by Oxford, Rain
“When magic is created in fear and shame, that magic will only ever be able to cause fear and shame. What happens when a world is full of people who only ever create magic in fear and shame? A world based on magic, full of people who hate magic?”
“It sounds like a pretty miserable situation. Let me soak in the knew information for a bit,” I said. Dylan closed his eyes, possibly to nap. I wanted to go inside and sleep for a week, but the going inside part was too much work, so I just laid there to sleep. Rojan? Are you doing okay? You’re not talking much.
Sleeping.
Oh. Were you okay watching over Dylan? Did you suffer a lot from the lack of oxygen?
I had the strength to keep watch and follow the plan.
What plan? I asked. I didn’t remember making a plan, especially since I had no idea of what was about to happen.
Distract the enemy until Dylan arrived. That was the plan, no? I could hear the grin in his thoughts.
Oh, yeah. Yes, that was the plan. “Did we let all those people die?”
He looked at me. “It was a creature that couldn’t stand light. What could possibly be brighter than that flash?” he asked.
I had to agree there; not even sunlight was that bright.
“You said there was something in the dark.”
I looked at him. “When did I say that?”
“When I blew the door down. Why did you say that? We knew there was something out there, so it seemed odd. Out of character for you.”
“I don’t remember saying that. I’m too tired to think about it. What about the woman? Rojan’s pet?”
“Now that the world has been healed, she should have a chance. Their memories are going to be all confused; they should at least hesitate to hurt one of their own if they don’t even remember what they’re punishing her for.”
“I was hoping you would say we had to go back for her. I wanted to keep her,” I said. I could feel his stare and regretted saying it out loud, even as Rojan grumbled his agreement. “As a pet only, of course.” Exhaustion was the doorway to honesty, and I wanted neither to cloud my judgment.
* * *
I woke in a bed, feeling as if I had slept for days. Wrapped in comfortable, warm blankets, I didn’t want to move. Unfortunately, the small weight lying on my chest did, and when it settled, there was hot breath blowing all over my neck.
I pushed Sammy a few inches away from my neck and rubbed his back until he fell back to sleep.
“You need to eat,” a really annoying person interrupted me from returning to sleep.
“Go away.”
Tell the annoying person what happens if he wakes a sleeping dragon.
“Rojan’s going to eat you,” I growled. I heard a furious hiss from the protective Shinobu. “And your little cat, too.”
“It’s dog…”
“What is?” I asked, opening my eyes. We were in Dylan’s cabin. Sammy was sprawled on my chest, Dylan sat on the edge of the bed with a plate of steak, Shinobu sat curled on his shoulder, and I knew Edward was upstairs. “How are you feeling? Still sick?”
“I feel better. Not perfect, but definitely better. Apparently, Edward healed two worlds using my pentagram while we were working on Skrev.”
Dylan tried to take Sammy one-handed so that I could sit up, but Shinobu hissed at the sleeping baby. I growled at her at the same time Dylan reached up and smacked her head.
“You don’t hiss at Sammy,” he warned.
Startled, she jumped from his shoulder and scampered up the bookshelf. Dylan almost never reprimanded her. Ignoring her, Dylan put the plate of steak on the bedside table and took Sammy.
“You still shouldn’t hold him.”
“I’m powerful enough now that being in the same room should be harmful.”
“You don’t seem any different to me,” I said, taking the plate and the silverware. “How long was I sleeping? I’m starving.”
“Two days. Edward says I can hide my power, that all of the gods can. It’s how Divina blends in. Apparently, I’m powerful enough now to hide it and I can prevent it from reacting with Sammy’s energy.”
“And are you going to be okay? You were the one to say we are who we are.”
“It’s not the same thing; you have always been a dragon. I keep changing. Who knows what I’ll end up as?”
“You may someday be as powerful as the gods, and I know you hate that, but you will never be one of them. You will always be Earth’s Guardian and you will always be half sago, half human. Have you seen Divina?”
He shook his head. “She isn’t at her place. I want to try to contact her, but I think she’s still fighting the others about me.”
Sammy was awake now and chewing on Dylan’s finger. Dylan took a sack of berries out of his bag and gave them to the baby. He was so focused on Sammy that he didn’t see Divina appear behind him. She was blocking her scent and powerful aura.
I set my plate down and reached for Sammy. “Come here, Sammy,” I said.
Sammy frowned up at Dylan, but turned and crawled into my lap. “She must love you a lot to fight so hard for you, especially against her brothers,” I said.
“I know. She loves me and I love her. I know I’m freaking out about it now, but really, it doesn’t matter how powerful I get as long as she never leaves me. I don’t want to be more powerful than I need to be to protect Earth, and I don’t want the gods to feel threatened by me, but more than anything, I don’t want to become someone she doesn’t like. I know she likes protecting me. I do not ever want her to feel threatened by me.”
“How could she? If she asked it of you, you would never use magic again.”
“If she asked me not to do magic, I know she would have a damn good reason.”
With him sitting on the bed, facing me, she came up right behind him. I could see it in his eyes the moment he realized she was there. As he turned to look at her, she sunk her fingers in his hair and leaned down to kiss him. They were perfect together.
