The Gatekeeper (The Guardians of Tara Book 1) Read online

  The Gatekeeper

  The Guardians of Tara Book One

  S.M. Schmitz

  Contents

  Copyright

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Also by S.M. Schmitz

  The Gatekeeper © 2017, S.M. Schmitz

  All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

  Chapter One

  Cameron kicked over the remnants of a charred beam that used to support a camp along the Atchafalaya River in south Louisiana and sighed. He’d been searching through this basin for almost two hours, and so far, the only thing he’d found were mosquitoes and snakes. He hated snakes. He’d asked his girlfriend, the Irish goddess of healing, several times if he could just burn the basin down since he was a sun god and all, but she’d stubbornly refused.

  Somewhere in this basin, Nemain, one of the Mórrígna, helped them look for verification that their hunch had been right. Huitzilopochtli, the god who had been harvesting the hearts of demigods and gods for years in order to make himself more powerful, had returned to the hiding place of his dead brother, Quetzalcoatl. He could sense Nemain nearby, and he heard her scream and curse as she crossed paths with yet another copperhead.

  “She has a sword,” Cameron told Selena. “Why doesn’t she just kill all these snakes? She’s Irish. She has an inherited duty to rid the world of these creatures from Hell.”

  Selena sighed and bent down to lift what may have been an oven door. “She’s not St. Patrick, love.”

  An unsettling sensation, like waking in the middle of the night to find a stranger in the room, washed over him and he twisted on his heels and stepped in front of Selena to protect her from the god that had decided to join them in the Atchafalaya Basin.

  “Where is he?” Nemain asked, appearing at his side. As gods, they could all feel the sinister presence, but the newcomer kept himself hidden.

  “If you can’t see him, what makes you think I can?” Cameron retorted.

  “Because you’re more powerful than me!” Nemain snapped.

  Cameron was an extremely young god, only a couple of months old, and Selena was even younger, but Fate had determined long ago that these former demigods would be the most powerful gods this world had ever known.

  Cameron crossed his arms and scowled at Nemain, but he was just messing with her. Over the past few days as they’d begun their hunt for Huitzilopochtli and the last Treasure of the Gods, the Stone of Fal, he’d found she was almost as much fun to mess with as Badb.

  “If it’s anything that can turn into a snake, I’m going home,” he warned.

  Nemain rolled her eyes and gestured toward the cluster of trees in the distance. “You know who it is,” she said. “And you killed his son, so you deal with him.”

  Cameron also gestured toward the clump of trees in the distance and exclaimed, “His son kidnapped Selena, almost killed her, and invaded the Otherworld!”

  “The good news, though, is that I don’t think Enlil can turn into a snake,” Selena assured him.

  Cameron scowled at the trees again and yelled, “Dude, can you turn into a snake? If so, I’m burning down the whole damn swamp!”

  Nemain sighed and produced her sword then nudged the young sun god with her elbow. “Spear, Cameron. Let’s not burn down an entire national refuge just so you don’t have to fight another snake.”

  Cameron grunted at her but his Spear appeared in his hand, its blue flames lighting the tip. As one of the Treasures of the Tuatha Dé, Lugh’s former Spear had become Cameron’s when he accepted it to become the next sun god on their pantheon, and his skill and precision with this weapon were unmatched. No god could hope to escape its path once thrown. If that god wanted to live, he’d have to disappear before Cameron decided to throw it, which was the only reason Huitzilopochtli was still alive.

  But Enlil obviously hadn’t gotten that memo. Or he had a death wish. A man’s form stepped out from among the line of trees, his arms crossed over his chest as he glared at the young god who had killed Ninurta. Cameron was right, of course. He hadn’t been given a choice, and Ninurta’s invasion and abduction of Selena was the only reason Cameron had accepted Lugh’s Spear in the first place. He hadn’t wanted to become a god. But from the moment he met Selena, the instinct to protect her had been overwhelming and he’d quickly fallen in love with her. Selena had wanted to become the next goddess of healing, but her gentle, compassionate nature had convinced her to keep her own love for him hidden so he wouldn’t feel compelled to become the next sun god of the Tuatha Dé.

  In the end, Ninurta had given him no choice.

  He’d resented the old gods for it until he and Selena remembered their former lives. Now, he just liked to antagonize them. It was so much more fun than admitting he was glad he’d taken the Spear.

  Besides, Badb, Nemain’s sister, had been right about something, too: without Selena and him, the Tuatha Dé would have lost the Otherworld in the Battle of the Gods. And he’d grown fond of that place, especially the Dagda’s palace and his magic chef.

  Cameron pointed his Spear at Enlil and called out to him again. “Is this a no on the snake thing?”

  “I’ve heard you’re an annoying god,” Enlil answered. “The rumors don’t do you justice.”

  Cameron glanced at Selena and asked her, “Can I smite him?”

  Selena nodded. “Pretty sure you can, actually.”

  Enlil held up a hand and stopped Cameron from throwing his Spear. “Do you really think Huitzilopochtli would be so stupid as to confront three gods like you alone?”

