Authors: Rain Oxford
We were lying in the grass of the field, watching the
sunset. Zeda was cuddled against my chest, talking about what she wanted to do.
As much as she loved books, she wanted to explore the world and teach.
I told her there were many children of the High King
city that could use more teachers. We had three, but it was not enough. Thessa
and Ada would need a private tutor and guards of their own, since they would be
prime candidates for an abductor.
She sat up and was about to say something when a
flash of light filled the air. I knew the light indicated either Dylan, one of
his friends, or a god, so I wasn’t worried. When the light cleared, it was
Mordon standing there.
“Hello, dragon. Where is your master?” I asked.
He glared. “My fire may not work on you, child, but I
can still eat you.”
Since Kseve wasn’t here to draw his sword on the
dragon, I decided not to push. Dylan was extremely peaceful; his brother was
not. Actually, I only picked on the dragon because I was jealous of his
freedom. He was born into the royal cage as much as I was, yet he was able to
run around on adventures with Dylan. “Where is Dylan?” I asked, gently this
time.
“He is on Lore, the new world of Avoli, and the demon
war has begun.”
This was not something I had been looking forward to.
I stood and Zeda did as well. “How will this work?”
“In a few minutes, the gods are going to start
summoning the alliance to Lore. Nobody will need to sign a book as there is no
book for Lore yet. Magic may feel very odd there, but I doubt that will be a
problem for you. Just expect to have to reassure your people. There will be
many other people there, some who will have a problem with others.”
“So the alliance may be trying to fight itself.”
“I believe the Guardians can keep their people calm.
The demons, who can change their form and even look like people, will likely
try to turn people against each other. There will also be demons fighting on
our side.”
“How will we know the difference?”
“Dylan probably has a plan for that. This will not be
an easy victory.” Light started to fill the space, but faded suddenly as Mordon
winced in pain. I caught him before he hit the ground, but he was much bigger
than me. He clawed at his chest as his claws shifted, only to retract and meld
back into fingers as if he couldn’t hold the form.
His shirt tore and he snapped the chain of the
pentagram he wore. When the metal fell into the grass, Mordon breathed easier.
The pentagram, which I recognized as Dylan’s, was not
glowing red with heat but instead an odd blue aura. As a void, I never feared
magic, so I picked it up without hesitation. The pentagram instantly lost its
glow. I handed it back to Mordon, who took it carefully and slipped it into his
pocket.
“Now, I think we have a war to win,” I said.
This would not be a war in which we could discuss
strategy and carefully place each person where they were best served. These
people were willing to fight, but this was an alliance of people all across the
universe. Keeping the Guardians from killing each other was hard enough; these
people were not ready to be joined. Only the immediate attack of a common foe
would keep them from turning on each other.
Mordon arrived with an air of confidence about him. I
knew he wasn’t worried; war was in his blood. He was a king both in his sago
blood and in his dragon blood. I was not surprised when his father appeared
behind the dragon. Ishte-mor was a cruel bastard, but he loved his son.
Nila appeared with a woman by his side. How I knew
she was his wife didn’t matter. I wanted to tell Nila to leave her at home, but
the words never made it to my mouth. Something happened in my separation from
Mordon and I now knew things I shouldn’t. I knew Ron had met his mate and that
it would be many, many years before he accepted her. It was as if I could see
his future when I looked at him.
We could win this war, but there were so many paths
ahead of us that it would be impossible to know how much of a loss we would
take. “Divina,” I said before I knew what I was going to say. She turned to me
and I hugged her, which she returned easily. Before I pulled away, I retrieved
the metal bracelet from my bag and snapped it around her wrist.
“What are you doing?” she asked, shocked. She tried
to take the bracelet off.
“That is the one Ron modified. I love you, Divina,
and you have to live, but I cannot let you fight here today.”
She stopped struggled with the clasp and looked at
me. “Why not?”
“Because I know what you are now.” I flashed her
home.
“Dylan, sending your strongest allies away may not be
your best battle strategy,” Regivus warned me.
“She isn’t my ally; she’s my wife.” I studied my
allies as more appeared with each second. There were thousands of people who
were strangers to me as well as many familiar faces. They stood apart from each
other by their worlds, all afraid to mingle with their alien neighbors.
Dragons, shifters, and demons stood prepared as well. There were women in the
crowd, but thankfully no children. At least the gods knew better than to allow
children to fight.
Many of them were afraid of the demons we would face
or even the gods who were on our side, but they all knew life with demons
ruling the universe would be no life. Unfortunately, the demon army we faced
spanned as far as I could see.
Mordon took the pentagram out of his pocket and
handed it to me. “Atos told me that if I gave offered you to him before you
spilled demon blood, he would give me Sydney back.”
