by Rain Oxford
“Most of us are very selective about what we share with our Noquodi because they can be used as spies,” Erono said, shooting Zer a quick glare. Divina wouldn’t meet her brothers’ eyes, since she was the one who used Nano as an informant.
“The disappearance of the Noquodi is a problem because if they are trying to hide from us, we must assume they are betraying us,” Divina said. “The worst case scenario is that they have information we do not, and at this time…”
“There might be a bigger threat than renegade servants,” Mreje said.
“There always is. Let me guess; someone is trying to open the gates,” I said. “Oh, wait. Vretial is back, and trying to open the gates.”
Avoli looked at my mate. “Is he always this quick?” he asked. Regivus snickered and Divina nodded.
“We don’t know he is back. We cannot find him or even sense him anywhere, but there are some signs that the gates are being tampered with and we can’t think of anyone else it could be. Well, except for you, and we know you wouldn’t do that.”
“How do you know I wouldn’t try to open the gates?” I asked.
They all stared at me like I was stupid. “Because you had the opportunity already and did not take it,” Erono said.
That was all it took for them?
“How did you figure out Vretial is back?” Mreje asked.
“You mean, other than him coming after my older son five years ago? How about him coming after my younger son today?”
“What?!” Divina shrieked. “You said they were okay!”
“They are. Vretial didn’t do anything to Ron, he just… warned him,” I said. Everyone had the same reaction on their face that I felt.
“Warned him of what?”
“That we were walking into a dragon trap set for Mordon. Why would he warn Ron?” I asked. I had a suspicion, but I didn’t want to give them anything more to be paranoid about.
“He must want something from Ron. Or maybe from you,” Zer said.
“Or he wants Ron to trust him,” Divina said. Figures she would come to the same conclusion as I. “He might see Ron as a way to get inside secrets.”
“That would suck for him,” I said. “He would never get through to Ron; he would have to get Sammy on his side, and Sammy is being protected by Ron. Sammy fears Vretial and would never let Ron listen to him.”
“But surely Vretial knows about the spell. If he could get Sammy away from Ron, would he be able to get through to him?”
“If Vretial could somehow convince Sammy that he could help Ron.” If Vretial saved Ron from something, then got them separated, Sammy could possibly be swayed. “However, if Vretial caused Ron any stress, Sammy would go on the warpath. Sammy nearly killed a man who held a knife to Ron’s throat.”
Divina’s eyes glowed eerily and her energy stirred with anger. “Who held a dagger to my baby’s throat?” she asked.
I hesitated. I had planned to go after the man when my boys were away, but if I told her who it was, there would be nothing left to punish. However, there was no way I could keep a mother from seeking revenge on a man who held a knife on her child. I sent her an image of the dragon in person form, and that was all she needed.
Communicating telepathically was one of the first lessons I learned after helping Divina defeat Vretial. It was one of my more difficult lessons, but when I discovered the natural ability to speak to Mordon in my head, telepathy became a lot easier.
“So some information isn’t getting around and Shiloh is missing. Sometimes communication isn’t getting through and sometimes Guardians can’t be found. Do you have anyone in particular that you suspect?” I asked.
“Shiloh, since he wanted to set up the council,” Enki supplied.
“Ghidorah, because he has argued against my orders or even flat out ignored me,” Araxi added.
“Nano, because of that human mate he has,” Zer said.
“Kiro,” Erono said gruffly, as if he dared me to argue. “Because he has already successfully hidden himself from me.”
“On my world, I would like to add,” Azenoth said. Azenoth and Erono were both extremely brash, angry, and suspicious. “But you would never investigate him, would you?” he growled at me.
He was no grouchier than Edward when woken too early.
“Of course I would. How else would I clear his name?” I asked. “Mordon and I will go around from planet to planet, checking up on the Guardians. Is there any particular message you want me to spread?”
“Just have them each contact us when you find them.”
