God of the Abyss (28 page)

When the feeling shifted again, I started to get it.
It was like a new energy. Everything in the entire universe was some form of
energy. Space was simple; time was infinitely complex. Flashing was easy
because my nominal energy was more powerful than my body and soul. Space was
solid; it could be warped with little consequence and I could easily move
myself from one place to another… But comparing time and space was like
comparing a one-dimensional object to a three-dimensional one without factoring
in a two-dimensional object. The shifting sensation was friction as I passed
over time.

I was taught by Regivus how to create an enclosed
warp in time. He could never use words to explain it, so he gave me the
knowledge directly. The powers of the gods were limitless, but it was so
terribly powerful that it had to be learned. I was dangerous because I was not
a god, yet I had the same limitless power. I tried things on a whim because
they made sense to me, without a real understanding of how Iadnah energy
worked. I knew how to command my magic to slow or speed time in a contained
bubble, but not what the consequences were or how to understand time.

Space was fixed; time was not. Time was changing and
shifting and breaking and mending… it was impossible for a person to lock onto
one moment. However, Iadnah magic could. My energy was not discovered until
after I could use nominal energy, but it had always been there. It worked for
me, not against me, yet it couldn’t warn me that I was doing something wrong.
Although I could use my energy to travel in time, it was so incredibly complex
that I could end up destroying history, people, or even worlds.

The moment that we were between Malta and Duran, I
could feel us shifting through time. Time was so overwhelming, but Vretial’s
magic had locked onto a point and was dragging us there. My magic wanted to
learn and recreate. I shoved it down.

I didn’t want to learn how to travel through time.

When I first discovered my powers, it was in the
middle of saving the worlds from time and space collapsing. I had no idea how
much worse things could have been. I thought healing was just easy; it was what
my magic naturally wanted to do, but I was fortunate that time had only
slightly been affected. It could have been so much worse.

The “landing” on Duran was easier than on Malta,
partially because Duran had a lighter gravity and mostly because I knew what to
expect. I opened my eyes to find us in Edward’s cabin with Edward and the boys.
I sighed with relief as nominal energy returned to me.

“Were we gone long?” I asked.

“About two minutes,” Mordon said. I frowned at him.
“Rojan has a precise grasp of time.”

“Convenient.” I turned to Edward. “Ronez had a watch.
Back in 1989, he sniffed Mordon and said he was a time traveler, then did
something with the watch and said he was sending Mordon back to his time and
place.”

“I never saw or heard about anything like that.”

Perhaps my father kept more secrets from his
brother than I knew.
“Okay. Let’s see where the map leads to next.”

“Nope. It’s bed time for you,” Mordon said. I glared
at him. “You’re slurring and wobbling,” he said with a sigh.

Of course I was dead on my feet. I was tired
before
we went to Malta, but I was still me, and I had to give him a hard time. “I’m
not wobbling, the world is!”

Sammy snorted and Ron put his hands over his
brother’s ears. “Daddy, you’re teaching us bad habits.”

Edward shoved a clean shirt into my hands, but I was
too tired to wonder where he got it. Mordon turned me towards my sleeping bag
and pushed me. Though I started to stumble, he kept me up until I made it to my
bed, then lowered me gently and helped me out of my bloody shirt. He left for a
moment before returning with a wet cloth to clean the dirt off my face.

We irritated the crap out of each other on purpose
often, and I knew I had a smart mouth, but he still had my back. Out of anyone
on any world, from any time, I could trust Mordon above all else. Mordon would
never betray me for anything. He would never deceive me, never do anything for
his own benefit if there was even a chance it could hurt me, and he would
always help me if I needed it. I couldn’t even say that about my wife.

And as much as he would be there for me, I would be
there for him. I wanted to heal everything, always, because that was what I
did, but anyone who messed with my brother would find themselves in a lot more
trouble than they bargained for. I let the demon off too easily; the next
person or thing that messed with my family would wish they were facing Vretial.

I guess if Mordon was the protective one, that made
me the vengeful one.

