by Rain Oxford
“But you knew he was my father.”
“Yes, I knew that. What I mean is that Edward and Ronez are very different in personalities. Edward always struck me as more fatherly to you. He treats you like his son, and I always saw his personality in you. Of course, you have Ronez’s sarcasm, but you are more dedicated and focused on your responsibility to protect people, like Edward. I never saw Ronez as serious. But now I see it; you both have that… tactic to protect your family.”
“Tactic?”
“No, that’s the wrong word. But you both can be extremely… psychotic acting when you threaten someone for hurting your family. And the really creepy part is that you will definitely follow through.”
I didn’t like that. First, the gods said I act like Vretial, and then Mordon said I act psychotic. Sure, I was eccentric sometimes, but it was an effective method for scaring the enemy… which was probably the reason Vretial acted that way. I didn’t want to be like Vretial, but how was I different? By taking revenge on the demon who tried to hurt Mordon, by giving the man who threatened Ron over to Divina, by taking the alpha werewolf’s powers, I was deciding who lived, who died, and who was punished. And I was able to decide that because I was powerful, not just in magic but in my friends.
I listened to Divina’s word that Vretial was a bad god, but I still sought him out. I would try to destroy him if he went after my children, but until he did, he was useful to me. How was I any better than him? He took Avoli’s world, though I couldn’t see Avoli being a successful god in the first place. There were two problems with that; my son was supposed to be his Noquodi and I didn’t have the right to determine if Avoli was a capable god or not.
“Let’s just figure out what we came here to find out,” I said.
Mordon moved around Ronez to examine the desk at the same time Ronez moved to go to the door. Mordon almost stepped back in time, but his shoulder clipped Ronez’s and they both jumped back.
They stared at each other in shock. “Sorry, you were just going that way?” Mordon asked, moving to the side and pointing to the door.
“Yeah. Excuse me.”
Ronez went to the door and locked it before turning back to Mordon and crossing his arms. Fortunately, I had inherited that stance from him and used it often enough on Mordon that he was accustomed to it. Otherwise, Rojan might have been offended and tried to eat my father.
“What are you doing in my house?”
Mordon tried for submissive, but it was hopeless; Mordon was the least submissive guy I knew. “I don’t know.”
Ronez stepped forward before Mordon could retreat, took his hands, and inspected Mordon’s nails. “Not invisibility, then.” Not even giving Mordon a chance to react, Ronez put his hands around Mordon’s eyes to examine them. I wanted a camera. “Not a ghost or demon. Shifter eyes, but not a shifter. Ronez sniffed, just like Mordon did, and frowned. “A time traveler? You’re a time traveler!”
“Um, no, I don’t think so.”
“A lost one, then. Sorry, kid, but you can’t stay here.” Ronez held up his wrist and fiddled with his silver watch.
“Wait!” Mordon demanded. “I’m not human.”
“I know that. You’re sago, and from the future. I’m not going to hurt you, I’m only sending you back where you belong.”
“I need to be here.”
“Not in my flat you don’t.”
“I’m with your son,” he said. Ronez paused, giving Mordon a chance to explain. “I have been sent here, to this place and time, I just don’t know why. But I haven’t accomplished anything yet.”
“Which son?” the Guardian asked. Mordon hesitated, then pointed to the ultrasound picture in my father’s hand. “You’re lying.”
“Why would I lie about that?”
“Can you hear me?” I asked. Mordon didn’t respond. I had to figure out a way to keep them from hurting each other or changing the course of my past. “Mordon!” I yelled. Nothing. “Can you hear me?” I asked again, using our link. I saw the little twinge of recognition in his eyes, finally.
“I can hear you, but I can’t see you.”
“Tell him that Kiro has a blind left and Divina said he wasn’t a very good kisser.”
He reluctantly told Ronez, who lost his scowl. “I am a fabulous kisser. Knowing Divina and my brother doesn’t mean you know my son.”
“Your son is my best friend. He doesn’t hide things from me and Divina and Kiro trust me. They trust me enough that I know all about the Guardians and who Divina really is.”
“So my son is going to be involved in all of that?” Ronez asked.
“First rule of time travel, stupid,” I said.
Mordon huffed and sighed. “I’m sorry, but Dylan would like me to remain silent, so I have to ask that you not question me about things that you haven’t experienced yet, lest burning dogs will rain down from the sky.”
Ronez considered it for a minute… and then he smirked. “Dylan, huh? Better than Sassafras, I suppose. Is he here? Can he see and hear us?”
“Yes.”
He nodded, his mind rolling over what we just saw him do. “So, you need to find something?”
“Or find out something.”
“Who sent you?”
“Long story.”
Ronez spread his arms in gesture. “Not in any hurry.”
“Vretial.”
Ronez dropped his arms and sighed. “You and my son are helping the dark god?” Ronez asked, disbelief clear on his face.
“Yes.” No point in explaining that the god wasn’t too bad.
“Well, it’s not the path I had hoped my son would go down, but whatever makes him happy. To each his own. You can’t have my book, but otherwise I’ll help you. I do need some kind of hint as to why you’re here.”
