I peered through a crack in the wall. “They're gone.”

“You sure?” Sandra's eyes were wide and watery.

Our secret cave was but a five minute walk away. Sandra had never been there before. It was known only to Joey, Lily and me.

“You made it!” Lily gave me a bear hug as I entered the cave.

Joey stood behind her. His face was solemn. “This is just the beginning. The Bate'evon and Ven'eelg are scouts. The dragons come next to destroy any resistance. Then the rest of the dark beasts take the survivors as hostages. That's how they work. We'll have to leave this place.”

“My sisters? Simon? Gwen?” My voice trembled as the words left my mouth.

“It's too late for them. We'll have to assume they're all dead,” said Joey softly.

I choked on my tears. “Where do we go?”

“To find the warriors.” Joey looked at me, waiting for my trademark snide comments.

After what I had seen, I had nothing left to say. If dragons existed, then warriors and the dark beasts Joey talked about were probably real too. “Let's go,” I replied.

**

I cringed as I walked through the ashes that once was a lush forest. It was littered with skeletons, some of which were human. “How do you know they are here?” I asked Joey.

Joey put his arm around my shoulder. “Brun told me he'd hang out in that underground tunnel with his warrior pals once in a while. The entrance is covered by a giant stone that only the warriors can lift.”

“If only warriors can lift that stone, how can we get in?” I asked.

“We knock,” he said patiently.

I heard a sound. Something moved behind the rubble. I jumped back, knees bent, with my dagger in my hand, ready for a confrontation.

“Easy girl,” came a familiar voice.

“Simon!” My heart leaped with joy. Another pal escaped. “Where's Gwen?”

His face was lined with worry. “I was hoping she'd be with you.

**

The five of us trudged through the ashes, lighting the way with the hurricane lamp that Lily had the sense to bring along.

Joey beamed widely as he pointed to a giant rock. “Over there.”

Some rock. It looked more like a small hill.

We waited as Joey knocked on the rock. At first, our hearts were full of hope, but after what seemed like hours, it was clear that there was no one there. Joey looked silly banging his fist against that rocky hill. I felt like an idiot for believing everything he said about the warriors.

Finally, he slumped down on the ground. “I was a fool. Of course they're gone. If they still hung out here, those beasts would not have come.” He buried his face in his hands.

“You wouldn't have known. At least you tried.” Lily's slender hand was on his shoulder.

**

A screech pierced through my ears. Turning around, I saw Simon in the clutches of a half human, half bat creature. My stomach turned over as I watched that thing sink its teeth into Simon's exposed neck.

A succession of daggers hit the Bate'evon, driving it away. Those daggers would have killed any natural creature but that monster was able to fly away, leaving a trail of black blood as it soared over us.

Joey's face was white. “He'll turn. We have to get away from him.”

“Are you crazy? He's our friend,” I sputtered.

Joey shook his head resolutely. “Not for long. Soon, he'll be one of them -- a blood thirsty vampire.”

“Enough of this nonsense.” In spite of Joey's protests, Sandra and I supported Simon as we walked.

Strangely enough, carrying Simon became more difficult with every step. He seemed to be getting heavier. I stared at him as we walked. His skin seemed more gray than tan. Soon, he was writhing, as though in pain.

“Help me,” he groaned. Tears streamed from his eyes.

His pleas for help turned into screams. He flung his arms, tossing us aside in his agony. Simon had become unbelievably strong.

“Run!” yelled Joey as he and Lily grabbed both Sandra and myself, pulling us towards a nearby lake. “Bate'evon are afraid of water.”

I turned back for a final glance. Simon was no longer human. His face was more like that of a giant bat. Though he still had arms and legs, his skin was gray and huge bat wings sprouted from his back. I gasped in shock.

Simon spread out his wings and soared after us. He seemed to be trying to tell us something, but only screeches came out of his mouth. I tried to return to him, but Joey yanked me away. “Don't be stupid. He's a vampire now.”

Lily, Sandra and Joey were submerged in the water. I was still a few feet away from the lake. Simon

swooped at me and grabbed my arm. His fangs gleamed in the moonlight.

I screamed.

A dagger hit his face.

Simon let go of me and faced the attacker.

Lily emerged from the water with her daggers in hand, throwing them at his torso.

That grating screech pierced my ears. Lily's daggers struck his chest. Gingerly, the monster pulled them out and tossed them on the ground.

I dived deep into the lake, holding my breath for as long as I could.

Surfacing for air, I saw that the creature was gone.

Lily surfaced beside me. “I chased him away. You okay?”

“I'm fine. Thanks to you. What is going to happen to him?”

Joey glared at me. “Now, listen to me. Simon will live on as a vampire until a warrior gets to him. Our only hope is to find the warriors. Only they can cure the victims and free the captives from those beasts.”

