God of the Abyss

by Rain Oxford

  “Rojan.”

  “Yes, but he would never have come into the picture if Mordon had not needed him. And of course, Mordon would never have survived on his own, because the balance created him to counteract you. You have just become a more powerful healer, so Mordon will become a more powerful dragon very soon.”

  “But if Mordon was created to balance me for the universe’s sake, wouldn’t he be against me in anything I do? Like my opposite? For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction…”

  “The universe doesn’t see two opposing forces as balance. That is chaos. Balance is more like a peace, complete and utter peace, with your magic, your soul, and your mind. Mordon will be whatever you need him to be and you will be what he needs. When you first met him, he needed an adventure more than anything, and you needed a friend. When you took him to Earth, he needed the strength to leave his father and you needed someone to stop you from being yourself too much.”

  I pushed my palms into my eyes. “This is so complicated.”

  “Is it really? The universe does everything it can to balance itself. You were born too powerful and the universe couldn’t kill you. Then you just kept getting more powerful. What else was the universe to do but grasp at straws?”

  It bugged me, though. His words bugged me deep in my mind. I didn’t know why until I said it. “You’re lying.”

  He laughed. “I do that a lot. Still, I am not lying that you and Mordon are balanced. Without him, you would be destroyed by the universe, and without you, Tiamat would never be happy. And you are correct; Ronez and Samhail are balanced, like you and Mordon. Their balance is a lot safer because they have no outside factors like dragon blood and Iadnah mates. Ronez is a demigod, but Samhail has the same power as you. Neither will find a mate more powerful than themselves, so their balance is stable.”

  “You keep talking to them. Why? I know you want them as your Guardians, but Sammy was born to be the Guardian of Lore. Avoli specifically wanted him to protect his world against you.”

  “He was born to be a Guardian, yes, but not to fight me. I am also relatively confident that they will choose me over Avoli, because unlike my weak-minded brother, I wouldn’t dream of separating them. I understand the force they make together. Besides, it’s highly unlikely that they would choose to serve him when they both know well enough that you disapprove of him.”

  “I never said a word against him.”

  He laughed. “You’re not difficult to figure out, Dylan. At least, not for me.”

  “I may not care for Avoli’s particular style, but he is peaceful, and that is definitely better than what could be said about Azenoth, Erono, or Zer. I don’t think I can approve of them working for you after you killed my father.”

  “Actually, I learned the error of my ways after getting yelled at by a furious three-year-old. Also, I never instructed Shio to kill anyone, and the ghost of the Noquodi that I destroyed was harming the balance. That was a different life.” He sounded almost contrite. “I am hardly mortal, but I am alive. Sure, the majority of my power was destroyed, but I can still create a world with ecosystems and populations.”

  “You wanted some pretty unnatural things of your people last time.”

  “A different life. Let’s just say I had more on my mind than I could handle.”

  “So you’re good now and you just want to live in peace? You think the other gods will accept that? What about the books and the gates?”

  “The gates are the natural order of things. The worlds were created around them. That being said, if the gates open then the Noquodi become obsolete. Personally, if it means having Ronez and Samhail as my Noquodi, I am willing to live happily with the books.”

  “And if they refuse to be your Guardians?”

  “Well, then I will ask your next child. A daughter, I believe.”

  My jaw about hit the floor and my heart skipped a beat. Yeah, I would be hoping for that daughter. Part of me prayed Divina never found out about the god’s prediction, because she may refuse to sleep with me ever again.

  “You do understand that almost everyone thinks you’re the evilest being in the universe, right?”

  Vretial nodded. “I do. The thing is, my mortal body dampens my power. I didn’t take my brother’s world in order to gain more power; I never needed it. Even now, as weakened as I am, I could still defeat any of my siblings.”

  Somehow I knew he wasn’t lying. “Why did you take your brother’s world, then?”

  “That is between me and him.”

  “On Dios, there was a wave of energy or something that took away the magic, and then an earthquake. I feel that that can’t be a good thing.”

  “There are multiple gates, all of which are being opened. The gate from Dios has been fully opened. I believe Nano will soon find himself no longer a Noquodi. His book is losing power as we speak. His people, on the other hand, will become more powerful.”

  “Will that reverse when I get the gates closed?” I asked.

  He smirked. “You are so sure of yourself.” He shrugged. “If the gates are closed, the Iadnah can return the power to the books and everything will be as it was.”

  I hesitated, unsure whether to bring up the vision or not. Divina had brushed it off, but that really hadn’t surprised me. “I had a dream,” I finally said. “It was like a vision, but not one of the Guardian warning dreams.”

  “And you know Guardian’s aren’t supposed to have dreams, so you’re not sure what to make of it?” he asked. I nodded. “Let me guess. The gates to Earth opened, your book was destroyed, and all your people were dead in under a minute? That absolutely sounds like a regular nightmare to me. I wouldn’t worry about it, and I certainly wouldn’t ask your wife, the god of that planet about it.”

  “Have you ever heard of sarcasm before? You should try it; I think you’d enjoy it.”

