Authors: Rain Oxford
“Wait. Dylan. If they think Sammy does not belong
to one of us, they may take him away. They think we adopted him. They cannot
think we stole him.”
“I’m more worried about the ‘we’ part. How about
you be his daddy, and I’ll be his uncle.”
Sammy reached out for me again. “Mama!”
“You are half human; they’re not going to believe
we’re brothers. I think we should just not agree or deny anything except that
we take care of Sammy.”
Dylan sighed and considered it.
“I am going to
need a lot of Divina after this.”
I echoed his sigh.
“Don’t rub it in my face. I
couldn’t get a girlfriend as a prince. Now I haven’t even a name.”
“Oh, but you’ll be a hero when we defeat the
demon, and the hero always gets the girl.”
“The only girl so far is Vivian and I doubt Nano
would like that.”
“So I am clear of sickness? I can leave now?” I asked
Vlen.
“You are. We still need to examine the baby, though.”
“Then let me in the room while you do. I doubt Dylan
would let you near him otherwise.” The man thought about it, then went to the
door. He slid his hand against a black rubber pad and the door slid open. I
hurried through the door when he looked at me expectantly.
Dylan sat on the edge of the bed with Sammy in his
lap. The child beamed at me when I sat next to Dylan and I tried to propel
himself into my lap. I took him and he snuggled against my chest.
The three doctors faced us, obviously unsure if we
were a threat or not.
“They want to examine Sammy,” I said.
“I know. Can we avoid it?”
Dylan was emitting discomfort. Sammy just looked up
at us as if asking what we wanted to do. None of the men had malicious
intentions, but that didn’t mean they understood humans or babies enough not to
accidentally hurt him.
“I doubt it. The last thing they need is for him to
have a common Earth cold and it spreads like the plague here.”
“Edward said that the books keep that from happening.
We didn’t worry about it on Dios.”
“They don’t know that. And I am not sure the books
brought us here.”
“Then what did?”
“I think we know someone who could help you,” Vlen
interrupted. We all turned to look at him. “I know you are a Noquodi.”
“I prefer the term Guardian.”
“As you wish. The point is, we are much more open and
hospitable to travelers than Duran. You are not expected to know our customs,
but we are very insistent on good health. All health care is free and easily
accessible. For the Guardians, we are especially hospitable and will do what we
can to make your visit enjoyable. I must insist your child is screened for
infection, but it is for his own good as much as ours. Then our Guardian will
meet with you. I believe he will be able to explain to you why you are here.”
“Did he bring us here?” I asked.
“I do not know. Please lay your son down to be
screened. He will not be harmed at all.”
After a long hesitation, I laid Sammy down on the
bed.
“What is his name?”
“Samhail Green.”
The man who examined Dylan waved the screen over
Sammy and I had to look away; I didn’t want to see his tiny baby organs. Dylan
had also looked away, with a noticeable green tint to his face. Afterwards, the
man stuck the black stick in Sammy’s mouth and then frowned at the screen.
“Interesting family you have. You are half human, half sago?” he asked Dylan.
Dylan nodded. “And the child is half dile and half human?” It was my turn to
nod. Dile must be the name of the people of Dios. He looked at me. “You are
mostly sago… but a little of something we cannot identify. What are you?” he
asked me.
I shook my head. “Completely sago.”
“Not according to our tests. We were hoping to
identify it in the child, but his genetics are clearly and purely human and
dile.”
“Well, your tests are confused. I am purely sago.”
Dylan snorted. Sammy arched up and head-butted Dylan
in the chest. Dylan grunted. “The kid could break a rock with that skull.”
“Sammy, I told you to be nice,” I scolded the baby.
He held up his arms for Dylan to pick him up. Dylan did and Sammy rubbed his
face against Dylan’s chest in apology.
“Either way, Samhail is perfectly healthy.” He
snapped a tiny metal bracelet on Sammy’s small wrist.
“Nice to hear it,” a voice said behind us.