Sammy buried his head in my shoulder. At least he knew better than to attack Divina, but anyone could see the Dylan’s love for her. Dylan pulled her down onto the bed, so I took Sammy and went to stand by the bookshelf. When they lasted several minutes without stopping their kiss to breathe, I got a little worried. Is it possible for him to have lung damage from the cabin that was not healed?
Leave him alone, Rojan advised.
“Breathe,” I whispered. They ignored me, so I took a few steps closer. “Breathe,” I whispered louder. Dylan waved me off without stopping, but Divina pulled away. He tried to follow her, but she stopped him with a gentle hand on his chest.
“I love you, you stupid idiot.”
“I love you, too. Can you tell me now why you stayed away for so long?” he asked.
Lying next to him, she leaned her forehead against his, obviously dreading the conversation. “You really want to live with me?”
“I want to marry you.”
“But you’re a Guardian. You’re supposed to have children. Don’t you want them?”
“Of course I do. But I want them with you, and no one else. There are nine other guardians to have little wizards. We could adopt.”
“What if I don’t want to adopt? Would you leave me if I never wanted to be a mother?”
“Of course not. You’d just have to make it up to me by not calling me stupid anymore,” he said, jokingly.
Sammy glanced up at me as if unsure what was going on.
She scoffed. “I don’t like that at all.”
“Well… you could stop calling me an idiot.”
She sighed. “Maybe I could do that.” She leaned away from him a little. “You know how much I love you, you say you trust me, but you still think I could leave you. I’m an Iadnah, Dylan. I’ve lived just an instant of my lifespan in this form. I have created a world and everything that has ever lived on it. Without this body, I’m sure I wouldn’t know love or be able to feel it, but it comes with many other feelings, too. Some
you wouldn’t like. You want to have children, and you shouldn’t have to live your entire life without them just because you were coerced into loving me.”
“What do you mean, ‘coerced’?”
“These emotions are both the best thing and the worst thing about having this mortal form. You cannot help your emotions. You didn’t choose me; your emotions did. A young, powerful Guardian… why fall in love with one woman when you can have anyone?” she asked him.
He leaned back against the pillows and laughed. “I am proud to be Ronez’s son, but I’m not him. I’m a guy, but not a slut. I know what I want and it’s you.”
“You have too long a life to never have children, but I am a god. I would make a horrible mother, because I have no maternal instincts.”
“Really? None? Mordon, please bring Sammy over here,” he said.
I really didn’t want to. Divina would never hurt a child on purpose, but Sammy could seriously anger the wrong person. I handed him to Dylan, and he handed the child to Divina. She took Sammy, but held him out at arm’s length. Both the child and the woman stared at each other with wide eyes. He looked over at Dylan with a worried expression, then back at Divina.
“Aren’t you supposed to support the head or something?” Divina asked.
“Not at this age.”
“Is he going to throw up on me?”
“That he might, but only if you make him mad. He has a vindictive streak,” Dylan said proudly.
Rojan chuckled with approval. She handed Sammy to Dylan, and he handed Sammy back to me. Before I could step away, Divina grabbed my arm to stop me.
She looked me straight in the eyes, leaning closer until all I could see was deep blue. Rojan responded by staring right back. Rojan knew she saw him, but it wasn’t threatening. Still, I stayed aware of her mood as best as I could.
“What a beautiful dragon. Why are you green, though? I’ve never seen a green dragon. Blue, black, dark brown, light brown, and even smoky white, but how do you blend in? Or are you green for something other than camouflage? There was a nest of mine once born red and black. They were very beautiful. Are you a forest dweller? Maybe a swamp?”
“The desert, actually.” Rojan was talking and, though it was weird, it really wasn’t like he was taking over my body. “While my scales are green naturally, I can change the color at will.”
Hang on. What do you mean “desert”? And that you can change your color? We never lived in the desert. You said you’ve always been with me.
I have been a part of you for your entire life, but I am much older than you.
“Sorry to interrupt, but have you accepted Dylan into your clutch?” Divina asked.
Rojan knew it was more for confirmation than a real question. “Dylan is Mordon’s best friend and someone he looks up to. It was either accept Dylan, or eat him. The latter would have upset Mordon very much. The same with the little child, though I would never eat a child, sago or otherwise.”
What is a clutch?
It was Divina who answered me. “Dragons of every world are alike in one aspect; it is their most basic instinct to guard. They must guard and protect something. As they are all very territorial, they form clutches; small family units of three or four dragons, usually a mated pair and babies. They protect each other.”
All dragons have difficulty with fertility and so we treasure our children above all else, even our mates. Sometimes a dragon’s need to have children drives them to steal another’s child.
“Dragons kidnap each other’s kids?” Dylan asked.
I got how Divina could hear me, but how was Dylan listening into my head?
“No, dragon children are too well protected. However, there will never be an orphaned dragon child, because any dragon child would be instantly adopted by anyone. Dragons have been known to kidnap sago children and dragons on other worlds steal children of the people there. No dragon would ever turn down helping a child of any species.”