I didn’t bother to ask him why he didn’t. I wouldn’t
disrespect him with such doubt. Rojan, on the other hand, was surely giving him
hell.
“Whatever secret weapon you have, now is the time to
use it,” Mordon said.
“I have several.”
“Was sending Divina away part of that?”
“No. I just can’t let her do this. She is not Iadnah,
and although her loyalties will remain with me, her judgment can be swayed.
Trust me, Mordon.”
“I will always trust you. I just may not like you
sometimes.” He turned and walked towards our supporters. He absorbed energy,
ignoring the oddness of this new world, and addressed the people. “Many of you
have seen the destruction that demons can cause,” he said.
His magic amplified his voice until it resounded over
the crowd. Xul stood next to the dragon, his power active to make everyone
understand Mordon no matter their language.
“Some of you have heard of it, some of you just
despise the idea of having a demon master, and some of you would rather die
than to have your world conquered. Others still are only here because you want
to fight for your loved ones.
“This is a war of life against death, light against
dark. Whether you are here for honor, love, or freedom, this is not a meager
battle. We cannot lose this war now, and there will be no do-overs. If there is
any doubt inside you, return to your home, because you will die in this fight
if your heart is weak!”
I turned to Ishte-mor. “Maybe you should hide your
cane,” I teased.
The man had his hands folded over the metal handle as
if he was supporting his weight with it, but the spiked end did not sink into
the ground deeply enough for that to be so. “This is not my first war, child,
and I could defeat these demons with both arms restrained.” He was a proud man
with no feebleness in his old bones. He would survive this war… as long as he
didn’t…
No. He must do this on his own. Nobody can be
warned.
As badly as I wanted to help him, I couldn’t warn him what to watch
out for.
However, maybe I can manipulate the situation a little bit when the
time comes to it.
Ron approached me to ask me what he should do with the
weapons. “Distribute them,” I said before he could ask.
“How? I don’t know who they go to.”
I put my hand on Ron’s forehead so he could learn my
magic as I took the dagger from his hand. It was magic I knew from a life I
couldn’t remember. The dagger disintegrated into energy and spread among the
crowd.
Using demon magic, I exerted the energies of the world
to form weapons for those on my side who had none. Whatever was most
confortable for them, that was what they were given. The other god weapons,
except for the mage staff, disintegrated from their positions as well and their
power spilled over the alliance. The weapons, forged in magic or by mortal
hand, became reinforced with the power of the god weapons.
Ron’s face was ashen as he felt my power, so I let
him go. Although he wanted to run back to his brother, he stood his ground. “I
get it now,” he said. “The balance isn’t something I have to overcome but a
tool to be used. It’s like a power. You have demon magic and Iadnah magic, but
I have the balance.”
“You’re right. You will have an incredible power as
soon as you stop fighting who you are. What did you learn while you were
looking for the god weapons?”
“On Dayo, I learned that magic is not always the
answer. On Enep, I learned that I have to trust others, even the gods. On Mulo,
I learned that winning isn’t everything. And when I had to give Maslye the
staff, I learned that I am the balance.
“I’m proud of you, sweetheart.” I hugged him for just
a moment. “Now go protect your brother.” Seimei and Ikiru were both waiting
restlessly next to Hail. Ron returned to Hail’s side just as Mordon returned to
mine.
“They’re ready.”
“One more thing,” I said. I let my magic flow out
into the crowd once again, this time creating silver, leather straps around the
wrists of our allies. “When you fight an enemy, your bands will glow red,” I
told the alliance, letting my magic both carry and translate my words. “If you
end up fighting a friend, they will glow white. Demons can also possess people,
so be aware.”
“What about armor?” Mordon asked.
“There are too many shifters. Also, many of these
people have never worn armor before and I believe it would take too long for
them to adapt. It would do more harm than good.”
“Then I think now is your chance to impart some great
words of wisdom.”
I looked at the army in front of me and then the
opposing army behind me. “You want some words of wisdom, Mordon? Don’t eat
yellow snow and try not to get shot.”
“That is sound advice.”
“We can destroy many minor demons, but doing so among
mortals… there will be collateral,” Azyle said.
“Strike them only when they are away then. Protect
our side above destroying the demons. Take out as many demons as you can before
they make it to our side, then focus on protecting us while we fight.”
“Do you want us to fight or protect?” Samorde asked.
“Sorry, Regivus; I can’t take him seriously like
that.” With the barest spark of my power, I shattered the god’s curse over the
Guardian. Although I made sure not to inadvertently lengthen the penalty on the
Enep people, I didn’t want Samorde to suffer for another moment for a sin he
hadn’t committed. He wasn’t even alive when it was committed.
