Authors: Rain Oxford
“What was taken from you?”
“I lost my memory and cannot remember what it is. I
just knew if I came here that I would get it back. I could feel it the moment
this man told me where he was going.”
Then the queen turned to me. “And who are you? What
are you doing here?” she asked.
I had a choice to make on the spot; spin a lie or
tell the truth. Certainly they would not allow me to take the Stone of Iodus.
Royal people were not reasonable like that. Just as I opened my mouth to lie,
the door burst open. A tiny little girl, no older than five, ran inside. She
didn’t even look at us, just ran to the king and tried to climb into his lap.
He picked her up and held her with an uncanny gentleness for his size.
For how closely she resembled the queen, I knew she
was their daughter. She had shoulder-length, straight black hair and sharp
green eyes that were currently filled with tears. Oddly, she had inherited none
of her father’s size. Maybe only male trolls were that big. She wore a puffy
black dress with silver trim and red jewels.
“What happened?” the queen asked, her voice now
gentle and kind.
“I was eating and one of the gou took the food out of
my hand.”
“Did it hurt?” the king asked. She nodded and buried
her head in the space between his arm and chest. He held her hand and gently
kissed it. “Better?” she nodded again.
The queen turned back to us and the softness in her
gaze quickly vanished. “Now, back to the strangers who have barged uninvited
into my home.”
After seeing that show of emotion, I really did not
want to lie. She may be a queen and married to a troll, but she was a person
who had something to protect. “I am Kiro, the Noquodi of Duran,” I said, giving
the queen a small bow. Cylo gasped in shock and even the queen looked a little
startled for a moment. “I came here when Rasik, Noquodi of Kahún said that he
was losing his magic. He wanted my help, but I really came for selfish reasons.
You have the Stone of Iodus, capable of opening a hole into the void and
contacting the demons. I need the stone.”
“The Stone of Iodus would also bring magic to the
lands, and our people hate magic,” she said. At least it wasn’t my head she
demanded.
“I understand that, but the matter is more important.
Your Noquodi is losing his magic because the world is losing it. Although you
can block the magic from being accessible, it still makes up the fabric of your
world. Without magic, your planet and consequently your people will die.”
“And calling up demons will save this world?”
“No, I need to make a deal with them to help my
nephew. My nephew will save this and every other world.”
She glared now. “Who is your nephew, saver of
worlds?”
“Dylan Yatunus, my brother’s son. He is the Noquodi
of Earth with more power than any other Noquodi so far. He has made a goddess
fall in love with him, and fight for him. He has power of no limits, but he
only helps others with it.”
“And why should we believe you that this world will
die without magic?” the king asked. Obviously his wife was the wiser of the
two.
“Have you not seen odd things happen that were not
meant to be?” I asked. I pet Hobble’s left head. “This creature, for example,
and others of his species, put an entire community of people in a time bubble
to protect them from a sea creature that will not exist for many thousands of
years.”
“A sea monster?”
“A sea monster that will evolve on Vaigda in many
generations.”
“A sea monster from another world… how do you know
this?”
“Noquodi know things. A long time ago, it came up in
a card. Right now, there are a lot of futures being taken away. I can help, but
only with the Stone of Iodus.”
The king and queen looked at each other and I knew
they were communicating silently. How they were doing it without magic, I
didn’t know. Without waiting or confirmation from her parents, the little girl
climbed off her father’s lap and pulled her necklace from where it was tucked
in. It was a large emerald on a strong gold chain.
“The Stone of Iodus is a jewel?” Cylo asked.
“No, it is the little girl,” I answered.
Now the queen’s face showed shock. “How do you know
that?”
“Because the emerald is pulsing with power, but it is
the child’s power. The jewel is a diversion for anyone who would go after the
Stone of Iodus. Why else would it be called ‘the Troll King’s Heart’ if it were
not something the troll king loved?”
“This proves you are one of the Noquodi, but not that
your intentions are honorable,” the king said.
“Oh, my intentions are not honorable,” I explained.
“While it is in my nature to help everyone and nearly impossible for me to
ignore the needs of others, I am here to help my nephew. His intentions are
honorable; I care most that he is okay when this is over. In fact, even the
success of his mission is secondary.”
“I believe you are being too honest, now,” the queen
said.
