God of the Abyss (24 page)

I was digging through my bag for the card, but it
wasn’t in there. The card was gone again. His presence instantly oppressed the
air as the god appeared between us. Vretial killed my father the last time they
faced each other. Now he smiled pleasantly and held out the card with the apple
on it.

“Vretial,” my father sneered.

I wasn’t surprised Ronez could guess who the god was,
and I wasn’t surprised he said the god’s name as if it were a cuss word.
Obviously I got my respect for the gods from my father.

“I don’t like you,” Ronez said suspiciously.

“Well, my servants killed you, and I tried to kill
your son, so I can’t fault you on that.”

Ronez smirked. “You failed at killing him.”

“Oh, yes. He destroyed me easily.” The god looked
right at me and continued talking to Ronez. “He was always the one who would do
it. I knew it the moment he faced me and wasn’t afraid. Your son’s birth will
mean uproar for the gods. I have already introduced this card to Dylan.”

“It also needs to be read in his or Mordon’s future.”

“I took care of that as well.”

Ronez didn’t take the card, however. Instead, his
eyes narrowed in suspicion. “You’re too eager. If my son isn’t working for you,
then you must be working for him.”

“It isn’t quite that drastic.”

“Then why? Nothing comes without a price, especially
not magic.”

“I can definitely see the family resemblance. Let’s
just say I’m paying the price for something I’ve already done. The time for
making deals with me will come later. At this point, there is nothing you have
that I want.”

“And later?”

“I may ask you to make something for me, which you
will agree to.”

“What is it?”

“Later.” He held the card out further until Ronez
took it hesitantly.

“What is the map for?” Mordon asked.

 “It’s a map of time. You said there was something in
the dark. Something was lost in time and needs to be found.”

“So the dark is time?”

“No. I think it’s wrong.”

“It was a bad translation. You need to ask your son
what the right translation was.” They all looked at me and Ronez gasped.

“It’s like seeing my brother with green eyes.”

The thoughtful solemnity in his eyes must have been
caused by shock, for I was told that he was very rarely serious. “What are you
talking about? I don’t know anything about a translation,” I said.

“You do. You heard it; you translated it,” Vretial
said.

“I translated what?”

“I told you. Remember when you were seven, I told you
everything you needed to know and you got it wrong.”

“I don’t remember!” I yelled at him. I yelled right
in the most powerful god’s face.

“You have to remember because I can’t say it again!”
he yelled back. That could have gone so much worse. Instead, the god turned
away, sighed, and ran his hand through his hair.

“You’re not the same as before,” I said. He turned
back to look at me. “Your personality shifted like water and you killed without
thought. You wanted me dead. Now you just turn away and cool down. The others still
think you’re volatile, but you’re not. Moody, maybe, eccentric, definitely, but
not insane. What changed you? Was it life?”

“I haven’t changed. When I first met you in person,
what did I ask you? Not the first thing I said, but the first question.”

“I don’t remember,” I said. “That was many years ago
and it was a very stressful day.”

“Then I didn’t scare you enough.” He looked at the
height of frustration. Before I could react, his hands went into my hair and
fisted like he was going to pull my hair, but instead he leaned his forehead
against mine. “You need to remember. Don’t think about anyone else. Think about
that moment. I took you away from your father to get you alone. I said your
name.”

I really tried to remember, but I also really wanted
Vretial to let me go. “I said I knew who you were, too. And then you asked me…
You asked me how I wanted to die.”

“Yes. Now remember when you were seven. You came into
the room. I sat on the cabinet at the foot of your bed. You hated it.”

“The foot chest. It wasn’t a seat.”

“Then what?”

“You messed with my books. And my clothes. It was
chaos.”

“You hated it.”

“Yes. You asked if I feared you and I said no, then
you asked me why and I said you didn’t act like a bad man. You asked what a bad
man acts like.”

“You never answered me.”

“You killed my father,” I said.

“He was already dead. I saved all those people.”

“You cleared the worlds off when you knew we were
coming. I never forgot it and I am thankful. Very thankful. It doesn’t make you
a good man when you put them in danger in the first place. How many lives have
you destroyed? Not people killed; lives destroyed?”

