by Oxford, Rain
I was just about to touch the blood when Cylo burst through the door, dragging water in from the brewing storm.
“I heard people!” he declared.
I turned to follow without question, but just as I took a step towards him, he vanished. In his place was about thirty people milling about as if without a care in the world. I looked around, unable to spot Cylo anywhere. No one acted as if they have been missing or attacked, and the blood that had been dried on the floor a moment before was gone as well. I did not want to look, but I turned to the podium again… the empty podium. The statue of the beast was gone.
Chapter 5
Dylan
Power radiated from the creature, and my body was cramping and weak. Vivian stood helplessly behind as Mordon tried to hold me out of the freezing water. Even on fire, the creature still advanced on us. I turned at the sound of Vivian’s scream only to find Nano, pushing her into the car. “Get behind me,” he said.
Mordon started to ask who Nano was, but was interrupted as I climbed to my feet and shoved him behind Nano. Neither of us could remain standing when the ground started to violently shake a moment before a giant tear in the pavement opened up and swallowed the creature. It was horrible that the teenager who the creature possessed was dead, just because the powerful monster chose him. That creature killed a poor kid for no reason.
The ground settled down as quickly as it had started shaking. Nano held out his hand to help me, then Mordon off the ground, but I ended up falling back down, huffing and puffing as if I had run for hours.
“What did you do to deplete your energy like this?” Nano asked me.
“It was… my father’s pentagram. It sucked out my energy and disappeared.” It wasn’t just my nominal energy, which I could easily pull from Earth, but my physical energy that was drained.
I began one of the first spells I had ever learned to replenish my energy, but it was not a superfast process. Nano put one hand on my forehead and used his own spell to help. Our combined efforts had me back on my feet in under a minute.
“Thank you. How did you find us?” I asked.
He patted my back in sort of a half hug. “Tiamat told me you needed help. She had a difficult time getting around Zer. The gods are all fighting each other right now; it’s not a good time to be a Guardian, as we are cannon fodder to them. Several Guardians have gone into hiding from their own gods.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Well, it’s a little bit Vretial’s fault, a little bit Tiamat’s, and a little bit yours. Plus, of course, this demon running around.”
“Demon?” Vivian asked, climbing out of the car.
“It is not a demon as they are now. The creatures between the worlds are called demons, but they are not as powerful as this one. He is as old as the gods, and while he is not as powerful, he has resources they do not.”
Then he did the most shocking thing; he kissed Vivian deeply.
After kissing for way too long without breathing, they let go of each other. “I knew you would be back for us,” Vivian said.
He took Sammy from her and kissed his forehead. “I told you I would be.”
“So, wait. Nano is Sammy’s father?” I asked.
“He is the one you smelled like. Sammy smells like him. Even Sammy’s magic smells like this man’s magic,” Mordon said, shivering horribly.
I had tried to keep the water warm, but I couldn’t create lightning without rain, and I couldn’t make it not winter.
“Then what you scented must have been when we met for the second time, when we were at Anoshii. That was the first and only time I was around Nano.”
“So, what do you say we get off this world before your demon comes back?” Nano asked as Vivian gathered Sammy’s things.
“Mordon, this is Nano, another Guardian.”
“Do you trust him?” he asked.
I remembered how when we met, I was sort of kidnaped, involved in stopping an assassination, and nearly eaten by a water creature, a large cat, and a giant snake. “Yes, I do,” I answered.
Nano’s eyes grew wide. “Really?”
“For the same reason as last time. Edward would eat your entrails if anything happens to me under your watch.”
“He might have a difficult time of that, since he’s missing.”
“He doesn’t go missing; he chooses to not be found,” I insisted.
Nano muttered something about too much faith all around as he pulled his book out. Mordon took it and stared flipping through pages. He signed right next to my signature, then handed it to Vivian while examining the new symbol glowing on his arm.
“That is odd,” he said.
“What is?”
“When I signed your book, coldness spread through me and I felt a sort of release in my energy. This time it was warm and chased away the chill of the water.”
“Let Vivian sign hers and Sammy’s names in your book so they can return,” Nano said.
“Vivian can sign Sammy’s name?”
“Of course. She gave him his name. I couldn’t sign his name because I didn’t name him. Vivian signed my book when we were together, but Sammy wasn’t born yet,” he said as she signed Sammy’s name beside hers in his book. Sammy shuddered, but didn’t look particularly upset. Vivian handed Nano his book back and he slipped it into his bag.
I pulled out my book and flipped through it to find Nano’s name; I figured her name should be next to his. When I found Mordon’s name, I frowned. “Did you sign on a blank page?” I asked Mordon.
He examined it carefully. “No, there were three other names on the page,” he said. They were gone now; his was the only name on the page. “Does the signature disappear when the person dies?”
“Tiamat has to release them from the book’s power in order for the dead to go where they belong,” Nano answered. “Once that happens, the name will disappear. I can tell you this is not what happened to those people. I hoped this wouldn’t happen to you, being a different kind of Guardian.”
“What’s happening?” I asked.
