by Oxford, Rain
I nodded. “Don’t worry; I have a plan.”
* * *
“This looks really familiar,” Hail said, worried.
We all sat around a circle in the yard. Edward tried to talk me into triangles and stuff like that, but this was my shindig and I would do it as redneck as I wanted to. Xul had gone to spread the word to the Guardians that I was alive and safe… well, alive at least.
I had the lotus wand, Divina had the magic sword, Edward had the Earth disk, Mordon had the fire wand, Ron had the air dagger, and Hail had the water chalice. We hadn’t used these artifacts together since I tried to invoke the balance. We were successful, only in the wrong person, but I knew when we formed a circle again after all those years that it had been right.
I set the lotus wand aside carefully and held out both of my hands, earning strange looks from my family. With a deep breath, I summoned the mage staff. It appeared immediately.
“What the hell?” Divina said.
“The reason that I could never bring myself to destroy the staff was because it was meant for you,” I told her. “This is the weapon Oiad used to end the war with, and he did so with your power.”
“That doesn’t…”
I went on because she couldn’t complete the thought. “He was kind to you, but he had already gotten much of your power. Although he most likely sent you into the universe out of kindness, he could have had ulterior motives. You have always been at half strength.”
“Can I get my power back?”
I held the staff out to her.
She took it cautiously and ran her fingers over the crystal. As she did, strange symbols appeared on the wood from top to bottom and the crystal pulsed with a soft blue glow. “How can this hold my power?”
“It was created by Oiad out of desperation to end the war. You can eventually figure out how to get your magic back from it, but until then, you can use it.” Without giving her time to process this, I picked up my lotus wand. “Do exactly what you did last time, but I will focus on summoning the Iaidonor.”
“You need to name her, Dad,” Ron insisted.
“If this works, she won’t be alive long enough to name her.”
Mordon snorted. “Yeah, right. You’re going to offer her a chance.”
“I will offer her an ultimatum. Everyone deserves that much. Now, everyone focus.”
I could sense them do so, so I closed my eyes. I didn’t have memories of existing before my soul was split, only knowledge of it. Thus, I had no face to focus on. I really didn’t remember anything about her other than that she existed and has been trying to get me back. Why she would want me back when there was no love between us, I didn’t know.
She was waiting for me, though. Before I could even find her, she tried to pull me to her. Fortunately, my family was strong enough to keep me grounded. Instead, we pulled her into our circle by making a gateway with the ritual items.
The ground inside the circle was glowing white. Black fog began rising from the grass in a slow swirling motion. The fog swirled faster and faster until a solid shape formed in the center. Within a minute, the shape could be distinguished as a woman, and when all the fog settled, I was not disappointed.
This being was no more mortal than my wife and less alive by far. She had long black hair, dark red eyes that could have almost been brown, and a perfect figure that could have only been crafted. I knew how perfectly formed she was because she was entirely naked. I recognized her, not by her features, but by her power. For some reason, it made me feel comfortable.
This had been a mistake. As much as I knew now, I knew very little about my own soul compared to this being before me. She approached me as much as she could with my circle still strong. It would hold her for now, as long as no one tried to enter it. Without speaking, she knelt, still keeping her eyes locked on me.
She was curious about my physical body and humanity, but she knew it was me. She didn’t need to speak; there were never any words between us. I knew she had been trying since the Iadnah were destroyed to find me. We had ruled the void together because there was no one more powerful.
“Dylan?” Divina said. I ignored her. “Why are you taking off your shirt?”
I blinked, looked down, and realized she was right. I had been unbuttoning my green, button-up shirt. “I don’t know.” I felt off. I felt warm. This Iaidonor that I had been separated from for billions of years still knew my soul better than I did. She knew me.
I stood, as did she, and I tried to break this strange bond between us. Divina took my hand and I remembered the moment that I met her. With every memory I called up of my wife, my head cleared. The Iaidonor glared, first at Divin and then at our clasped hands.
“I don’t think your ex likes your wife,” Edward commented. It was the perfect remark to shake me out of my trance.
“Morgana…”
“Oh, god,” Edward groaned.
“I am warning you now to leave my family alone or we will destroy you.”
My warning only incited her. She tried again to capture my mind, but I closed my eyes and focused on memories of my wife. Although she tried to press her will against me, I was stronger than her, and she couldn’t escape my circle as long as no one tried to enter it.
