Seirs, Soul Guardians Book 5 by Kim Richardson

Ranab. He took Tabbris’s hand, and with tears
flowing down his cheeks he held it close to his chest. The elder
closed his eyes and lowered his head.
    “ I’m going to enjoy this
very much.” Ranab stepped forward and raised his blade over Elder
Otis.
    Kara raised her hands and her
elemental power ignited. But this time it was different— darkness
like an icy chill was mixed with her hot elemental power. The giant
surge of strength intoxicated her. The darkness took control, and
she embraced it.
    “ Kara! NO!” David ran
towards her.
    Before she knew what she was doing,
golden rays shot out of her hands. They struck the Seir.
    Ranab’s body spun violently in the air
as golden electric current coiled around it until he was covered
like a mummy. With a smell of burnt flesh the Seir screamed as his
body convulsed. With a sizzling blast and then a pop his body
exploded in a cloud of golden dust.
    Only a tiny brilliant sphere
remained.
    “ Kara, what did you do?
You...you killed him.” David clasped his hands over his head,
terror spreading over his face. His mouth fell open. “You killed a
mortal.”
    “ Oh. My. God.” Jenny and
Peter rushed over, their eyes wide in shock.
    Kara gazed at the dust particles
settling around the ground like soft snow. What had she
done?
    A foreign coolness replaced the warmth
she usually felt when her wild power had abated. At once, stinging
pain shot through her body as though thousands of knifes pierced
her skin. Was this the end? Was she really dying an angel’s true
death?
    She tingled in bright light. David’s
anxious face appeared. His lips moved, but she couldn’t hear what
he was saying. The world shifted around her as the faces of her
friends disappeared.
    And then blackness took
her.

Chapter 10
    The Crystal
Timer
     
     
     
    L ight shimmered behind Kara’s closed eyelids. She felt groggy
and sore, as if she had just wakened from a long sleep. Had she
been in rugby game against the Big Girls with Tempers from
Riverside High? Even her eyelids were sore. It must have been a
brutal game—but she couldn’t remember. Her memories were drifting
away like leaves in a breeze. She strained to focus, but it was no
use. A dull throb welled inside her head, pushing away her
concentration. Strange. Maybe she had been hit on the
head?
    I have to wake up. Eyelids open.
    Nothing happened.
    Her awareness wandered, and the ache
in her head worsened. Her memories floated inside her head like
pieces in a puzzle. Mr. Patterson was expecting her this morning.
There was an entire horror section to categorize and scan through
the new computer program, and Mr. Patterson couldn’t even work the
cash register properly let alone decipher a new computer program.
Her face curled into a smile. Mr. Patterson needed her, and it was
nice to be needed. Then she would have the afternoon off—plenty of
time to spend with David.
    She concentrated on the sounds around
her. Silence. Sparrows didn’t chirp outside her bedroom window, and
the neighbor’s miniature schnauzer didn’t bark. Even the muffled
sound of heavy traffic from her street was absent. The calmness
unnerved her. This wasn’t normal.
    Kara felt claustrophobic and struggled
feverishly to open her eyes, but her lids would not part. She
willed herself to wake. Slowly she forced her eyes open.
    She was in a white room.
    At first, she thought she
was in a hospital, suffering from a head injury from the rugby
game, but she quickly realized that she was in no mortal place. Gleaming
white walls surrounded her on three sides and were lost into an
endless white sky above. On the fourth side she could see four
great wooden doors with intricate designs carved into the wood.
They were painted in gold and red, like elegant jewels. Their
golden handles were carved into the shapes of big watchful eyes.
Bright red and blue neon signs sizzled and flashed above each door.
Kara leaned in for a closer look.
    The signs read:
     
    Door # 1 -