God of the Abyss (29 page)

He stuck it on the table and set the crystal ball on
it. Just before we activated it, Edward walked in with steaks. Dylan greeted
him and excitedly took both plates of steak. I tried to take one and he growled
at me, holding it to his chest.

I growled back and shifted my teeth when he still
didn’t give it to me. Finally, he submitted and held out one of the plates for
me. Edward handed us forks and knives, then went down the stairs grumbling
about cavemen. Yeah, we were acting silly. Even Rojan grumbled, but everyone
was used to Dylan and me teasing each other. Dylan thought that I would enjoy
my food more if he made me work for it.

“Duran really needs potatoes. Buttered bread and
steak is great, but I want French fries,” Dylan said.

“What do you know about growing potatoes?”

“I wasn’t suggesting I grow them. Edward already told
me they would never survive our weather. I mean, between summer droughts and
winter blizzards, not to mention fire blizzards, I can’t imagine how anyone on
Shomodii can grow anything. No, I was suggesting I flash to Earth and get a bag
of potatoes.”

“That sounds like a very frivolous use of your magic.
Why don’t you?”

“I’m out of American money and I don’t think they’ll
take Duran money.”

Both of us ate quickly and moved onto business. We
poured our magic into the crystal until the energy shaped into another star
map. Edward returned with Meri. Her hair was mussed and she wore a loose, white
button-up shirt with a pair of short, dark gray sleep-shorts. While she was
very beautiful, everything she did exuded sexiness.

Most disturbing was that even though I couldn’t look
away, Rojan was indifferent. He pretty much gave me a mental shrug.
Not
nearly as cute as Emiko.

Emiko is a brat. An evil brat.

We can shape her up. She just needs some
direction.

Why did that turn me on? I didn’t like where Rojan’s
thoughts were going, but I couldn’t bring myself to stop him. Dylan elbowed me
in the ribs until I focused the map. My friend was right; I really didn’t want
to be on Edward’s bad side for ogling his girlfriend. I may not have been
thinking about her, but I was staring at her.

“Recognize the stars?” Dylan asked Edward.

Edward frowned at it for a moment. “I think so. I’ll
be right back.” Edward left and returned less than a minute later with Shiloh
in tow. “Look at the star formation and tell us if that is Vaigda’s sky.”

Shiloh examined for just a second before nodding. “It
definitely is.”

“Alright. We need to think of Vaigda,” I said. I
thought about the quarantine rooms and the city in the sky. There was glass and
technology everywhere and everything was so clean that the city on the ground
glittered. I remembered the taste of the gross cream candy I got for Sammy and
that everyone in the water city wore white. The gravity of the world was
similar to Duran. I remembered the sounds and smells of the cities.

We were each focusing on memories that were very
similar, so the images soon began crossing over. Dylan had seen into the heart
of the world when he healed it, and I could see those memories.

The energy shifted to form a new image; which
appeared to be a study. There was a large wooden desk with a shelf full of
books behind it. We both looked at Emrys. “Do you know where that is?” Dylan
asked.

He shook his head. “That doesn’t look familiar.”

“We are looking for a water cup,” I said.

Dylan frowned. “A cup for water?” I rolled my eyes
and Edward sighed, pulling out his cards.

“This is what you’re looking for.” He held up a card
with the picture of a ceremonious blue goblet. “These are a basic set of ritual
items. What do you need them for?”

“I don’t know. Ronez just said we would need them to
close the gates. He said that Tiamat told him to make them special and that
they were dangerous. Why else would they be hidden the way they are?” Dylan
asked.

Dylan and I focused on the cup until the energy in
the crystal changed slightly. Now there was a goblet sitting on the shelf. The
feeling of time formed in my mind, but I think it was stronger for Dylan.

It is in the past. A few years before we were
there, I think,
Rojan said.

“Okay. I got it. Ready?” Dylan asked me. I nodded.

“Wait. Maybe you can take Seimei and Ikiru with you.
If there’re more demons then they can help you,” Sammy said.

“Mordon and I can handle it. The griffins should stay
here in case one of the Guardians is possessed again.”

