by Oxford, Rain
“I want to go again,” Drake said, sitting beside Sen.
Sen was still unconscious and I still had no power, so I couldn’t really make an argument against it. We had to win. Winning was everything.
“I will go this time,” Azyle said, appearing between us. His voice was calm and friendly, never loud or excited, but it seemed to carry and fill every inch of space in the room. Although his English was perfect, his accent was rich and distinctive to Mulo.
The Guardian of Mulo was a quiet man who worked in the shadows to do his job without worrying about receiving credit. He would not push his advice onto others like Shiloh, nor keep his head down and mouth shut like Samorde. He was not eccentric like Emrys, responsible like Edward, a spy like Nano, or an enforcer like Ghidorah. In fact, the only reason I even noticed him at all when we crossed paths was because he was beautiful.
I could make my eyes blue and my hair black like my mother’s, and my skin was flawless, but I couldn’t pull it off like him. His skin was lighter than most men’s, more like mine, but he somehow managed to avoid looking in any way pasty. His hair was blue-black with perfect waviness and was just long enough to curl in his neckline with slightly longer bangs that went down to his cheekbones. He had what I couldn’t even call a stubble, for it was short enough to tell that he put effort into his appearance.
Physically, he was about six foot tall and not hugely muscular, though he wasn’t overly thin, either. He was always fashionably dressed when I saw him. His long-sleeved, button up silk shirt hinted at a muscular build, while his black pants must have been tailor-made for him. Black leather boots completed the ensemble.
“Hello, Azyle,” I said softly and gave him my best smile. After all, he was a Guardian; I should be nice to them. I didn’t want the Guardians to worry about me turning on them like the gods did.
“Hello, Ron. I wish I had known from the moment you arrived that one of the weapons was here.”
“How did you find out?”
“Roshne told me you were here and then your father’s demon told me why. I would like to help you get the weapon. From what I hear, you need to win the last battle to get the weapon. I will win it for you.”
For some reason, Drake was gaping at me and the Guardian. I nearly brushed it off, until I realized Drake never met the man. “Oh, Drake, this is Azyle, Guardian of Mulo.”
“And does he fight for you a lot?”
“No, that would be weird. Wait, I didn’t know you spoke English.”
“I learned when Dylan became the Guardian, since his mother language is English. Where is Hail?” Azyle asked. “Usually, he is never away from your side.” Seimei nudged him affectionately in the abdomen.
“Sen and I have been protecting him just fine,” Drake said angrily.
I stared at him, deeply confused by his odd anger. Sen was the emotional one, Drake was quiet and kind. To confound me even further, Azyle narrowed his eyes just a centimeter as he tilted his head up ever so slightly.
“That is not how I see it.”
What the hell is wrong with these people? They acted one way apart and lost their minds in the same room. I was supposed to be a super genius, like my dad, but I couldn’t figure these idiots out.
The only thing to my knowledge that my dad ever had a problem understanding was when someone was hitting on him, which frustrated my mother to high heavens. When it didn’t involve women, he could flatten Sherlock Holmes easy. I mean, it made no sense to me why my dad couldn’t tell when a woman was flirting with him, yet he could tell that a man was a traitor by the color of his socks.
Drake stood and I realized I had been daydreaming while they argued. Although Sen was driven to outbursts due to his dragon nature, Drake and Azyle were both extremely patient and friendly. Deducing that it had to be the stress of the upcoming demon war, I stood quickly and took Drake’s hand.
“Sit down, it’s okay,” I said, pushing him gently back on the bed.
“It’s thanks to me Ron wasn’t hurt!” he snapped at the Guardian. “Where the hell were you? Or are you just sucking up to Dylan’s son?”
“I am so much more experienced than you, human.”
“I am fae! I could tell you to kill yourself and you would!”