  “Is that why you’re here?” Nemain asked him. “Selena’s not a warrior. Sounds like an even fight to me.”

  Cameron snickered and glanced at the war goddess. “Don’t need to lie to the guy. He’s totally going to die.”

  Enlil smiled at Cameron and waved his hand, telling the young god, “I only came to bring you a present, Son of Danu. My gift… to the murderer of my son.”

  Enlil vanished but in his place, a giant serpent raised its head, its multiple tongues slithering between the numerous jaws along its head. As it hissed at the gods of the Tuatha Dé, it spread its wings and Cameron put his Spear away, exclaiming, “Nope. I’m going home.”

  Why did he always find himself fighting giant snakes?

  Selena grabbed his arm before he could go back to Murias, one of the magical island cities of the Otherworld where the Tuatha Dé lived.

  “We can’t leave this thing here!” she protested.

  As the giant snake slithered toward them, Nemain pointed her sword at it and told th
e young gods, “Pretty sure that’s Bašmu. I’m also pretty sure Enlil isn’t coming back for it, so we do have to kill it, Cameron.”

  Cameron groaned and shot Selena a pleading look. “Fire? I can burn the whole forest down.”

  “Just throw your Spear at it,” she suggested.

  Cameron grimaced as he faced the giant serpent again but threw his Spear. As always, his aim was perfect and his Spear slid into the underbelly of the beast. But it didn’t even slow the monster down.

  “That’s it,” Cameron threatened. “I’m burning down the whole damn state.”

  “Your family lives here,” Selena reminded him. “I don’t advise that.”

  Cameron pointed toward the snake and cried, “I threw a spear into it and it’s not even hurt!”

  “Setting an entire state on fire does seem like a reasonable solution then,” Nemain said. Cameron flipped her off, but she ignored him. She gripped the hilt of her sword in both hands and stepped toward the behemoth, its massive jaws yawning as its tongues slithered in multiple directions.

  Nemain swung her sword upward toward one of those slithering, bifurcated tongues and screamed when it fell on her. Cameron couldn’t blame her. He felt like screaming, too.

  Bašmu screeched and lifted its head as one of those massive jaws gaped wider to swallow Nemain. Cameron ignited a fire anyway in an attempt to distract the winged serpent and prevent it from eating his friend. He heard Selena groan, “Oh, God, it can fly?”

  It was about that point Cameron actually did try to disappear to the Otherworld, but Selena wouldn’t let him. She immediately pulled him back to the Basin and shot him a fierce, warning glare that dared him to do it again.

  But Cameron wasn’t stupid. He didn’t try it again.

  Nemain wiggled out from beneath the heavy, sticky tongue that had fallen on her and ducked again as Bašmu flew above her.

  Selena screamed, “Goddamn it!”

  Cameron called back to his girlfriend, “Which god?”

  “Enlil!” Selena shouted as she fell to the ground to avoid the serpent’s jaws.

  “Flying snakes are definitely a deal breaker!” Cameron yelled. “Wedding’s off!”

  “Just kill the damn thing and let’s get out of here!” Nemain yelled back to him.

  “How?” Cameron asked. “It’s flying!”

  Bašmu turned and dove at them again, emitting a high-pitched scream as all of its jaws widened, exposing its long, gaping throat. A dome of fire erupted above the gods on the ground as Cameron attempted to protect them, but its heat didn’t reach Nemain or Selena.

  Cameron gestured toward the flaming ceiling above them and shot Nemain a look that was some cross between frustration and disgust. “Now what?”

  Selena sat up and picked the twigs out of her hair. “I’m beginning to think burning down the Atchafalaya Basin isn’t such a bad idea.”

  Cameron just nodded in complete agreement.

  “Why do you expect me to have all the answers?” Nemain shot back.

  “Because you’re like a million years old!” Cameron shouted. “And I’ve never had to kill a dragon!”

  Nemain waved him off and blew an angry breath through her lips. “How many times do we have to tell you? We’re more like three thousand years old. And it’s not a dragon. It’s… a flying snake. I think.”

  “I don’t care!” Selena cried. “You’re the warrior gods, just kill it!”

  Cameron glanced at Selena and fell silent. They’d discovered recently that because she actually contained a piece of his soul, they could converse with each other telepathically and even draw on one another’s gifts.

  Quetzalcoatl fought me in his human form. Caoranach couldn’t fly. I really don’t know what to do! Cameron told her.

  Its wings… Selena realized. You and Nemain have to figure out how to cut off its wings. If it can’t fly, you’ll be able to attack it better.

  “Hey,” Nemain snapped. “If you’re planning something, do it out loud.”

  Cameron snorted and shook his head. “She won’t let me sacrifice Jasper, so I’m out of ideas.”

  “You need to lay off Jasper because he’s vowed to completely change the way the New Pantheon recruits gods and demigods,” Selena pointed out.

  “And you promised Selena you would,” Nemain reminded him.

  Cameron nodded and flinched as the beast above them screeched again. “If it’s my destiny to fight every snake from mythology, why the hell did Fate make me hate them so much?”

