The Hour of Dusk: a Guardians Novel

By Michael Ewing

The fugitive Vampire, Dusk, has killed the four Guardians in Kirbyville in an attempt to steal their abilities for himself but his plans go awry when four new Guardians are created. These new Guardians must learn how to use their newfound abilities and work together in order to keep from becoming Dusk's next victims. During this time, the Guardians also find out that the world is not what they once believed, that there is much more to it and how much of it is going to work against them?

This re-release also includes a bonus short story: "The War for the World."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michael Ewing
• Release date: Jun 16, 2011
• ISBN: 9781458038265

Michael Ewing

Michael was born in Orlando, Florida and from there worked his way north until he ended up in southeastern Ohio where he would meet his wife. He has been writing since he was eight years old and even though "The Hour of Dusk" is not his first attempt at a novel it is his first completed effort.Michael is currently working on expanding the Guardians Universe and creating a new one from scratch geared toward young adults.

Book preview

Chapter One

okay, we’re just here to talk about my roommate. You aren’t going to go talking to the others and letting them know that I was living with a Vampire are you? I mean, I know that we’re supposed to be friendly with them on the outside but everyone knows that the Vampires and the Werewolves have been at war for centuries. It’s not like I knew that he was a Vampire when he moved in, although I could smell that something was different about this guy. I just needed someone to help with the rent because it’s hard to live a normal life and support yourself in this town. I mean, I could probably do it but my roommate just up and left when we had a good six months left on our lease and it would have cost me more to break the lease and find a one bedroom space than it would have been to live out the lease if I could find a roommate. I just needed someone to help pay the bills is all.

It was obvious that Peter was nervous and he should have been. It’s just like he said: Vampires and Werewolves have been fighting for centuries and it just would not look good for Peter if his elders were to find out that he was living with a Vampire. That’s not the half of it though, this Vampire that’s living with Peter has gone off and killed three of the four Kirbyville Guardians. Who are the Guardians? Simple, the Guardians are the people that protect you from the things you don’t know about and they come in four different flavors: Earth, Air, Fire and Water. The Earth Guardian is the only one left in Kirbyville right now.

That last statement isn’t quite true. I’ll let you find out for yourself later why it isn’t. Right now the important thing is that I try to find out from Peter if he knows where his roommate is. Dusk is a dangerous Vampire and even the Vampire nation is hunting for this guy. Why? That’s simple too: the Guardians don’t just protect you, they also protect the things that you don’t know about from you. Why would they need protection from you? More often than not an average human would not be able to fight back against a Vampire, Werewolf, Ogre, Troll or some other creature that you don’t even believe in. Every now and then though there is that one person that not only has the ability to see them but to also stand up to something that they run into and hunt down the others of that kind.

What humans don’t realize is that they are their own worst enemy. While you may have worried as a child about the creatures that go bump in the night you should have been more concerned about your neighbor that you have absolutely no suspicions about. When someone is kidnapped or murdered it is more often than not by someone that the victim knew personally. Why would you worry about the creature in the night that is actually making himself (or herself) at home and getting to know your sleep patterns so they can find out if something is wrong and possibly help you? I can give you the answer to that as well. It’s the unknown. Peter didn’t know that his roommate was a Vampire before he moved in but his greatest fear was that Dusk, the Vampire, would find out that Peter was a Werewolf. Do I know if Dusk learned Peter’s secret? No.

I try to calm Peter down, I’m not looking to do anything with the information that you give me other than relay it to Landslide. Landslide will hopefully be able to find Dusk before Dusk finds him. We lost three of the Guardians already and I don’t need to lose the fourth before we can be prepared. Do you have any idea where Dusk is headed to?

Peter nodded to the bartender and ordered another shot of whiskey, Double this time please. Dusk is playing around in Kirbyville, different parts of the town. He said something along the lines of knowing where Landslide spends most of his time patrolling. I know that we aren’t supposed to know who the Guardians really are but I think that Dusk has been able to figure it out and he has something planned. I don’t know what Dusk is doing and I hope that whatever it is has nothing to do with the Werewolves because that would look even worse for me. Without the Guardians around it could be possible that the war would get worse. You know the fire guy, what’s his name… Inferno, he saved me once. I was with search and rescue for the Fire Department and we were called in to an apartment building blaze and I was trapped on the tenth floor when the two floors below me collapsed on themselves. Inferno made his way there and not only managed to find me and get me out but he helped get the rest of the tenants out of the building. I’m sorry that he’s gone.