“Where do we go now?” I asked as we left the lake.

Joey's shoulders slumped forward. He looked like a broken man. “I really don't know. Brun's gone. No one's at the underground tunnel. Have they abandoned us? Was Brun the last warrior assigned to defend our town?”

“There must be a way. Who are the warriors anyway? According to Brun, they are humans like us. The legend says that long before they received their powers, these warriors defended their homes against dark beasts with weapons they'd set on fire,” Lily replied.

“Then we need fire,” I said. Hope sprung up in my heart.

“Yeah. What do we burn? Everything here's been burnt to the ground,” mumbled Joey as he sat on the ground, staring into the lake.

Sandra spoke up in a small voice. “I got a lighter for my cigarettes.”

“Your what?” My heart beat angrily. My baby sister had been smoking behind my back.

“Cool it you two. Her bad habit could save our lives.” Lily rummaged through her backpack which she had the sense to dump on the ground before plunging into the lake. Her face lit up as she pulled out a dozen wooden sticks. “I knew these would come in handy.”

“Great. Light two at a time as we need to conserve firewood until we get to those hills.” Joey smiled as he pointed at the green hills that lay ahead.

**

With a pair of burning sticks stuck in the ground, the four of us rested as we ate the bread that Lily brought along. Joey and Lily were intimate as usual. His arm was around her. She giggled as he whispered into her ear. His lips pressed against hers, as if Sandra and I were not around. Those love birds were just too much.

Sandra and I used Sandra's back pack as our pillow. Mine was still wet as I had jumped into the water wearing my back pack. I dozed off from pure exhaustion.

Sandra's scream jolted me awake. A Ven'eelg held her in its coils.

I felt the blood drain from my cheeks. Leaping to my feet, I crouched warily as I faced the creature.

It hissed as it lunged at me.

I jumped aside and stabbed its torso with my dagger.

The monster shrieked. It released Sandra. Then it lashed its tail at me.

A flurry of daggers drove it away. The screams had woken up Joey and Lily and they'd come to my rescue as usual.

“It's dawn. Time to move on before the rest of the Ven'eelgs come after us,” said Joey as he handed me a fiery torch.

With fire for protection, we made our way to the hills unchallenged.

“See. It wasn't that bad after all,” said Joey as we stepped on the lush green grass.

“Ven'eelgs!” Lily spun around and tossed a creature that lunged at her to the ground. Two more jumped out from the trees behind her.

Joey threw a dagger at one of Lily's attackers.

Another Ven'eelg slipped up behind him and held him down. In spite of Joey's strength, that Ven'eelg overpowered him easily.

My dagger throwing skills are not that great but I threw a dagger at Joey's attacker, hitting the creature squarely on its head.

It happened so quickly. A massive reptilian tail coiled around my chest.

I could barely breathe. My head was spinning. I passed out.

**

I awoke to the overpowering smell of incense. My head throbbed like it would burst. Sick in the stomach, I coughed and spat out blood.

“You'll get over it,” said a nasal voice. A raven-haired woman in a white gown handed me gown similar to what she was wearing. “Wear this. We all do. We're the chosen ones,” she said grimly.

The gray walls of the crowded cell stared back at me. Dozens of young women, dressed in white were trembling as they huddled on the cold stone ground.

While the other cells contained prisoners chained tightly to the walls, we in white had the privilege of roaming freely within the confines of the steel bars and the padlocked door.

“Where are we?” I asked my benefactor.

“In a dragon's lair. We were spared so that we can face a fate worse than death.” Her sad eyes looked away.

Across the room sat Lily. She leaned against the wall as she looked intently at the guards that paced up and down the corridor.

I walked up to her and tapped her shoulder. “Lily...”

She pressed her finger against her lips and gestured at me to bend over. “I've got a plan.”

I smiled as she whispered into my ear.

--- The End ---

Read on about Sarah's plight in Warrior Girl, by SFXFANTASY

You can find it at http://www.lulu.com/content/395053

More about the Sarah and the world of the warriors at www.sfxfantasy.com

Read the full story at Warrior Girl, Lost In Another Realm and The Dark Warriors

Book 3 : Dark Warriors

Divide and conquer. The enemy's strategy appears to work when the four most powerful elite warriors are trapped separately in different worlds, each oblivious to his or her past. Sarah alone, being the newest and presumably weakest of the elites was ignored by the dark warriors.

The Academy, barely having recovered from the recent massacre is forced to fend off an invasion without their elite warriors. Evan is forced to make a decision that would change his life forever.

A final confrontation between the warriors and the mastermind behind the dark beasts. The final book in the trilogy.

This third book contains a bonus chapter (9 years later) not found in the original A Warrior's Death Trilogy

Buy The Dark Warriors at Amazon.

Cover art for all these books was done by Laura Diehl