“Mordon, stop!” Divina yelled. I didn’t have to open my eyes to see; I could see it through the minds of Divina and Edward. I let go of Divina’s hand.
Morgana had turned her power on him to help her escape my trap. I reached into his mind and broke her power over him. “Stop.”
He stopped cold, no longer controlling his own body “I don’t like this,” he said.
Respecting his wishes, I forced his eyes closed and then eased away. “Alright, let’s burn this b---” I stopped myself and opened my eyes to look at Ron. “…witch,” I finished. “Ron, let the balance do what comes naturally. Samhail, protect your brother. Mordon, you protect me. Divina, focus on the part of you that wants to tear her throat out. You were specifically created to destroy the Iaidonor. Commence destroying. Dad, I’m looking for your guidance in this.”
We all closed our eyes, standing in a perfect circle around the Iaidonor. Using the same technique I used to draw on the powers of the worlds when I was trying to heal them, I focused. I felt the familiar bond I had with Duran first, since I lived here, but Earth was just an instant behind. I linked them because they were stronger together than alone. When Vaigda, Malta, and Enep offered their energy, I added to the link. Next was Dios, then Mulo, followed by Skrev, Kahún, and Dayo. Finally, Raktusha, which I had never worked with before, and Lore, as young as the world was, both joined the rest of the worlds in offering their help.
We had to succeed, because otherwise this Iaidonor would build another army or continue cutting off Ron or Divina’s magic. She was a threat to our friends in the void and would eventually find a way to trap me in it.
“We will not lose now,” Edward said. He was my mentor; the one who trained me in magic. Edward knew what he was talking about. “Focus.”
I did. I focused on the power of the worlds and felt Ron draw on the balance like energy. What Divina used seemed like just Iadnah energy, but it wasn’t. Her power was designed to destroy my kind, yet it was fueled by her love for me. Mordon’s fire brushed against my mind, waiting impatiently to kill any threat to me.
“Everyone is focused.”
I took a deep breath. “Morgana, I hereby find you unfit to continue taking up space in the void. I sentence you to immediate extermination.” I hope I’m not getting my movies crossed. “Now.” Everyone poured the power of the universe into the Iaidonor as I let the circle collapse.
The universe, including the balance and the worlds themselves, knew how to vanquish the Iaidonor. I, as the void, had to keep her from escaping into it. She tried hard to enter the minds of my family, but their combined force was too strong.
I commanded the oldest magic that had ever existed, and I formed it into one thought. “Destroy.”
I felt when our magic overcame the second most powerful creature in the void, and there was a moment of sadness deep in my soul before she vanished. When I opened my eyes, I was on my knees along with everyone else.
“Did we get her?” Hail asked, panting.
Before I could answer, there were various groans of pain as Morgana’s power was dispersed over us. As my family couldn’t handle it and more power would be detrimental to my life, I funneled it into the worlds. Only demons, myself, or my children would be able to use it, and only with my help.
“Yeah, we got her.” Veni, vidi, vici. Mentally and physically exhausted, I flopped down into the grass and let sleep take me.
* * *
“Hail, if you don’t stop asking me if it hurts, I’m going to shove this spatula up your antelope!” Ron yelled from the kitchen.
I heard Divina snickering next to me. Without opening my eyes, I reached over on the bed and pulled her into my arms. We kissed and I planned to enjoy her warmth for as long as I could. “We should get up,” Divina whispered, breaking the kiss and foiling my plans of spending the entire month in bed with her.
I made a face. “Now why would we want to do that?”
Divina’s stomach made an irritated sound. “Because your daughter wants food.” She rolled away from me and I opened my eyes.
She was so damn gorgeous. Her black hair was a mess and her boxers, which were actually mine, were slipping down. She pulled on a gray t-shirt that was hanging on the lampshade. Come to think of it, the shirt was mine, too. Still, as unbelievably sexy as she unintentionally was, I managed a glare. “Do you know how I figured out you were pregnant?”
“I assumed it was your powers,” she yawned.
As she reached for a sock under the bed, I grabbed her arm and pulled her back into my arms on the bed. She let me hold her without argument. “It was because you stop sleeping late when you’re pregnant. I still remember when we were at that hotel in Mijii. You overslept and we were nearly late to meet Edward.”
“You didn’t know that I was a goddess back then.”