“Woah, woah, calm down.” I sat beside him on the bed with my legs under me and gathered his hands into my lap. When he tried to glare at Azyle, I gently grasped his chin to make him look at me. “Azyle just wants to help us. Guardians really just want to feel needed. Sen had his turn and you had yours. Now it’s my turn,” I said with my happy smile.
“No!” Drake, Azyle, and Sen said simultaneously.
Seeing Sen’s eyes open, I patted his arm. “How are you feeling?”
“Cold. Are there any blankets?” He coughed quietly.
It was a dry, shallow cough, but he shouldn’t have had a couch at all. I reached over him to get the covers that were bunched against the wall and tucked them around him, then checked his forehead with the back of my hand.
“No fever. I want to check for infection, but without my magic, I can’t do much. If my magic returns, I will fight the battle. If it doesn’t, then Azyle is up,” I said. They could argue about it all they wanted, but when my powers returned, none of them had a leg to stand on.
“Now that that is settled… I wish I could offer you a more elegant room to sleep in, but for the duration of the test, the monks demand that you remain here.”
“Well, I appreciate your effort. What I really want is a bath, so maybe you can find me one when this is over. Because, obviously, we will win and get the battle axe.”
* * *
The bell rang again and my heart sank. My powers were still absent as we appeared in the field. I almost hoped Azyle wouldn’t arrive so that I had an excuse to go on, even powerless. Of course, I knew winning was more important than my pride. Just when I started to feel hope, Azyle appeared in front of us.
“Are you ready?” I asked.
He nodded. “I will win.”
“Yeah, I know.”
Drake made a startled sound, but Sen punched him in the arm. “Shit, ow!”
“What was that for?” I asked the dragon-mage, who just shook his head. When I looked at Azyle, he was staring at my hair. “What?” I asked, wishing I had a brush and mirror on me.
“You have… your hair is turning black with bright blue streaks in it.”
I reached deep and my energy finally responded. Excited, I held up my hands in which energy formed in dark red spheres. “Thank you, Azyle, but I can take it from here. Everyone but Seimei off my field; this is my party now.”
“You could lose your powers in the middle of it!” Drake warned.
“And I would still win.”
“I must suggest that you take your griffin out of the battle. They have a creature that can take the form and power of anything it faces. If you allow your griffin on the field, they can bring their beast.”
I nodded even as Seimei growled at him. “I can’t risk you,” I said to her.
Drake and Sen started arguing, which I didn’t listen to. “We have to get off the field now!” Azyle said to my friends. A moment later, I was alone on the field.
Then my opponent appeared, looking exactly like the previous two warriors, with a sword and a metal shield. The countdown was still going when the warrior drew his sword and came at me. I pulled my power around me to create a shield which successfully deflected the enemy’s blade. The crowd screamed with excitement.
I created an energy pulse and shot it at the warrior, who held out his metal shield. My energy hit his shield and rebounded right back at me. Fortunately, I was unaffected. He dropped his sword, but instead of hitting the ground, it shot at me as if wielded by an invisible hand. I raised the axe in time to deflect it, barely.
The sword sliced through the air with more skill than a lot of people I knew. My uncle taught me combat with and without weapons and my grandfather taught me martial arts, but I never felt like
it was really important. I always thought that when it came to fighting, Hail would protect me. Still, I was able to block the strikes up until the point when the warrior swiped my feet out from under me.
I hit the ground hard enough that the air was knocked out of my lungs. As the warrior stood over me, I put my hands and swung my legs up with enough momentum to flip me back up onto my feet. Before the enemy could form another attack, I barreled straight into him. He was huge, but I managed to knock him onto his back, for he was a lot lighter than I had expected.
He pushed up with his right leg, flipping us so that he was on top. His left hand wrapped around my throat and he held up his right hand. Instantly, his sword flew him, which he pressed against my chest.
A split second later, he was tossed off me and his sword went flying. Seimei reared up. Familiar with her behavior, I knew she was about to claw his heart out. Ikiru always went for the throat, but Seimei had a penchant for tearing out hearts.