Having known Kiro and Dylan for three years, I
recognized the Guardian who entered for what he was. There was no mistaking the
ancient power of a Guardian. Even though Dylan was new to being a one, his
power was as ancient as the worlds. Every man had a different natural scent. I
thought Dylan was just unique, but I realized as I faced this man that each
Guardian also had a different power scent.
While Kiro had the type of face where his age was
indeterminable, this man did not. He looked barely older than Dylan, which was
extremely irritating when I could smell that he was nearly as old as Kiro.
“The Guardian of Vaigda?”
“The one and only. Nice to meet you. I am Shiloh.”
Shiloh looked friendly enough. He had short, medium brown hair done in a proper
style and medium blue eyes. His skin was just tanned enough to clash with his
brilliant white clothes.
“Dylan.”
“I have heard so much about you, Guardian of Earth.
Apprentice of Kiro Yatunus. Brought down the dark god, Vretial. There are quite
a few prophesies about you, too.”
“It was Tiamat who defeated Vretial.”
“But not without the help of her Guardian. I could
feel you drawing on the power of my world. Vaigda helped you, not Tiamat, of
its own will.”
“How does he check out?”
Dylan asked me.
I drew in another, deeper breath, full of the scent
of Shiloh. Dylan smelled a lot of power and a hint of ink. I thought that was
because he was a Guardian, but Kiro and Shiloh smelled different. Shiloh
smelled of ancient power and a dusty library. He was self-aware,
self-confidant, and ambitious, but I smelled no malevolence or betrayal.
“He smells all right.”
He turned to me and smiled. “And you are?”
“Mordon. This is Samhail.”
“Nice to meet you, Dragon Child.”
“What do you mean? I am sago,” I answered.
“Of course you are. Would you like to know why you
are here now?” he asked Dylan.
“Then you did bring us here?”
“No, I do not have that kind of power. To bring you
to my world without your names in my book is impossible.”
“Then who did?”
“You,” he said. He walked out a solid white door and
led us through well-lit, pristine white halls. “I understand you grew up as a
human with no knowledge of the other worlds. Then you spent the duration of
your Guardianship on Duran.”
“That’s right,” Dylan said.
“A world that is quite suspicious of outsiders. A
rather close-minded world. I am afraid you have had a sheltered and narrow
experience of the universe. If you do not mind my saying, I had asked to train
you myself. Tiamat thought Kiro was better because of Ronez.”
“You know a lot about me. Do you know Kiro is my
uncle?”
The Guardian paused and considered him. “No,
actually. The gods wanted you to go to Kiro because he was the most closely
related to the last Guardian of Earth. I did not know you were actually Ronez’s
son, but you look very similar. I am sorry you lost him. Your father was a very
good man. Sometimes irresponsible, often eccentric, but always a friend.”
“So I’ve heard. Tiamat gave me the chance to say
goodbye to him, but I never really knew him. Nano knew he was my father,
though. He also said some of the gods are turning against me… again.
Apparently, they all wanted me dead when I was born.”
“Nano gets a lot of information from Zer. A lot more
than the rest of us get from our gods. I am afraid that your relationship with
Kiro does not help your case. The gods are ancient and a private species. They
have survived the death and creation of the universe, and to them, everything
they cannot control is a threat. They took a risk on Kiro and Ronez. Then you
were born. You grow more powerful every day, you are related to Kiro, and you
will stand up to a god. The more Tiamat defends you and fights for you, the
more they are suspicious of you.”
“Then why haven’t they killed me yet?” Dylan asked.
Sammy started fussing and reached out for Dylan. I handed him off and he laid
his head on Dylan’s shoulder.
“Because they need you.”
“This demon? I haven’t exactly done much good. I’ve
just been running from it.”
“Oh, this goes way deeper than the demon. You
probably know by now that the demon has torn holes in the universe. This is
causing time and space to collide. I think this will help explain.” He
indicated a doorway to a room completely devoid of light. As we walked in, I
could see from the light of the hall that we were walking on a glass bridge.
The door shut behind us and light lit the whole room.
Surrounding us was a colorful hologram of the planets
and space. “That’s Earth!” Dylan exclaimed, pointing to a small blue and white
planet above us.
“That’s Duran.” I indicated a bigger blue planet.