“Oh, I knew you were a goddess. I just didn’t know you were the god of Earth.”
She laughed and got out of bed again. This time, I rose, dressed, and followed her into the kitchen. Mordon and Edward were playing cards at the table while Ron threatened to burn Hail’s neon-green sweater. Hobble was under the table, trying to be inconspicuous so that he could snag any breakfast droppings, while Shinobu sat on the table like a sphinx, overlooking the card game. I knew the griffins were outside. This was almost perfect.
Mordon gave me a worried half smile as entered. He wanted to ask me how I felt, but Hail had apparently just been chewed out for doing the same to Ron. “I wanted to ask… when you were in the void…”
“I was wondering when you would ask about her.” I pulled a chair around and sat right in front of him. Everyone was silent as they waited for me to crush my brother’s hopes. “Atos and the Ancients were working together. The Ancients dragged Sydney into the void specifically to get to you. They couldn’t very well strike a bargain with you if they had nothing to bargain with. She was only in the void for a moment, and she was protected in that time.”
“So she’s…” he couldn’t finish the sentence.
“She doesn’t remember you,” I said as carefully as I could. “I found her in the spirit world, recreated her body, and sent her back to White Hills. She remembers her Earth life up until about a month before we moved there. She’s being treated for amnesia, but as far as she knows, she lost over five years of her memories. If you go easy on her, you can get her back.”
He stood, stunned. I knew it would work out fine between them, not because I could see it but because I knew their love was strong.
“Maybe now we can go a few days without total chaos,” I said. I am the void; I hate chaos.
“I hope not,” Ron said. “Life is chaos, so I love it.”
* * *
“So, what now?” Vretial asked.
We were both on the mountain, sitting across from each other with a glass chess set between us. My pieces were fogged and his were clear. I made my move. “Well, I thought I would get a staff, wear a white cloak, and grow my hair long.”
“You have bad luck around staffs. Why does everything work out for you? My father once told me that the more power we had, the more we would lose.”
“The higher they are, the farther they fall. But what I have more than my magic is my heart. I followed my instincts, trusted my heart, and listened to my head. I love my family and friends. I have devoted allies because I would never betray them. Also, I always have a plan. That helps.”
He laughed. “Are Ron and Hail okay with being my Guardians?”
“Ron will fight you for a few years, but then he’ll meet Sheena again and he’ll start burning off all his frustrations arguing with her. Once they figure it out, Ron will mellow out. Hail will start disappearing on you when he deals with his soul mates, though. Thessa has self-esteem issues about her scars, and Sari is more submissive than Hail is used to.”
“Why would he have two mates?”
“He has three fathers. Both those girls need him. Let him worry about that and you just worry about being a worthy god for my sons.”
“So… you have figured out what you are and what your wife is. You have even told me. What more is there between us?” He made a move that he must have thought was very clever.
“Now that I am more powerful than you, we can be friends.” I moved.
“You’re getting pretty cheeky, young Noquodi.”
“You have to start calling me something else. I’m not that young anymore.” He laughed, but I couldn’t help reminiscing. “God, I was a baby when this all started. I was barely twenty-two. If I hadn’t gone outside and picked up that book… Those first few years were so easy, when I only had to practice magic and no one was trying to kill me. Still, I wouldn’t trade a moment of any of it. I remember the first time we met.”
“You were cheeky then, too. You can’t win this game. I can see a thousand moves ahead.” He moved.
“I have never once in my life needed to see that many moves ahead. For me, winning requires playing my opponent, not the board. Checkmate.”
Epilogue
In the dark basement of a quiet house, where no rat dared to scamper or spider dared to spin a web, a curtain slipped onto the stone floor. A mirror, invisible in the absence of light, grew warm.
About the Author
Rain Oxford is a teacher who has been writing for more than half of her life. The Asian-influenced cultures she creates were inspired by Japan, where she attended Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto. She does most of her writing in a secluded cabin in the woods with a four-pound Maltese as a companion. When she’s not teaching or creating worlds, she usually enjoys cooking, playing the piano, or photographing exotic wildlife.
Books by Rain Oxford
The Guardian Book 1: The Guardian’s Grimoire
The Guardian Book 2: The Dragon’s Eyes
The Guardian Book 3: God of the Abyss
The Guardian Book 4: The Demon’s Game
The Guardian Book 5: The Wizard’s War
The Awakening