“Seimei, no!” She promptly retreated. “Get back to Drake and Sen.” She growled at the warrior as she backed up slowly, then turned and took flight back to the stands. The warrior sat up and reached for his sword. I could have slit his throat right then, but then I could never have looked myself in the mirror again.
And I loved my damn mirror.
Once the warrior had his sword, he stood and faced me. He stabbed the sword into the ground before him and I felt his energy flood the ground beneath me. He was really powerful.
The ground burst upward all around me, but it wasn’t just a mere explosion. Earth clumped and twisted around my body like a forty-foot long snake and squeezed. Rocks scratched my skin and dirt got into places I really didn’t want it to be.
I created a shield that pushed outwards, which was difficult because of the weight of the rocks and dirt. When the dirt returned to the ground, I let my shield go. Just as I was about to strike with lightning, the balance stirred, as if it was frustrated. My lightning was enhanced by the balance, so I pulled back at the last second. Instead, the ground in front of the warrior exploded from my power, showering the warrior with dirt.
While he was distracted, I ran at him with the axe ready, only to be stopped by his own energy shield. Although any decent weapon could have easily broken the warrior’s weak force, the axe I was dealing with would have disintegrated. In fact, I was highly doubtful of its capability to spread butter.
I let the darkness unleash my energy onto the shield, which instantly crumbled, but the warrior grunted in pain. Destroying his shield hurt him.
I swung the axe, which he deflected with his sword. He was stronger, but I was faster, so by the time he blocked my move, I was already going for another strike. My body was moving before I even realized he had the opening; I swiped his feet out from under him and had the axe blade to his throat. The chainmail over his throat could protect him from something shallow, but not at from where I had him. The balance stirred, urging me to kill him.
“Do it,” the warrior said, his voice metallic from the helmet.
I pressed the blade against his armor. This was what I had to do to win the weapon. This was what I had to do to win the war. I had to beat the demons.
How does that make me any better than the demons? The balance pushed against my soul, demanding I kill him. How was I supposed to become the most powerful being in the universe if I did whatever I was told? How was I supposed to make my dad proud of me if I went around killing people while he was trying to heal people?
I pulled the axe away and held out my hand. The warrior reached up, not for my hand but to open the face guard of his helmet.
“Holy sugar!” I cussed. The warrior was a woman!
“You have to kill me to win,” she said.
“Winning isn’t everything.”
She took off her helmet to reveal long, braided, dark purple hair and deep, dark blue eyes. Her facial features were smooth, symmetrical, and womanly without being juvenile or too old. She climbed to her feet without taking my hand, so I took a step back.
I was so distracted that I nearly missed it when the axe started to glow blue. The rust vanished and the chips filled in until the weapon looked brand new. Power emitted from the weapon.
I had the god weapon all along.
Drake and Sen ran up to us and stubbornly placed themselves between the warrior and me, as if she was about to attack me. Azyle, on the other hand, clapped his hand on the woman’s shoulder. “You did good, Sheena,” he said.
“What?!” Sen screeched, drowning out my own response. “You know her?!”
“I knew the son of Dylan would insist on fighting his own battles, and I knew he had to win at any cost. Sheena, who has been an ally of Dylan this entire time, was willing to sacrifice herself so you could get the axe. Now, if you would come this way, I have prepared a bath for you as you requested.”
I followed him without waiting saying another word to my friends or Sheena. Seimei followed us. We went through the opening off the field, down the dark hallway, and through many more tunnels until we finally reached a wooden door, which opened on its own as we neared. What was in the room beyond left me speechless.
It appeared to be a twenty-by-thirty swimming pool with crystal-clear water. The inside walls and base of the pool were made of wide, smooth rocks. Blue lights dotted the stone ceiling like stars, although it was the flowers that provided the most light. There were dozens of small flowers floating in the pool that each glowed with a different color. The actual walls of the room as well as columns around the pool were white marble.
