God of the Abyss

by Rain Oxford

  “Focus on the moment in time and space you need to be and it will use my magic to send you there. Be warned, Dylan; you are young and have not learned everything your magic can do. Flashing does not change time, but you are capable of it. After using the apple a few times, you may figure out how to do it yourself. It is tempting, but very dangerous, and you are too young and inexperienced in our magic to try it yourself. So, if you ignore my warnings and try to travel in time, make sure you take your friend with his old, wise dragon to guide you.”

  “Why an apple? Why is it an apple? I know it has to be something unusual to places other than Earth, but there are many things like that.”

  “You hate apples,” Vretial said.

  “No, I don’t.”

  “You said you did.”

  “When did I say that?”

  “At the river. Oh, you haven’t been there yet. Of course not.”

  “You said it was an omen.”

  “I lied. It was a memory. You have to remember.” He stepped close enough to tap me in the forehead with his index finger. “I told you when you saw the apple you would have to remember. The apple was a sign that it was time to remember, a sign that it was time for you to make the same choice that I had to make.”

  “I don’t think I want to make any choice that you made.”

  “That is why it is a choice.” Vretial vanished with those words.

  “How do we use the map?” Mordon asked. Ronez opened his mouth to explain when everything went dark.

  * * *

  The ground pressed against me too hard. Or maybe I was too heavy. I moved my arm to shade my eyes from the bright sun and leaves rustled with the movement. I could smell the dirt and leaves and it was cold, but not the bitter cold of winter. There was a sharp pain in my side, suggesting I had been injured.

  I opened my eyes to see the apple tree. We were back in the forest, exactly where we were before, and I wasn’t injured; I was lying on a rock. Mordon was beside me, opening his eyes and moving without any sign of pain. Vretial and my father were nowhere to be seen. “We need to talk to the gods,” I said, climbing to my feet.

  “And then we can go home? Time travel is apparently really irritating to dragons.”

  “Yeah.” I was ready for dinner and bed. I focused on the gods as best as I could and by now my magic knew how to do what I wanted it to. It took little effort on my part to transport us to the gods… but I wasn’t focused enough to be prepared for what happened.

  Just like on Malta, something attacked me. It was a fierce power, very determined to stop me and too quick for me to strike back. In the darkness of this non-place, the emptiness of the space between the worlds, some ancient power tore into me like a beast with claws and teeth. It wasn’t my body it tore into but my soul.

  * * *

  Waking was difficult. Painful and difficult. My thoughts were a jumbled mess of words and images that didn’t make any sense. A few of them were people, but most were just mixed up, voiceless words. I couldn’t open my eyes. I knew if I did I would remember what happened and where I was, but one word kept repeating in my head over and over and I had to keep my eyes closed. I had to remember.

  It hurt. Everything ached. I tried to open my eyes, but the word in my head got louder and stronger like a drumbeat.

  Somebody was talking, but I couldn’t recognize the voice or the words. Something happened. Something was still happening, but I couldn’t remember anything. I couldn’t remember what happened or who was talking. I couldn’t remember my name.

  Someone was talking and my mind finally focused on her words, but they didn’t make any sense. The words were wrong. I opened my eyes and the word in my head vanished.

  I was lying on a bed with a woman sitting beside me. She was absolutely gorgeous, with raven black hair, dark blue eyes, and a beautiful voice. She spoke to me softly as if trying to reassure me, but her words made no sense. I ignored her and looked around.

  The room was small and basic, like a cabin, and there was one bed beside the one I rested on. Through one small window, dim light spilled across the room. Another man stood from the other bed when he saw my eyes were open and he came to stand beside the woman. The woman was now saying a word, over and over with increasing volume, but it wasn’t the word in my head, so I ignored her.

  The man was different. He had one blue eye and one purple eye. That was odd, but I knew him. I didn’t know who he was or why I knew him, but I knew him. He opened his mouth and I recognized his voice, even though his words were senseless. Although he looked worried, I didn’t know what bothered him.