Divina had an idea. “If you suspect them of treason, tell them to say the color orange. If you suspect they are clear and devoted, tell them green. If you have no idea, say blue. That way we know what you are sending us.”
“And if you want us to kill them immediately, tell them to say red,” Roshne added. Divina and Araxi nodded their agreement.
“What if they say the wrong color?” I asked.
“Then they deserve what they get for being incompetent,” Regivus said.
“If you see Vretial, call us. Don’t try to face him on your own,” Divina said. Regivus rolled his eyes.
“I guess I’ll be off to work… One little problem, though,” I said. “How secure is this place?” They glanced around as if they had no idea what place I could possibly be talking about.
“This is the Land of the Gods; it is impenetrable.”
“That’s good. I mean, it sounds good. Impenetrable sounds good. But what does it mean? Does it mean that no one can get in? Or that no one can listen in?” I asked. Nobody answered. Look at that; I have the gods in silence.
“What are you getting at?” Divina asked me.
“Nobody realized how dark it’s gotten in here?” As soon as I said it, the room lightened to its original condition. The worry in Divina’s eyes gave me chills as I woke.
* * *
Mordon was asleep with the boys pressed against his side. They liked warmth while they slept. I was on the other side of the chilly cavern because I didn’t. The noise of my movement woke Mordon and I heard him sniffing the air.
“How was the meeting?” he asked.
“Not too good. How would you like to go on another adventure?”
“The last time I said yes, I ended up having never been born.”
“I saved you, though. Well, Divina did. But I would have,” I insisted. Divina had really hurt me by telling me she didn’t think I could do it. Mordon would yell at me for attempting to go into the void after him, but he never said out loud that he didn’t think I could have succeeded.
“If you hadn’t been able to, Divina would have left me there. What do we have to do now? Not another demon after a baby?”
“No, just dissention in the ranks. There are some gaps in communication between the Guardian and the gods. The gods suspect treason, so I have to go tag them good or bad.”
“That sounds boring. I think I’d prefer another demon.”
“You could stay. You don’t have to help me.”
“Are you kidding? You would get eaten within two days without me and Rojan. Now go to sleep.”
* * *
Before I became a Guardian, I had dreamt normally. I missed it when I found out that Guardians had no dreams, but I was also relieved I didn’t have nightmares anymore. It was a mystery to me and the other gods that when my son was born, I started having them again. They were rare at first, but as the years passed, they were increasingly frequent.
More and more lately, when Mordon and I were together, my dreams would be a mixture of gods, dragons, fire, kings, and childhood. When it first began, I couldn’t understand why I dreamed of flying, but when Mordon told me he was having dreams of my wife that were far too intimate, I realized that somehow our ability to speak to each other in our minds crossed into our sleep. We were sharing dreams.
Unfortunately Mordon’s childhood was, for the most part, as bad as mine. My sleep was shallow and mostly involved a majo
r dragon fight. The weird part was that I was Rojan and I was fighting Vretial… who was also a dragon. We would both alternate between person and dragon, but he kept trying to step on me.
* * *
I woke to the sound of huffing, hissing, and snapping. I immediately assessed my condition, but couldn’t find anything wrong, so I opened my eyes. Three feet from the mouth of the cave were two baby dragons dueling. Mordon sat watching them with Sammy and Ron eating some bread and fruit behind him. The boys were both fascinated by the dragons. If either of the battling reptiles got too close, Mordon would snarl and they would back off.
Mordon tried to hand me some fruit, but I didn’t take it. “I’m not hungry,” I said. I wanted to get going, to get to the bottom of this. There was no way a Guardian could be a traitor.
“Eat,” he growled.
I took the fruit, but grumbled about it. A few minutes later, Marnd came by and chased away the little dragons. He pleaded with Mordon to take the position of their leader, only to be brushed off in a nearly rude display of disinterest. It seemed that whatever childhood friendship Rojan and Marnd had, it was broken when Ron was threatened. Mordon chased him off.