“Do you feel less powerful?” he asked. I shook my head. “The names are disappearing because the people are being erased. A few other Guardians are seeing it, too.”
“They’re dying?”
“They are being erased from all time. Those who have disappeared have now never been born. Any and all accomplishments they made have disappeared. Soon their children will disappear.”
“Why?” I asked.
“I don’t have all of the answers. I will answer what I can, but we must get out of here before the beast returns.”
I gave my book to Nano to find his name for Vivian. Since he signed it when it belonged to my father and I didn’t read or speak Dego, I had no idea which name was his. Vivian quickly signed her and Sammy’s name in my book. Vivian shivered and looked at the symbol of Earth as it appeared on her arm, then clutched Sammy tighter. Sammy showed no signs of discomfort, which I found odd. For Vivian, who had no magic, signing a book would have little effect on her. For Sammy, who had a great wealth of undiscovered power, it should have been monumental… yet he acted as if it was nothing. Perhaps he was too young to understand it, but he should have felt something. I put my book back in my bag as I filed his lack of any reaction in the back of my mind.
“Remember the symbol that appeared on your arm.” Nano looked at Vivian. “It was a long time ago, do you remember?” She nodded. “Good. You?” he asked me.
“Yes.” I could remember the symbol for Earth, Duran, and Dios very easily. Either it was a Guardian thing, or it was because of the bond with the worlds. I cleared everything from my mind except Dios’s symbol.
I felt the weightless, nearly falling sensation that I would never be used to. It was not a particularly bad feeling, even though I couldn’t breathe, it was just really bizarre. In a moment, it was over and we were standing in a tropical forest.
“Since when is Dios habitable above ground?” I asked.
“We
’re not above ground.”
“But we’re in a forest,” Mordon said, looking up into the bright sun.
“Yes, we are.”
“We’re in a forest in a room, with an artificial sun,” I surmised.
“Very good, Dylan,” Nano said, taking his baby from Vivian. “We are in an artificially created ecosystem. The High King devised a plan to experiment with small-range terraforming. He decided that we can create different climates in different places in the world so that people can choose where they want to live, above or below ground. The surface is coming along nicely and the legal system is getting worked out, but people argue whether the king should live above ground, below ground, or if there should be a second High King.”
“How is Nila doing? Is his brother still after him?”
“Nila is doing well. Adre was always going after Nila, but he was stealthy about it. So I got tired of letting him call the shots. While you were with Nila, I confronted Adre. He confessed to murdering his and Nila’s father, but by the time I returned after dropping you off on Duran, he had escaped. Adre hasn’t bothered the young king since.”
“And that doesn’t seem weird to you?” I asked.
“What could be weird about it?” he asked. When I didn’t answer, he shrugged. “Anyway, we’re safe here, but we need to figure out our next step. The demon should be forced back into the void since there is no host for him. I do not know if that will put things back to normal or not.”
As Nano turned his attention to his babbling baby, there was a sudden and familiar screech. Sammy froze, his eyes widened, and then he started wailing. Mordon and I took off through the woods towards the sound of the screech as Nano and Vivian tried to calm their startled baby.
Lying on the ground under cracked and fallen foliage was Blood. I tried to go to him in case he needed healing, but Mordon held me back. I looked at him like he was out of his mind.
“I really feel like we shouldn’t touch him,” he said.
“Why not?”
“I don’t know, it just doesn’t smell right. He isn’t supposed to be here. I think we shouldn’t touch what isn’t supposed to be here.”
That wasn’t ominous at all.
I frowned and studied our dragon, who stared right back at me. Blood was lying down with his wings tucked against his body, but he didn’t look like he had any new injuries. “I guess that makes sense.”
Nano and Vivian came up beside us, Sammy calm in Vivian’s arms. “Is that a dragon?” she asked. When she tried to reach out to him, Nano held her back.
Before anyone could say anything else, there was a loud crack. It was more than a sound; I felt it in the energy. I felt it in the planet. The creature was swooping down on Nano the instant it appeared. He dived to cover Vivian and Sammy.
It was one of the winged creatures that had attacked Blood. Mordon shot a fireball at the creature and at the very same moment, a stream of fire also shot at it from Blood. I didn’t react with fire. Instead, I drew the moisture in the air to the beast’s wings and froze them solid with ice. The fire hit the creature in midair, and then it dropped to the ground to burn. As the fire burned its body, its wings remained frozen until the creature vanished.
“Well, that wasn’t strange or anything,” Nano said. Sammy stared at where the creature had vanished, then looked up at Mordon, smiled, and held out his arms. “The gods are not on our side. I think we need to find other Guardians.”
“Why?” I asked.
“The more heads we have in this, the better. Assuming everything doesn’t revert back to normal when the demon returns to the void.”
“Yeah, like anything ever happens the easy way,” I said. “We also need to figure out how to get Blood home. And why is Nila called a void when he has no magic?”
“The void is the area outside the universes. It isn’t space. This is where the Land of the Dead is, and the Land of the Gods. When you see ghosts, it’s a window, a shadow, a clear place between the void and the worlds. Used to be, the void was open between the worlds. There were gateways, instead of the books, like portals from one world to another. When the books were created, the gateways were closed.”