“Not. Those. People. What was the last thing I said?”

“I don’t remember.”

He let me go and jerked away as if he would hit me if
he didn’t withdrawal. “Why don’t you remember?!”

“Because it was twenty-three years ago!”

“Everyone with the short memories! I remember the
moment this universe was created. I remember the moment I became the only one
to make the right decision. I remember the moment I lost the trust of the only
one of my siblings who ever cared about me. And you can’t remember something
from twenty-three years ago?!”

“Send me back there. Like when you did with the
apple, send me back to that night.”

“I can’t because we both use Iadnah magic. I would
see you and that would create a paradox. Normally, a paradox is nothing but
child’s play to me, but with the balance acting up, that is the last thing
anyone needs.”

“You said you needed my help with the gates,” I said.
He nodded. “You meant to close them.” He nodded again and I flopped down in the
leather chair.

“Excuse me, just real quick… did you say Iadnah
energy?” Ronez asked. Sometime during our debate, Mordon and Ronez had gotten
some tea and sat down on the couch.

“Yeah, sorry I can’t explain. First rule of time
travel and all…” I waved my hand at Vretial behind me. “Apparently we really
need to avoid the paradox right now. I didn’t even know about it until I was
twenty-five.”

“I get that. I have gone into the future, and I get
dreams of the future sometimes, but it’s never what I want to see. I just need
to know… If you can tell me anything at all… Was I a good father to you?” he
asked.

“First rule,”
Mordon warned.

In all the years of my unlucky childhood, I thought
there was nobody who cared about me and nobody looking out for me. Some men
have tried to be a father figure to me, especially at the schools, but it was
always forced. It was money, culture, or religion forcing them to pretend to
care. It wasn’t until right before my son was born that I found out Ronez was
always there, as close as he could be without our magics interfering.

I looked at Vretial, who shrugged, and back at Ronez.
“You were a great father.”

“Wonderful. Can we get back to the matter at hand?”
Vretial interrupted. “You need to follow the map. There are artifacts that
appear at only one moment in time, over and over.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“You need to go to those times and places and get
them,” he said, ignoring me. “Closing the gates is going to take some magic
you’re not used to.”

“Ritual magic,” Mordon said. We all turned to him and
he shrugged. “Ritual magic maybe old on Duran and rarely used anymore, but my
father wanted me to learn it. It was an everyday thing for me. I helped build
the shrines on Mijii.”

“Edward tried teaching me, but I got bored,” I said.

“Who?” Ronez asked.

“Oh, never mind. You’ll get it when you’re older,” I
said.

“It will take me a few weeks to create the map.”

“Leave it somewhere he can find it in the future,”
Vretial suggested. “No, leave it with someone.”

“I got a letter,” I said. “It was from you, written
when I was seven. It specifically said that I was seven and just got visited by
Vretial. Obviously it was when he created that card. You gave the letter and
the card with the map on it to Rilryn.”

“It is very important that no paradox is created, so
make sure you do not tell Dylan anything about this meeting or the card in the
letter,” Vretial said. “Dylan and Mordon must learn in a linear order to their
perspectives. Once you are far enough away from any point in time where Ronez
has not yet created the card, both the card and letter will reappear in your
bag.”

“What exactly are we looking for?”

“Tiamat told me once that I needed to make some
normal ritual artifacts and… enhance them. I was never one to use ritual magic,
but I made sure these items were perfect. Then I hid them. The enhancements
made them dangerous in the right hands.”

“You mean the wrong hands?” Mordon asked.

Ronez shook his head. “The wrong hands would destroy them.
They were meant for someone, and if you two are here, I have to assume they’re
for you. The map will lead you to the five items. It’s important that you
remember the order; air dagger, water cup, fire wand, earth pantacle, and lotus
wand.”

“Pantacle? I thought it was a pentagram,” I said,
absentmindedly reaching for the pendant I wore.