“So I had a moment to talk to Marnd last night. The reason I couldn’t smell the dragons ahead of time was because Rojan’s sister found some kind of plant residue that disorientates dragons. Also, my father was here a few months ago, asking about it.”
“What do you think?” I asked. “Is he trouble, or is he in trouble?”
“At this point I don’t know. Whatever it is, we can deal with it later.”
I flashed us all back to Edward’s cabin. Unfortunately, I had forgotten about Meri. I covered Ron’s eyes and Mordon covered Sammy’s, because Meri was sitting at the table, dressed only in one of Edward’s shirts. Edward sat across from her, a fair bit more decent.
“Hello, Dylan,” Meri said, giving me a polite smile before continuing with her breakfast.
She didn’t even try to cover herself, but I guess a woman like that never had anything to be ashamed of. Divina was the same way.
“What’s wrong?” Edward asked, immediately assuming we were in trouble. We usually were. Mordon just gaped at Meri.
“The gods think that one of the Guardians is a… Mordon, stop staring. They think one of the Guardians is a traitor,” I said. Then I put my other hand over Mordon’s eyes when he continued to stare at Meri. Edward has fought men much bigger than Mordon for a woman and I needed my friend in one piece to help me.
Meri gave him a kiss and said she would leave him to his work. Thinking the show was over, I removed my hand from Mordon’s eyes. Edward’s girlfriend then pulled the bedroom door up and when she bent down, I thought Mordon would die. Meri was undoubtedly gorgeous and had a truly amazing figure, but I had Divina. It wasn’t even that Divina was more beautiful than Meri; Divina was perfect for me. I liked the mischievous, calculating aspect of my wife, the innocence hidden behind her darker history, and that she loved to sleep late.
Ron blinked when I took my hand away. “What did I see?” he asked. “Mordon’s heartbeat went crazy.”
Mordon had the decency to look ashamed, but Sammy looked no better. Thank god my younger child didn’t get it.
“They always suspect of us one thing or another,” Edward said, referring to my earlier statement.
“Do they have a good, legitimate reason to? I mean, has any Guardian actually betrayed their god?”
“Not that I know of. I know Ghidorah and Samorde have refused to take assignments from their gods based on moral dilemmas, but they both accepted punishment for it.”
“Since you know them personally, would either of them consider that reason to---”
“No. Ghidorah and Samorde would be the last to betray their gods or people. Ghidorah doesn’t even know where his book is; he hid it from himself so that no person could invade his world and damage Skrev’s ecosystem. Samorde is completely devoted to his responsibility to his people.”
“Is there any Guardian who might have the motive to obey Vretial over their own god, share information, betray the other Guardians, or maybe even want to bring Vretial back?”
“We have all been raised to trust in and obey our god. Well, except for you. The fact that they trust you so much and share information with you alone might irritate some. Nano is known for sharing information for a price and Shiloh wants to know everyone’s business. They might resent you for your relationship with the gods, but Nano wouldn’t betray you for his love of Vivian and Shiloh is more likely to try to use you to get what he wants, which is essentially peace. As far as who might betray their god, only myself, Rasik, and Samorde have a god who is known as cruel.”
“Well, if you were to betray Erono, how would you do it? And for what reason?” I asked.
He thought carefully for a few minutes. “I would do it out of spite, because Erono didn’t care when Ronez died. I guess what I would do is get information about Erono from you and Divina, then spread it to the Duran people. Maybe I would make up some stuff. I just can’t imagine that Erono has any important secrets. Regivus would be the one to betray.”
“What about Rasik?”
He shook his head. “Rasik is terrified of his own god. I can’t conceive him doing anything as bold as betraying Azenoth.”
“With fear in mind, would Azenoth be the least likely god to betray?”
