The Guardian's Grimoire (3 page)

“I would prefer it if you didn’t pass out.” He
observed the cars again for a moment before turning his attention back to me.
“The story shall start as a history lesson.”

Oh, God.

“Bear with me,” he said as if he heard my thoughts.
“Before the worlds even had life, the twelve gods; the Iadnah, took over twelve
worlds and made them able to sustain life. For each world, they created a book
in which they wrote their true name. Do you understand so far?”

“Twelve gods, books, true name. Got it. Why?”

He blinked. “What?”

“Why do they need the books? They’re gods,” I said.
He laughed, completely open and honest, which was entirely contrary to my first
impression of him.

“I just told you something that few people of your
world would swallow even if I had proof, and you want to question the motives
of gods? The books are…” He hesitated, thinking of the words. “They represent,
protect, and control the power of the worlds.” I was about to ask him to
elaborate, but he held up his hand. “Please try to contain the questions until
the end.”

“I’ll try.”

Edward nodded. “One of the Iadnah, Vretial, decided
his world was not powerful enough. He was the most risky, psychotic, and
malicious of the Iadnah, while his brother, Avoli, was very kind, but also
easily fooled. Vretial stole Avoli’s book and erased every name but his own.
The world became his. Out of fear, the other ten gods hid their books with
different warriors of each world.”

“One for each world or several?”

“There is only one warrior for each world and these
warriors were born with great powers of the mind. By the gods, we are called
Noquodi, but the more common name is Guardian. The two worlds that belong to
Vretial are called the Outlands, or outer worlds. The Guardians’ power was
passed down through their children, who were known as wizards. Though everyone
can do magic, every person born naturally gifted is a true wizard and a
descendant of the warriors.”

“So, if I am a wizard, which you seem to believe I
am, then I’m a descendant of a Guardian?”

“Yes, and when you sign your name, you will become
much more powerful than you are now. Any person who writes their name in a book
of the Iadnah will be marked with the symbol of that world and will be able to
learn to travel without the book. Their power will become much greater and they
will be linked to that world for as long as their name is in that book. They
take on a tiny bit of the responsibility of protecting that world, since their
magic is tied to it. When they die, their name remains in the book and no one
knows what happens to them.”

“Can you erase a person’s name from the book so they
can’t use the power anymore? Like, if they’re abusing it or something?”

“Only one of the Iadnah or one of the Guardians can
erase a person’s name from one of the books, but if they do, that person will
vanish.”

“What if someone else were to write my name?”

“A person can only write his own name in the books.
It’s like you’re signing a contract that can’t be forged.”

“So, if I write my name in this book, I will be its
Guardian and I can travel the worlds?”

Edward shook his head. “You can only travel to the
worlds whose book your name is in. You can travel all the worlds if you can
sign all the books. They are spread out and hidden so it would be difficult to
do. Now, you do not have to be a Guardian of the book to sign it, and every
book, except for Vretial’s, has one and only one Guardian.”

“So this book, it belongs to Earth’s Guardian,
right?”

“It does.”

“How did the Guardian of this book die?”

“Vretial recently struck again. He sent very powerful
servants of his to track down the remaining books. They only found one
Guardian, and he discarded the book before they killed him.”

“That was the Guardian of the book I found? The
Guardian of Earth? And the servants are the monsters that are after me?”

“Not exactly. Wizards, servants of Vretial, killed
the previous Guardian of Earth, Ronez. Whatever is after this discarded book
isn’t a servant, but a beast, and there are three, as far as I can tell. When
Ronez was killed, the gods sent me to Earth to collect the book and protect it
until I could find a suitable Guardian. Apparently, I’m going to have to make
one.”

“Hang on. If the books are needed to travel the
worlds, and the beasts are from what’s-his-name, how did they get here? And how
did the servants get here?”

“Therein lies the mystery. The gods thoroughly deny
the ability to travel without the books, but they give no explanation.”

“So the beasts could smell it all the way here?” I
asked. He shook his head.