Mordon sighed. “Let’s see, the gates are opening, there’s something in the dark, there’s an apple that is sometimes an omen, sometimes a card, and sometimes a portal to a time and place. That’s how I got here. Demons are afraid of Dylan. And something to do with the balance trying to reset the universe.”
“Okay. You need a map.”
“A map to what?”
“You need to close the gates. There’s something in the dark? That’s a new one, but I get the point.”
“I don’t.”
“Neither do I,” I said.
“Of course not; you’re not a time traveler. You need a map.” Ronez sniffed Mordon again, suddenly enough to make Mordon take several steps back. “You smell like dragon. Does Dylan know?”
“We’re best friends, of course he knows about my dragon.”
“Yes, you’ll do fine. I need a tarot card that has been used to tell yours or Dylan’s future. It needs to be something that has a deep memory on it. I know it will be difficult and dangerous, but you need to go into Dylan’s childhood with the tarot card and make him remember it. He has to be able to remember it. Scare him if you have to. It needs to be something uncommon, that looks out of place on whatever world he’s living in now.”
I was digging through my bag for the card, but it wasn’t in there. The card was gone again. His presence instantly oppressed the air as the god appeared between us. Vretial killed my father the last time they faced each other. Now he smiled pleasantly and held out the card with the apple on it.
“Vretial,” my father sneered.
I wasn’t surprised Ronez could guess who the god was, and I wasn’t surprised he said the god’s name as if it were a cuss word. Obviously I got my respect for the gods from my father.
“I don’t like you,” Ronez said suspiciously.
“Well, my servants killed you, and I tried to kill your son, so I can’t fault you on that.”
Ronez smirked. “You failed at killing him.”
“Oh, yes. He destroyed me easily.” The god looked right at me and continued talking to Ronez. “He was always the one who would do it. I knew it the moment he faced me and wasn’t afraid. Your son’s birth will mean uproar for
the gods. I have already introduced this card to Dylan.”
“It also needs to be read in his or Mordon’s future.”
“I took care of that as well.”
Ronez didn’t take the card, however. Instead, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. “You’re too eager. If my son isn’t working for you, then you must be working for him.”
“It isn’t quite that drastic.”
“Then why? Nothing comes without a price, especially not magic.”
“I can definitely see the family resemblance. Let’s just say I’m paying the price for something I’ve already done. The time for making deals with me will come later. At this point, there is nothing you have that I want.”
“And later?”
“I may ask you to make something for me, which you will agree to.”
“What is it?”
“Later.” He held the card out further until Ronez took it hesitantly.
“What is the map for?” Mordon asked.
“It’s a map of time. You said there was something in the dark. Something was lost in time and needs to be found.”
“So the dark is time?”
“No. I think it’s wrong.”
“It was a bad translation. You need to ask your son what the right translation was.” They all looked at me and Ronez gasped.
“It’s like seeing my brother with green eyes.”
The thoughtful solemnity in his eyes must have been caused by shock, for I was told that he was very rarely serious. “What are you talking about? I don’t know anything about a translation,” I said.
“You do. You heard it; you translated it,” Vretial said.
“I translated what?”
“I told you. Remember when you were seven, I told you everything you needed to know and you got it wrong.”
“I don’t remember!” I yelled at him. I yelled right in the most powerful god’s face.
“You have to remember because I can’t say it again!” he yelled back. That could have gone so much worse. Instead, the god turned away, sighed, and ran his hand through his hair.
“You’re not the same as before,” I said. He turned back to look at me. “Your personality shifted like water and you killed without thought. You wanted me dead. Now you just turn away and cool down. The others still think you’re volatile, but you’re not. Moody, maybe, eccentric, definitely, but not insane. What changed you? Was it life?”
“I haven’t changed. When I first met you in person, what did I ask you? Not the first thing I said, but the first question.”
“I don’t remember,” I said. “That was many years ago and it was a very stressful day.”
“Then I didn’t scare you enough.” He looked at the height of frustration. Before I could react, his hands went into my hair and fisted like he was going to pull my hair, but instead he leaned his forehead against mine. “You need to remember. Don’t think about anyone else. Think about that moment. I took you away from your father to get you alone. I said your name.”
I really tried to remember, but I also really wanted Vretial to let me go. “I said I knew who you were, too. And then you asked me… You asked me how I wanted to die.”
“Yes. Now remember when you were seven. You came into the room. I sat on the cabinet at the foot of your bed. You hated it.”
“The foot chest. It wasn’t a seat.”
“Then what?”
“You messed with my books. And my clothes. It was chaos.”
“You hated it.”
“Yes. You asked if I feared you and I said no, then you asked me why and I said you didn’t act like a bad man. You asked what a bad man acts like.”
“You never answered me.”
“You killed my father,” I said.
“He was already dead. I saved all those people.”
“You cleared the worlds off when you knew we were coming. I never forgot it and I am thankful. Very thankful. It doesn’t make you a good man when you put them in danger in the first place. How many lives have you destroyed? Not people killed; lives destroyed?”