“A pentagram is a five-pointed star that is used
often in magic. A pentacle is a five-pointed star enclosed in a circle. The
earth pantacle I’m referring to is a ritual item; a plaque with a six-pointed
star. Vocabulary gets very muddled in witchcraft and ritual magic, which I’m
sure I will teach you when… when you are a kid… which begs the question why you
don’t already know this.”

Because you will never get the chance to teach me…

“Caution, Dylan,”
Mordon warned.

“I’m a slow study and I’m never where I’m supposed to
be,” I said. “Okay, so we find these things and Mordon does some ritual magic
to close the gates.”

“No. Iadnah magic must be used. Mordon can help you,”
Vretial said.

Mordon stuck his tongue out at me before drinking his
tea. I taught my friend some majorly bad habits. “Why can’t
you
close
the gates?” I asked the god.

He sighed. “Because you cannot close the gates while
the balance is acting against it.”

“How am I supposed to close it, then?”

“You have to remember. Your book can help you
remember.”

“He’s still holding stuff back,” Mordon told me.

“Of course I am. I can’t tell you everything or
you’ll never figure it out. Here, an apple that doesn’t rot. You can use this
to follow the map.”

The god picked up the glass fruit and it went from
clear to opaque, like a real apple, then he tossed it to me. It was hard and
smooth, because it was still glass, but the vibrating energy that was trapped
inside made it warm.

“Focus on the moment in time and space you need to be
and it will use my magic to send you there. Be warned, Dylan; you are young and
have not learned everything your magic can do. Flashing does not change time,
but you are capable of it. After using the apple a few times, you may figure
out how to do it yourself. It is tempting, but very dangerous, and you are too
young and inexperienced in our magic to try it yourself. So, if you ignore my
warnings and try to travel in time, make sure you take your friend with his
old, wise dragon to guide you.”

“Why an apple? Why is it an apple? I know it has to
be something unusual to places other than Earth, but there are many things like
that.”

“You hate apples,” Vretial said.

“No, I don’t.”

“You said you did.”

“When did I say that?”

“At the river. Oh, you haven’t been there yet. Of
course not.”

“You said it was an omen.”

“I lied. It was a memory. You have to remember.” He
stepped close enough to tap me in the forehead with his index finger. “I told
you when you saw the apple you would have to remember. The apple was a sign
that it was time to remember, a sign that it was time for you to make the same
choice that I had to make.”

“I don’t think I want to make any choice that you
made.”

“That is why it is a choice.” Vretial vanished with
those words.

“How do we use the map?” Mordon asked. Ronez opened
his mouth to explain when everything went dark.

*          *          *

The ground pressed against me too hard. Or maybe I
was too heavy. I moved my arm to shade my eyes from the bright sun and leaves
rustled with the movement. I could smell the dirt and leaves and it was cold,
but not the bitter cold of winter. There was a sharp pain in my side,
suggesting I had been injured.

I opened my eyes to see the apple tree. We were back
in the forest, exactly where we were before, and I wasn’t injured; I was lying
on a rock. Mordon was beside me, opening his eyes and moving without any sign
of pain. Vretial and my father were nowhere to be seen. “We need to talk to the
gods,” I said, climbing to my feet.

“And then we can go home? Time travel is apparently
really irritating to dragons.”

“Yeah.” I was ready for dinner and bed. I focused on
the gods as best as I could and by now my magic knew how to do what I wanted it
to. It took little effort on my part to transport us to the gods… but I wasn’t
focused enough to be prepared for what happened.

Just like on Malta, something attacked me. It was a
fierce power, very determined to stop me and too quick for me to strike back.
In the darkness of this non-place, the emptiness of the space between the
worlds, some ancient power tore into me like a beast with claws and teeth. It
wasn’t my body it tore into but my soul.

*          *          *

Waking was difficult. Painful and difficult. My
thoughts were a jumbled mess of words and images that didn’t make any sense. A
few of them were people, but most were just mixed up, voiceless words. I
couldn’t open my eyes. I knew if I did I would remember what happened and where
I was, but one word kept repeating in my head over and over and I had to keep
my eyes closed. I had to remember.