  I closed my eyes to sleep and was startled by a sharp pain in my shoulder. The man with the odd eyes had hit me! “What did you do that for?” I asked. He responded in some foreign language and I sighed. “I cannot understand you. Let me sleep.”

  “Can you understand me?” the woman asked.

  I studied her. Still nothing. Never met her. “Yes. I could not before, but yes.”

  “Why are you speaking Enochian?” she asked.

  I shrugged and closed my eyes to sleep. Another sharp pain in my shoulder. “Would you stop hitting me?!”

  “He doesn’t speak Enochian, Dylan. Stop trying to sleep. You need to wake up. You’ve been asleep for days. We were all worried about you.”

  “Why were you worried about me? I just want to sleep.”

  “What happened? Something attacked you when you were trying to get to me,” she said. I didn’t remember trying to get to her, but I closed my eyes again. With my eyes closed, it was dark. It was dark before. I was hurt. There is something in the dark.

  “I was lost in the dark. I don’t remember.”

  “What do you not remember?”

  “Anything. I don’t remember anything.”

  “Can you understand me?” I heard the voice of the man in my head and I understood his words. It felt weird.

  I looked at him. “How did I hear you in my head?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “I don’t speak Enochian. You need to speak in English or Sudo. Can you do that?” he asked. I shook my head, closing my eyes again. I needed to sleep.

  “Do not close your eyes. Do not go back to sleep!” the woman demanded. She sounded desperate. I looked at her again. I liked her. I didn’t know her, didn’t even recognize her, but I didn’t want her to be upset. She put her hands on my face in an intimate way, yet it didn’t make me uncomfortable.

  The man said something to her that made her frown doubtfully, before he focused on me. “You want to sleep?” he asked. I nodded weakly. “You need to remember. I think that’s why you want to sleep. I don’t think this is amnesia. It’s okay. Just make sure you wake up soon.”

  I closed my eyes again, hoping not to get hit.

  * * *

  A man sat on the chest at the foot of my bed. I wanted to scold him; that chest was not meant for a seat, but I hesitated. It wasn’t nice to scold adults, no matter how much it bothered me. His hair was short and reddish, but the room was too dark to make out the exact color. On the other hand, his light brown eyes had a slight glow, or reflection to them that made them very visible in the dark. I felt like I should know him, but I had never seen him before.

  “You’re in my room,” I said.

  “I am.” He rose from the chest and came to stand in front of me, before bending so that we were eye to eye. He smirked. “And you’re too little to do anything about it.” He went to my bookshelf, pulled out a book, and flipped through the pages. When he tossed the book over his shoulder, I ran to pick it up. I had to pick up several more books before he turned away from the shelf. “Are these alphabetized?” he asked, as if it were the strangest concept in the world.

  “Of course. Who are you?”

  “Vretial, the most powerful god you will ever meet. Or I was. Now I’m not sure what I am. Still powerful, though, plenty powerful enough to destroy you.” He approached my dresser next and started opening drawers, pulling out clothes and droppin
g them to the floor. Still, I held my tongue. “You fold your socks?”

  “I never have to try to match a pair when I’m in a hurry,” I explained. He turned to give me an insulted scowl. How did I manage to insult him?

  “What kind of kid were you? I expected more from you. To think, the warrior whose name sends demons running in fear was a stickler child. Do you at least fear me?” he asked.

  The odd stranger looked very upset for some reason. I studied the man who had come into my room in the dead of night and rearranged my stuff, examining every feature closely before opening my mouth. Adults didn’t like it when I said what was on my mind.

  There were no disfiguring scars, no gang tattoos, no leather attire, and no weapons that I could see, nor were there folds in his clothes to hide them. He didn’t have that addict look in his eyes, or the sweat from withdrawal. His nose was perfectly straight in a way that it had never been broken. Of course he was odd with words and rude in that he went through my stuff, not to mention he was in my room without permission, yet nothing about him looked scary.