The Guardian changed within seconds from someone who
looked younger than Ron to an adult of around twenty-five. He was still very
fair and delicate looking, but at least I didn’t expect to hear his voice break
when he spoke. He tried to thank me, but he was interrupted.
An Ancient appeared just a few feet from me. Mordon
instantly struck with the azurath blade, but the Ancient vanished and
reappeared just out of the blade’s reach. His hands were raised in surrender.
“Easy, dragon, I come in peace.”
“For how long?” Mordon snarled.
The gods all formed a solid wall, ready to strike if
the Ancient made an unexpected move. This Ancient had medium brown hair and
deep gray eyes. Although the power emanating from him was similar to Xul’s, he
didn’t have the same dark, gothic appearance.
“I despise living in the void,” he admitted.
“However, I have no desire to change the universe into the void. I respect the
balance as the dominate force of the universe, and I respect the Qadah as the
dominate force of the void.”
“You know then?” I asked.
“Know what?” Mordon asked.
“I am good friends with Janus,” the Ancient said,
ignoring my brother. “I was the one who warned him of the attack so that he
could go into hiding in time, and I was the one who rescued him when he tried
to warn you instead of hiding.”
“Are you here to fight with us?” Xul asked.
“No. I have come to tell you Argodothra set a trap.”
“I know,” I said.
“You plan to fall into it?” the Ancient asked.
“I see a path much worse and I have made my choice,”
I said. He nodded and vanished. I turned to the demons below me and took the
echo from my bag. “Be prepared,” I said. Bloodshed would commence the moment
the confusion cleared.
“I got your back.”
That wasn’t my point, but I appreciated his support. I
had given the demons enough warnings. All those who stood before me to fight me
and my alliance were damned in my opinion. I would fight for my friends and for
the freedom and life of all people.
I pulled both demon magic and Iadnah energy from
inside and focused on the book in my hand. As it was a false book, I mentally
erased the names that were in it that were also in the real book. Of course,
none of the people would be hurt and my Guardian book would be unaffected.
I poured my magic into the book to absorb the power
of the remaining names. I didn’t know any individual name, but they were in my
head if I ever needed them. Letting my power amplify my voice like Mordon’s
had, I shouted to the demons. “Return to the void and never enter the universe
again unless you are called by name!” I demanded.
I sensed their struggle, but I had their names and
more than enough power. A quarter of the opposing army disappeared. A cheer
went up through the crowd behind me, but that was as far as the celebration
got. Realizing that they received the first hit, the remaining demons started
appearing among our people.
The gods got to work striking down the demons that
were still on the low ground. Several demons tried to surround me, but Mordon
was trained with the sword to prevent that tactic. He cut down demons like they
were dummies, faster than I had ever seen him move.
In the face of being surrounded, dragons shifted and
took to the skies. Although they only blew fire (or ice or even plasma in some
cases) over the demons, there were some on our side who were terrified,
including the Erame women. I focused on the demon magic in the crowd, but I
couldn’t differentiate between friend demons and foe demons as I unleashed my
targeted magic.
Stop.
Every demon amongst the alliance froze, which allowed
the good guys to gain a little ground. I could only hold it for a few seconds,
however, because I was worried that the good demons would be confused for bad
ones. I turned my efforts onto the demons still on the field below us and
greatly increased the efficiency of the gods’ attacks, but there were too many
demons to stop them all.
The modified, supercharged weapons of the alliance
seemed to be working well, and although they drew on my energies, it wasn’t too
much for me to handle. The demons had the advantage of throwing energy spheres
as weapons, so I used the same power I had created weapons with to create
shields that would work against magic. Not everyone could hold a shield due to
the size of their chosen weapons, but those who needed the defense were
provided.
While all of the demons could do magic, most of the
alliance could as well. I could feel the demon energy throughout as demons
tried to do everything from creating earthquakes to drawing storms. On this
barren planet, resources were meager and it was easy for our allied demons to
thwart the efforts of our foes.
Demons started shifting into creatures of
unimaginable horrors. Some were twisted versions of the nightmares of multiple
worlds. The dragons were our strongest force against those displays, as people
gave the horrifying demons plenty of room. One particular demon shifted into a
huge sandworm… only to find that the dry, cracked ground was too hard even for
him.
It almost looked like this was going to be an easy
victory, but I knew better. I could see how everything could go wrong. A
hesitation here, a wrong step there… I could see the death of every person that
fought on my side, but I could also see them surviving.
Three of the demons that Mordon fought started
shifting into dejeva while the remaining two distracted him. I was about to use
my magic on them when three loud shots rang out and all three of the half
shifted beasts burst into ash. Edward was lost in the crowd before I could say
anything. Either my magic had enhanced his gun, too, or he had awesome
connections of his own.