First Charge: The Destiny Initiative, #1

By Amanda Steel

Meredith knows she likes girls, but is reluctant to get close to anyone, knowing that she will have to move on and leave them. Theo likes girls too, but doesn't let anyone get close enough to know the real him. They could be normal siblings, but they're not.

 

They are descended from various mythical creatures. Meredith and Theo were separated from their parents as young children, like all protectors and guardians before them. Since then, they have trained together for their future roles.

At the age of fifteen, Meredith is given her first charge, Alex. He is destined to do something amazing, although Meredith doesn't know what that it yet. Everything Meredith and Theo were taught is about to come crashing down around them.

 

Can they save Alex, while fighting against those they thought were on their side?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Amanda Steel
• Release date: Aug 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393441809

Amanda Steel

Amanda Steel is a multi-genre author, podcast co-host and founder of the e-zine "Printed Words". Her other books include "After the Zombies" and "First Charge".

Book preview

Prologue

Meredith

Eight years ago

Mum opened the book of bedtime stories and began to read.

Once upon a time, there was an organisation older than anyone alive can recall. They were called The Destiny Initiative. The seers and handlers were in command of the protectors, who had a guardian responsible for helping them in their quest. This was so that the protectors could complete the task of saving good people with important destinies to accomplish. The Destroyers were opposed to The Destiny Initiative. They would do everything in their power to prevent people from completing their destinies. protectors had to be taken from their families at a young age, then trained and offered guidance from their guardian. The guardian would keep the protector safe at all times, especially until the protector turned fifteen, then his or her destiny truly began.

‘Claire from school told me her mum reads her books called Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella. Why can't I have those books?’ I complained.

‘Those books won't help you,’ Mum told me sharply.

I didn't understand at the time that the books she read to me weren't stories, or at least they weren't made-up stories. Everything Mum and Dad ever did was to prepare me to become a protector. I was never going to have a normal childhood.

Mum finished the story and muttered something to herself about how she hoped she had prepared me enough.

I only wanted to read Little Red Riding Hood. Claire had told me, the girl in that book had been tricked by a wolf posing as her grandmother. The idea didn't make sense to me, even at the age of seven. How was it possible for the girl to be unable to tell the difference between a wolf and an old woman? Finding out how that could happen seemed like the most important thing in my carefree life back then

I went to sleep that night without knowing it would be the last night I ever spent in that bed at my parents' house in London.

‘Meredith.’ My mum shook me awake.

The room was dark, making it obvious it wasn't morning yet, or not time to get up for school anyway.

‘Mum,’ I mumbled in my half-asleep state.

‘It's time to go. Everything I told you about in those stories is true. It's time for you to leave us, so you can train to be a protector. Your dad and I; we've done everything we possibly can to prepare you.’

I shook my head. Those were just stories. I expected my mum to laugh, but she looked serious and a little sad as she encouraged me to dress. I noticed she filling a suitcase with some of my clothes.

‘Where will I go?’ I asked. It dawned on me that she really did intend for me to leave.

‘Two members of The Destiny Initiative will take you and a future guardian named Theo. They will train you and check in with you regularly until you're both ready; you to become a protector and him to become your guardian.’

‘Will I see you again?’ I couldn't help asking.

I was allowed to attend school, perhaps the only normal part of my childhood. So, I understood it wasn't normal for a seven-year-old girl to be woken by her mum in the middle of the night and to be sent away with strangers.

‘I'm afraid not. I've told you this in the stories. They only allow us to have one child, and give us seven years with them. Then the child is sent away. The parents go back to their jobs as protectors or guardians until their work is finally done. It's time for me and your dad to return to our jobs now. We will never be sent to the same place,’ she told me, as though sending her one and only child away was a normal part of life and I was being unreasonable by questioning it.

I was ushered into the back of a car, between a middle-aged blonde woman who looked like a librarian, and a boy a few years older than me. I knew he must be my future guardian. In Mum's stories the guardians were only a few years older than the protectors and were trained by their parents from the age of five, before getting sent away shortly after they turned nine. The way he kept looking at me made me feel self-conscious. It was only when I got a little older when I realised, he often looked at me that way because he had grown up knowing that his sole purpose was to watch out for me and be prepared to die to save my life if necessary.

The man in the driving seat was around the same age as the blonde woman. He had dark hair and a serious expression on his face, as though driving required his full concentration. I know now that he was doing more than driving. He was using senses which most people don't have, to search for potential dangers. It's not uncommon for The Destroyers to send one of their agents to eliminate a protector before their training is completed. The only good thing is, even they have rules. If one of them fails to stop or kill a protector or their charge, then it's game over. Another agent won't take their place. It's because their numbers are low in contrast to the number of protectors and their charges, rather than out of any sense of honour.