“Why? Why were the books created?”
“Because the demons started to devour the worlds.” Nano led us to a particularly large tree. High up was a wooden platform and what looked like a tiny cabin. “Wait here while I will get a ladder.”
Nano jumped and with a gush of wind, landed neatly on the platform. I glanced at Mordon and he nodded, understanding that I wanted him to protect Vivian and Sammy. I gathered the wind around me and jumped. The wind was wet and heavier here than on Earth, but just about equal to Shomodii, so it carried me easily. I landed gently on the platform and Nano looked at me with startled eyes.
“You have learned a lot in two years.”
“I have. I’m comfortable with my magic now.”
“How does Kiro feel about that?” he asked.
I concealed the sting of his question as best as I could. I wanted my mentor to feel proud of me, not useless. “His name is Edward now, remember? I renamed him,” I said instead.
He barked out a laugh. “I had forgotten. You were a kid back then. You reacted to danger by ducking and embarrassment with sarcasm.”
“Oh, I’m still sarcastic. I think Edward actually got a little bit from me. So, you and my ex-girlfriend have a little baby now.”
He started going through a wooden chest outside of the cabin that was full of yard tools. “It was meant to be,” he said. “Just like you and Divina.” He pulled out a ladder made of paper and wood.
“You know who she is?”
He turned to me. “Your father was my friend. When you were a baby, he knew you were going to become Guardian, but the gods all wanted you dead. He tried to get me and several other Guardians to help, but he never told Kiro about you. Kiro would have killed you to protect his brother.” He lowered his voice. “Zer told me that Tiamat was living as a person on Duran. Divina was sneaky and secretive, but I eventually got the answer out of Zer. Instead of betraying her secret to Kiro, I helped Ronez convince her to spare you. Since then, she has used me as an informant. Keeping her secrets are not fun.”
“I know.”
“Mordon?”
“He knows about me and Edward. He even knows about the worlds and he is fluent in English… but I never told him Divina’s secret.” And it was Hell keeping it from him. I imagined I was feeling what Ronez felt, keeping the god’s secret from his brother.
Nano rolled the ladder out and secured one end to the platform. Vivian handed Sammy to Mordon and then started to climb. Nano jumped down, took Sammy, then jumped back up while Mordon climbed up quickly. Nano handed the baby back to Mordon and put the ladder away.
The log cabin was very small, only about six-by-six, with a small window beside the door that I couldn’t see in through. I was entirely unsurprised when Nano opened the door to reveal a lavish interior that was about twelve-by-eight. The floor was covered in soft furs, the couch was wood and leather, and there was a nice wooden coffee table. On the far side of the room was a hammock. It was an open floor plan to the kitchen, which was just a sink, a white icebox, and a stove.
“What do you think?” Nano asked Vivian.
She smiled at him. “It’s nice.”
This from the woman who couldn’t go a week without a trip to the mall. “Are you going to be okay missing work?” I ask.
She shrugged. “No, I’ll probably lose my job, but Sammy is more important.”
Mordon stood over by the sink, away from Nano and Vivian, and seeing that he wanted to talk, I went to him. “Do you really trust Nano?” he asked in my head.
“I do. Let’s go talk outside.” Vivian and Nano ignored us as we went out onto the platform and shut the door. “Nano seems to be very in touch with the gods. He knows things he shouldn’t. However, he’s never done anything to hurt me even when he could have. Vivian trusts him, Edward didn’t have a p
roblem with him, and neither does Divina. I’ve never gotten a bad vibe from him. But you’re the one who can smell intentions, so you tell me.”
He hesitated. “He’s worried about something. Not like there’s a monster after us, but like he isn’t sure if he should tell us something or not.”
“Well, he does have his child to worry about.”
“That’s another thing. He didn’t flinch when Vivian handed Sammy to me, but did you notice he never went to hand Sammy to you? I think he would be more comfortable handing his baby to a friend than a stranger. He’s cautious around you.”
“Okay. So Nano might have the same idea as you; that I shouldn’t get too close to Sammy in case our magic interacts badly. And maybe he has some information about these weird occurrences that only the gods are supposed to know. I don’t think the two are connected. I think Sammy has nothing to do with this weirdness.”
“The demon?”
“Maybe. There’s an excess of things happening that isn’t normal… and we can’t be sure what is connected right now. We don’t know if the abnormal events like Blood showing up are because of the demon… or if the demon is a side effect. What does the demon have to do with the dragon? What opened Sammy’s window last night? Who sent that bag to us at the hotel? Why did the draxuni not attack you?”
“Nano said that you destroying Vretial caused a ripple. You think the strange events and the demon might be because of that?”
“I don’t have enough information yet. But if Vretial is the cause of everything… I’m going to be so irritated. You’re only supposed to have to vanquish a dark god once in your lifetime.”
“Well, you’re always saying it was Tiamat who destroyed Vretial,” he said optimistically.