“Not. Those. People. What was the last thing I said?”
“I don’t remember.”
He let me go and jerked away as if he would hit me if he didn’t withdrawal. “Why don’t you remember?!”
“Because it was twenty-three years ago!”
“Everyone with the short memories! I remember the moment this universe was created. I remember the moment I became the only one to make the right decision. I remember the moment I lost the trust of the only one of my siblings who ever cared about me. And you can’t remember something from twenty-three years ago?!”
“Send me back there. Like when you did with the apple, send me back to that night.”
“I can’t because we both use Iadnah magic. I would see you and that would create a paradox. Normally, a paradox is nothing but child’s play to me, but with the balance acting up, that is the last thing anyone needs.”
“You said you needed my help with the gates,” I said. He nodded. “You meant to close them.” He nodded again and I flopped down in the leather chair.
“Excuse me, just real quick… did you say Iadnah energy?” Ronez asked. Sometime during our debate, Mordon and Ronez had gotten some tea and sat down on the couch.
“Yeah, sorry I can’t explain. First rule of time travel and all…” I waved my hand at Vretial behind me. “Apparently we really need to avoid the paradox right now. I didn’t even know about it until I was twenty-five.”
“I get that. I have gone into the future, and I get dreams of the future sometimes, but it’s never what I want to see. I just need to know… If you can tell me anything at all… Was I a good father to you?” he asked.
“First rule,” Mordon warned.
In all the years of my unlucky childhood, I thought there was nobody who cared about me and nobody looking out for me. Some men have tried to be a father figure to me, especially at the schools, but it was always forced. It was money, culture, or religion forcing them to pretend to care. It wasn’t until right before my son was born that I found out Ronez was always there, as close as he could be without our magics interfering.
I looked at Vretial, who shrugged, and back at Ronez. “You were a great father.”
“Wonderful. Can we get back to the matter at hand?” Vretial interrupted. “You need to follow the map. There are artifacts that appear at only one moment in time, over and over.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
“You need to go to those times and places and get them,” he said, ignoring me. “Closing the gates is going to take some magic you’re not used to.”
“Ritual magic,” Mordon said. We all turned to him and he shrugged. “Ritual magic maybe old on Duran and rarely used anymore, but my father wanted me to learn it. It was an everyday thing for me. I helped build the shrines on Mijii.”
“Edward tried teaching me, but I got bored,” I said.
“Who?” Ronez asked.
“Oh, never mind. You’ll get it when you’re older,” I said.
“It will take me a few weeks to create the map.”
“Leave it somewhere he can find it in the future,” Vretial suggested. “No, leave it with someone.”
“I got a letter,” I said. “It was from you, written when I was seven. It specifically said that I was seven and just got visited by Vretial. Obviously it was when he created that card. You gave the letter and the card with the map on it to Rilryn.”
“It is very important that no paradox is created, so make sure you do not tell Dylan anything about this meeting or the card in the letter,” Vretial said. “Dylan and Mordon must learn in a linear order to their perspectives. Once you are far enough away from any point in time where Ronez has not yet created the card, both the card and letter will reappear in your bag.”
“What exactly are we looking for?”
“Tiamat told me once that I needed to make some normal ritual artifacts and… enhance them. I was nev
er one to use ritual magic, but I made sure these items were perfect. Then I hid them. The enhancements made them dangerous in the right hands.”
“You mean the wrong hands?” Mordon asked.
Ronez shook his head. “The wrong hands would destroy them. They were meant for someone, and if you two are here, I have to assume they’re for you. The map will lead you to the five items. It’s important that you remember the order; air dagger, water cup, fire wand, earth pantacle, and lotus wand.”
“Pantacle? I thought it was a pentagram,” I said, absentmindedly reaching for the pendant I wore.
“A pentagram is a five-pointed star that is used often in magic. A pentacle is a five-pointed star enclosed in a circle. The earth pantacle I’m referring to is a ritual item; a plaque with a six-pointed star. Vocabulary gets very muddled in witchcraft and ritual magic, which I’m sure I will teach you when… when you are a kid… which begs the question why you don’t already know this.”
Because you will never get the chance to teach me…
“Caution, Dylan,” Mordon warned.
“I’m a slow study and I’m never where I’m supposed to be,” I said. “Okay, so we find these things and Mordon does some ritual magic to close the gates.”
“No. Iadnah magic must be used. Mordon can help you,” Vretial said.
Mordon stuck his tongue out at me before drinking his tea. I taught my friend some majorly bad habits. “Why can’t you close the gates?” I asked the god.
He sighed. “Because you cannot close the gates while the balance is acting against it.”
“How am I supposed to close it, then?”
“You have to remember. Your book can help you remember.”
“He’s still holding stuff back,” Mordon told me.
“Of course I am. I can’t tell you everything or you’ll never figure it out. Here, an apple that doesn’t rot. You can use this to follow the map.”
The god picked up the glass fruit and it went from clear to opaque, like a real apple, then he tossed it to me. It was hard and smooth, because it was still glass, but the vibrating energy that was trapped inside made it warm.
