by Rain Oxford
“Do the gods still suspect us?” Shiloh asked.
“Who was attacking us? Was it Vretial? Who opened the gates?” Azyle asked.
“The gods shouldn’t suspect you anymore. It wasn’t a person attacking you or opening the gates, it was the natural force of the universe. And Vretial…”
I couldn’t really tell them he was the good guy now. I was too young for them to believe in; they needed to hear it from their own gods in their own time. Vretial was no longer an enemy, but they wouldn’t take my word for it. If I told them what Ron told me, that there was another threat, they would assume it is Vretial.
Right now, the dark god can be of more help to me if the others aren’t aware of him.
“Who is a better ally? The Guardians who pledged to save the worlds, or the god who killed your father?” Mordon asked, obviously having heard my thoughts.
“Right now, I don’t know who this enemy is. I need all the allies I can get, and if that means playing both sides…”
“Can you do that?”
Could I? Would I be hurting the Guardians to lie and keep secrets? I scanned the faces of the distressed, hopeful Noquodi. I trusted them to protect their own worlds, but there was one thing this entire mess taught me; the Guardians were not a team. We could work together, even fight together for the same cause, but only time would tell if things could change. Until then, I would never trust them.
“I can,” I told him. “Vretial isn’t going to be attacking anyone any time soon. You are all free to get back to your lives,” I said. Mordon nudged me and I rolled my eyes. “However, I am in agreement with the Guardian council. I know there will be many arguments; we are men. And I know I’m a small fry in the age department, but I think all of us together will be able to do anything, when individually we could not. And even though my son isn’t a Guardian yet, I want him to know there will be someone at his side besides his immediate family.”
I wasn’t lying. I would work with them and help them when I could. Mostly, I wanted Sammy to have backup. However, I wouldn’t put all my eggs in one basket. If one of them knew more than they stated, they would slip up eventually, and I would be watching.
Discussion broke out after that and I was able to single Emrys and Ghidorah out for a private talk in Edward’s cabin. I asked Mordon to watch the door and keep anyone from listening in. “I need a favor,” I said when I was alone with the two Guardians. “When Emrys came to get us, there was a man, the mage king.”
“Maslye, the arch mage and king of Treslen,” Emrys supplied.
“Right.” I regarded Ghidorah. “He hurt Mordon and Mordon’s girlfriend and she asked me to kill him. I had the chance and I couldn’t do it. It wasn’t because of the killing, but because I thought a quick death was too good for him. Though what he did was unforgivable, I don’t know what the right punishment is.”
“You want me to judge him,” Ghidorah guessed.
“Please.”
“I will do it, but you may not like my judgment.”
“Azyle was right when he told me you were all putting a lot of trust in me. Well, I trust you and your judgment. I just don’t want to know what it is.”
“I will take him there,” Emrys said.
“Thank you.” I hesitated, realizing I was overstepping, but I had to know. “Do you ever regret your decisions?”
“I have very little choice over what I judge. It is what I am, and I cannot regret that. My power is to make and execute judgments, but they are never personal. My own opinions never influence my judgments. My power tells me what I am to do to them, so there is no decision making or debating.”
“What about the wolf alpha?”
“Had I taken his power, he would have been killed by his own pack. I could have killed him myself or left him for dead. As far as the fate was concerned, it didn’t matter how I dealt the punishment, as long as it resulted in his death.”
“I wouldn’t want to be in your place. I’m sorry to ask this of you.” Emrys grabbed Ghidorah’s arm and they vanished. I went to the door and opened it to see Mordon leaning against the wall. “Please send in Vivian and Nano.”
“Will they ever be seen again?” he smirked. He didn’t have to look to know Emrys and Ghidorah were gone. I went inside and took a seat at the table. A minute later, the couple entered. Vivian was as pretty as she ever was, but she looked tired. Nano was clearly worried about what I had to tell them.