Peter was sincere, and that’s not the first time that I heard this story. Inferno himself once told me this story because he was surprised to find a Werewolf helping people but he also thought that it made sense for the profession that Peter had chosen. Peter did have the heightened sense of hearing and smell that all Werewolves have and it certainly helped him save a lot of lives while he was an active member of the Fire Department. I guess that we should all be thankful that someone decided to use their abilities to help others when they didn’t have to. That reminds me, I got the information that I needed and I should make my way to Kirbyville. I already knew that Landslide lived in Kirbyville, I just didn’t know if Dusk knew that yet.

Things could get a whole lot worse if that Vampire makes his way to Kirbyville. Landslide isn’t in his right mind at the moment because he’s just finished burying the three closest friends that he has. What’s worse is that Dusk has been using the elements against the Guardians. That’s important to know because the Guardians are pretty much invincible while they’re in contact with their respective element. Dusk drowned Inferno, the Fire Guardian. Cyclone was burned alive, she’s the Air Guardian. Whirlpool was smothered under half a ton of sand, and she was the Water Guardian. Landslide knows that if the pattern continues he will die with his feet off of the ground. That is if Dusk hasn’t already gotten to him.

I thank Peter for the help that he’s given me and I pay his bill, it’s the least that I can do. Before I go to Kirbyville I have to talk to a few Vampires to see what they can tell me about Dusk. I hate to admit it but the bloodsucker has me at a disadvantage: I have to search for one individual Vampire and recognize him where I am a beast that stands nine feet tall and weighs nearly a ton. I’m a hard man to miss unless you’re one of those that are blind to what you don’t believe in. Dusk knows that I exist because he’s a Vampire. All the fabled nations know that Stonehenge is the one to go to when you need to receive help from the Guardians. Yes, my name is Stonehenge and before you ask I do share the name with the rock formation in Salisbury, England. I thought that it was nice of those druids to name the monument after me until I found out that they intend for it to be my burial grounds. Those druids are long gone and so much time has passed that I’ve decided to go ahead and make the ground my final resting place anyway. This is just idle chatter from an old man though. Time is wasting and I need to see what I can learn about Dusk before I can help Landslide help himself.

Chapter Two

The sun had set less than twenty minutes ago but the moon had not yet ascended into the twilight sky. The air was chilly, a fitting temperature for the mid-September evening. The streets of Kirbyville were fairly deserted with the expectation of a possible thunderstorm and those that were on the street were rushing to their destination or just minding themselves. Derek Williams knew that he wouldn’t draw much attention from passers-by as he ran by them and into an alley, he was just hoping that they wouldn’t become anything more than an obstacle to the man that was chasing him.

Derek didn’t know much about the man that was on his heels other than the one piece of information that actually had him in a panic: this man had killed three of his closest friends. Derek wasn’t exactly the average person leading an ordinary life - Derek had stepped into another world about twenty years ago when he came across a dying man that handed him a mask. With that mask Derek found out about a world that exists within our world - a world where Minotaurs run a slavery ring outside of Greece, where Elves guard the secrets of the forest with their lives, where Vampires and Werewolves have been at war for centuries over which species should control the night. By doing nothing more than putting on his mask Derek Williams was no longer Derek Williams, he became Landslide.

Landslide is a Guardian, and to his knowledge the only surviving one in Kirbyville. There were three others: Cyclone, Inferno and Flood. Together the Guardians had faced many formidable threats but they were alone when they had fallen to the Vampire now chasing Derek Williams.

In a desperate attempt to escape from the Vampire or to gain some ground, Derek turned into the nearest alley. There wasn’t much inside the alley, a doorway into the building on the right, a fire escape on both buildings and a dumpster just past the doorway. Derek dashed past the dumpster and crouched behind it to catch his breath. Derek willed his mask to come into being as he heard crunching glass underneath his feet from shifting his weight. Cursing his luck Derek transformed into Landslide.