“When the book was discarded, it began to emit an
energy pulse in order to be found by its new Guardian. Once close enough, they
can track its power like a scent. The signal will not stop until an appropriate
person claims it and becomes the new Guardian.”

“So, if I did sign the book and become your
apprentice in magic, what would that entail?”  I asked.

“You would have to end your education, as this is not
an appropriate place to study or perform magic. You would have to come live
with me on my world.”

My eyes widened. “You want me to leave Earth? It’s
kind of the only place I know. Quitting college and my job is fine. I’m pretty
sure I can stand never seeing my psychotic psychology teacher again, but what
about my girlfriend?”

“Hey. Are you gonna introduce me to your friend?”
Jean asked, suddenly beside me. I was so wrapped up in the idea of leaving
Earth that her sweet, soft voice made me jump. I turned to her and Edward
stood.

“Um… This is Edward. Edward, this is Jean.” Jean
reached out her hand for his and I got the irrational fear that he wouldn’t
know what to do. I had never met an alien before. To my great relief, he
reached out and shook her hand politely. “I’m going to get a couple
hamburgers,” I said, getting up.

Jean took a step away from the table. “No, no, I’ll
get them. Sit back down.” She ran back off to the kitchen and I settled back
into my seat.

Edward seemed more cautious of sitting back down, as
if afraid that another rambunctious girl would jump out of somewhere. “Is that
the ‘girlfriend’ you worried about leaving?”

“No. And be careful around Jean; she can be tricky
when she wants something… like a boyfriend. What are women like on your
planet?”

He watched her over my shoulder. “Oh, there are all
different types of women. Like the women on your world, they tend to be more vicious
than men when angered. My world in general is not too much different than
yours, apart from for being simpler in some ways.”

“How so?” I asked. Jean came back and set down four
hamburgers; one for me, one for Edward, and two for herself. Before she could
sit down, her cell phone rang and she sighed. “I’ll be right back.”

She walked away and I looked back at Edward, who was
grimacing at his unwrapped hamburger with disgust.

“What is this?”

I rolled my eyes, for I had often wondered that
myself. “Food.”

He looked at me. “No, seriously; what is this?”

I picked up mine and took a bite out of it. He looked
even more disgusted, which somehow made the food taste worse. I swallowed the
fake meat and soggy sugar bread in my mouth. I was no food connoisseur, but
there was just something morose about dollar-menu fast-food burgers. “What’s
food like on your planet?”

“Edible.”

“Sounds like fun. Tell me about where you live.”

“Well, my world is not as crowded as yours. We have
no cars or gasoline. Many places have no electricity and---”

“You have no electricity?!” I said, far too loud.
Luckily, there were no customers to overhear us.

“The people of my world accept magic and most are
practitioners, but magic can interfere with electricity. Our world is simpler in
our everyday lives. That being said, the technology we use greatly exceeds
yours. Like on your world, there are schools and jobs as well as small or large
cities and towns. However, many people are like me. I don’t work for the
public; I own a small cabin in a large forest and live alone, except for
Tibbit.”

I blinked. “What is a Tibbit?”

He smiled. “Tibbit is my pet. He is a bird, a cray,
which is similar to your world’s hawk.”

“How do you know of my world?”

“I never travel to a world without knowing what to
expect. I am several thousand years old; I have had enough time to learn about
your world. But mostly because I was very close to the Guardian of Earth.”

Several thousand years old. So he was alive when Mr.
Luis was a kid. At least the centuries had been better to Edward. “And here I
was guessing late hundreds. What about marriage? It has to be hard to stay
married forever. I’m talking only about you.”

“The Guardians are encouraged have children,
especially on other worlds, to mix blood. Only Guardians are immortal, but the
people of my world live longer than those of Earth. Typical marriage on my
world is the same as yours, except that it only lasts a certain amount of time,
which is about twenty years, and there is no divorce.”

“So, you said that magic is used openly on your
world?”

“Yes. It’s even respected. Many wizards here on Earth
used their powers openly.”