  “Why would I fear you? You weren’t very nice with my stuff, but you don’t act like a bad man.” I knew bad men.

  He looked a little taken aback, and a lot curious. “What does a bad man act like?”

  “What are you doing in my room?” I asked instead of answering.

  He sighed. “It was an accident… again, and it’s your fault,” he said, not looking angry at all. When I didn’t answer, he went on. “You and that son of yours.”

  “I don’t have a son. I’m seven. Why are you being silly?”

  “I’m not being silly; you are. Keep up. You haven’t met me yet, but I have you and you caused me a lot of trouble. That’s alright now, and you did your part to repair the damage you caused… well, you haven’t now, but you did then…”

  * * *

  I opened my eyes, my chest constricted, and my heart beat out of control. I couldn’t breathe. The woman was there, pulling me into her arms for comfort. It helped the pain settle in my chest and her scent helped my heartbeat slow down. Her fragrance was familiar. “It’s okay,” she said. I knew her. Her name was on the tip of my tongue.

  “He’s not finished.” The man was still there, but his words made sense like when he spoke in my head. He forced her to let me go and pushed me back down. “You have to finish.”

  “I can’t remember.”

  “I can help you.” He pressed my book against my chest and put my hand on it. How could I forget my name, but still remember my book?

  * * *

  “Here, have an apple,” he said, holding out a red apple, which had just mysteriously appeared in his hand.

  I took it, but thought immediately of the evil queen offering a poisoned apple to Snow White. I could never trust a man offering me food; I saw Mother fall for that trick several times and she never learned. “I can’t eat at night. I sleep at night.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Then save it.”

  “I don’t like apples.”

  “It isn’t a regular apple. It’s an omen. I can do a magic trick with it. Watch.” He took it from my hand, tossed it in the air, caught it with one hand, and covered it with the other. When he took his hand away, he held a playing card with the image of an apple on it. “It does one more thing, but it’s not ready to do it yet. I will hold onto it for you until you’re older. Just remember that when you see it again, it means that everything is about to change.”

  He sat back on the chest at the foot of the bed as if he had no plans to leave soon. “And one more thing; there’s something in the dark.”

  * * *

  Once again, I woke struggling to breathe. Worse than that, I couldn’t see. I felt Divina holding me and tried to speak, but couldn’t get enough air. Mordon’s fire flowed inside me and my Iadnah energy absorbed it without hesitation. My energy knew his fire, but this was… healing fire. Mordon had created fire that healed.

  The tightness in my chest loosened and the light slowly returned. After a minute or so, I could see that we were in Edward’s cabin. Mordon and Divina were the only ones here with me.

  “How did we get here?” I asked. “I was trying to get us to you when we were attacked.”

  “I felt your struggle and helped, then brought you both here.”

  “How did you know we were in trouble?”

  “Well, Mordon really wasn’t. He called to Erono for help, but I felt you because you are my mate and the Guardian of my world. What was it you remembered?” she asked.

  “I was seven. I thought it was a dream, but it wasn’t. Vretial visited me when I was seven. He said that there was something in the dark. Whatever attacked me… It was dark and something attacked me. What was it?”

  “The balance of the universe.”

  * * *

  Divina left that night after giving a heartfelt goodbye to both boys. She was only leaving for a few days, but she made a bigger deal out of it than Vivian ever had when she left Sammy for many months. Divina may have struggled with the idea that she could be a mother, but she was pretty great at it, and she never treated Sammy any less than Ron. Vivian and Nano still hadn’t spoken directly to their son.

  It was a night for reluctant tolerance; there was hardly a word between anyone because anything could send everyone into a bicker fit. Eleven adult, opinionated men, two gorgeous, pushy women, two boys, a three-thousand-year-old ghost dragon, and a gargoyle was just too much for one little cabin. If anyone opened up, Edward’s backyard was likely to become a graveyard.