The man following Landslide might have been a Vampire but he might also have been someone that just wanted to be one. Ever since Vampires seemed to pick up their own sub-culture in America there had been an increase in Vampire sightings that were completely unfounded. The Vampire was pale enough to be the real deal, but the penchant for leather is what lead Landslide to believe that it could simply be someone who fantasized about Vampires as opposed to the real thing. No fangs had been bared yet and that wasn’t even a guaranteed way to prove that someone was a Vampire these days when they could have their canine teeth modified into fangs. Still, this Vampire was lean and tall and Landslide couldn’t get those ice blue eyes out of his mind. All Vampires had the ability to hypnotize and if Landslide couldn’t get the image of those eyes out of his head then it was a good likelihood that he was dealing with a Vampire.

Landslide took a deep breath to calm his nerves and noticed that the glass beneath his feet were shards of a mirror. Landslide picked up a piece of the mirror and was thankful that he wasn‘t the person who had broken the mirror. Landslide was a superstitious man and knowing what he knew about the world nobody could convince him that his superstitions were based on silly coincidences. There was a rush of wind and Landslide was sure that he had heard a hushed footstep in the alley. Using the mirror shard Landslide looked around the side of the dumpster and tried to see if there was anything else in the alley or if it was his imagination. Landslide didn’t see anything to the left of the dumpster so he used the mirror to get a look above the dumpster in case there was something that had crept up on him without him noticing it. Still, there was nothing to be seen in the mirror as it caught a glare from the streetlamp at the end of the alley.

The glare from the mirror caught the pursuer’s attention. The Vampire known as Dusk stopped and glided into the alley with less noise than a whisper. Dusk noticed that Landslide was moving around again so he rushed to the wall on the side of the dumpster opposite Landslide. Dusk heard Landslide move to check the side of the dumpster again so he slowly crept up the wall and over the dumpster so that he could see Landslide. From his vantage point Dusk could see Landslide settle back against the dumpster, take a deep breath and check above the dumpster with the mirror again. Dusk knew that a quick strike now could throw his opponent off and aid him in battle with not only the element of surprise but also with the knowledge of having unnerved the Guardian. Before Landslide could lower his hand below the top of the dumpster Dusk grabbed it and pulled himself down toward the Guardian. Landslide, in shock, jerked his hand back and brought Dusk closer in the process. Dusk tackled Landslide with the momentum and tried to get a grip on his opponent’s throat in the process. Landslide knew enough about his opponent to keep his throat protected at all costs so he threw the Vampire off of him and quickly maneuvered to a position less prone than that of being on his back.

Dusk was much faster at getting to his feet than Landslide and immediately took the fight back to the Guardian. Tackled once again, Landslide was slammed into the dumpster, nearly pushing it back a foot from its original position. Landslide protected his face and neck as Dusk repeatedly tore into him with fingernails that could pass for claws. Knowing that he would have to take the offensive to survive the fight, Landslide pushed Dusk away and then charged him.

Dusk tried to sidestep the oncoming Landslide but he wasn’t quite fast enough, instead of missing his opponent completely Landslide had managed to bump into Dusk and send the two of them spinning in opposite directions until they hit either alley wall. Dusk hit the wall next to the dumpster facing Landslide, who had hit the wall face-first. Dusk sensed his moment of opportunity and rushed into Landslide, shoving the Guardian into the wall with all of his might. The wall resisted the impact of the Vampire’s attack but it did not hold up to Dusk‘s second charge. Dusk and Landslide broke through the brick wall and into the hotel lobby on the other side of the wall. Landslide pushed Dusk off of him and to the side and noticed that they were not the only ones in the lobby. Landslide rolled over and held Dusk to the ground as he shouted to the patrons and staff of the hotel to exit the room as quickly as they could.

Using the distraction of the Guardian trying to help the bystanders, Dusk bit into Landslide’s right arm. Landslide immediately returned his attention to the Vampire and repeatedly struck him with his free hand. It wasn’t until he had felt the Vampire’s teeth loosen from their roots that Landslide was able to free his arm with a fang still embedded in it. Both Landslide and Dusk jumped to their feet and waited for the other to make a move. Dusk relaxed his body and smiled as he revealed that a new fang was already growing to replace the one still embedded in Landslide’s arm.