  * * *

  Waking was a painful struggle. Everything hurt and it required a fair amount of concentration to open my eyes. It took several minutes to recognize my own bedroom, but no time at all to realize my boys were cuddled up on either side of me. I sat up too quickly and had to focus on breathing in order to keep from retching.

  Divina entered the room and handed me a glass of water before kneeling on the bed in front of me. I drank the water, set the glass on the bedside table, and pulled Divina into my arms. It was quiet and peaceful for the moment and her scent helped clear my head. She always smelled like vanilla, passion fruit, and something unique. Her aroma matched her personality; sweet, mysterious, and exotic.

  “You are so high maintenance,” Divina said.

  “But you’re a god, so I think you can handle me.” I gave her a light kiss, but my head hurt too much to be passionate. “What happened?”

  “You passed out from overworking yourself. Edward called to Erono, who at first ignored him. Apparently he got through to Erono that you needed help and my brother felt obligated to inform me. I pulled you back here to the right time. I know you’re doing what you can to close the gates, but it’s extremely dangerous for you to be in more than one place at one time. With your power, if there are two of you at the same moment, as near as on the same planet, there could be serious consequences. Also, you have to remember that the more you strain your magic, the more you create. Your excess energy has been seeping out of you since I brought you back. Edward was worried sick about you,” she said, indicating the reading chair in the corner, where Edward was sleeping.

  “How long have I been back?”

  “I brought you back to a minute after you traveled to Dios, but you couldn’t wake up until your body rebalanced your energy. You were asleep for nearly twenty-two hours. I know you hurt right now, but it should fade in less than an hour now that you are conscious. Try to take it easy until then.”

  “The gates are opening. The Dios gate is already open and the others probably aren’t far behind. I need to…” I trailed off as she glared at me. “I need to rest quickly so that I
can think clearly and not get injured. You’re so beautiful when you’re forgiving.”

  “You are a dork.”

  “But you love me anyway,” I said.

  “I do,” she said, snuggling into my arms. She was a god and often seemed above everything, but she still liked to cuddle.

  With pain still weighing on me, I reclined and pulled her with me. Sammy wiggled around in his sleep for a moment before settling down, but neither child woke. “We got to get up. Work to do,” I said sometime later, half asleep. I didn’t open my eyes, but I felt her nod against my chest.

  “Yeah,” she said.

  I could tell by her voice that she was half asleep, too.

  * * *

  I woke to the sound of thunder. Snuggled between my wife and my children, I wanted to go back to sleep. The weather of Shomodii was always precarious… but it wasn’t just thunder… something was wrong. I could feel something wrong with the atmosphere.

  “Daddy, Ron doesn’t feel good,” Sammy said. I rolled over, waking Divina, and saw the boys sitting on the floor. I was out of bed and next to them in an instant. Ron was never sick; he was the son of a goddess.

  He was sitting cross-legged and leaning against Sammy. His skin was pale so I put my hand on his forehead. He wasn’t feverish. “What’s wrong, sweetie?”

  “The energy is bad. The gate is nearly open and the Ancients are getting out. I don’t know what to do, Daddy, I can’t stop them. I can’t stop the gate. I’m sorry, Daddy.”

  Divina and I both hugged him. “It’s not your fight,” I said. “It’s my job to make the future better for you.” My next words were drowned by another loud crack of thunder… but it didn’t sound so much like thunder this time. It was an explosion. “Stay with the boys,” I told Divina.

  “What?! I’m a god, why would I stay behind?!”

  I stopped at the door and turned back to see her still kneeling on the floor. Ron’s arms were wrapped around her right arm and Sammy held her left hand.

  “Because our sons need their mother when they’re scared.” Exiting the bedroom, I found Edward standing in the front doorway while the two griffins guarded the bedroom door. It was raining hard. I got to the door just as I felt the same wave as on Dios.

  “We are screwed,” Edward said.

  The sound of an explosion came again and I pushed past him. Outside in the yard, there was a small sphere of blinding light suspended about six feet off the ground. With each explosion, which were increasing in frequency, the sphere grew larger. Finally, it burst.

  Standing there was Harvey.

  It wasn’t really Harvey, though, only the demon who took my step-father’s form. He stood there as the light faded, his arms crossed. As heavily as the rain poured, the demon remained dry and with a smirk of confidence. Hell, he even dressed like a high-class demon; he wore a black satin, sleeveless shirt with thin metal chains strapped across it and black leather pants. He dressed like a goth kid, yet he looked about my age.

  Edward drew his sword, but I waved him down. “I got it.” I could feel his unsure stare before he stepped back, putting his trust in me. “Why are you here?” I asked. The rain instantly ceased.

  “You sound unpleased. I hardly thought you would welcome me, but I came here to help you,” he grinned. “Myself as well.” He paused for me to speak, but I waited. “The demons are free from the void. Most of us follow the balance, but I am stronger than that; I can think for myself. I know that while the balance might be the strongest force in the universe, you will probably come out victorious. Therefore, I have come to you with a proposition. I want to serve you, in exchange for pardon. According to your father, you will close the gates again, and I believe him. When you close the gates, you will send the demons back to the void. There is no worse place. I will serve you for your vow not to send me back. I am even willing to serve your dragon friend in atonement for what I did to him.”