“I should go with you,” Shiloh said. “You have visited
Vaigda, but you know little of the culture. If you are found without a medical
bracelet, you will be detained. I can be of use to you whether in a fight or to
keep the peace.”

Dylan smirked. “You forget, Shiloh; I have Iadnah
magic. I can flash us out or put up an energy shield if we need it. Plus,
Mordon is a powerful wizard and if anyone pisses us off, he can eat them.
Besides, we really don’t need you running into yourself. With the gates
opening, we want to make as few mistakes as possible.”

“You sounded like you support my idea of a council so
that we can all help each other… but you refuse the possible help that I offer.
If I can assist you in any way, why not allow me to come with you?”

“You already helped us,” Dylan said. “We couldn’t
have done this if you didn’t tell us this was Vaigda’s sky. However, when it
comes down to it, Mordon and I work together. We know how each other thinks and
what the other person will do. If it’s me and him, there will be no collateral
damage.”

“What he means is that if Mordon wasn’t there, he
would certainly be grateful for your assistance. However, they have a system in
place,” Edward said.

“Alright. We need to get going. The faster we get the
ritual items, the faster we can take care of the gates,” Dylan said, pulling
out the apple. I put my hand on it. “I’ll focus on time if you focus on
Vaigda.”

“Got it,” I answered. We both closed our eyes. I
replayed all my memories of Vaigda, but mostly pictured the room where the
water cup was going to be. The apple grew warm and I felt the sudden absence of
nominal energy as we left Duran. When I first traveled to other worlds with
Dylan, I couldn’t tell the difference between the nominal energy of my home
world and the others, but as I became more familiar with Dylan’s energy, the
subtle differences became clear. What bothered me about this time travel was
for a couple of seconds, I had no senses whatsoever.

When my senses returned, it was to the smell of books
and water. I opened my eyes to see us in the study, which was expected. The
smell of sea water made Rojan shudder; we were in one of the water cities. The
room itself was cozy with rich, dark colors and wall-to-wall book cases full of
old books. Behind the old wooden desk was a comfortable looking leather chair.

Dylan flopped down in the chair and put his feet up
on the desk. “I always wanted a desk.” He put his feet down and scooted up to
the desk with excitement. “Now I need a brandy, an old phone, and sexy lady in
a miniskirt to sit on the desk.”

“Divina will skin you alive.”

“Divina isn’t the jealous type. She’s a god and very
confident in herself. Besides, she knows I love her for everything she is,
including her manipulative tendencies.” The water cup appeared on the table and
Dylan dived for it. Dylan looked the cup over before holding it up for me to
see.

It was a proper-sized goblet, big enough for me to
wrap my hand around the clear glass stem, and the base was painted dark blue.
The outer lip of the goblet was painted orange with eight light blue strips
trailing to the stem. The rest of the cup was medium blue with orange sigils
and foreign letter painted on. The letters didn’t look English, but they
certainly were not a Duran language, not even an old magic scripture.

“That was easy. Do you hear any demons or people
screaming?” Dylan asked.

I listened. After straining my ears and nose, I could
hear people in the far distance, but none of them were yelling or screaming.
“It sounds calm. Let’s head home.”

He put the cup in his bag, leaving a huge lump, and
pulled out the glass apple. I put my hand on it and we closed our eyes to
concentrate. We both focused on the boys. Specifically, we thought about them
right after we disappeared. A feeling pressed in on my mind.

This is what you are looking for. This is the time
right after we disappeared. Pass it to Dylan,
Rojan said. I focused on the
sense that Rojan gave me and pushed it to Dylan.

“What is that?”
he asked.

“Our time. Rojan knows what our time feels like,”
I explained. So we both focused on that and immediately the nominal energy
disappeared. When I felt the energy of Duran again, I opened my eyes. We were
back in the cabin with Edward, Meri, Shiloh, and the boys.

“That was quick,” Edward said.

“That seemed to work a lot better when we know the
time,” Dylan said.

We were away for less than a minute,
Rojan
agreed.