Landslide pulled the fang out of his arm and tossed it to the side where it bounced off of the bricks that were now scattered across the floor. Landslide followed the movement of the fang with his eyes and turned his gaze to the still smiling Dusk with a smile of his own. Dusk’s smile began to fade as he saw the bricks begin to levitate on their own and move in his direction. The bricks and dust began to cycle in a whirlwind fashion and soon encircled the Vampire. Dusk reached out to see if the cyclone of bricks were a real threat and pulled back his hand as he was struck. Dusk pointed to Landslide’s still bleeding arm, This little parlor trick of yours will only last for so long. With the rate that you’re bleeding do you think that it will last until sunrise?

Landslide checked his arm and covered the wound with his other hand, It will last long enough. There’s more than one way to skin a cat and there is also more than one way to fry a Vampire. Whose luck do you think will run out first?

Off to the side the hotel’s elevator dinged to announce its arrival to the ground floor. Dusk chuckled, Their luck will run out first.

A young man, stifling a yawn, exited the elevator. Landslide turned his attention to the young man and Dusk used the distraction to escape his prison. Before Landslide could react Dusk had rushed to the young man and took him hostage as they both entered the elevator.

Landslide began to chase Dusk with the bricks but allowed them to fall to the ground when Dusk began to use the bystander as a human shield. Landslide took up the chase but was thwarted by the elevator door as it closed before he could reach it. Dusk mocked Landslide by waving to the Guardian as the elevator doors came between them.

Landslide frantically searched for something to pry open the elevator doors. Unable to find anything that looked either sturdy or sharp enough to be effective, Landslide pummeled the elevator door at its center with the bricks that were laying about. Watching the dial above the elevator inform him which floor the elevator was passing, Landslide worked his hands into the dent that had been made in the elevator doors and began to force it open. It appeared that Dusk was going to take the elevator clear to the top floor in an attempt to escape. Fueled by anger that his opponent was not only escaping, but that he was also doing so with an innocent bystander held hostage, Landslide opened the doors and stepped into the elevator shaft.

Unbeknownst to Landslide, Dusk had made his way through the elevator roof and was listening for any signs of pursuit. Having heard the Guardian finally open the elevator doors Dusk allowed enough time for Landslide to enter the shaft or to look up at the elevator and then he snapped the cables with his bare hands. Dusk rode the elevator as it plummeted down the shaft.

Landslide immediately noticed the rapidly descending elevator and turned toward the elevator doors which had closed behind him. Landslide wasn’t even able to make it to the doors to pry them open before the elevator had made its way down the seven story drop.

Dusk crawled through the opening he had made in the elevator and exited through the doors. Dusk began to walk away from the elevator when he turned his attention back to it and opened the elevator doors; he surveyed the damage inside the elevator, noting that the man he held hostage did not survive the fall, and began to pry at the floorboards that had busted upon the elevator’s impact. An evil grin grew across Dusk’s face as he confirmed the effectiveness of his attack: Landslide was left injured and unconscious. Dusk knew that Landslide could not have been killed by the elevator’s drop if the floor of the elevator shaft were made of concrete or dirt so he had hoped that the impact could still render the Guardian helpless.

With enough of the floorboards of the elevator out of the way Dusk grabbed Landslide and proceeded to carry him through the hallway and up the stairs to the roof. From there he went to the fire escape and pried loose some of the iron bars that made up the structure and impaled the Guardian upon them with one bar through each wrist and one through each shoulder to support his weight. Landslide was unconscious through the process of being crucified and was left for dead by the Vampire.

Less than ten minutes later Chris Drake made his way to the hotel, oblivious to the world. Chris was a little taller than average and had some muscle on him, not so much to be mistaken for a body-builder but enough that those who were meeting him wondered if he had played sports in college and high school. Truth was that Chris was too busy with certain illegal activities while he was furthering his education to participate in intramural sports. His brown hair was cut military-style, a requirement for his position as a security guard. Chris was rarely taken seriously when he was in his uniform because his brown eyes were soft and was a factor in why he was so successful as a drug dealer during that period of his life, something that he knew he had to leave behind because his personality reflected his eyes more than his physique.

