Dominion (3 page)

“
The Elders have asked me to inform you that killing the humans is against our laws,” King Daligo continued.

Did he just say
laws
? People still made those? I didn’t understand why the king would expect me to follow anyone’s laws but my own.

“
You move from one énas to another, killing each one, and this isn’t how things work,” he explained. “You are only supposed to
harm
them, not kill them. This behavior of yours…”

I spaced out. I saw the king’s lips moving up and down, but all I heard him saying was, “Blah-blah-blah…I like talking…blah-blah-blah…humans.”

“
Wow,” I said, stopping the king from continuing his monologue. “Seriously, are you trying to talk me to death?”

“
Maybe it’s time we paired you with a Lumenian whose human would be impossible to kill.” What was that supposed to mean?

“
Dreaming again, I see,” I said with a smile, thinking the king was out of his mind if he thought I couldn’t kill a guardian angel’s énas.

“
I assume you know who Tristan is,” he said, choosing to ignore the fact that I was mocking him.

When I heard the name, I guessed where his speech was going. Of course I knew what’s-his-face, everyone knew Tristan.

Tristan was the prince of Lumens and was well-known as the most powerful Lumenian alive. He was caring, selfless, compassionate, and hosts of other qualities I didn’t have, which I considered a good thing.

At the age of five, I was named the most powerful and evil Grandinian angel alive because everyone was scared of me and because I hurt all the angel children I played with. Tristan was named the opposite because even at the age of five, he was powerful enough to heal all the children I hurt. Basically, he was Mr. Save the Universe, and I was Mr. Destroy the Universe. Like sweet and sour. And that was one of the reasons why I didn’t like him. He was everything I loathed.

“
Tristan?” I asked. “Never heard of him,” I said, flashing the king another mocking smile.

“
Tristan is the guardian angel all the Grandinians want me to appoint them to,” Daligo said. “Because they see him as a challenge, and those I appoint to him see themselves as worthy. Here in Grands, it has become a race for all the Grandinian angels to Shift to Tristan and his human so they can try and defeat him. They find it to be the ultimate challenge because no one has ever defeated Tristan,” Daligo continued. “The angels always Shift to him just to get a chance with him. Many have tried to harm the humans he guides, but they all have failed.”

“
You didn’t summon me here to tell me how awesome he is, did you?” I asked. I knew about Tristan’s power. I had never Shifted to him, because for some reason, I could never find him on Earth. Some angels I could sense, but never Tristan. It was as though he didn’t exist.

“
The Elders and I have decided that you should Shift to Tristan and his human because he’d be difficult to defeat,” the king said, a smile playing on his lips.

“
Really?” Was this the king’s idea of a challenge? “You want to pair me with the prince?”

“
Last month, we assigned Tristan to a human named Abigail Cells. She is seventeen. It’s her final year of high school. She lives with her mother in San Francisco. She’s a very caring and loving girl, volunteers for a lot of charity work, and we consider her one of the more unselfish young people on Earth.”

I nearly gawked at him, but I stopped myself short of looking ridiculous. Really, I didn’t understand. Tristan was guiding Miss I-Care-About-the-Freaking-World-More-Than-My-Life?

“
Her mother is famous and consequently very busy,” said Daligo, looking out the open window as he spoke. “And she barely has time for her daughter.” He paused. “Not that Abigail needs the guidance. She is guarded twenty-four seven by human bodyguards. But like all humans, she needs a guardian angel.”

In other words, Tristan wasted his time guiding a spoiled, rich girl who was constantly surrounded by people.

“
Here’s all you need to know about her. I think a little challenge would be good for you.” The king snapped his fingers, and a notebook materialized out of thin air and flew to me.

I caught the notebook and placed it on the table in front of me “I’m honored and all, but I don’t—”

The king cut me off. “I thought you’d be up for it, but it seems even you don’t think that someone as powerful as Tristan can be—”

“
Your kingship,” I interrupted. What the hell was wrong with him? Did he seriously think I was afraid of what’s-his-face? “I’m up for the challenge. I just don’t like being told what to do. And it seems as if you’re telling me what to do with this particular assignment.”

“
I’m merely doing my job by pairing you with the prince, but of course…if Tristan becomes too challenging and you can’t handle him, you—”

Daligo didn’t finish what he wanted to say because the flames I threw hit one of the nearby guards squarely in the chest, and he instantly burned to ashes. I didn’t wait for the second guard to panic. I appeared in front of him and ripped his heart straight out of his chest. The angel fell, twitching at my feet.

“
No!” the king shouted in horror and disbelief.

At the sound of Daligo’s scream, someone rushed into the room.

“
My lord,” the angel said, clearly shaken.

I turned around, and there he stood.

Tristan.

DARK SIDE

“
It’s the wish they make on a star.

It’s the dream they have from afar.

It’s a price that’s only paid in blood.

It’s a hunger that tastes like victory.

It’s dominion.”

Melody Manful – ‘Dominion Theme Song’

š›

T
ristan? Why Tristan? What the hell was what’s-his-face doing in our palace?

“
Tristan,” the king said, hurrying over to him. “I’m fine.”

He didn’t look fine. I could see that he was stunned.

The king looked at me, his eyes opened wide with grief. I assumed he was trying to process what had happened.
Well, my lord, I wrapped up your guards and shipped them off to Pleasantville
.

“
Want a chair, my lord?” I threw in a smile for free and dropped the guard’s bloody heart on the ground.

