by Oxford, Rain
“What happened to you?” I asked as Xul’s shield disintegrated around me.
“I got in a fight with Miko.”
“What the hell were you doing pissing off that thing?” Xul asked. It took a second to realize he was talking to me and not Mordon.
“I couldn’t fight it, but I couldn’t let it hurt these people. I knew if that in order to protect me, you would have as much power as you needed. Why did you bring Mordon?”
“I have the power I need, which was the power to bring Mordon here with the azurath sword. This beast was created during a war against magic; magic is never the answer against an enemy like that.”
I was about to tell him that Drake and Sen were with me when the darkness rose unexpectedly. It felt like the darkness was burning away the feeling in my arms as they moved without my control. Energy formed a sphere between my hands that was both Iadnah and nominal energy, which I aimed and shot at Mordon.
The Ancient formed a shield around my uncle barely in time to protect him. Even as I sighed internally with relief, another attack was materializing. This time, the energy struck Xul, who wasn’t fast enough to defend himself. The demon was tossed several feet and landed hard on his back. A harsh grunt was the only sound he allowed himself to make even while he clutched his stomach in pain.
I wanted to go to him and heal him, but my feet wouldn’t move. When the darkness drew on my energy for the third time, all I could do was cry and hope I didn’t kill them. Then, to my shock, bright light filled the air and I felt myself being pulled away. Then the light cleared, I was standing before Vretial.
Recognizing the dark god as a former servant of the balance, it relented and retreated back into a dormant state. “Thank you,” I said, tears streaming down my cheek. “It’s too powerful.”
“I know, I really do know. I told you the balance would become out of control if you didn’t find Hail.”
“Teach me how to control it.”
“I never figured it out myself. Besides, I don’t owe you anything; you owe me a favor. I did agree to help your father by getting Zero out of him.”
“What do you want?”
“The mage staff your father never destroyed.”
“No. I don’t trust you, and I could sense the evil of that staff the second I saw it.”
“I will remind you that bad things happen to those who don’t repay their favors.”
“Don’t threaten me, Vretial.”
“I never make threats.”
Chapter 5
Dylan
Liked what you saw? Grab a shovel and knock on wood. If I answer, you’ll be dead.
I sighed, handed the phone back to Abby, and rubbed my eyes. “He can’t even put in enough effort to rhyme,” I complained. Edward was driving back to Ronez’s house because I still wasn’t feeling great after inducing a vision. Maybe it was the fact that it was prompted or maybe it was what I saw, but I was on the verge of shaking.
“What did he say?” Edward asked.
We need to go to the grave of the witch hunter. Is it far from here?”
“In Colorado. It’s a two-day drive.”
“We could take a plane,” Abby suggested.
“No,” Edward and I said simultaneously.
* * *
We arrived at the house and Abigail went to take a shower before I even shut the front door. “We should flash there,” I said.
“Not with Abigail. She may be one of the most stubborn women I know, but she’s smart.”
“You are the only one who can stop her,” a voice whispered from nowhere. It was familiar, but I couldn’t place it.
“Did you just hear a woman say something?”
Edward frowned. “No. Was I supposed to?”
“I’m going to check on Abigail.” I left him in the living room and went upstairs, then knocked on the bathroom door. The woman opened the door with her towel wrapped around her, still dry. “Everything okay, Abby? I thought I heard something and just wanted to check on you.”
She smiled. “I’m fine. I think I know what you meant about ghosts now. I could have sworn someone was in my room, because some of my stuff was moved, but my money was still there.”
A door slammed right across from the hall from us, causing both of us to jump. It was Abby’s room. She swallowed. “Go take your shower,” I said. She shut the door hesitantly and I opened the door to her room.
There was a suitcase on her bed with everything emptied out and scattered around. However, like she said; her money was lying out on the bedside table. I shut the door and returned to my room to find that everything was exactly as I left it. Worried, I searched the entire house and found nothing else to indicate anyone was here.
I locked my bedroom door and sat on my bed. “Xul,” I called, allowing my power to send the summons throughout the worlds. My demon appeared a moment later.
“Hello, master,” he said, almost sarcastically, as he always did.
“Hello, demon. Is my family okay?”
“Ron is looking for the god weapons. Your wife is working on a routine type of mission. As far as I know, Mordon is having a lovely time with the girlfriend that he hates.”
“Good, but just in case something happens, give this to him.” I took off my pentagram and gave it to the demon. “I don’t know how close he has to be to draw on my power, so this might help him. How is Hell?”
“You really confuse people when you call him that.”
“Yeah, but he likes it. No sixteen-year-old likes their real name. How is he?”
“Well, he’s not in mortal danger at this moment. That’s about it. And your younger son is a brat, by the way. What do you need me for?”
“Can you still possess people?” I asked.
Xul frowned. “Theoretically… if you gave me the power.”
“Good. Very good.”
“Um… I have a bad feeling about this.”
Two hours later, Edward, Abby, and I were back in the car, driving to Colorado. I hated road trips.
