by Rain Oxford
I grabbed Emiko’s arm and pulled her back into the hall, glancing both ways. We were alone for the moment. We ran back to the king’s room to find the door closed. “Break the panel,” she said.
“No, it would leave behind evidence. Besides, if the door is closed, the king may be in there.” The words were barely out of my mouth when the door opened. We ducked behind a table beside the door. If he bothered to look, we could easily be seen, but the table protected us from Maslye’s peripheral vision as he paused outside the room. We held our breath until he finally moved on down the hall, then managed to slip in just before the door slid closed.
“What do we do now?” she asked.
“We wait until they give up searching the rooms. Surely they wouldn’t search their king’s room.” I tried not to notice the mussed bed or lamp broken over the floor, but there was no missing the blood on the sheets. I leaned against the wardrobe, out of breath.
“How do you know the guards are searching rooms?”
“Dylan told me. Now be quiet. I need to think.” Of course, that had to be the moment when the only other door in the room slid open.
Emiko shrieked before we saw that it was Dylan.
“How did you get in here?” I asked, seeing that he came from a bathroom.
“In a mansion like this?” he scoffed. “Secret entrance from the library. We definitely don’t want to go back that way, though.”
“Someone’s coming!” Emiko whispered. Emiko and I hid in the wardrobe while Dylan dived under the bed. I held her tightly only because there was little room. Pressed together with silk on all sides, all I could hear was our breathing. I cracked the door just enough for a sliver of air to pass through.
Maslye, visibly frustrated, entered the room accompanied by two guards. “Find those trespassers. They broke in to steal from me, I know it. We cannot trust a dragon’s words.”
“Why are they speaking Sudo?” Dylan asked.
“Maybe it is the dominant language of Lore. Divina said Lore would be a combination of many worlds.”
Maslye sat on the bed and laid his staff beside him. My head was trying to focus on the danger we were in, but my body was trying to respond to the warmth I had in my arms. When the king stood, Emiko pressed her face against my chest. She was showing me trust that I could protect her and Rojan purred with approval.
The king was advancing, obviously about to open the wardrobe and discover us. He was reaching for the door…
And there was a knock. Outside the room, a knock sounded, causing the king to pause with his hand still outstretched. “What is it?” he demanded.
“There is a man here to see you. He says he is the Noquodi of Malta.” I heard the door slide open, though I couldn’t see it or who was there. “He said he had a matter to discuss with you of the highest importance.”
Maslye snarled. “Tell him to come back later. I do not answer to Noquodi.”
The guard hesitantly approached the king until I could see him. “He has been mortally wounded. He faced unimaginable creatures in the most perilous lands on a quest to find you, to bring you a message that would save your kingdom from similar horrors. Those were pretty much his exact words.”
Instantly I was suspicious. I was sure the guard spoke the truth as far as he knew it, but I recognized that kind of story. I knew only one person who used words like that, and it wasn’t Emrys. “What did you do?” I asked.
“Nothing! Yet… That does sound like my kind of lie, though.”
“I understand. Call for the physician to treat his wounds. I will meet him in the dining hall. Have water and food ready for him immediately. And do not let him know that we have intruders here.”
The king and his guards all left and I waited only a moment before opening the door, for I could not stand another instant confined with Emiko. Dylan got out from under the bed. “Did you get everything?”
I held out his bag, which he put on. “You have a plan, then.”
He smiled. “Oh, yeah. He said the Noquodi of Malta. And who is the only Guardian we know that is a time traveler?” he asked.
“Emrys. The one person in the universe we needed walks right into our hands and that’s not suspicious to you?” I asked.
His smirk only grew. “No way, because we know for sure Emrys doesn’t talk like me. I must have sent him here to save us. I don’t know how I’m going to do it, but I think I may be brilliant.”
I laughed. “Be careful not to let that big, egotistical head of yours get stuck in the doorway.” Even as I said it, I agreed with him.
