God of the Abyss (15 page)

“So you learned how to be a leader from your friend
and not from your father who is a king?”

“You lead by threat. Dylan doesn’t really want to
lead, he just comes up with plans really well and everyone who knows him
wants
to follow him. By the way, what happened to your leg?” I asked. His fingers
were tight on the rail of the boat as if he was in pain and his stance was
wide. My father never had trouble at sea before.

He shook his head. “I am getting old. One of the
dragoness’s guards and I got in an argument. He shifted. I plan to have Mokomo
take a look at it.”

*          *          *

Growing up as the son of a man who had more enemies
than friends, there was nothing that woke me faster than the sound of a gun
being shot. I had enough time to sit up before the ship tipped and I was thrown
out of bed. Disorientated and wary of a mad shooter, I stayed down until I
could collect my senses. The floor was quickly flooding with water, the ship
was rocking violently, and I was alone with my father.

As I had requested, we were in the smallest ship my
father had, which may have been a bad call on my part. The lower deck actually
consisted of two meager beds and a large table. It was not a ship meant for
long distances, so there was no shelving or treasured items flying about, but
there was also nothing to grip.

My father, who had successfully clung to his bed,
released his hold, reached out, and clutched the table. It was sturdy, wooden,
and nailed to the floor, so I thought it was a great idea. As I tried to grab
the nearest table leg, the ship rocked again, causing me to roll away. My
father managed to catch my arm and pulled me easily within reach of the table.
Another shot rang out and when my father made a move for the door, I held him
back. It seemed that between the table and my father, the king was the
sturdiest.

“You can’t go out there when someone is shooting!” I
yelled over the sound of the commotion. Someone opened the door and water
crashed through. Luckily, the now knee-high water wasn’t extremely cold.

“I may be an ignorant old king, but I know how to
hold my own. This isn’t my first time at sea,” he said confidently. He shook
off my grip and made his way steadily to the door, then climbed up the ladder
and out onto the deck before I could even get to the steps.

My father never listened.

I climbed the slippery metal ladder carefully. It was
an hour or so before dawn and the chill of the morning would have stopped me
any other time, but I didn’t have a moment to hesitate. I had forgotten about
the pirates between Mokii and Shomodii.

Ten men were trying to raid the tiny vessel, while our
one captain was doing his best with a sword and a child’s degree of magic.
Unfortunately, the pirates had guns. The tables turned when my father arrived.
With no weapon and month-old clothes, he appeared feeble and outmatched, but
the man was not just the king of Mokii. Before anything else, he was a highly
trained wizard.

Instantly assessing the scene and locating the
leader, my father waved his hand in a sideways motion. A huge wave built over
the side of the ship and crashed into the largest clump of bandits, washing
most of them into the sea. While the ship spun, my father was unbothered. He
faced the next nearest opponent and thrust out his hand in a jabbing motion.
The thief froze, as if in fear, but without breathing or making a sound. The
captain seemed to see his advantage and drew his sword on the immobilized
pirate.

“You have all come to the wrong ship!” my father
yelled. His voice carried over the sounds of the ocean and the panicked men in
the water.

“That was our mistake. We will leave!” the smallest
of the pirates promised. He was no older than eighteen, so I had to assume that
he was either an orphan, or one of these men was his father.

The king seemed to consider it for a moment. “No. You
will not leave. As penance for your foolishness, I will take your ship.” The
ship the thieves owned was quite a lot nicer than our own. “However, I am a
kind man and will not leave you stranded. You can have this boat.”

Talk about a change.
Whether I agreed with my
father’s decision to commandeer their ship or not, it was a definite
improvement in my father’s mercy. Once, he would have taken both ships and left
the pirates to drown in these dangerous waters.

The remaining thieves were not foolish enough to
argue with a trained wizard, so they quickly abandoned their own ship. My
father put his hand on my back gently, as if to steady me in the rocking boat,
and nudged me towards the newly apprehended vessel. Speechless, I allowed
myself to be guided. Although my father was a king and showed me his skills in
the practice arena, it was entirely different seeing the man in action.

