Amazed -- area seemed to protect them initially (9)
I believe the answer is:
astounded
'amazed' is the definition.
('astounded' can be a synonym of 'amazed')
'area seemed to protect them initially' is the wordplay.
'area' becomes 'a' (maths abbreviation).
'seemed' becomes 'sounded' (sounding is a kind of seeming**).
'to protect' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'initially' suggests taking the first letters.
The first letter of 'them' is 't'.
'sounded' placed around 't' is 'stounded'.
'a'+'stounded'='ASTOUNDED'
(Other definitions for astounded that I've seen before include "Gobsmacked w" , "Sound date changed and astonished" , "disconcerted" , "Amazed" , "Shocked" .)