“I’ll think of a way to make it fit. Let’s go. We still have to make it to Emrys without getting killed. We can try going out the library, the guards should be gone.” I handed him the lotus wand and he gasped. His eyes widened before glowing green. The glow quickly faded, though not completely. “Come on.” He was breathless, but my senses were too dulled to be able to smell what has happening.
We left through a hidden panel behind the bathtub that led to a fair-sized study. Nobody was in the old library, and the door opened as we approached it. We were only five doors from the king’s room, but it was a dangerous walk to the stairs. While I could hear people talking, Emrys was not one of them, so I couldn’t be sure we were going the right way.
At the bottom of the steps, we hid in a broom cabinet underneath the staircase. Once again, I left the door open just enough to see. The greeting room was very cozy and friendly, unlike the king who resided here. There were dark rugs across the floor and comfortable-looking chairs surrounding a fireplace. A large painting of the king rested over the mantle. On the adjacent wall was another painting of the king, where he sat upon an odd, four legged, tall creature that was sort of beautiful.
“They have horses here. Awesome. I think I should ask Erono to import horses to Duran.”
People walked back and forth, yet it was nearly an hour before we saw Emrys. He clearly had a head injury, but someone had treated it a little. Emrys sat on one of the chairs and was left alone. Seeing this as our only chance, we left the cupboard and went to the man. At least I hoped he was still our friend after so many years.
Although his eyes were closed as he rested from his injuries, he felt our approach. “You should have waited for nightfall, Dylan.”
“We are anxious to get out. The universe as we know it is falling apart after all.”
“How are we in the future now if everything falls apart in our time? How is there still a Guardian?” I asked.
“Simple. Time can be rewritten.”
“But the boys said that if something is experienced, it will come to pass.”
“Or… we create a paradox that will destroy everything.” “We need to go now.” The tired Guardian climbed to his feet with a wobble. “Do you need to be healed?”
“Yes, but not too much, or it will look suspicious.”
Dylan reached to touch Emrys’s wound, then stopped and dropped his hand to fiddle with the metal bracelet on his left wrist. “I can’t do any magic with this thing on my wrist.”
“Then why do you carry a wand?” Emrys asked, indicating the lotus wand in Dylan’s left hand. Dylan studied it and shrugged, but before he could say anything, the room filled with the king and his guards.
The king raised his staff to strike, but Dylan was faster. “Vadol!” he yelled, raising the lotus wand like a weapon. Everyone froze. Quite still, in fact. Emiko stood without blinking or breathing. Emrys, the king, and every single guard… everyone except for Dylan and me were completely immobile.
“How did you do that?” I whispered.
“It wasn’t me. It was the wand; it pulled my magic from me.” He went to the king and took the staff. “I don’t like being attacked,” he said to the frozen king. “I can forgive that. I can forgive being threatened and held prisoner. But you hurt my brother.”
“Dylan, if my life had been in danger, your demon would’ve showed up. Let it go this time. You took his staff; that’s enough.”
He continued staring the frozen king down. “I will not forgive him.” He turned away. Once he was back beside Emrys, Emiko, and me, he raised the wand again. “Zacam!” Everyone unfroze, but were too afraid to attack. Emiko wrapped her hand around my arm.
“Dylan, kill him,” she said. My friend looked at her. “He hurt me. Please kill him.” Her voice broke and I didn’t need my dragon senses to know it was sincere.
I could see the moment my friend realized what Maslye did, but I could also see confliction. Dylan wasn’t a killer, no matter how much Maslye needed to be punished. I watched his expression carefully for a sign, because if he chose to kill the king, I would do it for him. Dylan couldn’t live with himself if he killed an unarmed man with magic. I couldn’t live with myself if I let him.
He looked to me for an answer, but I had none. Not one I would give him. Maslye deserved the worst possible fate and I couldn’t tell Dylan to let him go when Emiko was begging for justice.
“Dylan, please!”
I drew my sword. If I maimed the king, he couldn’t hurt anyone else like he had her. Dylan put his hand on my arm to stop me. “There are other ways. Better ways.”