The little girl came to me with her mother close
behind and held out her tiny hand, which I took gently. This girl was not used
to strength, especially from men. I figured men would avoid her for fear of
breaking the small girl.
Her eyes changed from dark green to light green as
everything since the moment I woke up in the goblin cell flashed through my
mind. The little girl was looking at what I had done. Finally my short
adventure ended and then something new happened. A crack formed in the middle
of the room and grew. The only thing inside that I could see was bright white
light. This crack felt malicious and permanent; a crack formed in more than
this world, which would affect many worlds. It was jagged like jaws.
The bright white within was a trick… a trap. It may
have looked light, but inside there was darkness. It was an end to all things.
She had opened a hole to the void.
When we were not immediately attacked, I opened my eyes. I had seen
something in the demon right before I closed my eyes, and I wanted another
look. Dylan, Sammy, and I were alone on a beach. No demon, no people, no
buildings or cities that I could see. To one side was a forest and to the other
was endless sea. The sky was overcast, like there was a storm, and the wind was
wet and chilly. “Dylan,” I whispered. He didn’t move. “Dylan, you need to
look.”
He did. “Where are we?” he asked after a moment.
I sniffed the air and could smell clean, wet water,
forest, and sand with a hint of metal. “We are above ground. Even the forest
room of Dios had a smell of dirt and lack of sunlight.”
“Well, we’re not on Dios anymore; the gravity is
different.”
“Earth?” I asked.
“No. About the same gravity as Earth, but my magic
feels funny, like it’s trying to figure out where we are. Like my magic is
trying to find a signal to narrow down our position. I don’t like it. What do
you smell?” he asked.
“The ocean, sand, the forest, and metal.”
“Ocean? What do you smell particularly that you call
it ocean?” he asked. He didn’t ask about the metal.
I sniffed again and the cold breeze stung my nose.
“Water and salt.”
“That’s it?” He dug through the baby bag, pulled out
a small blanket, and tried to wrap Sammy up in it. Sammy frowned at Dylan like
he wasn’t sure what was going on. “What about the forest?” Dylan asked.
“Dirt and plants.”
“Then we have a problem,” he said. Of course we did.
“Where are the fish in the ocean? The animals and bugs and birds in the
forest?”
I hadn’t thought of that… We had a problem. Sammy
started to cry and squirm until I had to set him down. “What’s wrong?” I asked
Sammy.
“His energy. Look at his energy,” Dylan said.
I focused my energy on the energy around him.
Shocked, I confirmed it by smelling his magic. “His power is being blocked.”
“Yeah, contained. Edward had said that everyone has a
magical weakness on one or two worlds. Maybe this world is his weakness. He’s
probably crying because he isn’t used to it.” The moment I let go of Sammy, he
wrapped his tiny arms around Dylan’s knees. Dylan picked him up and he ceased
crying.
I sniffed again. “Interesting. His magic is masked by
yours,” I said. Dylan frowned at Sammy and the little baby frowned right back.
“Maybe we should head into the forest. I don’t like
being out in the open.”
Just as we turned, there was a disturbance behind us.
The waves grew as a large object rose out of the sea. Far larger than us, the
alien object was made of a dull black color that resembled an animal’s hide,
with solid wings that curled downward. The body of it was about as round as I
was tall and narrowed into a pointed nose. Two small ports opened above the nose
of the object, much like eyes. Dylan tried to hide Sammy between us.
“I don’t like this. Those look like a good place
to shoot from.”
“Magic?”
“I’m forming a shield.”
Unfortunately, he was powerful enough that as his
protective shield formed, the energy became visible. It was like electricity
trapped in glass. Dylan was not subtle when it came to protection.
The ports suddenly lit up with a purple light, which
grew to encompass the entire beach. I barely felt myself hitting the ground
before I was unconscious.
* * *
I woke to blinding lights and a baby’s wailing. After
a few seconds, the light dimmed and I could open my eyes. Everything was white;
sterile white. I was in a very small room, on a tall, narrow bed with a clean
white sheet. Someone had replaced my clothes with a pair of thin pants and a
thin, short-sleeved shirt that snapped together with four plastic snaps down my
right side. White, of course. The wall to my left was mirrored, the one to my
right was glass with a glass door, and everything else was white. Beside me an
electronic monitor showing what looked like my heartbeat.