*          *          *

A few hours later, the ship finally arrived at
Shomodii. After saying goodbye to my father, it took several more hours to
reach Edward’s place. Tired from the trip and the emotional drain of facing my
father once again, I was pleasantly surprised to see Edward’s cabin still
standing. There were a few downed trees, but I ignored them.

“Dylan hasn’t returned?” I asked when I found Edward
playing cards with Shiloh on the porch. Meri was watching the game with
contentment, but not enthusiasm, while the boys played fetch with Hobble.

Edward set his cards down and leaned back in his
chair. “He hasn’t, no. I was hoping he was with you. Can you sense if he is in
danger?”

“When he’s close or if we’re both asleep, yes, but I
can’t sense anything now. Either he’s okay… or he’s too far away to tell.”

Three hours later, I was very concerned that Dylan
had still not returned. The Guardians were getting restless and even Meri
seemed to be tired of all the men. Just when everyone settled down for lunch,
there came a horrible, familiar screech.

Dylan

There is something poetic about being lost in a
forest on an unknown world. You have no idea if it is the kind of forest where
you would find a candy-encrusted house, or one where you would encounter a
run-down medical lab littered with the infected bodies of some human-made
disease. Supernatural or mundane, the forest offered the horror of the unknown.
Nothing good ever came from being lost in the woods, and being on a new planet
made the unknown all the more devious.

I wanted Mordon with me, because he could find his
way out of any maze and could forewarn when danger is upon us. On the other
hand, that was selfish of me; he would feel horrible if his father was really
in trouble and he didn’t help. I just hoped I finished helping whoever was
calling for it in time to get back to him if he needed me.

I wandered for a little while, trying to follow the
call for help, but it was too close. The signal was muddled and I was not
getting any less lost. Giving up, I sat on a large boulder and waited. There
were no animals around, probably chased away by the powerful presence of
whoever was calling for help. It wasn’t someone I knew.

The gravity was just about equal to Duran’s. The
trees were tall and had green broadleaves. It was about twenty-five degrees
centigrade and the atmosphere was just slightly thinner on oxygen than Duran.
Overall, it seemed halfway between Duran and Earth.

Sitting alone in the forest did give me time to
reflect on my life, which was never a good thing. I was better off having an
epiphany in the middle of a dangerous situation than sitting alone in silence.
My life was a tangled web I didn’t want to get caught in; I needed to move
forward, for every time I figured out my place in life something drastically
changed, like the discovery of my Iadnah energy or the birth of my son. I was
me, always that and nothing more, whatever I was, and trying to understand
myself only made it confusing. All I needed to know was that I was a father and
a Guardian and someone was watching me.

I looked up to see a man I had never met. He was
about the same height as me with a slightly slimmer build. His hair was medium
in length, a little shaggy, and had a very odd silver-red color. He looked to
be in his late thirties, but his aura was old and powerful.

He spoke in some foreign language and my Iadnah
energy reacted instantly to translate. “You should not be out here,” he said.

“I came here to find you because you called for help.
What’s wrong with here? I haven’t been attacked or anything,” I answered.

“It is not dark yet. There is something in the dark.”
He glanced above me and I followed his gaze. I was sitting under an apple tree.

I jumped off the rock and turned around to see the
massive tree. This wasn’t Earth, I knew that for sure. Nobody said apples were
restricted to my home world, but something about this tree felt ominous…
something I forgot.

“We need to get out of here.”

“I cannot get out. I was brought here, dropped off.
How did you get here? Why did you come?”

“I felt you calling for help.”

“How? Who are you?” He looked genuinely confused.

At full power, a Guardian was unmistakable for what
he was. Having met seven others, I knew the type. He was either Rasik, Guardian
of Kahún or Rilryn, Guardian of Dayo. His magic didn’t feel anything like the energy
of Kahún, so I had to assume he was Rilryn. He came closer to examine me and I
could see his striking, stone gray eyes with specks of gold.

“I am Dylan, Guardian of Earth.”

His confusion morphed into a startled expression.
“Ronez is the Guardian of Earth.”

That explained his confusion. “You haven’t heard. I’m
sorry. Ronez was my father. He died seven years ago.”

His expression became blank, but his eyes were sad
and he sat heavily on the rock I had previously used. “That explains why I
could never get ahold of him. Nobody ever told me. I am sorry for your loss. He
was a great man.”