I shielded the sword and caught Emiko before she could attack Maslye herself. She was yelling in outrage as the world melted around us. My eyes were forced closed and nausea threatened to overtake me.
When the feeling of shifting time settled and the nausea ended, I opened my eyes. We were in Dylan’s cabin with Edward and the boys. Emrys slumped to the floor and Emiko went limp in my arms.
“Can someone get this off me?” Dylan asked, holding out the bracelet. Sammy came forth and took it off as easily as if it were a simple piece of jewelry. “Thanks.” He sighed, kneeled in front of Emrys, put one hand on Emrys’s forehead, and the other on his chest. Gashes healed before my eyes and the wounded man’s breathing eased.
“Not too much,” he warned. “It would look suspicious. Thank you, Dylan.” Emrys vanished.
“Where did you get this?” Edward asked, picking up the staff Dylan dropped. I picked up the wand and set it on the table.
“We ran into a man who thought it would be fun to attack total strangers. We had to explain that sometimes strangers bite back, and he gave us the staff in thanks.”
“You should at least hesitate before lying to me, child.”
Dylan smiled. “That would give me away.”
“Daddy, you shouldn’t have brought anything but the lotus wand back. It’s dangerous. Doing anything with time is dangerous,” Ron said.
Dylan sighed. “Don’t talk like your mother.”
“The staff can only cause harm. You have to destroy it,” Sammy said.
Dylan stood and gave Emiko a regretful look. The dragoness was standing on her own, staring at the ground with tears dripping. Her arms were crossed as if to protect herself. Dylan used his magic to pull a chair from the table to her knees and I sat her down as gently as I could.
“I can never forgive you for this,” she said.
“I know,” Dylan answered. I opened my mouth to correct her, to explain to Emiko that she couldn’t get away with threatening Dylan, but he shook his head. “She doesn’t need direction right now, she needs control and someone who is on her side.”
“How do you know?”
“I’ve never been through anything like what she has, but I was getting a degree in psychology. Plus, I have known people who went through it. She has a right to her anger and it doesn’t matter who she takes it out on. What matters is that the boys knew this would happen.”
I looked at them with shock and Sammy instantly dropped his head in shame. “Why? Why did they tell us to take her with us if they knew this would happen to her?”
“Simple. They saw what they thought was a worse path. She saved us from the cell. Who knows what they would have done to us? The boys made a choice. It was the wrong choice and not theirs to make, but they made it anyway.”
“What happened?” Edward asked. It must have been very stressful for him to be out of the loop when he was so ancient and powerful. However, when Dylan shook his head, Edward let it go. Like me, he trusted Dylan. “About two minutes ago, the wave hit again and brought the magic back,” Edward said.
“Good. Maybe the other Guardians can stop freaking out. We have all the artifacts. Now what do we do?” he asked. He moved the crystal ball and examined the map. “It changed again.” He frowned at me as if I had the answers.
“If it changed again then there must be somewhere else you have to go,” Sammy said.
“Ronez only said five items. What else could there be?”
Edward held up a card. “I think I should make you retake your apprenticeship,” he said. On the card was a double-edged sword with a red handle. “The magical sword.”
“I cannot be married and be an apprentice in magic,” Dylan said, absentmindedly. He looked at Edward and I knew his mind was working. He handed Edward the lotus wand. “Do you feel anything from the wand?”
“Nothing. It’s just wood and metal,” he said. “Here.” He handed Dylan his book.
Dylan didn’t even glance at it; he just slipped it into his bag. Then he tossed the fire wand to me, which instantly shot fire. My fire. I dropped the wand, but Sammy caught it and took Vretial’s bracelet off me. “How did that work?”
“The fire wand for you and the lotus wand for me seem to supersede Vretial’s magic. Edward, did you touch any of these?” he asked.
“Not particularly. I think I touched the cup and I know I touched the wand.”
“What elemental strength are you best at?”
Edward seemed unsure where this was going, but we all knew to just go with it when Dylan had an idea like this.
“Land. I told you. Humans call it earth.”