“No. Azenoth would only kill you. Regivus would be the one nobody would betray. Of course, Vretial would be if he were still alive. Now, I’m telling you from the perspective of the Guardians. None of us know the gods like you, not even Nano. Did the gods give you any instructions?”
“They want me to determine who’s good and not good.”
“What do I need to do?” he asked. “I assume Erono suspects me.”
“Yeah, because you were able to hide from him. Some of the Guardians have temporarily hidden from their gods and the gods are having trouble communicating with them. When was the last time you or Erono talked to each other?”
He frowned. “A few months. I didn’t have any trouble.”
“Try now. Get ahold of him and let him know I investigated you. Your super-secret access code is green.”
“So if I said red?” he asked.
“Um… Don’t do that. Like, really, really don’t say that. Before you go, I need to tell you something.” Just in case he heard it from Erono, I wanted to tell him about Vretial first.
We stepped out onto the porch. The boys both gave me sad expressions as if I were leaving them for a month as I shut the door. “Vretial warned him,” I said after we were alone. “We were following the tracks of a dragon when Vretial called Ron out. He warned Ron that we needed to turn away, that we were walking into a trap.”
“I’ll watch out for him. He must be trying to get Ron on his side.”
“So he is back then?”
“If Sammy and Ron say he’s back, it’s hard to argue. But you are the one who defeated him, you tell me.”
When Sammy first told me he had seen Vretial, that he was afraid of the god, my only goal was to keep him safe. Divina was sure he wasn’t back… but how could she be so certain? What happens to a god who is destroyed? What did Divina and I even do to him in the first place? And more importantly, why did he want my kids?
“I think I need to find the other Guardians. If I can find out what’s happening with everyone, I can find out if it has anything to do with Vretial. Who knows, maybe it’s someone else who is impersonating him.”
“Just be careful.”
I tried to give him an encouraging smile. “I’ve been in this a while now. I had you to train me, and the gods.” I shrugged. “You know what I’m capable of,” I said. I really didn’t want him to worry about me; I wanted him to believe in me. He was my mentor and the person I looked up to the most. By blood he was my uncle, but in every way that mattered, he was a father to me.
He sighed and put his hand on my shoulder. “I never look down
on you. I know you are capable of great things, but you are also capable of making a mistake. You think with your head and act with your heart and sometimes you are brilliant, but sometimes you’re not. You are young.”
“I learn.”
“I know. But you are so driven to figure things out. Just…” He patted my shoulder as if searching for the words to say. “Think of Sammy. You know he’s powerful, but every time he’s out of your sight, there is a chance of something happening.”
“Thanks, that makes me feel much better.”
“That’s how I feel about you. I know you’re not a child, and you have come so far from when I first met you, but you’ll learn that the fear doesn’t go away just because your child grows up. So the next time you are about to do something stupid, like drop your energy shield while surrounded by an army intent on eating your entrails, think of me. Think of me, sitting at home, baby-sitting and worrying about you. Think if it were Sammy or Ron in your position.”
I couldn’t stand the thought. “I will try to think about it… but you said yourself that I act with my heart instead of my head.”
“Sometimes your head has to be louder than your heart.” We went back inside.
Edward cleared his mind to contact his god. I felt the moment that his consciousness left his body, but I also felt the moment he was attacked. My first reaction wasn’t to figure out what it was, as it should have been. Instead I pushed my magic into Edward with the purpose of pulling him back. I felt him and something else trying to hold him. It was a cold, angry, creepy power, similar to Iadnah energy, but dark. My own magic could have failed, but just before I lost him, the power let go.
Edward woke with a gasp and shudder. I sent more magic into Edward to heal him. “I couldn’t get to him. Something attacked me.”
“I know.”
“It was Vretial,” he said.
I hesitated. “Maybe. I’m not so sure. Vretial never seemed that evil to me. Someone or something attacked you and if that is what’s stopping the gods and Guardians from contacting each other, we have a serious problem. It’s as powerful as Iadnah magic.”