Through the glass wall, I could see Dylan in an
identical room. They had replaced his clothes with a white outfit matching the
one they gave me. He was just waking up, probably due to the wailing that was
coming through unseen speakers. Across from Dylan’s room was Sammy in a small
glass cradle. He was standing up and crying his head off while three men stood
with unsure looks on their faces. They were dressed in matching white uniforms
and I assumed they were some kind of personnel. One of the men gently pushed
Sammy down and started to change his diaper. The baby instantly stopped crying
and stared at the man like he was the weirdest thing in the world. When the man
sat him back up with a satisfied smile on his face, Sammy started crying again.
He stood up and tried to reach for Dylan.
Now Dylan was fully awake, likely from the increased
screaming. He was off the bed in a blink and attempting to get the connecting
door open.
That must have been encouragement enough, for the
risk-taking man picked Sammy up and cautiously approached the door. However,
instead of opening it, he demanded something in a foreign language and waited.
Dylan did nothing until the man repeated himself, and then the Guardian slowly
backed away from the door. Just as slowly, the man opened it. The other two
followed him into Dylan’s room with the same reluctance, as if Dylan was a wild
animal. Sammy squirmed until the man set him on the floor. Sammy tumbled into
Dylan’s arms.
The man pointed to the bed and spoke calmly, but
Dylan backed away and held Sammy tighter.
“I think he wants you back on the bed,”
I said
in his mind.
“Yes, I know, but I don’t want to be lying down
with them in the room. Did they do anything to you?”
he asked.
I got out of the bed and went to the connecting wall.
The floor was freezing and smooth as glass. Dylan backed up to where I was, but
didn’t turn to look, probably able so sense me by his side.
“Not that I know
of. I think this is a hospital. They gave you Sammy, so I think we should stay
calm and be nice.”
I knocked on the door gently. One of the men came to
the door and waited until I moved back to the bed. He entered and shut the
door, then softly asked something of me. I sat on the bed. As Dylan once told
me, treat everyone as your friend until they prove otherwise.
The man looked friendly enough. He was a little
taller than me, a little thinner than me, and a lot older than me. His hair and
eyes were very shiny silver. A slight sniff uncovered no ill intentions.
Smiling politely, he indicated that I lay back and
checked the device beside the bed. The monitor disconnected from the rest of
the contraption and became a wireless, small glass screen, which he waved
slowly over my head and down towards my feet. I looked down as it was above my
stomach and saw that it was displaying all of my innards.
“Oh, yuck,” I moaned. Then I laughed.
“Dylan, you
should see this.”
When the man was done, words of some language
appeared in black on the glass. He set it aside, picked up what looked like a
small plastic pencil, and held it out to my mouth. I frowned, but opened my
mouth. He stuck it under my tongue, then removed it.
The screen flashed words and the man frowned. He
asked me something, but with no indication, I had no idea what he said. I
looked over at Dylan, who had submitted to the same examination.
The man raised a small, thin, flat object to my mouth
and said something. I opened my mouth, but he merely repeated his request.
“I do not understand. I do not speak your language,”
I said carefully in Sudo. The object made a buzzing noise.
“Sudo assimilated,” said the object in a small,
electronic voice.
The man smiled. “We can finally communicate,” he said
in Sudo. While the pronunciation was perfect, his lips were moving to foreign
words. “We could not translate to your language until we knew what language you
spoke. My name is Vlen.”
“I am Mordon.”
“Can I ask for your family name for my record or does
your culture not have them?” he asked, picking up the screen again.
“No, my culture does, but I have not. I do not yet
have a family name,” I said.
“Interesting. What world are you from?”
Duran was so against foreigners, but this man seemed
like it was an everyday occurrence. “Duran. I am sago. And what world am I on?
Is this Malta?” I asked.
“You are very lost. You are on Vaigda. I wonder how
you got here. Your companion is very powerful. Did he bring you here?”
“I don’t know. He doesn’t know where we are, either.”
“Mordon? Why do they suddenly speak Sudo?”
Dylan asked me.
“Because I spoke Sudo and apparently they have a
translator. It picked the language up. We’re on Viagda.”
“So this guy says. He also asked me if I am the
Noquodi of Duran. I said no.”