Seeing as how Ron was Sammy’s “brother,” I felt obligated to inform them about the balance. Particularly about it possessing Ron. Of course, Vivian didn’t like it, but Nano calmed her down.
“We decided to give Sammy up for his own good. He is better with Dylan and Divina. We have to trust them to make parental decisions for him,” he told his wife.
“Was it really for my own good?” Sammy asked. The boys were standing in the doorway. “It wasn’t because I was bad? Or too weird?”
“Sammy needs to understand that he wasn’t abandoned,” Mordon advised.
“A warning would have been nice.”
“We never thought you were weird, and you were never bad,” Vivian said, kneeling in front of him. “But you are powerful and we knew we weren’t right for you. I knew Dylan when he was just a human, going through life day to day. Even then, he was special. I saw that in you and I knew you would grow up just like him.” She stroked his hair. “Dylan and I both had sad and lonely lives. He never fit in on Earth; he was always weird. No matter what I did, you would never have fit in with us, even though Nano and I love you. Here, you have two parents powerful enough to teach you, who love you enough to fight the gods to keep you, and who can protect you. You have a brother. You have a good life here, better than we could ever offer you. We can’t take that away from you.”
Sammy nodded, turned, and walked out of the room. He was definitely my son in spirit, even if he wasn’t in blood. Vivian went after him, but Ron stayed. He was my son, too, as well as Divina’s.
“Daddy, can you give us a minute?”
Mordon and I stepped outside and I shut the door quietly, then took Mordon’s arm and let his fire flow into me. I closed my eyes because I didn’t want to see anyone’s soul, but my senses strengthened to match Mordon’s. With a dragon’s hearing, my son’s words were crystal clear through the door.
“Nano, you are a friend to my dad. You looked worried about the darkness in me, that I would turn out evil. I hope you will give me the chance to assure you. I want you to know that this is me, not the dark speaking. Do you understand that this is me?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I just didn’t want there to be any misunderstanding about who exactly is talking to you. You know my dad pretty well, I think, so peaceful and forgiving until you mess with his family. You know my mom, so powerful and so very creative with her punishments. Now I think you should know me. I’m Ron, son of a god and the most powerful Noquodi ever born. And if you ever hurt my brother, there will be no corner in Hell in which you can hide from me.”
Epilogue
Tiamat
My story began in blood, for I was born at war. Vretial and the others think I forgot my past, but I remember everything. Everything from my early years, anyway. I was born, not “created” like my siblings, and I was abandoned. I was a mistake, an experiment gone wrong, for no other reason than that I was female. The Iadnah had their faults, namely greed, but also vanity. They never considered a female could be the warrior they wanted. So with my engineered superior power, penchant for mischief, and soul, I was left to fend for myself on a backwater planet, which had been as neglected as myself.
At first, I thought I was being tested, but eventually I realized I was just forgotten. All around me, the Iadnah were fighting. I never considered them my people. In fact, I wanted to destroy them all. Not for power, that was silly; I just really wanted them all gone.
I still don’t know why.
At the end of the war of my people, I was found, sniffed out for my po
wer. I was still so young, but I had spent my entire existence using magic to survive. I played the innocent and naïve orphan he thought I was. One of the Iadnah tried to take my power, but he took me into the Land of the Iadnah to do so. It was there that I turned the tables. I destroyed him, not to survive or anything, just because he was there and I could.
I was nearly lost again when another Iadnah found me. He offered me compassion, and at first I didn’t know what it was. His kindness saved him, though. Instead of killing him, I let him take me with him. I didn’t understand why he was pushing me towards another Iadnah, or why Vretial took me into another universe. At first, I thought he meant to abandon me, but he never left. Instead of imprisonment, I faced eleven Iadnah who showed me benevolence and acceptance. They never knew I was different.
Vretial called me his sister. He made me one of them, and soon, everyone except for Vretial forgot. I had forgotten, too, for a long time. Then, after absorbing the power of Vretial’s world, my memories returned. Every gory detail that I lived. Who could forget that I was created to destroy? I was never one of them.