“I’m starting to understand the sense of time.
Right now it’s like discovering a new sensation. It’s like a person who could
never taste anything, suddenly tasting for the first time, when nobody
explained to them what it was. My Iadnah energy reacts to it, trying to learn
it. Humans are capable of learning to sense magnetic north. Maybe it’s like
that.”

“Magnetic north is spatial sense and taste is a
chemical sense we are born with. I think time should be more difficult to
learn.”

“I agree, it should be,”
he said. “We were
only there for a few minutes. The cup showed up, we got it, and we left.” He
pulled out the cup and dagger and set them on the table.

“If I am no longer needed, I’m going to go back
outside,” Shiloh announced before leaving.

Edward leaned down to whisper in Meri’s ear. It was
only with my dragon-enhanced hearing that I heard his words. “Would you go make
sure Emrys doesn’t kill Samorde?”

She nodded and left.

“That really took no work at all, so I’m ready to
roll,” Dylan said. “You good?” he asked me. I nodded. He put his hand on the
crystal ball and poured his energy into it. I added my fire and the energy
quickly shaped into a new star map.

“That’s Duran,” Edward said with one glance.

I opened my mouth to ask if he was sure, but Rojan
interrupted me.
He’s right. That is definitely Duran.
Figures a dragon
would know the formation of the stars.

I could feel overwhelming memories radiating from
Dylan and deliberately let them into my own mind. Images, feelings, and
thoughts that Dylan experienced when he first arrived on Duran bombarded me. It
was such a significant time for him that the seven-year-old memories were still
very strong.

The energy immediately formed the image of a throne
room. I groaned. “I’ve seen that room before,” I said.

“It’s a huge throne room. Is it in the Ishte
kingdom?”

“No. It’s Emiko’s kingdom. Figures; we’re looking for
a fire wand. Where else would it be but in the only kingdom of dragons on
Duran. The water cup was in the water city on Vaigda. The air dagger was in the
air tribe on Malta. I see a pattern here.”

“Well, that was easy. Patterns are good. Now for the
time.”

Edward held up a card with the fire wand on it. It
was a long red wand with two yellow bands and a yellow base. The top was shaped
like a flame with a mix of red and yellow. Getting into the routine, we both
closed our eyes and focused on the fire wand. The moment the impression of time
came to me, Rojan nearly broke my concentration.

It is in the future, but only about fifteen hours.

“Are you sure?” Dylan asked.

I looked at him in shock. “You heard Rojan?”

“Yeah. It’s not the first time, either, it’s just
really uncommon. If it’s only fifteen hours from now, maybe we shouldn’t use
the apple.”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I think we need to get these
artifacts as soon as possible. If we use it, we can get back here with little
time wasted.”

“Alright,” he said. He put the card and the crystal
ball in his bag and looked at Edward. “The next one is a pantacle.”

Edward took another card and handed it to Dylan, who
slipped it in his bag without even looking at it. I shrugged off my friend’s
weird behavior as he held the glass apple out for me. I put my hand on it and
thought of the throne room.

“Try to focus on the place and not Emiko’s ass,
yeah?” Dylan suggested.

I growled. “You focus on the time and I’ll focus on
whatever I want to.”

It only took a couple of seconds of picturing the
throne room, probably because it was a real memory and not just an image we saw
in the crystal. I opened my eyes to a startled yelp. We were in the throne room
and Emiko was sitting in her chair, wearing a dark blue sundress and the same
silver shoes as before. Her hair was halfway up in a strap, but still managed
to drape over her shoulders in heavy curls.

She bounded out of the throne and into my arms. I
could have refused her, but there was an underlying scent that distracted me.

“You came back for me!” she exclaimed.

I pushed her away and sneezed. Dylan darted off to
grab the wand, which appeared on a small table against the wall, and then
slipped it into his bag.

“What is going on?” Emiko asked, her excitement
dampened.

Dylan went right up to Emiko and held out his hand,
which she took without hesitation. “I’m Dylan,” my friend said.

Rojan growled and I forced my way between them. “Sit
down,” I demanded, glaring at her. She did. I leaned over her so that she had
to lean back and scented her, then turned away and sneezed. “How long have you
been sick?” I asked her.