Mordon

I wasn’t surprised to wake in the dark, as it was
becoming a routine. For the past few months, my dreams were vivid memories of
Rojan flying and otherwise being a dragon. Three thousand years of memories
bleeding into me during my sleep… I often woke several times in the night
feeling smothered and confused.

We are okay. We are at Edward’s cabin
, Rojan
said when I looked around. I stayed over at Dylan’s sometimes, so I recognized
it instantly, but I didn’t like waking up in unfamiliar places, and I wasn’t
really used to Edward’s cabin. A deep inhale told me everyone was asleep and
there was no danger about.

I rolled over onto my side and a nudge in my back
told me I was wrong; not everyone was asleep. I reached back and pet one of
Hobble’s heads. He snuggled up against me and laid his heads on my side. Rojan
grumbled, but I ignored the dragon. Even though Hobble was a sweet and cuddly
little beast, the gargoyle was also an unusual and mysterious creature, which
bothered Rojan.

*          *          *

When I wasn’t dreaming one of Rojan’s memories, I was
dreaming one of Dylan’s. I saw this particular one the first time after the attack
on Dylan, when he temporarily lost his memory. It was simple to help him
remember it, but I was unprepared to see it myself.

Dylan was seven and having a conversation with
Vretial in his bedroom. However, when Dylan was attacked, he was only able to
speak and understand Enochian, so that is what I heard in his memory. Except
when I spoke in his head… I couldn’t think of any way to help Dylan when I
couldn’t understand what they were saying. I also couldn’t understand why I was
dreaming it. Dylan would say there was some part of it stuck in his head,
something he wasn’t getting. All memories and languages except for one were
wiped, so he was easily able to hone in on that one memory, but why Enochian,
the language he only learned a few years ago?

*          *          *

I felt Rojan’s awareness before I realized there had
been a sound. He wasn’t bothered by it because he couldn’t smell anything
wrong, but I opened my eyes to see Sammy sneaking out. Sammy never went
anywhere without Ron.

There is no need to worry, for he will not go far.
He probably needs to use the bathroom.

No, I doubt that. I know where he’s going.
I
got up quietly, even as I felt Rojan mentally shrug and divert his attention to
other things. I ignored him, went outside, and shut the door behind me. Sammy
had already reached the tent that Nano and Vivian were in, so I stayed on the
porch where I could easily overhear him. I wanted him to get the answers he
longed for, but I was also prepared to fillet and barbecue the mated couple if
they upset Sammy further.

He paused with his hand half-raised, as if he wanted
to knock, only to realize it was a tent. “Mom?” he asked quietly.

“Sammy?” The flap opened a few seconds later to
Vivian’s worried expression. “You shouldn’t be so far from Ron.”

“I wanted to see you. I had a bad dream,” he said.
Vivian moved aside to let him enter and the flap closed behind him. “Why don’t
you ever visit me anymore?”

“You know it’s too painful when I have to say
goodbye. I can’t stay because Nano is–”

“I know. He has a job to do. You missed my birthday.”

“I can’t travel the worlds on my own and Nano wasn’t
there to take me to Duran. I do miss you very much, but this is where you
belong. Divina and Dylan can protect you and teach you. Life would not be easy
or fun on Dios. You can’t just be a kid there, like you can here. Now go,
before Ron wakes up and feels abandoned.”

Sammy exited the tent, but turned and hugged his
mother before she could follow him out. She hugged him back. “I will always be
your mother, but you can have more than one. Divina loves you, too.”

“She treats me like Ron, like her own child.”

“Go to her.”

He started to leave, then stopped. “Mom?”

“Yes, baby?”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

He walked back towards the porch with his eyes down
and only looked up when he got to the steps. He saw me and froze. I sat in one
of the two wicker chairs and he sat in the other. Vivian closed her tent when
she saw him sit with me.

“When Dylan brought you home, Divina couldn’t look
away from you. When he set you in her arms, she was terrified,” I said.

“She didn’t want me, either?”

“That wasn’t it at all. She had never held a baby
before. When she held you, she didn’t understand her own feelings. She was
terrified that she would accidently hurt you. The thing is, Divina never had a
mothering instinct before that moment. In the billions of years she has been a
god, you were the one to awaken that instinct. Divina loves you as her older
child because to her, you are just as much her son as Ron is. Biology means
little to her.”