Dylan picked up the pantacle and handed it to Edward like he was afraid it would bite him. He was right to fear; the moment the plaque touched Edward’s hand, the ground quaked. Dylan reacted by raising the lotus wand, from which green light filled the air. The house stopped shaking, but I could still hear the world tremble. Dylan took the pantacle and the sound faded.
“What did you do?” I asked as the green sparkling fog faded. It was extremely creepy.
“I think I just created a new kind of shield. One that protects everything, even from something inside of it. Now, for you two.” He regarded the boys.
“We get to be a part of it?” Sammy asked, thrilled.
“Of course. Water and air.” Dylan handed the cup to Sammy, which immediately overflowed with water. Dylan handed the dagger to Ron and a small wind tunnel formed around him.
“Look, Daddy, I can control it!” he shouted, shrinking the wind tunnel.
“I can’t. How do I make it stop?” Sammy asked, getting soaked. Ron started laughing as he put his hand on Sammy’s forehead. Sammy paused as if in deep concentration as the cup stopped pouring out water. They both set the artifacts back on the table.
“So now we know who controls what. How can we go after the sword? The apple is broken.”
“Maybe you could ask for Emrys’s help again,” Edward said.
“Let’s find out when and where it is, and then we can ask him.”
I let my fire flow into the crystal ball and Dylan’s energy joined it. The star map formed quickly. I was looking at Dylan when she appeared, so I saw the recognition in his eyes when he instantly detected the presence of his wife. Dylan turned to pull Divina into his arms and kissed her until both boys gagged.
“Swapping spit,” Sammy said. Ron winced. “Come on, children of dysfunctional families don’t have to see their parents kiss,” he begged. The couple ignored their son. “Ron is gonna grow up thinking marriage and life is all about love and happiness.” That broke them up; neither could contain their laughter. Divina got a quick hug from the boys before Dylan wrapped his arm around her and she leaned her head against his shoulder.
“I only have a few minutes. My brothers are all arguing, so I
thought I could sneak home real quick.”
“Sensibility does pay off.” He gave her another kiss before Sammy made a gagging sound. “I think I smell peas for dinner.” He ducked to avoid the clay cup, which shattered against the wall. Everyone turned to look at the child and Ron took sneaking steps away. Obviously, Ron was not going to defend his brother.
“Did you see what the wind did?!” Sammy cried. “It just blew in the window and picked up the cup!”
“The wind blew in the closed window?” Divina asked. He looked to see that the window was indeed closed.
“The wind must have closed it on the way out. Ron, get back here.”
“I confess his sins, Daddy. He was bad. I tried to stop him,” Ron said with his head hung, big, fake tears forming.
“Thank you for your confession. I knew I could trust you. You get fruit. Sammy gets peas,” Dylan said over Sammy’s cries of outrage.
My family of goofballs. Emiko stood and came to my side to get further away from them. At least she wasn’t crying anymore. “Forgive my family,” I said with just as much mock shame as Ron had. “We are all uncontrollably insane. And a bit silly. It is contagious.”
She squeaked.
“Come on, you two, get back to work,” Divina said. “That is Earth’s sky.”
“That’s easy enough to concentrate on.” It had been years since I visited Dylan’s home-world, but it was memorable. Visions, sounds, and smells assaulted me. Unfortunately, some of them came from Dylan. I knew I never smelled some of the horrible things he had. He never told me that cars got so hot that he had a memory of having to open a door with a rag to avoid getting burned. I saw empty halls and nearly a hundred boys in uniform in the most unimaginative, dreary school I have ever seen. I felt tight leather shoes that hurt. I saw a dog barking and growling as he walked home from school every single day.
I blocked out the images for a moment, just long enough to fixate on my own. The hotel room and Vivian’s house were the most clear. I sent those images to him before I got a couple back in turn. One was of Dylan at a lake with Vivian. One of the schools that Dylan went to had a massive clock tower that was beautiful covered in snow. I saw the beach. I saw Dylan’s book, lying in the grass, waiting to change Dylan’s life forever. And mine, if I were honest.