Working nights full-time as a security guard, working part-time during the day as maintenance for the hotel during the day was taking its toll quickly and there was no relief in sight. The security detail paid good money but it wasn’t that satisfying of a job and maintenance wasn’t exactly something that Chris wanted to make a career of either. What happened to the days when a person could figure out what they wanted to do with their life before they turned thirty and actually hold that job until they retire? Chris yawned, a mix of frustration and sleep-deprivation, as he entered the hotel where he was normally greeted by the night auditor of the hotel but the night auditor had gone into hiding as the altercation had begun.

Chris’s jaw dropped as he surveyed the lobby of the hotel, There’s a hole in the wall? How do we get a hole in the wall?

The night auditor slowly worked his way back into the lobby from the maintenance closet, That’s not all of it. There were these two guys fighting and I even heard the elevator crash. I’d go home right now if I were you. I won’t even let anyone know that you were here.

Chris walked over to the elevator and immediately went pale, Did you know that there’s a body in the elevator? I don’t think this guy’s alive.

The auditor pointed down the hall, I don’t think that’s the only body because there is a trail of blood going that way.

Chris let his eyes follow the trail of blood, Have you called 911 yet? I’m going to see if there’s anyone else that needs help. I can’t believe this is happening. I don’t get paid enough to take care of stuff like this.

The night auditor dialed 911 as Chris followed the trail of blood up the stairwell to the top floor. Noting that the blood lead into one of the rooms on the top floor, Chris stopped to prepare himself in case the person behind this damage was still in the room. After a few deep breaths and a lot of words of encouragement to himself, Chris stepped up to the door and noticed that it had to have been kicked in from the damage it had suffered. Chris looked around for something that he might be able to defend himself with and found the scoop of the floor’s ice machine. Walking back to the door, Chris tucked the handle of the ice scoop in the waistband of his pants behind his back so he wouldn’t appear threatening if someone were still in the room. His hand noticeably trembling, Chris pushed the door open with his fingertips just enough to hear the door squeak on its hinges. Swallowing his breath Chris pushed the door open the entire way and rushed into the room with his heart in his throat.

Nobody was in the room but the window was left wide open and a draft was causing the curtains to billow into the room. Somewhat relieved that he didn’t have to confront anyone, Chris began to close the window when he heard a moan on the fire escape above him. Chris cursed his luck as he looked up to see a body hanging from the outside of the fire escape. Chris immediately picked up the phone in the hotel room and dialed the front desk, James, we have another body up here on the fire escape and I think he’s still alive. I’m going to see if I can help him but I need you to let the emergency response know about this guy when they get here.

Chris put down the phone and approached the window. His entire body was shaking and his pulse was racing but he knew that he had to help this man if there were any chance for him to survive. Chris’s stomach churned, unloading its contents as he got a closer look at what had happened to the dying man. Essentially this man had been crucified and left to die, and to make matters worse Chris had recognized this man as a local celebrity of sorts. Thoughts raced through his head as Chris realized that the man crucified was a superhero and that it wasn’t an ordinary man that could have done this. Who could possibly hold a grudge against a man that dedicated his life to helping those around him?

Chris wiped the vomit off of his mouth and tried to figure out the best way that he could help Landslide. The bars that pierced through the Guardian weren’t anywhere near any vital organs but that didn’t mean that they didn’t puncture any major arteries. From what little medical knowledge Chris had he knew that if the bars had managed to damage any major arteries it might be better to leave them where they are as opposed to lifting the Guardian’s body off of the fire escape. Before Chris gave himself the opportunity to figure out the best course of action Landslide came to and recognized that he wasn’t alone. Hoping that the hero knew what needed to be done Chris knelt down beside him and asked, I’m here to try and help you but I need to know what to do. Can you tell me what you need me to do?

Landslide rolled his head to see the face of the person speaking to him and almost choked on his words, The mask. Take the mask. The mask… will tell you what to do.