“Why do Divina and Dylan love me, though?”

“Because they do. A person doesn’t really need a
reason to love their children, not even their adopted children. They love you
because they do. I love you, and so do Edward, Ron, and Rojan. There is nothing
in the world you could do to lose that.”

*          *          *

I woke to the sound of movement. By the meager light
in the room and the faint scent of dew, I figured it was dawn. Dylan, who was
naturally a night owl, slept on, while Edward got out of his sleeping bag and
headed for the kitchenette. He made himself tea and sat at the table. I got up
as quietly as I could and joined him.

“Dylan looks exhausted. You were only gone for a
couple of minutes, but how long was it from your side?”

“About six hours. It is difficult to tell time on
other worlds because of the size and rotational speed of the world, but Rojan
has some sort of grasp on time.”

“I’m not surprised that a dragon would. Did Dylan use
a lot of magic?”

“After we got the dagger, we found some demons
terrorizing a little village. Their castle was partially collapsed and we went
all over the village and castle so Dylan could heal people.”

“And you killed the demons?” he asked. I nodded.
“Guardians were created to defend the books of our worlds. All of us but Dylan
were raised with monks, so we all have different ideas of what our jobs entail.
We all want to protect and hate killing, but I don’t know if it really is a
biological disposition or how we were actually raised. Dylan is definitely the
most peaceful, but I have seen it in his eyes that he has the potential to be
extremely vindictive.”

I shook my head. “Only when his family is threatened.
He would never forgive himself if he lost control, so I intend to never let it
come to that.”

“You will protect him from himself?”

“Always.”

“His mate is a god. He is surrounded by Guardians who
would do anything for him after what he did five years ago.
I
would do
anything for him. All the gods treat him like their little brother. Do you
think he needs more than that?”

“I think every one of them, and you, would protect
him from demons, gods, and monsters misplaced in time and space, but he can
defend himself against those. However, he doesn’t stop. As long as he feels he
can help someone, he wouldn’t ever stop. That’s why he needs me.”

I could smell the blood before the yelling started.
Both Edward and I were out the door as quickly as possible. It was a dark
morning with angry clouds. Emrys had Samorde on the ground with his hands tight
around the smaller man’s throat, while Ghidorah was trying to pull Emrys away.
Azyle, Shiloh, and Nano were in a fierce debate, which seemed to be about
Vretial. Since they were yelling in another language, I couldn’t understand
what the problem was. The other Guardians and Vivian were still in their tents.

Edward went to help Ghidorah get Emrys off of
Samorde. Ghidorah first growled at Edward, then reluctantly accepted his help.

I thought that Rojan was going to yell at them when I
felt Dylan wake. Instead, he sighed.
Go back inside. They are not going to
kill each other. Eventually, they will get tired of arguing.

Rojan was right. The more we shared our magic, the
more I could sense what Dylan felt. He needed water and more sleep. Still, I
knew my friend; he wanted to get right back to work.

I entered the cabin just as he was sitting up, then
got a cup from the cabinet and filled it with water from the vase. He groaned
as I handed the water to him. “I feel like I just got over two weeks of
finals.” He drank the water and handed it back to be before pulling a strip of
Wigknot bark out of his bag to chew on. “I wish I had this while going to
college; it’s much better than Tylenol. Is there any breakfast?”

“I’ll see what I can get going.” I stepped outside to
see Edward putting steaks on the fire grill. He lit the fire with magic as the
Guardians and Vivian took their assigned stone seats. Samorde had bruises
around his neck, but he was having a friendly conversation in another language
with Ghidorah, even laughing.

Edward had a cup of knives and forks and a stack of
plates next to the fire. Having seen what Edward was making for breakfast, I
went back inside. There was a pile of bags next to the door with things we
would need if we took the kids with us, including clothes and food. From the
largest bag, I retrieved some bread and fruit. Sammy and Ron both disliked
meat, and Sammy was grumpy when he woke up hungry. Ron was much more
mild-tempered.