“How come you look human?”

“Most of the worlds have a similar form. After many
experiments, the gods have found this form to be very efficient. In fact, my
world has used this form for longer than yours. However, my species’ bodies are
more adapted to my world. We are slightly denser than humans, so we’re heavier.
We have better survival instincts and we can go longer without food or water. The
average lifespan of people on my world is a hundred years. Of course, a
powerful wizard who uses his or her magic wisely can live for several hundreds
of years. And, there are other small differences.”

“So your world is harsher?”

“No, we just have different threats. We don’t have
the same technology so we must deal without its protection, and we usually deal
by means of magic. At least the people who practice do. We don’t have nuclear
weapons. We have machines that can destroy the sun, but we don’t use them on
ourselves.”

“What about religion?”

“It exists. Everyone knows about the gods and other
worlds, but not the books. They believe people can travel only with help from
the gods. Religion is not so important anymore on my world, which is one of the
reasons there’s much less war. However, much of our customs are based on the
old religions.”

“Are there continents and countries on your world?”

“No, not like yours. There are eight great islands,
each of which has a king. There is no citizenship or land tax, except for
Mokii, but each island has its own means of collecting funds for things like
schools. My world is slightly larger than yours and there’s much more land, but
also a lot fewer people. The islands Canjii and Anoshii are both unsuitable for
growing food, so Anoshii is mostly for marketing and city living. Magic is
outlawed in most areas of Anoshii. Canjii is used mostly for imprisonment and
biological experiments. Canjii is a good place to avoid.”

“That’s real smart: Keep the biologically harmful stuff
and the bad people away from everyone else. Where do you live?”

“Shomodii. It is less populated than the other
islands because the weather is very unpredictable and it has more wizards, who
all need a lot more personal space.

“How do you know English? Even contractions?”

“I’ve had plenty of time to learn.”

“And germs? How come my planet’s germs don’t kill
you?”

He just grinned again. “Do you think the gods would
be incompetent enough to let that happen?” He sat back suddenly; I realized we
had both been leaning forward.

“What about your atmosphere?”

“The atmospheres on all the worlds are much the same,
except for Enep, Mulo, and Dios. Your atmosphere is dryer, has much more
pollution, and is thinner than mine, but they have relatively the same ingredients.
Don’t worry about it, you’d adapt. There are three worlds on which people have
to live underground for one reason or another.”

“Tell me truthfully, do you want me to be your
apprentice?”

He frowned. “The book has---”

“I know what the book wants. I want to know what you
want,” I said.

Edward sighed. When he had an expression of extreme
concentration on his face for about three minutes, I started to doubt myself.
It occurred to me that he hadn’t even considered if he really wanted to be my
mentor. I checked my watch and was shocked to realize I had only known him for
a few hours.

And yet, I was taking in everything he said as if I
believed it, when none of it made any sense. Magic doesn’t exist, aliens that
look like humans sure as hell don’t exist, and Dorian was going to be pissed if
I didn’t get home and feed him soon. But the thought of getting away to a new
world was fun, and I always suspected that magic did exist. It often seemed
that weird things happened for my benefit, or went nuts when I got angry. Maybe
I just wanted to believe it all.

Before Edward could make up his mind, Jean came back
in, sat down at the table, and smiled brightly. “Sorry about that.” She frowned
a little at Edward’s hamburger. “Are you not hungry?”

“No, not really.” He stood again. “It was nice to
meet you, but I need to be leaving.” He touched his bag as if to be sure and
looked at me. “Are you coming?”

I knew he was really asking if I was going to sign
the book. I grinned. “Do you want me to come?” He awarded me with an irritated
stare. Maybe it wasn’t so wise to tick off my possible future mentor.

I stood up and followed him out, waving to Jean, who
was eating Edward’s untouched hamburger. I probably should have given her a
better farewell, seeing as how I didn’t know how long it would be before I saw
her again… but she might have thought it was a trick to get her food, resulting
in a violent protest. Getting between Jean and food was something a person only
did once.