by Oxford, Rain
“That is a huge commitment!” she exclaimed. At that point, Samhail returned with Thessa in tow. “What if you are wrong?” she asked, taking Thessa in her arms.
“Me? Wrong? I am the High King.” I wasn’t seriously that narcissistic, but I needed Zeda to trust me. I probably would never have bonded my lifeline to anyone, and certainly not when I had known her for such little time, but I was willing to give up my curse for her.
Whether I was ready or not, I was going to take this risk for Zeda.
“Will you marry me right now?” I asked.
She stared at me until Thessa pinched her. “Yes, I will. Right now.”
Thessa went to stand by her younger sister. Hail created a shield around Ron, Nano, Zeda, and me. Another explosion caused my castle to trembling. Nano pulled out three silk scarves from his bag. “Okay. We are going to do the quick, about-to-die a painful death version. Right hand.”
Immediately, I put my right hand out flat and she placed hers flat against mine. “I bind you with patience…” he very quickly wrapped the blue scarf around our hands. “Left hand.”
“A story to tell the children,” I said as we joined our left hands.
“I bind you with trust.” He wrapped a green cloth around our left hands. “Fingers.” We joined our little fingers together. “I bind you with love.” He wrapped the white scarf around our fingers. “With these three, you will find health and happiness in your long lives together and in eternity beyond. Consent.”
“I do,” I said immediately.
“I do,” Zeda agreed.
“Good. Kiss.”
“Wait, I have to do my bit,” Ron said before I could kiss Zeda. He pulled a tiny knife out of his pocket.
“Hang on, not blood. The life bond should not require sharing blood.”
“Of course it requires blood,” Ron said, as if I was a fool.
“I would lose my powers,” Zeda said.
“Would you rather lose your life?” Ron asked. He rolled his eyes. “I know more than anyone how important our powers are. I can try to prevent the void power from entering your system, but you’re looking at a two-point-five percent change of success, which, technically, is better than a zero percent chance. However, Nila is right. For some reason, Atos needs him alive. Right now, he does not need you. Are you willing to die for your powers? This can only be done during your wedding.”
I wanted to turn Zeda’s face to look at me, but our hands were still bound. “Zeda, no. We can find another way to defeat Atos.”
She looked at her sisters for a moment and then turned to me. “Magic is a way of life for our people, but Dios does not have enough love. Our people love our power more than each other, and that is the downfall of our population. I chose to marry you of my own will because in just a few days, you have made me love you enough to want to spend the rest of my life with you. I cannot do that if I fear touching you.”
Three demons burst in the room, which Hail and Kseve fought. Nano stepped right out of the energy shield and helped the others fight the demons. Ron ignored them.
“I would normally use your hands, but as you’re tied up… and not in the fun way… I can’t see that working. So I am going to cut your lips and you’re going to feel my energy. Once it starts to feel really hot… again, not in the fun way… kiss. Got it?”
“Your friends are weird,” Zeda commented before Ron made a small horizontal cut on her upper lip.
“He is actually my nephew.” Sort of… Ron made a small cut on my lip as well. It stung, but I have had worse. When he let go, I felt something similar to adrenaline. I had felt this before only with Dylan’s energy. However, instead of fading, it grew harsher until it felt like my blood was burning. Zeda and I moved together to kiss and the heat instantly became gentle, pleasant warmth.
The oddest sensation came over me of love, affection, and trust. I was feeling her emotions! I felt her growing love and even arousal, as well as frustration that she couldn’t touch me. As our kiss deepened, I felt more of the arousal from her and less frustration. Our hands were free for some reason, so I pulled her against me and kissed her like I wanted to since that first, soft kiss.
“Hey, newlyweds, return to the living,” Ron said.
I slowly broke away from Zeda, but she held my hand. I didn’t realize until that point that the shield around me had collapsed. A demon advanced on us so fast I could barely shout a warning, but she was already turning. The black handle of a sword appeared in her hand, but it was not attached to a metal blade. Instead, what she struck the demon with was a blade made entirely of fire.
The demon burst into ash and every demon in the room vanished.
“That was impressive,” Vretial said, appearing beside me.
“Slightly amusing maybe,” another god said, appearing next to him.
This god was taller than Vretial with dark brown hair and silvery copper eyes. By the sneer on his face, I could predict that this god despised nonsense and humor.
“Oh, Zerden, you are such a snob.”