  I knew my stare was blank, and he soon lost his confident expression, but inside I was doing a happy dance. I was trying to figure out how to contact Janus and make a bargain with this demon, but the Ancient walked right into my hands.

  “How long are you agreeing to serve me?” I asked.

  “Until you send the other demons back into the void.”

  “You know, without your power, you are hardly useful to anyone,” I said thoughtfully. When he frowned, I gave him my friendliest smile.

  “I would, of course, need my magic back.”

  “In order to serve me, you would. But if I were to give you back your magic, you could revert to your old ways.”

  “You created a body that I could survive in. I would rather live powerless than be imprisoned in the void. It was never an ambition of mine to cause pain. Yes, destruction was entertainment to me, but I can find other ways to enjoy myself. There is nothing in the void. You humans call it Hell, yes?”

  He was earnest. “You brought it on yourself by messing with my family.”

  “Subjecting your dragon brother to the void was a mistake. I will never make such an error again. The child was the only way I thought I could live.”

  “Who told you about Samhail?” Edward asked the demon.

  The demon glanced at him and then back at me, deciding whether or not I would demand his answer. “You would never believe me.”

  “Give me the truth and I will believe it,” I said.

  “He created unbalance in the universe. I was led to him, not by a person, god, or demon, but by the force of the universe to destroy threats. He was the first of his kind and so powerful that the universe had to try to crush him. Beings of the void can feel that, and it is our instinct to help balance the universe. You have been the biggest foe of the balance by destroying Vretial, but you still came out triumphant. No matter what was thrown at you, you prevailed.”

  “He does that,” Edward said.

  “That is why I am resisting my instincts to enforce the natural order of nature and instead, I want to follow you to the victory.”

  “You would live with what I give you? That child you were so determined to possess, he is my family now.”

  He snorted. “That is no surprise to me. I spent so little time inside the child, but I knew immediately that he could expel me at any moment. I thought he was my salvation, but I was wrong; I cannot fully possess a demigod.”

  “Sammy isn’t a demigod. He is the child of a Noquodi and a human, like I am.”

  “Who told you that?” he asked me with surprise.

  “His mother.”

  “You were lied to. He is the child of a god. Your whole family has the impact of a black hole to a planet on the balance. With as much power as you all have and nobody to counteract you, there is nothing to stop you from destroying everything. The universe will never stop trying to return to equilibrium.”

  “I’ll figure out how to keep the universe together with the gates closed. You can have your power back for the time that you serve me. You are required to obey me until I return the demons to the void, and in return I will let you live. However; once you choose to stop serving me, you will only have minor, mortal power. But there is one more stipulation. If Mordon, Samhail, or my son, Ronez, are ever fatally in danger, you will regain full power in order to save them, which you must do immediately.”

  “You are very thorough. I accept.” He dropped to one knee and bowed.

  I wished Mordon was there, so that I could make a joke. So many missed opportunities…

  “What are my orders?” he asked.

  “The other demons are causing havoc, and I bet the Ancients will, too, now that they’re out. You are to stop them. I will make you more powerful than all of them, but you have to thwart their every harmful move. Every attack. Every single attack. Priority goes to protecting life.”

  “I will make you glad you chose to spare me.” He looked up. “But I need a name for you to call me.”

  “You have no name?”

  “Minor demons have names they keep hid
den. People can be controlled by magic through their names, but demons can be owned. Therefore, I have no name. None of the demons of my class do. However, all demons must give a measure of control over to the mortals if we make a covenant with them.

  “You must give me a name to call me by, which will have as much power over me as our deal entails and no more. In other words, for this specific contract, you can use it to command me to save someone, but you cannot use it to force me back into the void. Once you or I consciously break our end of the deal or end it peacefully, the name loses all power. Be mindful, for with every person you share my name, the power in it diminishes. I could be called to anyone and trapped by my name,” he said.

  Edward put his hand on my shoulder. “If an enemy gets his name, he can be used to find you. I’ll go inside; I don’t want to know the name of your demon.” He left, which meant something to me. Edward would only leave me alone with a demon if there was no possible chance that the demon could hurt me.

  I pulled my power and sent my magic into him, giving him back what I took the last time I faced him, but adding a little extra. His own demon energy was powerful, and I couldn’t give him Iadnah power, but I could easily give him better control over nominal energy. It was an afterthought, maybe even a stroke of genius, to give him a protective instinct. I gave him a little of my own healing energy, but tweaked it for a new purpose, so that he would sense when someone needed help or healing, and it would bother him. After all, if he was going to be my demon, I should train him.

  “Xul is your name,” I said.

  “Thank you. If I may be excused, I have work to do.”

  “Go on, then,” I said. He vanished smoothly.

  I went back inside. Ron and Sammy ran into my arms as soon as I stepped through the door. Divina stood out of their way.

  “It never even occurred to you to doubt your control over him,” she said.

  “It’s not my faith in my magic that caused me to make a deal with him. I know he would have found a way to get his powers back. I also know there are more Ancients than him. If I can close the gates, then they are all going to be gunning for me. Having him on my side is better than having him on theirs.”