  “Is that really our biggest problem right now?” Nemain asked.

  “Well, yeah,” Cameron countered. “Considering I’m the one who always has to kill these demons, it is.”

  “Oh, for God’s sake,” Nemain muttered. “Put out your fire. I’ll kill it myself.”

  “I think what Cameron meant to say,” Selena clarified, “is that my idea is to cut off Bašmu’s wings so it can’t fly. Once it’s on the ground, it should be easier to kill.”

  “My Spear still didn’t hurt it,” Cameron pouted.

  “It’s still a better idea than burning down the entire state of Louisiana,” Nemain responded.

  Cameron held up his Spear and arched an eyebrow at the war goddess. “And how am I supposed to cut off a wing with this?”

  “Don’t know, Sun God. But you’re a smart guy. You’ll figure something out,” Nemain answered. She looked up at his dome of fire, indicating she wanted him to put out the flames, and Cameron groaned but let the fire dissipate. Bašmu immediately dove toward the gods and Nemain wrapped her fingers tightly around the hilt of her sword. Cameron glanced at his Spear and sighed.

  Tell me again why gods can’t carry guns? he asked Selena.

  Um… there’s a dragon about to eat us. Can we have this discussion later?

  Cameron threw his Spear at the juncture where the serpent’s wing met its body. It sliced through the thin, brown skin that stretched tightly over slender wings then his Spear arced above the flying serpent and returned to his hand. Bašmu protested angrily, but Nemain lifted her sword and ran the tip of its blade along the same line of muscle and skin that kept the serpent’s wings attached to its body.

  Cameron felt Selena’s disgust at the odd, bluish-gray blood that trickled from the creature’s body. He would have at least sent her some silent message of comfort if he weren’t scared shitless himself.

  He really hated snakes.

  Bašmu pulled its wings closer to its body as its injuries slowed its flight. With its body long and sleek now, it resembled a snake again rather than a dragon, albeit a snake with several mouths, and Cameron grimaced again as the serpent lurched toward them. He pointed his Spear at it and asked Selena, “What about wolves? Or lions? Why is it always snakes?”

  He threw his Spear at the serpent’s open mouth, one of them anyway, and it pierced its soft, pink tongue. More of that bluish-gray blood seeped out from the puncture wound, and he stepped farther away as he held his hand out for his Spear to return to him. The Spear’s bright blue flames lit up as it sailed through the air and settled in his open hand.

  Nemain lifted her sword again and sliced through the injured tongue of the giant snake, which fell to the ground by the first one she’d cut off.

  This is disgusting, Cameron told Selena. I’m going to have nightmares about this for the next two thousand years. Be prepared to be awakened every night by my screaming.

  Be prepared to sleep in another room, Selena teased.

  At least Cameron hoped she was teasing.

  He threw his Spear again, this time aiming for the beast’s eye, and as it sunk into the large round reptilian orb, Bašmu let out another ear-splitting shriek. Nemain glanced at Cameron and yelled, “Catch my sword and throw it at the other eye!”

  Cameron wanted to ask her if having a giant snake tongue fall on her had given her a concussion or something, but Nemain had already tossed her sword to him. And Bašmu was pissed.

  The third mouth, the only one with an i
ntact tongue, gaped open as the massive serpent lunged toward him. Cameron gripped the hilt of the sword and threw it, not really sure if his aim would still be as precise without his Spear, but he sighed loudly in relief as it sank into the snake’s other eye, blinding the abomination.

  That huge, open mouth fell toward him and he transported himself away from the serpent toward Nemain. Selena watched helplessly from the line of trees behind them, but what else could she do? She was a goddess of healing, and Cameron was not-so-secretly glad she never got involved in the fights he often found himself in.

  He would have died a thousand deaths for her.

  As his Spear returned to his hand, he hissed at Nemain, “I can’t get your sword back. You just left me to fight this bastard on my own!”

  “It’s blind and flightless,” Nemain hissed back. “Burn it!”

  Cameron blinked at her then lit a fire around Bašmu, encircling the giant snake and creating walls of fire that reached to the heavens. As those walls closed in on the screaming serpent, Selena appeared at his side and grabbed his hand.

  “Well, this is going to attract a crowd. As soon as we confirm it’s dead, we need to get out of here. We’ll have to finish searching the Basin once the news’ reporters and investigators have all left.”

  Cameron nodded then smiled at Nemain. “Not it on confirming Satan is dead.”

  Nemain folded her arms and retorted, “Bašmu isn’t Satan. And I liked that sword. I’m going back home to get another one.”

  Cameron’s Spear vanished as he grabbed her arm. “Nope. Take off on us now and you might as well send Badb.”

  “Badb drives you crazy,” Nemain reminded him.

  Cameron nodded. “True, but she’s coming in one month to take your place anyway.”

  Nemain smiled back at him as she lifted an eyebrow and told the young sun god, “You’re assuming I can’t find and kill Huitzilopochtli in a month. Don’t underestimate me, Son of Danu.”

  Cameron snickered. “Sounds like you don’t need us then. Why the hell are we here?”