Authors: Rain Oxford
“You are older than us,” Ronez said in awe.
“Quite a lot older, yes. So heed the wisdom of my
years and sorrows. There is nothing more important than family.”
Blood or
not blood.
Rojan told me, giving me back the control. It was a little
awkward standing before the two of them, so I just turned and walked back out
to the campfire.
“Not now,”
I told Dylan silently when it
looked like he really wanted to question me. “So what is the game plan?” I
asked as the twin Guardians rejoined the group. “Where do we go? What do we
do?”
“Dylan has healed enough that the universe is stitching
itself back together nicely. The ripples that caused the damage in the first
place have stopped. All we need to do now is deal with the beast.
Unfortunately, the Ancient keeps getting more powerful,” Divina said.
“The demon is still after Sammy. Even when we got him
to Dios, the demon was still after him. Of all the children on all the worlds,
why Sammy?” Dylan asked her.
She sighed and Rojan growled; she knew why and had
been keeping it secret. I should have predicted that Dylan would figure it out.
“When Mordon was pulled into the void, you said no
one would remember him. Edward forgot, but you and I remembered because of the
Iadnah energy. You said we saw the universe differently.” He was
confrontational now. She nodded. “But Sammy cried.”
Edward gaped as if he suddenly got it and I could
feel Rojan’s mind working. We never got the entire story of what had happened
since I was pulled into the void.
“Mordon, look at Sammy.”
I didn’t hesitate to shift my eyes and look at the
baby in Divina’s arms. I realized too late that looking at a god’s soul was
dangerous. There was nothing to describe Divina, no human or sago descriptions.
She was not evil or good or innocent or anything; at least not at a level that
I could understand. Her intentions were difficult enough to read; actually
seeing her was something I never wanted to do again, just because the power was
too great.
Sammy was the picture of innocence and goodness. He
was what I expected Dylan to have looked like as a baby; nothing in front of him
but a life of doing good and helping people. I could smell every intention
Dylan ever had, and now I could see every intention Sammy ever would have.
And both of them had Iadnah energy filling them.
“That is very strange,” I said. I had seen it before, but had assumed it was
Dylan’s energy that transferred to him. I shifted my eyes back.
“Sammy cried because he remembered Mordon, and he
remembered because he sees the universe the same way we do. He’s just like me,
isn’t he?”
She wouldn’t look at him. “Avoli is rebuilding his
world, and jumpstarting the process by importing people from many worlds.
Therefore, he needs a Guardian. Afraid of what happened before happening again,
he asked me for help. Obviously he couldn’t have you, but you were more powerful
than any other. You are exactly what he was looking for, so he convinced Zer to
introduce Nano to a human woman.
“Avoli thought that since your father was a sago and
mother a human, he had to somehow recreate the event. Erono refused to allow
Kiro to be used, but Zer will agree to anything. Avoli tried to find a woman
with similar genetic traits to your mother, but Nano met his mate and said he
would not accept anyone else. Amazingly, it worked. We still have no idea how;
perhaps it is a human thing. Maybe humans have some recessive ability that I
did not design or know about.”
“That explains why his development is a little…
advanced,” Dylan said. We all looked at Sammy, who was sitting still and
listening intently. After a few seconds, he hid his face against Divina’s
chest. “But Ronez has many children that are half human, and Edward has a few.
They can’t all be like me, because the gods freaked out over me.”
“No one is like you. I’m sorry, Dylan. I have no idea
how you have the magic you do, or Sammy. None of us do. We pretty much mixed
red and blue together and got gold… twice. It makes no sense. We dislike the
threat this poses, but we are not curious by nature. You are driven so solve
mysteries. We aren’t.”
Divina was a secretive person, powerful above all
others, and used it to get what she wanted. The love Dylan had for her was
tangible, and I would never doubt it, but I couldn’t imagine that she was right
for him. They looked amazing together, of course, the way they acted and
reacted to each other. Only having been together for three years, they could
feel each other. When one walked into the room, the other would stop and look.
Dylan once told me that even when he couldn’t see her, he knew when she was
near because it felt like the air was empty until she was there.
I had no idea what he loved so much about her. She
was dominating, bordering on bullying and violent, she lied to him and kept
secrets, she never hesitated to use her power against him, and she obviously
didn’t love him as much as he did her.
You do not see what goes on behind doors
,
Rojan said.
Her love is just as strong as his, and their relationship is in
complete balance. Your dragon instincts drive you to protect him, even from his
own decisions, but this time you must trust that he knows what is in his heart.
“So is he going to live with his parents or monks?” I
asked.
“It would be cruel to his mother to keep him from
her,” she answered. “Dylan, it wasn’t that I was trying to keep this from you.