I lied enough that sometimes I forgot what was truth and what was not. I lied to my brothers, myself, and even to my mate. Dylan trusted me despite the fact that he knew. It was always more difficult to lie to him with Mordon around, not because Mordon was a dragon; it was child’s play for me to trick a dragon’s senses. It was more difficult because when they were together, their souls connected. The path became clouded when they were together.
I could’ve told Dylan the truth and he would still have trusted me. He was my mate, so his soul was a match for mine. Which was funny really; I was born to cause destruction and he was born to stop it. Our son had it so rough.
I rolled over and observed Dylan as he slept deeply and without fear. I wish I could have been so fearless. The fact was I loved Dylan. Of all the variables deliberated in my design, my heart was never considered. Dylan was the one being in the entire universe I could never harm; he was the one who made me calm and happy.
Unfortunately, I knew what path he would face. I had seen Dylan’s death…
Mordon had been warned, for the young seer had told him not to return to his father’s castle. It was never about his father, but the dragon girl. Samhail saw Mordon’s fate on Lore without her and the boys believed they had to make a choice between Emiko’s innocence and Mordon’s life.
However, my children, young and untrained, couldn’t see the true consequence of their actions. Mordon ignored the warning and saved Emiko from a poison, and the boys acted impulsively when Samhail saw her saving him. For all their efforts to save lives, they couldn’t see that they were sealing Dylan’s fate.
Samhail had great potential; he could feel the paths even when he couldn’t see them. When he saw the crystal staff, he knew it had to be destroyed, but he didn’t know his father like I did. Dylan always had a plan and he never took anything on blind faith. I knew Dylan didn’t destroy the staff.
The unfortunate truth was that Dylan had inherited his father’s ability to see the paths, but I got to him before it developed and was able to suppress it. Dylan was too strong a force already without that ability. The Sight combined with his raw power would be more destructive than it would be useful.
Dylan’s breathing sped up a moment before he opened his eyes. He smiled at me as if I was as much the light of his life as he was mine and then he kissed me like I was everything to him. I pulled away when I needed air.
“Good morning,” he whispered between more light kisses.
“It will be in a few minutes,” I answered.
He laughed and rolled over. “No, it won’t be.” He threw the covers off the bed and stood with an uncalled for joviality. It was freezing. He continued to laugh as I snatched the covers up and pulled them over me. “Come on, or we’ll be late. You wanted the human experience.”
“Not at the crack of dawn.”
“It’s nine in the morning.” He stuck his hands under the blankets and latched onto my ankles before pulling. I grabbed the headboard to resist, but let go when he yanked the covers back off me.
“You are a sadist!” I yelled.
“Say that in Italian, my love. Now get dressed.”
“We can’t even take a shower first?”
He leaned over to kiss me as he pulled his pants on. “You’re going to want to shower when we get home,” he said.
Suspicions arose, but by the time I tried to read his mind, his magic was already in place, protecting his thoughts.
* * *
Half an hour later, we were sitting outside a tiny café, hidden away from the tourists, enjoying a fantastic Venetian breakfast with coffee. Dylan said Italy was known for their coffee, so I agreed to try it.
Come to find out, Dylan had an entire day planned, beginning with a boat tour after breakfast. We went to an art museum, which was not really our thing, but we never lagged for conversation so it was plenty enjoyable. We had lunch overlooking the sea. Shopping followed, where I picked out a light blue dress that was more in Dylan’s taste than mine. Honestly, I always chose my clothing for him; I had no interest in my own attire. The dress was light and pleasant for walking in though, so I wore it for the rest of the day. We went to an amusement park and I realized I enjoyed roller-coasters.
How odd.
We were walking to Dylan’s next surprise destination when he stopped. Spotting something in a flower shop window, he asked me to wait for a minute before running inside. The sun was getting very low in the sky and I figured he was taking me somewhere for dinner. Detours were interesting so far. We had found many interesting places that were not in any tour book Dylan had studied since learning where I wanted to go for our honeymoon.