The car journey lasted a few hours before we stopped, then me and the boy whose name was Theo, were guided inside by the man and woman. They stayed there with us that night but left the next morning, only returning to train us both. Most of the time, Theo and I had the oversized Victorian house in Bristol to ourselves for long periods of time. The house had been adapted with a safe room in the basement.

***

One morning it was raining. Benjamin and Alicia had left after training us. Although Theo and I weren't allowed outside without them, we sometimes played outside anyway. Neither of us wanted to go out in the rain though, so we stayed inside to play a board game instead.

It was something Benjamin had given us, not so much because he wanted us to play games, but he hoped it would help keep us sharp. It was all about trying to anticipate each other's next moves.

We heard a loud smashing sound, and Theo immediately jumped from his seat, pulling me to my feet along with him.

‘Basement,’ was all he said, but I knew he meant we needed to get to the safe room.

We each grabbed a sword from the wall in case our path to the basement was blocked. I didn't know what I would do with mine. I only had a few weeks of training at that point and had scarcely covered the basics on fencing.

There was a man standing in the hallway between us and the basement.

Theo stepped protectively in front of me. He had two years more training than me. The man approached with a sly grin spreading across his scarred face.

‘If anything happens to me...,’ Theo whispered. He moved his eyes in the direction of the basement.

I cowered under the stairs while their swords clanged together. My path to the basement was still obstructed. The man towered over Theo, but he managed to deflect all the attempts the man made to jab his sword into him. Theo wasn't getting any opportunities to go on the offence.

He succeeded in drawing the man away though. I saw that if I ran for it, I could probably make it to the basement. I would be able to lock myself inside the panic room down there. Theo wouldn't be able to defend himself against our intruder for much longer though. I could already make out the weariness in his face, matched by his sluggish movements.

Instead of running for the basement I stood and charged at the man, catching him off guard. Unfortunately, my strike didn't have enough strength behind it. I drew blood in his right side, but not enough to kill him.

He spun around; I remember how angry he looked as he swung his sword at me.

My mum's stories sprung to the front of my mind. I knew I would be leaving all those future charges without protection. I closed my eyes tightly and waited for him to kill me.

I heard the clattering of swords again and opened my eyes to see Theo throwing his last bit of energy into defending me. I told myself I had another chance to get to safety.

I lunged forward and pushed at the man with all my limited strength, leaving my hand covered in blood from the wound I had already inflicted. He staggered slightly, then Theo ducked to avoid his sword while outstretching his leg and ensuring the man fell to the ground. His sword had dropped from his hand and he rolled over to retrieve it. I quickly stepped forward and plunged my sword into his side again, but I managed to push it much deeper by using all my weight to drive it further in, tilting it slightly.

Blood dribbled out of the man's mouth. He coughed a little and tried to struggle before he became completely still.

‘I told you to get to the basement,’ Theo snapped.

I stood and stared at the pool of blood which had leaked out onto the laminated floor in the hallway.

‘Meredith, are you okay?’ His voice was gentler and sounded more concerned than angry.

I just nodded dumbly, before he called Alicia and told her there had been an attack, but we were both fine.

I quickly realised that Theo could be replaced. Guardians were meant to look after their protectors, especially if the protector is under the age of fifteen. As soon the truth came out that I killed the agent, there would be questions about whether Theo could do his job.

I handed Theo the sword I had used.

‘What?’ He stared at me.

‘They’ll replace you if you don't say you’re the one who killed him.’

He took the sword from me without saying thanks, but gently squeezed my shoulder. I could see in his eyes that the gratitude was there.

***

Theo

I never asked my parents why things had to be the way they were. I just accepted it. They seemed thrilled about that. They said it demonstrated that I could follow orders without question. So, the night when my dad woke me and said it was time for me to leave to become a guardian, I got up and dressed quickly without any argument. I know that must sound strange, but for all of my nine years I had known that this was expected of me. It was kind of liberating, meaning even when I attended school, I never had to put in much effort. I wouldn't need any qualifications. I was already learning how to master a number of martial arts as well as how to use swords and other weapons.

I remember seeing Meredith for the first time. She didn't look quite as accepting. Benjamin and Alicia took us to a Victorian house and left us alone shortly afterwards, then regularly for long periods of time.

Most of the time I enjoyed the lack of adult supervision. Meredith was good company when she wasn't watching out of the window on rainy days, as though half-expecting her parents to show up to tell her it had all been a mistake and to take her home. Of course they never came because it wasn't a mistake.

I felt sorry for her one day. We often broke the rules and went outside, but it was raining and she was staring out of the window again. I tried to distract her with a board game.