I honestly didn’t know how he would develop, or how you two would react to each
other. Both Avoli and I were hoping you would be a role model for him.”
“Dada,” Sammy called, reaching out for Dylan.
Dylan sighed. “Nano’s going to hate me. I’m not mad
that you didn’t tell me, Divina. I know you don’t always tell me stuff, but you
always have a good reason. Like it or not, I trust you. I mean, I don’t trust you
to tell me the truth, but I trust you to tell me what I need to know before it
gets me killed.”
Ronez laughed and Edward covered his brother’s mouth
before the dead Guardian could say anything. Then he gave Divina a glare, which
she deliberately ignored.
“I may have something I need to tell you. I wanted to
make sure before… and I wanted my brothers to be on your side…” she said. Dylan
moved around Edward to sit next to Divina and wrapped his arm around her.
“Wait,” Edward interrupted. We all looked at him. “We
need to deal with the demon first. How do we defeat it?”
“Without a body, it is undefeatable. Even when the
beast is in a body, you have to destroy it before it can escape,” Divina said.
“It is an ancient demon, yes?” Ronez asked. “Powerful
enough to tear holes through the universe, but cannot do nearly as much damage
as it can when it is in a body? In the universe anyway? In the universe it
needs a body to integrate with, and that is the only time it is halfway
vulnerable?”
Divina nodded.
“So we need to find some poor bastard to sacrifice
that we can trap the demon in and kill it? Absolutely not!” Dylan demanded.
“I know what to do,” Ronez said. “This demon
desperately wants Sammy. How far is he willing to go to get him?” he asked.
I didn’t like where this was going.
Spending the last few days with my father, with my whole family, was
great. Unfortunately, it was becoming tense, because we all knew we had work to
do. When my father told us he had an idea on how to defeat the demon, I
cringed. This would not be good; I could feel it in my blood.
“I can possess someone. Hear me out,” he said. He regarded
me with a seriousness I had never seen from him. Of course, I had only spent a
few days collectively with him my entire life. “I can possess Sammy and let the
demon come. Basically, surrender. He will try to possess Sammy and I can
destroy him from within. Sammy will be fine as long as I destroy the demon
quickly.”
Mordon, Divina, Rojan, and I shot that idea down
immediately.
“Rojan said to let the demon possess us and he can
fight it,” Mordon suggested.
I shook my head. “He already knows the dragon is in
you and that he can’t win. He won’t try again.”
“Me, then,” Edward suggested. We all shook our heads.
“You are a powerful Guardian, sir, and I mean no
offense, but you are just sago,” Mordon told him.
Edward glared at him and I smacked Mordon’s arm. For
a man raised to be a king, he made some stupid verbal errors.
“Oh, what I mean is, the demon burns the bodies out.
I survived because I have dragon blood, and Sammy and Dylan probably can
because of their god energy, but you have nothing except your nominal energy.
You are definitely one of the most powerful people I know, but I think it would
be too much that you fight a demon and heal yourself constantly from its burn.”
“Dada…” Sammy said.
I looked at him and he put his fist to his mouth,
giving me a very telling gaze. He really was afraid of being an outcast for his
abilities, even in front of a god, two Guardians, a former Guardian, and a
dragon.
Some psychologists didn’t believe a child was really
alive until they had a self-conscious, which could only be measured by the
child’s acknowledgment of social customs and the actions he took to blend in.
Sammy was less than two years old, but his cognitive
development was unnaturally advanced, enough so that he understood the concept
of being abnormal. Whether it was his magic that caused him to be like this or
his genetics, I wanted him to be happy and accepted. It was his choice how he
achieved that.
He silently begged me with sad eyes and I knew he
wanted to help. Yes, I wanted him to be happy, but his safety was more
important. I shook my head and he turned his pout on Mordon.
“What if the demon attacks while everyone is asleep?
Or when Sammy goes back to his parents? We have a chance to get the one-up on
the demon,” Ronez said.
“You can’t guarantee he won’t be harmed,” I argued.
“I can guarantee if we don’t do something, he will be,”
Divina said.
After an hour of arguing, it was decided that nothing
more could be done that night, so we went to bed. Seeing as how there were only
two beds, we camped out in the living room.
My father and I stayed up late into the morning
chatting about things. I wasn’t upset with him that he wasn’t there when I grew
up; I felt sorry for him. Being near me was too dangerous for both of us, and
he had to stay away. If I had a son and I was forced to stay away from him, I
would be miserable.