Dylan pouted when I put the food on the table. “I
don’t get any?”

“You can go one morning without breakfast,” I said,
teasing him.

He flopped down on his pillow dramatically and
clutched his stomach as if in pain. “You’re trying to starve me!” When I
ignored him, he got to his feet enthusiastically. “I smell the grill. Is Edward
making ushiiku?”

Ushiiku was a large mammal that ran wild on Shomodii.
It was also Dylan’s favorite.

“Yes. You should get the boys up and settled before
the steaks are done,” I said. He went downstairs and I got two cups out of the
cabinet. Next to the water vase was a bottle of kamitsue, a sweet juice made
from roots. I filled the boys’ cups with the juice and set it down just as
Dylan returned carrying Ron. Ron had his arms around Dylan’s neck and was still
half asleep. Sammy trailed behind him before taking his seat and nibbling on a
piece of fruit. “Why are you both so tired?” I asked.

Sammy gave me a blank, bleary-eyed stare. Ron
wouldn’t let go when Dylan tried to set him down. “We had busy dreams,” Sammy
explained.

“Of what?” Dylan asked, prying Ron off him.

“Lore. We had dreams of what Lore was going to look
like. And Raktusha.”

Dylan froze.

“What is Raktusha?” I asked.

“Vretial’s world,” Ron said, grabbing Sammy’s bread
instead of his own. Sammy ignored it and sipped his drink. Ron then took his
own bread and put it on Sammy’s plate, apparently realizing he had taken his
brother’s food.

Goofy kid.
“Vretial doesn’t have a world,” I
said.

“Not yet.”

“I know what Vretial wants with them,” Dylan said,
sitting hard in a chair. He put his face in his hands.

“Daddy, it’s okay. We don’t have to decide for a long
time,” Ron said, putting his tiny hand on Dylan’s. It was something Divina
often did when trying to comfort Dylan or give him bad news as gently as
possible.

“Decide what?” I asked.

 “Vreital is building a new world. With the gates
closed, he’s going to need a book.” He looked at me. “Of course he will need a
Guardian.”

“And he wants one of the boys to be his Guardian?” I
asked.

“He wants
both
of us as his Guardians,” Sammy
corrected. “Avoli is uncomfortable with Ron because Ron is like Daddy and
Divina. Ron would completely take over the world. Vretial knows we are brothers
and not going to be separated.”

“Do you trust Vretial?” Dylan asked them.

Sammy and Ron both frowned. “Trust him to do what?”

“I don’t know anymore,” Dylan said, running his hand
through his hair.

I thought I understood; it had to be horribly
confusing for Dylan that Vretial was psychotic and bent on taking over all of
the worlds when he met the god, but now Vretial was completely different. On
top of that, he felt like he needed to protect his boys from the dark god, but
he didn’t know that Vretial was really a threat to them.

When I sensed the discontent that Dylan felt, I
realized I was wrong; it wasn’t about protecting the boys. Vretial had always
been Dylan’s unfinished business. Dylan came into this life of magic because of
Vretial. He had to defend Earth from Vretial. The dark god was the reason his
father was dead, but he was also the reason Dylan was a Guardian. Vretial was a
mystery that needed to be solved… and the only thing Dylan ever knew for
absolute certain was that Vretial was his enemy.

Vretial was no longer his enemy.

Vretial killed Dylan’s father by sending Shio after
the books, but then helped Dylan save the boys. The god had personal reasons to
save Dylan’s sons, but he still did it. Maybe my friend didn’t even realize
what he was upset about.

“Let’s take a look at that map again,” I said, trying
to distract him. Unfortunately, I did distract him.

“Who was the girl in the purple dress?” he asked. I
froze and he smirked. “Emiko. You called her Emiko. She was a dragon?”

“How did you know?” I asked.
Stupid question.

“You had a dream about her last night.” He turned
away with a smirk and grabbed the card from the center of the table. “Hey, it
changed,” he said.

“Of course it did, Daddy, you already saw the first
location,” Sammy said, as if it were obvious that a map would change.