  Even though I had slept for days, the short time I was awake drained me quickly. Meri was apparently tired, too, because she went to bed early downstairs. Once all of the visitors were settled outside in tents, Edward’s home lightened up a bit. Edward coerced Mordon into playing cards while I played with the boys. It would have been better if Divina was there, but I knew she had important things to do. I made a mental note to talk with Regivus to see if I could help her have less work to do.

  “I saw your memory,” Mordon said.

  I barely heard him over Ron’s giggling as Sammy and I tickled him. That was what he got for losing in hide and seek. All three of us turned to look at him.

  “I saw Vretial visit you when you were seven.” I didn’t say anything, so he went on. “We need to figure out how to read that map.”

  “What map?” Sammy asked. I pulled the card out of my bag and Sammy took it to show Ron. “Oh, we can do this.”

  “No, see, we can’t. It was written for Daddy and Mordon. Only they can read it,” Ron said.

  “Wait, you guys know how to use the map?” Mordon asked. They nodded. “Who taught you how to read it?”

  “Daddy did,” they both answered in sync, which was a little creepy.

  “How did I show you how to read the time map? I don’t even know how to do it,” I said.

  They both frowned at me. “But you told us how to do it. You said that only brothers could read it, and it could only be read by the two it was made for.”

  Mordon and I looked at each other, then knelt in front of the boys. “What day was it? What time was it? Was it both of us or just your dad?” Mordon asked.

  Sammy shrugged. “It was a long time ago. I don’t remember.”

  That phrase was going around too much lately.

  Ron slapped Sammy in the chest. “No, stupid, he told us the date and time were important. He told us to remember that number.” He turned back to me. “It was just you, Daddy. It was at the springs. You and Mommy stayed home, but then you came to show us how to read a time map. You said that it was a way to encode a location and time so that the wrong person couldn’t find something. You said we would have to know how to read it.”

  “When did I show you? What was the exact time I arrived? Do you remember?”

  “You told us. You made us memorize it in Earth-time.” They both glanced at each other before they said, in complete sync, “Two-two-one-four-one-five-zero-three-two-zero-one-eig
ht.”

  “How does that help?” Mordon asked.

  I rolled my eyes. “Excuse me, but I know what I’m doing,” I said. “Minute, hour, day, month, year.” I pulled out my notepad and pen. “Say the number again.”

  “Two-two-one-four-one-five-zero-three-two-zero-one-eight.” Once again, it was creepy.

  “2:22pm, March 15, 2018. Good job, boys.” I put my notepad away and held Ron still by his shoulders. He met my gaze, understanding my seriousness. “I am so proud of you for talking. Now never do that talking together thing again. It’s extremely creepy.” They looked at each other and grinned. “Show us how to use the map, just like I told you.”

  “You need a crystal ball. Actually, anything crystal or glass that is three-dimensional and not hollow,” Sammy said.

  Edward left the room and returned a minute later with two small boxes. He sat on the floor next to us and set the boxes down before opening the first. The box was lined with red felt and there was six-inch crystal ball wrapped in a soft green cloth. “This is a regular ball.” He opened the other box to reveal a crystal semi-ball in a bed of black silk. It was round except for one flat side. “This one is meant to sit on a flat surface.”

  “That one is perfect,” Ron said. “Set it on top of the map.” He got up and set the card on the table. We all stood and Edward placed the odd crystal ball on the card. “Both of you fill the crystal with your natural energy.”

  I held my hand over the ball and poured Iadnah energy into it. The ball glowed deep green. Mordon held his hand over it and the green glow started to move and flicker across the surface like fire. After a moment of acting as a light show, the energy suddenly formed into a three-dimensional figure of bright spots surrounding a dark center.

  “Okay, completely not understanding this,” I said.

  “It’s a star map,” Edward said. “Each of the gods’ worlds is the only one in its solar system with life. The spots are scattered precisely. They are stars around the solar system of one of the worlds.”