* * *
I woke up to arguing, predictably about our demon
hunting plan. Since when was I the kind of person who went after demons? I
remember being the kind of person who stayed in bed on Saturday mornings until
two, watching dirty cartoons and throwing paperclips at my cat. In fact, if
Edward had a TV… and would ever let me get away with not doing my chores… I
would still be that person. Oh, well. Magic was cooler than TV anyway.
Ronez had convinced Divina and Edward that his was
the right plan, but Mordon was still vehemently arguing against it. Everyone
sat around the table with Sammy in Edward’s lap. I sat down across from Mordon
and they all turned their attention on me.
“Tell them we’re not putting Sammy’s life in danger,”
Mordon insisted.
“Dylan, it’s your choice. Between all of us, we can
keep him safe, but we have to end this. He can’t spend his life running from a
demon,” Ronez said.
“His parents should be deciding this.” There was an
awkward silence, for everyone disagreed with me, but no one was willing to
speak first.
Divina looked away when I tried to meet her gaze. She
always had an opinion, but this was choosing the lesser of two evils, and she
didn’t want a say in this any more than I did. On the one hand, Ronez was right
and I had no other idea how to trap the demon. On the other, it was Sammy’s
life at risk.
“Dada,” Sammy said gently. I looked at him and his
purple eyes flashed.
“He can see the future,” Divina explained.
“Sammy, is this the right thing to do?” I asked him.
His eyes flashed again. “Yes,” he said.
“What if you hide him with his parents and we do
something?” Mordon asked. “We could go to Earth. Surely the demon would assume
he’s with us. He would possess whoever is closest that he can, probably
Edward.”
“I think he’s tracking Sammy, not us,” I said. “But
maybe we can trick him. If the demon is actually tracking Sammy, then it would
be his energy the demon is scenting. My pentagram absorbs energy. Maybe we
could use it as a decoy.”
“Dada!” Sammy cried. “Hide.”
“He’s coming now?” I asked. Mordon’s eyes shifted and
he jumped back when he looked at Sammy. “What is it?” I asked.
“His energy is going nuts.”
Sammy covered his face with his hands and I could
feel confusion fuming from him.
“I hide and he comes. In the dark he finds me. I
don’t want to hide.”
“Dylan…” Mordon said, hesitantly as if the words hurt
to speak. “Maybe we should go with this plan. I trust our chances of protecting
him better when he’s with us than when he’s out of our sights.”
“If you’re sure,” I said. I agreed, but I really
didn’t want to speak the words either. I had to be the worst person in the
world to use a baby as bait.
“Let’s do this outside so we don’t burn any cabins
down on top of us,” Ronez said.
Edward handed Sammy to me and we headed outside. All
of us were miserable about the decision; even Divina looked sick to her
stomach. It didn’t help when she had to go back inside to throw up. As well as
I knew her, I was surprised to see a god so unwilling to risk an infant.
Ronez sat cross-legged in the soft grass and I sat
across from him with Sammy in my lap. “Ready?” he asked.
I shook my head, but he closed his eyes and I felt
the energy stir. My Iadnah energy cringed away and tried to react by protecting
Sammy, but I had to push it down. Soon, Ronez pitched forward and Sammy
shuddered.
I was expecting something that looked as horrific as
it was, but Sammy was calm. “Are you okay?” I asked Sammy.
He frowned. “Weird, Dada. Too many minds. Not enough
space.”
“I can project his magic so that the beast can find
him,” Divina suggested. “Make sure Ronez can handle it. Mordon?”
He shifted his eyes back to normal before looking at
Divina. “I can see his energy and it appears settled. Can someone mention how
creepy this is? Please? Anyone?”
Everyone cringed, but no one said anything. Edward
busied himself with laying Ronez’s body back and I had to look away.
“Shut up, Ronny,” Sammy demanded. We all stared at
him, more surprised at Sammy calling Ronez “Ronny” than anything else. “Ronny
says he’s good to go.”
“Keep watching him,” Divina told Mordon.
He shifted his eyes back and focused on the baby. He
was being careful not to look at Divina with his dragon eyes and I had to
wonder what he saw in her soul that he couldn’t face. Sammy glanced up at me
for reassurance.
“Dylan, you shouldn’t have him in your lap when we do
this,” she warned.
Sammy’s bottom lip wobbled dramatically.
“For my sake or his?” I asked. Her expression told me
I could risk it. I held him tighter to my chest and he buried his face against
my arm. “Bite my arm if it hurts, honey. Get this over with, Divina.”
I could feel his magic projecting. It felt off, like
it wasn’t really him, but it took less than two minutes for the demon to take
the bait. When he came, it was like an overwhelming heat and presence. It was
powerful, ancient, and determined.