“So where is your clutch? Did you have children?” Divina asked.
I felt Rojan’s pain, but his memories were blocked from me.
“They are all dead now.”
I wanted to press for answers, to know what happened and why he hid himself from me. He had memories and a past, which had never occurred to me, and I realized then that I didn’t actually know Rojan very much at all. It seemed that he knew me pretty well, though.
You do not really want to know what happened to me, and I do not want you to live with those memories.
I couldn’t agree to a secret being kept from me, but Rojan wouldn’t be pressured on the matter. Coexisting like this might sometimes be difficult; however, I knew it was worth it to have Rojan. I may not have known he was there until recently, but I didn’t feel like myself when he was gone. I didn’t know what he really was, only that he was part of who I was. That was what Dylan had been trying to tell me.
“We need to get back to healing worlds,” Dylan said. “Of course, I want to heal Earth next, but I have an idea that might be better. I had never even heard of Skrev before, and it was in serious need of help. I figured out how to travel---”
“You have learned to flash,” Edward interrupted, stepping down the stairs. It was getting really crowded in the room. “That’s what we call it. Only the gods can flash; the Guardians learn to travel using our book’s magic.”
“Okay, so I learned to do that. Maybe I can transport us again, but instead of landing us in a particular place, I try to land us on the world that needs healing the most.”
“Absolutely not. You have no idea where you would end up,” Edward argued.
“I think it’s a great idea,” Divina said. “Whatever world needs him the most, the longer he waits, the worse its condition will be.”
“So you will go with him, then?” he asked her.
“I still have things to take care of.” The glare she sent him told me they knew something Dylan and I didn’t. My first instinct was to relay this information to Dylan, to warn him, but his expression said that he was already aware of it. “You can’t go with them, either; you keep getting banned from worlds. Why is that?”
He sighed. “I have no idea. I blame you, though.”
I hoped to prevent one of their infamous arguments by being positive. “We can manage another world on our own. I mean, we just took care of Skrev, and I can’t imagine a world worse than---”
The room filled with a bright flash, and then it became colder than anything I had ever felt before. There really wasn’t any relief as far as the brightness went, because when the flash faded, we were left in a bright white blizzard. The only thing worse than the instant snow blindness, was the nearly instant frostbite.
Right before my eyes, I could see the desolation of the world as it reached out to Dylan and tore the healing magic from him. I didn’t even have to shift my eyes to see the world drawing magic without waiting for it to be given freely. The world was more damaged than not. I believe at one point, Dylan screamed, but I couldn’t hear anything over the wind.
My fire tried to flair inside me, but it was just too cold, too fast. Dylan was passed out on the ground before the world had even finished with him, yet I could do nothing. My mind was scrambled and I couldn’t feel anything. I managed not to crush Sammy as I collapsed, but could only try to cover him between Dylan and myself before passing out. The last thing I heard was him crying.
Chapter 14
Dylan
Waking was a long and painstaking task. Before I could even open my eyes, I was suffocating from the overwhelming heat radiating from someone lying next to me. As sluggish as I felt, I rolled away from the heat. Sammy called out just as the bed disappeared from below me.
I hit the hard wooden floor with a grunt, and apparently it woke my energy, for it roared up from inside, so powerful and potent that it would have burned me if I didn’t immediately let it out. Just like the last two times I woke on Duran, I released the energy. There was so much excess that even as
I exhaled it, it seeped from my skin. It actually felt natural this time.
“Next time I agree to go on a mission with you, hit me,” Mordon’s groggy voice said from the bed.
“Why do you run so damn hot?”
“I’m part dragon, get over it. Where are we?” he asked.
I finally opened my eyes and saw that we were in a small hunting cabin. The walls were made of logs and half of one wall consisted of a fireplace, which was currently crackling with fire. Wild wind could be heard even over the roaring fire. Sammy leaned over the bed to check on me and Mordon gently pulled him back away from the edge. There were no windows to assess where we were.
“I don’t recognize anything. The gravity is just a little lighter than Duran’s, and a little heavier on the oxygen.”
“I can smell the ice and hear the wind, so there must still be a blizzard out there. I hear no trees or leaves, so we’re in a cabin out in the open.”
“The last thing I remember is the world taking my energy and Sammy crying. Before you start, I’m fine. This world was crumbling and saw my energy for what it was. You can’t blame it for saving itself.”
“At the expense of you, I can. You could have died, and there was nothing I could do. The entire reason for me being here is to keep you alive, and I couldn’t do anything because it was too cold.”
He was nearly growling. Anyone else would have thought it was his dragon, but I could see in his eyes how angry he was that he couldn’t protect me. “We both passed out, so who dragged us in here out of the cold?”
“I did.” The girl appeared like she had on Dios; completely corporeal and healthy. “As I told your uncle, you Guardians have to be watched over constantly,” she said.
“You’re looking better,” I said.
She smiled. “So are you. You have healed five worlds, and your uncle healed two more with your magic. The healing that you have done is spreading. The boundaries between the void and the universe are becoming stronger. Therefore, I am getting stronger.”