“Were you good friends?” I asked.

He smirked, but it wasn’t happy. “Sometimes.” I could
see a light bulb go off over his head and he looked up at me with wide eyes.
“What did you say your name is?”

“Dylan Yatunus.”

“Your father told me about you. In fact, you were all
he ever talked about in the last years. I am Rilryn.” He reached into the bag
strapped to his side and pulled out an old letter. “This is about twenty years
old. He said that I needed to help him save you. The gods wanted to kill you
when you were born because you were so powerful. He said that I would meet you
some day and to give you this,” he said, holding it out to me.

The letter was in a sealed envelope with no writing
on it, and the paper was yellowed with age. “Did you read it?” I asked.

“He said that if anyone but you read it, it would
vanish and cause sixty point health damage on the target. I never understood
that, but it sounded serious,” he said, then frowned. “Or maybe he was lying.
He did that, too.”

“Never underestimate my father; he was probably
telling the truth.” I opened the letter and pulled out the note. I couldn’t
help but to worry over what I would read. I actually met the man twice after he
died, but it seemed that the more I learned, the more I realized I knew nothing
about him. This letter could give me a better understanding of him or confuse
me worse.

Dear Dylan:

If you are reading this note, you should be the
Guardian of Earth. If not, you are too young for this; put the letter away, go
brush your teeth, and get to bed. Otherwise, continue reading.

Hopefully, you found your way into this life
without too much trouble… But you probably died or something and was brought
back. I know my brother is taking good care of you. The future was always clear
to me, but I tried not to know too much of what was to come. You are seven as I
write this letter. Yesterday, Vretial visited you. I have no idea how, but I
know why. I spend most of my time protecting you, and the rest doing a mediocre
job of guarding Earth. Sorry, but I will probably leave you to solve most of
Earth’s problems.

Don’t bother with fixing the government; I tried
that, they just keep breaking it. With humans, I have learned that they will
carry on. Fix the worst of their mistakes and let them learn from the rest.
Don’t fret if you make your own errors. The humans as a species is not the
strongest, smartest, or most powerful, but if the people of any world survive
in the end it will be them, because they are absolutely the most stubborn to
survive. You have inherited an excellent world, whether they frustrate you or
not.

Vretial is dangerous, yet I am afraid he is only
the beginning for you. Since he visited you yesterday, I figure it wasn’t the
first time. I know you will face him when you are older, but Vretial cannot be
defeated. This is undeniable, and it is okay. To destroy him will never be your
destiny. If you stopped him, you have already succeeded. Nothing bad would ever
happen because of this, like all of time and space falling apart. Certainly not
that. Instead, I fear that what brought him to you last night is the real
threat. You must remember what he told you when you were seven. Your book can
help you.

I cannot tell you more. Anything I may or may not
know could make things worse if I told you. The more time I try to see beyond,
the more unstable predictions can be. I cannot be sure yet whether or not you
inherited the ability to see the future. If you have, remember that you see the
consequences of choices that have been made, not fate. You can use them to save
lives, but they can be deceptive.

The most I can do now is keep the path to your
destiny clear until you can do it for yourself. There are many paths I see, but
I know you will find the right one.

Just remember that while the gods call you
Noquodi, meaning servant, we are Guardians. It is not a title given to us but a
promise we make to ourselves and our worlds. This is not a promise to defeat
our enemies or carry out the objectives of our god; it is to protect. We are
not killers, destroyers, or warriors. We protect life. Not just human, not just
people, and not just our world.

Love, Your Dad

The envelope slipped as I finished reading and hit
the ground with a heavy flop. Realizing it couldn’t be empty, I picked it up
and pulled out a card. Instead of a face, it was a picture of an apple. “I’ve
seen this before.” It came through the void when Mordon and I were fighting the
demon and had Edward’s scent on it. I had put the card in Sammy’s baby bag and
never found it again. Then I did something very silly; I turned it over to look
at the back of it for the first time. “That’s new,” I said.

On the back of the card was a bunch of connected
lines, stars, and numbers. It made no sense to me. “It is a map,” Rilryn
supplied, studying it. “It was a game Ronez taught me when I was a child. It
sounded fun, that’s why I remember it, but I was never able to play.”