* * *
After riding in the car for two days, the three of us taking turns driving, my normal sarcasm reached a truly offensive level. I was actually pissing myself off at this point with my negativity. Nobody spoke for the last hundred miles because nobody wanted me to open my mouth. But what could they expect? I hadn’t slept in two days.
Edward finally pulled the car into a motel room, insisting that we needed to shower and sleep before we tried anything illegal, such as grave digging. He went in himself to get our room, which he then led us to somberly.
I should have anticipated the deplorable condition of the room. The carpet was gray and older than I was, the two beds with horrid paisley blankets took up all of the walking space, and the walls were so yellow that they were vomit-inducing.
“I’m going to take a shower,” I said, and squeezed into the tiny bathroom. My shower was short and disappointing, for the water pressure was low and the scum in the tub was rather revolting. By the time I got out, both Edward and Abby were asleep. I crawled into bed beside the woman and closed my eyes.
Sleep never came.
* * *
I was still painfully awake when Edward got up to take his shower. Abby woke a few minutes later and turned on the television to the news. After a night of watching the clock on the table mock me, I was flat out snarly.
My head throbbed with my pulse, lights flashed behind my eyes every time I closed them, and my own breathing was too loud.
“We should wait until night to go to the grave,” Edward said, entering the room. He wore black jeans and a fitted black t-shirt with leather boots.
He kept his hair shorter than it was when I met him, which I thought at first was his attempt to look more modern. I eventually realized, however, that it was because Ronez kept his hair shaggy. Over the years, as he passed through stages of accepting his brother’s death, Edward changed superficial, subtle things without changing anything major. Maybe the fact that Ronez was b
rought back temporarily from death three times was more detrimental to Edward than it was worth.
“No,” I said. “I need to get back to Mordon, so we need to get this done as soon as possible. I’ll cover us with something.”
“Are you okay?”
“I will be. The sooner we kill this guy, the better.”
“I thought you didn’t want to kill him,” Abby said.
“I don’t really care anymore.”
Edward stopped by a diner to get us all coffee on the way to the grave. I breathed deeply, absorbing the warmth of the steam and the scent of the brew. It was winter for sure, as each day since I arrived was colder and wetter than the day before. Dark clouds hid the sun with an unrelenting solidity, as if the life-giving star was being held hostage and we would never see it again.
But this wasn’t England, so I was fairly certain it would show its face eventually. Or maybe that is the coffee trying to cheer me up.
I finally took a small sip, only to find it bitter, sour, and weak all at the same time. It smelled much better than it tasted, which was why I couldn’t bear to toss it out, and at least it warmed my hands.
I watched out the window as Edward drove into the gated graveyard. Many of the tombstones were huge, though whether it was to honor the soul or to make the surviving loved ones feel better, I didn’t know. We pulled up to one insignificant plot with barely a plaque on the ground, and got out. The rain instantly soaked my skin through my clothes.
“This is it,” Edward said.
I popped the trunk of the car and pulled two shovels out.
“Maybe you should do your magic before we get started,” he suggested.
I shrugged and summoned my magic. It felt sluggish, which was surely due to the gloomy weather, but I knew the same “inconspicuous” spell I had used at the hospital was solid. Edward took both the shovels and handed one to Abby.
“Why don’t you take a nap in the car?” he suggested. Abby stared at me with an equally concerned frown. “You are sweating,” Edward explained.
“No, I’m not. It’s the rain.” I took the shovel back from Abby and started digging before he could argue. I felt worse by the hour, so wasting time was a bad idea.
* * *
My shovel hit the coffin with a satisfying thud and we spent the next ten minutes clearing off the casket enough to break into the wood, which wasn’t terribly easy. Good thing to keep in mind next time I go grave robbing. The blisters forming on my hands were actually a relief, for it distracted me from the general aching all over my body.
Before I could crack the wood, wooziness set in. The already dusky daylight suddenly darkened until only vague shapes were visible. I felt the world tip and Edward’s hands steadying me. This was a vision trying desperately to overcome me. Then, as swiftly as they had come on, the perceptions vanished.
Once again, I was standing in the graveyard, confused but coherent. Edward held me still and upright by my shoulders. “Are you okay?” he asked.
Movement in my peripheral vision directed my eyes to the right, but nobody was there. “Yeah. I’m just tired.”
“Get back in the car and rest. You didn’t sleep much in the car.”
I didn’t sleep at all since the night we returned to Earth. “I’m just tired,” I said. I wasn’t foolish enough to disagree with him, so I went back to the car and got in. “I’m forgetting something.”
“It’ll come to you.” Edward broke open the coffin with a few easy strikes, peered into the dark hole, and cursed in Sudo.
“It’s empty,” I surmised.
“No.” He crouched down, reached into the coffin, and pulled out a wooden chest, which was old and about a foot wide. “His bones are gone, but his ritual box is still here. If he rose from the grave, he could have closed or replaced the coffin, but he would have taken this with him. If he didn’t return from death, why are his bones gone?”