“Would you like maids to help you?” Azyle asked.
“No, thank you.”
“I will leave you to it, then.”
He left and I went straight for the stone steps. They were shallow and smooth, and the water was hot. It was hotter than the hot springs at home, which was awesome because I liked really hot baths even though it wasn’t good for my hair. The water reached just below my shoulders.
I spent a good half an hour rubbing away the dirt and letting the heat dissolve the tension in my muscles. I was enjoying it so much in fact, that I didn’t notice I was being watched until I heard the door open.
Drake and Sen were sitting beside the pool when Sheena and Azyle entered. Sheena’s satin, button-up, silver shirt fit her perfectly while her black pants looked painted on. She was about five-five, athletic, but shapely.
My friends stood quickly to block her from me. “What do you want?” Sen asked.
“Nothing with you.” She turned towards me, effectively brushing him off. “Why did you stop? You risked the weapon by choosing not to kill me.”
I pushed my hair away from my eyes and walked proudly up the steps to stand between my friends. I was small, but I wouldn’t be intimidated by anyone, not even a woman. “I had everything under control. I knew exactly what I was doing.”
I could see words being carefully planned behind her unbelievably blue eyes, though her exact thoughts were not easy to read on her face.
“In that case, I heard you were an exceptional healer. Would you take a moment to check me over? Every time I come near you, my heart starts beating out of control,” she said. She casually unbuttoned her shirt and displayed her perfectly formed breasts.
“It’s probably your magic reacting to mine,” I said, placing my hand gently on her chest nowhere near her breasts. I did the shallowest scan possible, using as little energy as I could. “Yep, you’re fine.” Hell, more than fine.
“I am much more than fine,” she said, then flounced away.
“I think my mother is less rude than her,” Sen said before she got more than a few steps away. Of course, we assumed she didn’t speak English.
“What a stuck-up, annoying brat,” Drake agreed.
“I think she is my mate,” I sighed. Sen and Drake both gaped at me while I focused on the curve appeal of the girl walking away.
“Like, your soul mate?” Drake asked. “But I thought…”
“You thought what?” I said when the door shut behind her.
“Well, you and Hail are never away from each other… everyone thought you were…” Sen couldn’t finish his sentence.
“What does my brother have to do with Sheena? You think he won’t like her? It doesn’t matter; I’m never going to see her again.”
“But if she’s your---”
“That’s exactly why I’m never going to see her again. I don’t want a soul mate. I love my family and that’s quite enough for me. There is no time or room for anyone else. Even if she does have great… eyes.” Drake and Sen both walked away, leaving me with Azyle. “What is their problem?”
“I think their hearts are broken.”
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about! God help them mortals and their bleedin’ hearts. I guess Drake must have gotten in a fight with his girlfriend and Sen is just lonely.”
“Yes, that must be it,” the Guardian said, walking away as well.
I sighed. Of course I didn’t want to be alone; I just couldn’t see any other way. Dad and Mom could work because Dad wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. Mordon’s mate was destroyed. Until I reached my goal of becoming the most powerful being in the universe, protecting my family was all that I could handle.
* * *
“I don’t want to be a Guardian.”
“Can I have Samhail?” Vretial asked. We were in the Land of the Iadnah, in the eccentric god’s favorite place. Actually, I was asleep in Drake’s bed, but my mind was about to have an argument with my eldest uncle.
“Samhail is mine. My brother is a protector to the core of his soul, and he will make a fantastic Guardian. Honestly, you have been great. I appreciate all of the guidance you have given us.” I took his hand in both of mine, as I had seen Mom do with Dad. “But you are the second most powerful force in this world, and you are nearly as great an analyst as my father.”
“Wait, nearly?”
“Oh, yes. I mean, I know he is getting better constantly while you have reached your potential, but you should still be very proud.”