“You didn’t say you were the Noquodi of Earth?”
“He didn’t ask about Earth. I told him I’m sago
and gave him my Sudo name. However, I’m pretty sure that thing he stuck in my
mouth took my DNA. They probably know we’re not both sago.”
“You are half sago. Surely they will see that and
assume you have no knowledge of your human lineage,”
I told him. “What are
you going to do to us? How long do you plan to detain us?” I asked Vlen.
“We mean you no harm. We are simply making sure you
are healthy and free of illness. Once we are sure you do not bring a dangerous
pathogen to our citizens, you will be free to leave.”
I looked over as I heard the man in the other room
speak quietly to Dylan. He shook his head. “I’m fine. I just want to be left
alone.”
“What’s happening?” I asked him out loud. Sammy
looked at me and giggled.
“Their scanner thing found that some of my bones had
been broken and healed wrong. They want to fix them. I’m not letting anyone
rebreak my bones.”
“I can fix your bones with no breakage or skin
tearing. It will be over very quickly,” the man with Dylan insisted.
“No. Unless something is infected, leave it alone,”
Dylan demanded stubbornly.
I sighed.
“Duran’s gravity is heavier than your
bones were built for. If they healed wrong, with the extra weight, you could be
at risk.”
“My father was sago.”
“Yes, so your bones and muscles are probably
denser than a human’s, but not as much as a full-blooded sago’s. Let them
help.”
Dylan groaned and laid back. Sammy snuggled against
his chest happy as could be. “Will it hurt?” Dylan asked.
The man who had been watching us back and forth
hesitated before responding. “Yes.”
He took a large metal wand and the other man came
forward to hold Dylan’s leg down. The man with the wand twisted the metal and
it shot a light down into Dylan’s left thigh. He shouted with pain and Sammy
started crying. The lights flickered and the wand went flying into the wall.
All three men turned to stare at Dylan, who was trying to comfort Sammy.
“You should have let them help you, wimp,” I told
him. Sammy stopped crying and looked at me.
Dylan shot me a glare. “I didn’t do it.”
“Sammy did it?” I asked. He nodded and I grinned. “He
was trying to protect you. How cute.”
Sammy must have understood my tone because he giggled
and reached his arms out for me. “Mama!”
Just like that, I wasn’t grinning anymore; Dylan was.
Vlen held up a silver metal bracelet. From where, I had no clue. He snapped it
around my wrist and I tried not to freak out. “What is this?” I inquired.
He seemed taken aback by my loud tone. “It is
identification.” He held up his own wrist, which had an identical band. “It has
your name and medical afflictions, and includes your clearance.”
“Medical afflictions? I’ll have you know I am
perfectly healthy.”
He swallowed. “Yes, of course. Your genetics are very
strong and your blood is clean, but your core body temperature is high and so
your metabolism is greater than ours. If something does infect you, something
your body cannot fight, the symptoms will incapacitate you very quickly.”
“Trust me; my body can fight any pathogen. I have
never been ill.”
“Have you been poisoned?”
“Hasn’t everyone?”
He looked startled and unsure for a moment. “This
monitors your health and alerts others if you are in danger. It also works as a
translator. This has Sudo programmed. It speaks to others around you, so when
you walk near someone, your band will tell theirs that you speak Sudo and
theirs will tell yours what they speak. Then, when you speak Sudo, they will
hear their language and---”
“How does it do that? I can see your lips are moving
with your language, but I only hear Sudo.”
“Oh… Vaigda’s technology is more advanced than
Duran’s technology, I am afraid I cannot explain how it works to someone who
did not grow up on Vaigda.”
In other words, he thought we were dumb. I was a
failure as far as being a prince went, but I was never called slow for being
sago before.
“It keeps track of your currency as well. Without
this, you could not get food.”
“But I have no currency of this world,” I said.
“Every independent visitor is automatically given a
fair amount of currency in order to obtain food and housing. Your son cannot
have his own, but you and your companion have been given enough extra currency
to provide for him.”
“My what?” I asked.
“My WHAT?!” Dylan demanded at the same time, holding
his wrist out like the bracelet was a snake.
“Do not worry. We know he is not your biological son,
but we do not outlaw adoption. We know some worlds do not allow it, but we
believe adoption is honorable.”