A moment of silence in which we all stood still, staring at each other. Tristan and Daligo looked forlornly at me as if my ship had just arrived from Hell.

“
All right, you guys win!” I shouted as if we had been having a staring contest. “If you’ve got something to say, let it out.”

“
Gideon,” Tristan finally said in the form of a greeting.

“
That’s my name,” I sneered. “Don’t wear it out.”

“
It’s been a long time,” Tristan said.

Was this guy for real?

Of course, it
had
been a long time. The first time I met Tristan, we were both four. The only reason we talked then was because we felt a strange, but strong, deep connection to each other. Tristan was curious as to why he felt such a connection to me, and he had asked me if I felt it, too. I had. Neither of us could explain it, so we chose to ignore it.

The last time I saw him was a year ago, when he tried to stop me from killing some innocent angels who were on their way home from Earth. Of course, he’d
tried
, but he wasn’t able to save them all. One small victory for me.

“
Apparently not long enough,” I grumbled.

“
Tristan was here to…” I waited for Daligo to continue his sentence, but he didn’t.

“
Well, if this little rendezvous is over, I’ll go grab some dinner now.” I didn’t wait for an answer. When I snapped my fingers, I found myself at the center of Grands.

The center of Grands, more commonly called the town square, was where angels and other creatures from different planets came to shop and sell their wares. It was a lot like New York City.

Creatures from many planets came to the town square. Aside from the market, there were also museums that displayed articles from Earth so the younger creatures could learn about humans. This way, if they ever visited Earth, they would know how to blend in. The angels who were older and no longer went to Earth told tales of their journeys to the visiting creatures. Gods from Olympus came to talk of their purpose on Earth. Athena loved coming here and teaching others about the lives of humans and other species from around the universe.

Creatures also came here because although the Grandinians brought havoc to the human race, they weren’t evil creatures, and they were kind to others. There were very few like me—those who chose to be evil to others. Most of the visitors were as peaceful as the Lumenians.

However, I only went to the town square for one reason: to kill.

As I stood in the middle of the marketplace, no one spotted me because they were all too preoccupied with goods and with each other. Young angels chased one another through the crowd, shouting and laughing. Some of the people were mesmerized by an earthly house hanging in mid-air. Women, mostly, picked through colorful clothing from different planets.

“
Gideon, what do you mean by
grabbing some dinner
?”

Tristan again! Seriously, did he live in Grands now?

Tristan landed across the marketplace in his angel form, glimmering as brightly as ever. His huge white wings stretched out behind him.

“
My lord,” I bowed down to him, “I think I wasn’t clear on that part.” I then explained, in the most patient voice I could master. “My fault. Please allow me to clear things up.”

Heat emerged from my hands as I conjured a ball of fire. I launched the fire straight toward a couple of angels who stood beside a table, admiring a computer.

When the fire was inches from hitting them, it turned to ice, frozen in mid–air.

“
I think I got it,” Tristan said through his teeth. Someone shouted my name. Panic ensued.

“
Good,” I said, clenching my own teeth. I threw another fireball at the escaping creatures, and again, Tristan stopped it. I threw another, which barely left my fingertips before it evaporated.

I growled in anger. My whole body heated, but I knew it wasn’t the fire burning me from the inside.

“
I can’t let you hurt these innocent creatures,” Tristan said, staring at me from across the marketplace.

I glared as anger boiled through me. “That’s a shame.” I took two steps closer to him, put my hands together, and hurled a flaming orb at him, but it froze, thawed, and sprinkled to the ground before it could reach him. I released several at a time, throwing flames in every direction so that there was no way he could stop them all.  Displays shattered, creatures screamed as the flames burst against their bodies.

The screaming made me happy. I turned, walked away from Tristan, and approached the creatures still stumbling in the chaos. Black dust swirled behind my every step. My footprints burned holes into the ground. I turned full circle to admire my destruction.

“
Gideon!” Tristan shouted as he waved his hands. A circle of air shielded some of the creatures.

Was he challenging me? I threw a fireball toward the circle, but it evaporated the moment it reached the barrier. I tried once more, and again it evaporated on contact.

“
They are innocent!” His voice, filled with pain, echoed through the marketplace.

“
Innocent?” Anger rippled through me as I pressed my teeth together, clenching my fists. “No one is
innocent
.”

Tristan landed right in front of me. “Right now, I see you hurting them for no reason, and that makes them innocent.”

I released a humorless laugh. “You tell Daligo I accept his challenge.” Our faces were so close by then that my red eyes reflected in his blue ones.

“
I guess I’ll be seeing you tomorrow,” he said.

I pulled away from him and took a quick look around at the smoldering embers. A few bodies lay strewn across broken displays and crushed pottery.

“
Save me a chair.” I hurled flames every each way, and as much as Tristan tried, he couldn’t stop all of them. I smiled as painful screams filled the air around us once more.

I glanced at Tristan, who was too busy protecting creatures he didn’t know, and hurled another ball of flame toward him.  He spotted the flames within milliseconds, and with a flick of his hand, the flames spun back toward me.

I jumped out of the way, barely escaping my own creation.

This time, when I opened my hands toward Tristan, flames weren’t released, but rather dark smoke. Tristan stopped the smoke between us, combatting the dark haze with a blue smoke of his own. I pushed with all my strength, but he countered. Surprisingly, the blue smoke started to move closer to me, emanating powerful heat that burned against my skin.