tage asks. “Can you maybe carve a ladder or steps into the rock?”

  “I don’t know, the only thing I’ve done so far is to tumble rocks down.” I’m scared. What if I cause all of our deaths trying to use my new power?

  “No, that’s too risky and would take too long.” Dr. Mara is firm. “Torrent, could you freeze and attach the rope to the wall?”

  Torrent moves next to the doctor, taking the rope and a bottle of water. He stands next to the wall as his hands do circular motion. A white mist appears and floats toward the rock. A thin layer of ice forms. Not enough to hold a person’s weight. He then opens the bottle top and holds the line against the wall, successively freezes layer after layer, sealing it against the rock. The ice nicking his hands doesn’t seem to bother him. Dr. Mara is already looping the other end of the rope, creating a foothold.