“Why not?” I asked.

“It is a two person game, and he said I could not
play it with him because I was not his brother.”

“So he played it with Kiro?” I asked. Perhaps Edward
would remember how to decipher this. Even if it was a game, there had to be a
reason my father wrote this on the back of a card and left it for me.

“I asked him about it, but he said that two Guardians
could never play it together. He told me he couldn’t play it, couldn’t even
read it. Only brothers could read it together.”

“That doesn’t make much sense.”

He nodded sadly. “Your father was a great man. I
cannot help you further. You must leave now.”

“What about you? I came to help you.”

“It is too late; it is already dark,” he said.

I peered up at the blue sky that could be seen
clearly through the trees; it was a long way from dark. When I looked back,
Rilryn was gone. All things considered, sitting back down on the large stone
under the apple tree was probably a foolish thing to do, but I was frustrated.
I shouldn’t have been surprised when an apple hit me on the head, bounced, and
landed in my lap. I looked up, seeing nothing unusual, except for the
mysterious tree, then picked up the apple. Written in black marker was “eat” in
English on the apple.

“You’re kidding, right?” I asked the apple.
Apparently it had more answers than I did. I scrutinized the tree for snakes
and spotted none. Still, it was strangely biblical. Seeing as how my wife was a
god, there should have been something wrong with that. “Alice, save me a seat
for tea.”

I bit into the apple, chewed quickly, and swallowed.
It didn’t taste poisoned. Before I could even consider my stupidity, the world
tilted and I felt myself pitching forward.

*          *          *

For about the six-dozenth time, I woke in a forest.
Only this one I knew very well. Even in the dead of night, I knew I was about a
kilometer north of the haunted springs, and that if I headed directly south, I
would eventually find myself at home. The problem was there was snow on the
ground… It was in the middle of summer when I left Duran. Without even having
my wits about me, I climbed to my feet. This was the perfect moment for a
monster attack, and I didn’t want to be on my back for it.

There were always sounds in the forest; sounds of
animals, sounds of the wind, and often the sound of running water. However, the
tromping of people was a very distinct sound, especially the tromping of two
little boys. I found the source of the noise just a few minutes south. It was
both exactly what I expected and extremely confusing. Sammy and Ron were making
their way through the forest, but Ron was barely three and Sammy was five. I
knew it was before he was six, because he wore a Scooby-Doo shirt that he tore
on his sixth birthday.

Ron was bundled up in his dark blue toddler house
coat and matching soft house boots. Sammy was no better dressed for the
weather; he wore real boots and clothes, but he had a towel draped around his
shoulder instead of a jacket. Though clearly in a hurry, he had Ron’s hand
firmly in his grasp and never fussed when he had to stop to help Ron step over
a log or rock.

“I saw it not far from here,” Sammy whispered to Ron.
Ron nodded and shivered, but never spoke. “It was important.”

I followed at a distance until they finally came to a
stop and both began searching for something. Ron just wandered around, probably
having no clue what he was looking for. He often put up with his brother’s
antics just to keep Sammy out of trouble.

It started snowing and Ron’s blue house coat was
dusted with the powdery snow for a few minutes until is started melting into
the plush fabric. Sammy paused his search long enough to wrap his towel over
Ron’s head. “You lose a lot of body heat if you don’t keep your head covered.”
They continued their search as if they were both not freezing. “I found it!”
Sammy shouted, clearing some snow off of what looked like two rocks. I emerged
from the cover of the trees. Neither child saw me, even as I stopped right next
to them.

It wasn’t two large rocks that Sammy found; it was
two eggs. They were about half a meter tall, but they were definitely eggs.
“What did you find?” I asked, mostly just to hear the question asked. Neither
of my boys heard me.

Sammy gathered one of the eggs in his arms. “We have
to get them out of the cold or they’ll die. Grab the other one.”

Ron tried, but it was huge compared to him.

I felt the presence about the time the temperature
dived. The warning came,
“There’s something in the dark.”
The voice in
my head, giving me that warning, was one I had hoped to never hear again. And I
knew that presence.