The instructions were obvious but puzzling all the same. What help could the mask provide in this situation? Did Landslide lose his mind with the loss of blood? Not knowing what else he could do Chris did as he was told and removed Landslide’s mask. With the mask removed Landslide was no longer the hero that he was known as, instead he underwent the metamorphosis that left him as Derek Williams. Derek painstakingly opened his eyes and looked at Chris, You need to put it on. The mask can’t talk to you unless you’re wearing it.

As odd as that last statement was it made perfect sense to Chris. Unsure of what would happen next but hoping that it would provide the answer he needed, Chris put on the mask and suddenly the world changed in front of his eyes.

Chapter Three

At the other end of Kirbyville, Rick Reynolds smiled at the woman that pulled up to the gas station pump just behind him. The nod was more courtesy than recognition but Rick knew that some of the greatest joys in life often rose out of the simplest acts. Rick smiled to himself when the woman returned eye contact. Deciding that it was time for a small act to lead to a slightly larger one, Rick went to pay for his gas and for the woman’s as well.

Rick was a little shorter than the average male but he had a baby face that still managed to get the attention of the opposite sex every now and again. Unfortunately, Rick wasn’t always fond of being mistaken for someone still in high school when he had just graduated college with his art degree. The artist in him preferred chaos to order, causing him to rebel against his parents by growing out his hair and a goatee that still didn’t do anything to age his face to show his true age. Yes he was only twenty-three, but if only someone could believe that he had just earned his driver’s license and was about to approach them to ask them to a high school dance. Granted, being an art teacher was something that Rick had considered at one point in time or another, but his family had left him with a trust fund that allowed him to pursue his art full-time.

While paying for the gasoline Rick noticed the woman entering her car and pulling out a notebook and a pen. Everything was starting to fall into place so Rick decided it was time to approach the woman and give her the receipt for her tank of gas. Rick smiled to the woman once again as he walked toward her but it was at that moment that everything began to fall apart. The woman had built up some static electricity when she entered her car and the static discharged as soon as she went to remove the gas pump from her car. The static discharge caused a spark that lit the fumes of the gasoline and immediately a fire erupted, following both the gas pump and the fuel line of the car. Rick rushed up to the woman to get her out of the way of the fire before it could get any worse when the flames shot out in his direction, knocking him to the ground. Rick sat up and backed away from the flames, Whoa! Bad fire! Calm down before you hurt someone!

Much to his surprise and everyone else’s the fire obeyed Rick’s request. The flames had shot up to over fifteen feet in the air before Rick told them to calm down and now the fire was small enough to fit in Rick’s palm. Everyone was already in disbelief over what happened but were left shocked by the sight of the miniature flame crawling toward Rick like a scolded pup. Rick got to his feet, dusted himself off and scooped up the flame with his bare hand, You know, this week was already strange enough. I guess that this whole ‘Dragon’ business isn’t something that I dreamt up. I know you’re sorry little guy, but I don’t think that these people would understand you like I do. I’m not even sure how I understand you but at least I do.

Rick placed the flame on his shoulder and walked up to the woman that he was flirting with just moments ago. Before he could say anything the woman hushed him and got into her car and drove off, leaving Rick standing there with no company other than the flame burning just above his shoulder. Rick sighed, Well, I guess it’s just you and me. Let’s find somewhere for you that would actually be useful and not so out of the ordinary, like a candle or something. It’s a good thing that I already paid for her gas or she would have just stolen it. That’s okay, you’ll keep me company, right?

The flame bounced up and down on Rick’s shoulder and he laughed. Rick realized that everyone was still staring at him so he decided that it was time for him to make his exit as well.

Chapter Four

Elsewhere in Kirbyville Gail Greene was walking home from her mother’s house. Gail wouldn’t have had to walk if she had caught the bus or if her car was reliable, but she had a tendency to show up just in time to see the bus pulling away despite her best efforts to leave her mother’s house early. Normally Kirbyville could be considered a nice place to live and an even nicer place to visit, but this was one of the rare occasions that trouble was running rampant.

It didn’t ease Gail’s mind that even though she considered herself something closer to the girl next door, she stood over six feet tall and her