“Mine is bigger,” I said, just to bother him.
He opened his mouth to retort, paused, and nodded.
“Yes, yes, Duran is bigger. But Earth has showers.”
Shiloh did a fancy hand movement and the worlds spun
away, leaving a dark place, littered with dim stars and areas of pure darkness.
The light bent into this darkness.
“Black holes,” Dylan said. “This is what’s left of
the outerworlds.”
“Yes. This is where you and your goddess saved all of
the other worlds. It is also where the problem started.” Suddenly, it was as if
the air was made of cool blue gridlines and bubbles. Then the space that
surrounded us flattened into a thin field waist high. “This universe was born
as two universal membranes connected for an instant. It produced an explosion
of creation. This was because of the war of the gods. However, the other two
membranes are still affecting our universe. Dark matter and dark energy are the
matter and energy from other universes affecting ours. The dark matter holds
our universe together, while the dark energy keeps it expanding. The more the
universe grows, the more dark energy there is, and the faster the universe
grows. Understand that there are more types of energy than nominal and
physical.
“This is the universe as a two dimensional
projection. The lines are the natural function of time and space. The bubbles
are mistakes and choices, which is actually perfectly normal. Some bubbles were
created because someone messed up time. It is like an alternate universe.
Others are people born in the wrong time or decisions that affected too many
things. This is natural. But what we see here is not. Do you see it?”
“Yes,” Dylan said.
“See what?” I asked. He pointed off to a spot of
gridlines. There was a half-formed bubble in the middle of some tangled up
gridlines.
“It was torn. It’s like a scar now. Look, all over
the place, there are tears and scars and bubbles that are punctured or
malformed.”
It took me a while, but I could slowly see what was
right and what wasn’t. The projection moved until we were back where we
started; only now I could see the wounds in time and space clearly. Most of the
damage was to Earth, which was riddled with scars, and many of those scars
reached out to another planet.
“Why Earth?” Dylan asked, obviously nauseated.
“I cannot be sure. Most likely because of you. Pull
out your book.”
Dylan pulled his book out, which was glowing with
blue light, opened it, and turned to the page I signed. Lines shot from the
pages to certain scars on the planet.
“This is happening to other Guardians as well. Our
books are suffering the damage of our worlds. The more connected to our worlds
we are, the more damage to our books. The gods are in danger as are their
worlds. It is up to the Guardians, and we cannot do it without you.”
“What?” Dylan gasped. He really looked sick now.
“What can I do?”
“Mordon?” Shiloh turned to me. “You are just as
important in this.”
I shook my head. “I’m just along for the adventure.
The only strength in magic I have is my fire.”
He gripped my arm and turned me to face Dylan. I
didn’t like people grabbing me. “Look at him.” I did and just saw Dylan.
Unsatisfied, Shiloh twisted my arm back until it hurt. I tried to get out of
his grasp, but he held me tighter.
“Let go,” I said. However, my voice sounded growly as
my teeth and eyes itched. When my fingers grew claws, I was able to scratch
Shiloh across the stomach. He let me go and I faced him. Shiloh was glowing the
same blue light that surrounded us. He even had scars on him.
“We are all suffering the effects. Now look at
Dylan.”
I did so, but this time Dylan was glowing, too. He
wasn’t glowing blue, but green. It was an eerie, alien, calming green; the same
color he emitted when healing someone. Sammy was glowing some blue, some green,
but also absorbing Dylan’s green glow.
“What do you see?” Dylan asked me.
“I don’t know. You have no scars like Shiloh, though.
Shiloh is full of the same energy as the rest of the room, but your energy is
green.”
“No, Dylan’s magic is healing the time and space he
touches. For us, if we touch a scar or bubble, we become affected. For him, he
heals it. That is why we need him. In order to protect you, Samhail, and
himself, he used the damage already caused by the demon to construct a bubble
that transported you here. He created a tear here and then healed it behind
you. For the time being, he can travel to any world at any time. That green
energy surrounding him is not regular magic.”
“What is it?” Dylan asked. The glowing faded as my
eyes and teeth itched. I looked down to see that my hands were normal again.