Neither of us realised that a bigger distraction was about to happen, in the form of an Agent breaking in to make an attempt on Meredith's life. I was meant to protect her. That day has always stayed with me. Not a night has passed when I haven't dreamt of all the things I could have done differently. I should have protected her. Instead, she saved me. My parents always told me the importance of being a guardian to a future protector; keeping him or her safe.

I still can't figure out why Meredith told Alicia I killed the agent. I get that telling the truth would have meant having my guardianship revoked. I still can't understand why she wanted to lie for me. She would have been better off with a different guardian, someone who could actually do the job.

Chapter One

Meredith

Present day

‘So?’ I ask as I sit down at the kitchen table across from Theo.

He's shifted into the form of a slightly older blonde-haired man but I'm used to him shifting. I know it's him and not some stranger who's walked in off the street to help themselves to a pile of toast.

He raises his eyebrows questioningly as if to ask, so what?

‘You know what. Who is this new charge?’

‘Aw! Are you nervous?’ I know the change in his tone of voice is intended to ridicule me.

I shake my head. ‘I'm just trying to find out what I'm dealing with.’

‘Life and death, the usual,’ he responds.

‘Helpful, thanks.’

‘I don't have that information. They don't tell me details like that.’

I know he means our handlers. I decide to change tactics.

‘But he or she will be at my new school, right?’

‘What makes you think that?’ he tries to feign innocence, but I'm sure he knows at least that much.

‘I'm here for a reason. I know I've been allowed to attend school before, but I'm about to get my first charge. So I figured the only way I could attend school is if my charge was there.’

‘See? All this schooling has given you a brain. Maybe I should have gone to school more. I hear more girls are into smart guys now.’

‘You use enough girls already,’ I reason.

‘I don't use them. They don't expect anything from me,’ he argues just before a blonde woman enters the room. She's wearing my favourite silk dressing gown. It was a gift from Alicia last Christmas, along with another sword. I suppose Alicia thought it wouldn't seem like such an inappropriate gift to give a teenage girl, if she paired it with a gorgeous dressing gown.

‘Theo, why is she wearing my dressing gown?’

‘Oh this,’ she looks at me, then at Theo. ‘Your brother said I could borrow it. I can take it off if that's a problem,’ she offers, already removing it.

It's evident that she's not wearing anything underneath.

‘No, keep it on,’ I demand. '

As much as I prefer girls, I don't want to watch one of them do a strip tease after Theo has had his way with her. He may not be my brother by blood; in the way we tell people, but over the years he's become like my brother. Sadly, he's the only family I have since my parents sent me away that night.

‘Why didn't you go all out and give her one of my swords too?’ I whisper to Theo.

‘Why would I do that?’

‘Never mind.’ I swipe a slice of toast from Theo's plate, grab my bag and whisper, ‘just make sure you wash that when she's done wearing it.’

He smirks and gives me a thumbs-up sign.

I leave him and his latest bimbo to get on with the rest of their day. I run down the road to the nearest stop just in time to see the bus speeding away. Great, I'm going to be late on my first day, which will mean drawing unwanted attention to myself. Despite the purple streaks in my hair, I prefer to blend in and avoid attention whenever possible.

I check the timetable. It tells me the next bus is in half an hour. I decide I will have to run. At least I'm prepared from running around the large grounds of the Victorian house where I was living until recently. I still feel a little out of breath, as I arrive at school twenty minutes later and my feet hurt from running in my purple platforms. I didn't expect to be running today.

‘Always be prepared for the unexpected,’ Benjamin's all too familiar words invade my thoughts.

‘Get out of my head,’ I think as I follow a group of students inside, knowing that if I'm late they are too.

‘Ah, the usual suspects,’ a loud female voice bellows in our direction. She spots me and adds, ‘and a not so usual suspect.’

I have to stop myself from laughing. If only she knew how far from usual I am. I got out of the car ten miles before it arrived at usual.

‘I'm new, it's my first day,’ I quickly.

‘That explains why I don't recognise you, but not why you're late,’ she snaps.

‘I missed the bus,’ I say. My excuse sounds weak even as I utter the words.

‘Really?’

I shrug, resolving not to argue with her. What's the point? I can tell she doesn't believe me.

‘You lot, in my office now,’ she demands, but stops me as I follow the others.

‘Not you. Miss Smith, I assume?’

I mutter the word, ‘yes.’

‘You're already late on your first day, head to class so you're not further delayed.’

‘But I don't have a timetable, Miss.’

‘Mrs Python,’ she corrects.

I know better than to laugh at the name. She reaches into her inside jacket pocket and pulls out a piece of paper.

‘Unlike you, Miss Smith, I am prepared.’

I take the timetable and thank her.

‘Your first class is down that corridor,’ she points. ‘First left, then second right and third door on the left. Would you like me to write that down for you?’ Her tone is patronising.

‘No thanks, I'll remember,’ I say before heading to