He returned with his hand behind his back. When he reached me, he pulled a bouquet of dark blue roses from behind him and handed them over.
“What are these for?”
“They match your eyes perfectly. So I think…” He looked at me. “They have to be the most beautiful roses of any world. Therefore, it is only right to give the most beautiful roses to the most beautiful woman in the universe. Ti amo.”
“You tell me you love me every day. Why learn it in Italian?” I asked.
“Because we are in Italy. I want us to travel all over the world together and visit every good country. And in every country I will learn the native tongue for ‘I love you.’ And as soon as we return to Duran, I want to visit each continent with you and tell you in all three languages the same thing. Then I want to travel to all the worlds and learn it in their languages and say it to you. Then I want us to go to the Land of the Gods, where I will say it in Enochian. So that no matter where you go, you will know that in every language, in every country and land, on every world and beyond, I love you more than anything else.”
I was a goddess, older than dirt and not romantic in the least… but I blushed. He was so unbelievably romantic, and I was falling for it. His words would have been cheesy, but he somehow pulled it off… or maybe it was his complete and utter sincerity.
When did the sweet, naïve dork I fell in love with become so smooth? “We are already married; you don’t have to woo me.”
“To woo, or not to woo? No way would I give up the chance to be romantic on our honeymoon. You are a goddess, but you are still a woman. You are a beautiful, intelligent woman with unimaginable powers… and you still put up with me.” He looked away as if trying to figure out how it was possible. “I mean, you should be rewarded for having to listen to my rambling alone.” He looked back at me. “You haven’t gotten sick of me yet, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t always treat you like the treasure from Heaven that you are. Ora prendete il vostro bel culo qui e baciami.”
I laughed and kissed him, since he asked so nicely.
We had a very nice dinner at a beautiful restaurant with good wine and great food. I got suspicious when he left for the bathroom for ten minutes, but I figured he probably flashed home to check on
the boys. He had promised he wouldn’t, but I couldn’t fault him for worrying. When we returned to the hotel, however, I realized I was mistaken. I first noticed the rose petals on the bed and fancy deserts on the glass table in front of the window. The prepared bath was hot and full of bubbles and oils. There was a gift box on my pillow wrapped in silver paper.
“That bath looks too good to waste. But we’re nowhere near dirty enough to warrant bathing. What should we do about that?” I asked.
He put his hands on my waist and pulled me closer to kiss me. Then he let me go and sat in the chair by the window. “Take off your clothes,” he said.
Oh, the romantic play was over and the fun had begun. Outside the bedroom, I was a goddess and mother. I had an important and serious roll to play that everyone respected. In the bedroom, I was Dylan’s wife. He was in charge and I couldn’t have been happier to give up my power to him. He always made me happy and took care of me like I was really his treasure.
I undressed myself as slowly as possible before ridding him of his clothes, mostly with my teeth. We were just about to head to the bath when he grunted. “Tell your brothers to bug off.”
“Who is it?” I asked.
“Vretial.” That was all he could handle. His head dropped back and I knew he was pulled to a meeting with my oldest brother. I dressed myself, furious that we had been interrupted, and flashed to my mate.
“How nice of you to join us uninvited, my dear sister,” Vretial said. He wasn’t looking at me, though. When the Noquodi were summoned before us astrophysically, they appeared in the same clothes they were really wearing. Dylan, of course, was naked. Instead of hiding himself, he crossed his arms over his chest and glared. He had nothing to be ashamed of, but I didn’t want him showing off what belonged to me. And Vretial was seeing far too much.
“You interrupted my night with my mate. Why? And stop looking at him!”
He gave me a knowing smirk. “I called Dylan here to ask him if what I heard was true. Your son mentioned to me that you both had an extremely foolish idea to go away for a week-long honeymoon.”