“Because he went into the box… but he didn’t climb out. He had the magic to get out, but not enough to take his chest with him. He couldn’t get it… maybe he didn’t even know where it was… or maybe Ronez… Oh, shit.”
“Care to share with the class?” Abby asked.
I rubbed my eyes. “Check the coffin. I bet you’ll find one of Ronez’s charms on it. The witch hunter escaped, but he couldn’t find his way back to get the box. We just led him to it and unburied it for him.”
Edward cussed again. “What do we do now?”
“We take it with us and hide it in Ronez’s dungeon. At least we know the witch hunter can’t break Ronez’s powers. Oh, and I remembered what I forgot.” When they both stared at me blankly, I reached behind the wheel and turned the key. “I forgot to put our cover back up after I dropped it during my episode. We should go.”
* * *
The ride was agonizing. I was in no condition to drive, because I still couldn’t fall asleep for even a second. By the time we made it home, I felt like I had the worst flu. In fact, I felt like I used to when I got sick before I became a Guardian.
“I need to see Mordon,” I said as I fumbled to unlock the door. It took me a moment to realize the simple act was so difficult because my hands were shaking.
“Is he in trouble?”
If he were in trouble, he would have flashed to me. No, I think it is me who is in trouble. “We’ll get this put up and I’ll go check on him.” Not giving him the chance to argue, I got the door open and took the chest from him. Fortunately, neither of them followed me down the stairs into the basement.
“This is a fantastic idea.”
I didn’t look around to trying to find the source of the voice, because I knew whose voice it was this time. What I found most disturbing was that it didn’t sound like it was coming from inside my head.
“He said to knock.”
I knocked on the coffin with the shovel.
“What’s in the chest?”
I set the chest down next to the mage staff and knelt. We hadn’t opened it because we were afraid it would draw the witch hunter, but it was as safe as it could be in Ronez’s magic room.
I pulled the metal clasp… Why is it rusted if it hasn’t been exposed to water?
I opened the lid, ready for any kind of horror to spring from it and attack. Inside was a collection of talismans, candles, and potion bottles. Or maybe poison bottles. Careful not to mishandle any of the unusual items, I searched the box for anything I that should have meant something to me. Nothing…
I closed the box, went back into the basement, and poured my magic into the doorway to the magic room. It sealed quickly, becoming a wall once again. As far as I knew, Ronez and I were the only ones who could open it.
“What’s in the chest?”
“Nothing useful to me,” I said aloud to the voice.
Finally alone with the chest secured, I focused my magic on flashing to Mordon. My energy reacted instantly, light flooded the basement, and I felt the world around me vanish. A new location started to form for just a moment, before it broke apart. The energy turned on me almost violently, but it was more like a frightened reflex than an ambush. My magic tried again to land me somewhere safe, only to receive another fierce rejection.
This time, my magic created a strong barrier around me and returned me to the only location I was apparently safe; in the Land of the Iadnah. The light cleared, leaving me standing before the dark god, Vretial.
He sighed, sitting on his large boulder as usual. “You can never seem to stay out of trouble for long, young Noquodi.”
I wasn’t very young anymore. “I need to get to Mordon.”
“Then why aren’t you with him?”
“Something happened when I tried to get to him.”
“Oh, no,” he said mockingly. “You mean that someone realized Mordon was your greatest weakness and figured out how to keep you two apart? That’s so unexpected.”
“You always have a plan up your sleeve.”
“No, I think that’s you who always has th
e plan. I’m the one who is always out for myself, remember? Besides, I’m not the one who owes anyone a favor.”
“What do you want?”
“The mage staff.”
“What do you want to do with it?”
“I think it’s pretty. I decided I should decorate my place since the apples are getting old.”
“I’ll consider it. Send me back.” I barely got the words out before I was back in the basement of Ronez’s home. There hadn’t even been a flash.
I went back upstairs to find Edward waiting for me. “What did you find in the chest?” he asked.
“Ritual items. Candles, potions, and talismans. I also tried to find Mordon, but it didn’t work. I need sleep. I haven’t slept since the night we arrived, not for a minute. Do you have anything? Maybe a sleeping potion?”
“Yes. However, I am worried that will just cover up your symptoms. Whatever it is causing your insomnia needs to be addressed.”
“I know. Just help me sleep so I have the brain function to figure it out.”
He pulled a small glass vial out of his bag and handed it to me. “Lay down before you drink it because it will affect you as soon as it hits your stomach.”
It was a tea-colored potion, which I knew would taste horrible. Potions always tasted foul. After thanking him, I went up to my room, shed my clothes, and crawled under the covers. They were warm, though that was an oddity I was used to; they were always strangely warm. I popped open the little bottle, pinched my nose, and drank the lukewarm liquid down. Darkness flooded my vision before I could even set the bottle down.
* * *
The witch hunter’s chest was lit in the darkened room as if by a spotlight. I wasn’t in the room, and this wasn’t a vision; it wasn’t real enough. Yet, it was more than a dream. The lid unexpectedly cracked open, slowly, and light spilled from inside ominously. Most concerning was that I wanted to open it, not slam it shut.