Sammy gasped. I could almost see the soul of the
powerful creature enter the baby, and though I wanted to fight it off more than
anything, that would be detrimental to the plan. I looked at Mordon and he
shook his head. Sammy started hyperventilating, sweating, and squirming. He
tried to squirm out of my arms, but I held him tight.
Edward sat down in front of me and handed me a cold
wet cloth. I patted him down gently, not wanting to cause injury from the cold,
but he took the cloth from me and put it over his face. The temperature around
us dropped quickly and it started snowing, directly and exclusively over the
two of us.
I glanced at Divina, who was making it snow, then to
Mordon, who shook his head again. “Ronez is handling it.” The temperature drop
helped for a few minutes before Sammy suddenly started convulsing. “It’s taking
too long! I think I can take the heat away.” He reached towards Sammy, but I
grabbed his arm.
On instinct alone, I reached into Mordon for his
fire, for that feeling that I got when he was pulled into the void. My vision
changed until I could see Sammy’s soul. My mother could have convinced me of
angels if I had seen Sammy’s soul years ago.
Two other souls hindered his, though. One I knew was
my father’s. He was a decent man who has done some great things as well as some
things he regretted. He was also very powerful, old, and wise. The demon, even
more ancient and powerful than my father, was not wise; all the demon wanted
was to conquer and destroy.
Using Mordon’s ability to see souls, I poured my
magic into the baby, tore the demon from him, and pulled the ancient being into
myself. The heat was overwhelming. I knew I was supposed to feel pressure or
something, but all I could feel was my body burning inside and out. Even trying
to heal myself was impossible with this pain.
Someone was saying something to me and I was grabbed
roughly. Then, as quickly as the heat flowed into me, it vanished. My energy
flooded my body, instantly cooling and repairing the damage.
Mordon was on his knees in front of me with his eyes
closed and teeth clinched. His expression calmed and his muscled relaxed as he
stood easily.
“Are you okay?” I asked quietly as my voice was sore
from the heat.
He grinned. “Very warm. I like it.” His grin faded
away and he wobbled a little bit. “Flash me somewhere else. He’s trying to take
control. Flash me somewhere that he can’t hurt anyone.” His voice was very calm
and controlled.
Divina took Sammy from my arms, despite the baby’s
struggles to cling to me, and I flashed Mordon and myself to the hot springs.
Mordon inhaled deeply and exhaled smoke. His eyes and claws shifted.
“Rojan can handle the demon, but he can’t hold it
inside me. Trap---” His words were cut off and he was clearly having trouble controlling
his mouth.
When Mordon’s eyes were shifted, they were entirely
black; no white at all was showing. Any normal human would freak, but I was on
Duran, my father was sago, and I knew Mordon. Mordon was good.
“Give up the child and I will leave your friend
alive.” The growl was even more guttural than Rojan when he was angry, but it
was the language that made my skin crawl. The words and even some of the sounds
were unrepeatable, but because of my Iadnah energy, I could understand.
“So you can finally talk,” I said in Enochian. It
felt like Enochian and the language that the demon spoke were opposites, not
just in sound, but meaning.
“The dragon is strong enough to live in until I get
the child, but your sago friend will die long before I am forced to relinquish
the body. Give me the child.”
“Now why would I do that? Rojan can handle you. Yeah,
you may be older and more powerful, but you are in his home territory and he
has more fight in him,” I said. I started pacing a wide arch around him, back
and forth as the wheels in my brain turned. This was my calmest moment. With my
enemy at my front and my friends accounted for, even the hostages, I had the
advantage.
“He cannot defeat me. I am more powerful than the
gods.”
“Really? I think they would take offence to that. Too
bad for you, it is me you are facing,” I said, still pacing. Surely he could
feel that I was charging my batteries. Sure, I could die, and sure, his power
was smothering, but I felt like he was finally in my trap.
He looked startled. “You? How could you possibly
compare to the Iadnah? You think because you have some of their powers that you
can best me?”
“Oh, yes. All I need is a few powers. You see, the
gods are ancient and wise and omnipresent. They have nothing to run from, and
nothing to fear. I don’t have a lot of knowledge in spells or non-corporeal
beings. I lack common sense sometimes and walk right into danger. I am
certainly not wise, either. There isn’t a lot about me that you should feel
threatened by.
“What I do have is a mate who is sneaky and
manipulative. What I do have is an uncle who has survived more scrapes than
anyone. What I do have is a best friend who will tear down any walls that
anyone could possibly put up around him. And you know why I will defeat you? I
have the answer for you.”
“Why?”
“Because I am always learning to overcome my faults.
Mordon, trust me?”
The words I had asked him many times before flashed
across his mind and I saw recognition in the blackness of his eyes. “Always,” my
friend responded despite the demon.