“I told you never to call me that! I am Zer. I am here offering a gift,” the god said with exasperation. Obviously, it was not his idea to be here.
“What my little brat of a brother is saying is that we are sympathetic to your plight. No two lovers should ever be kept apart for something as petty as blood, lineage, and power.”
“Have you been reading Earth plays?” Ron asked the god insolently.
“Yes, I have. It was either that, or count apples… again.”
“I see. You have completely lost your mind,” the teenager said. Hail looked like he wanted to smack Ron, but he held himself together.
“Well, thank you for your concern with my wellbeing. If you find it, let me know. In the meantime, mortals, enjoy yourselves.” With that, both gods vanished.
“Weird friends,” Zeda repeated.
Ron and Hail vanished with a bright flash of light, leaving me alone with Kseve, Nano, Zeda, and her sisters.
“So, this gift…” I said.
Clasping my right hand firmly with her left, she raised her right hand, in which a sphere of swirling fire formed. “Hold out your hand,” she said. I held out my free hand and she carefully placed my hand under hers and then took hers away. Energy surged through me as the fire floated above my hand.
“I am no longer a void?”
She let go of my hand and the fire instantly died. Getting the idea, Kseve put his hand on my shoulder. “You are still a void; I can feel it,” the goblin said. Zeda took my hand and the startled look on Kseve face was priceless. “Now my power is back.” He let me go.
“So, I am still a void, but when we are touching, it becomes dormant.” It couldn’t have been any more perfect. “Everyone out of the room except for my wife,” I demanded. Zeda laughed as everyone else left.
We spent hours that night touching and learning about each other without talking. Short naps between bouts of consummating our marriage were the most sleep we got.
* * *
The next morning, hunger forced us to join everyone in the dining room. My council, who only existed to bother me, wanted to talk about taxes and transportation laws. I ignored them while Zeda took on her sophisticated façade in front of our audience. Despite my attempts to tune them out, I was quickly developing a headache.
Predicting my needs, Kseve gave me a cup of tea. I reached for the cup, but Zeda took my hand instead. My headache instantly desisted. She gave me a knowing smile, which distracted me further from the councilmen who were trying to force a meeting at the breakfast table. Fortunately, she was keeping her ears open.
One of the men, Odar said something which incited my wife. Still holding my hand with her left, she raised her right hand and shot a ball of fire at the man. It passed over his head, missing him by a hair, and hit the wall behind him. We all knew it was a carefully aimed warning shot.
“You are not sending my sisters away.”
“You…” He shook as he lo
oked doubtfully at our joined hands.
“Do you agree, Nila?” she asked.
I felt her heated energy pass through our joined hands and into my free one, which I held out. A small sphere of fire, which was oddly peaceful, formed and hovered above my hand. Although I couldn’t do magic myself and I could only sustain energy while touching Zeda, the council didn’t need to know that.
“Of course I agree with my wife.”
Several of the councilmen looked nauseated, while others looked proud. I knew there were people on my council and in my kingdom who thought they could manipulate me because I was a void. I grinned at each of the councilmen before me and gently squeezed Zeda’s hand as I let the fire die.
When we were supposed to be outside officially getting married, we hid in a storage room and read while Nano explained that we were already married. I knew the city wanted to see their king get married and be a part of the weapon, but Zeda and I would have many years to give the public our fake smiles… of course, with Zeda beside me, maybe they wouldn’t be fake.
We were lying in the grass of the field, watching the sunset. Zeda was cuddled against my chest, talking about what she wanted to do. As much as she loved books, she wanted to explore the world and teach.
I told her there were many children of the High King city that could use more teachers. We had three, but it was not enough. Thessa and Ada would need a private tutor and guards of their own, since they would be prime candidates for an abductor.
She sat up and was about to say something when a flash of light filled the air. I knew the light indicated either Dylan, one of his friends, or a god, so I wasn’t worried. When the light cleared, it was Mordon standing there.
“Hello, dragon. Where is your master?” I asked.
He glared. “My fire may not work on you, child, but I can still eat you.”
Since Kseve wasn’t here to draw his sword on the dragon, I decided not to push. Dylan was extremely peaceful; his brother was not. Actually, I only picked on the dragon because I was jealous of his freedom. He was born into the royal cage as much as I was, yet he was able to run around on adventures with Dylan. “Where is Dylan?” I asked, gently this time.
“He is on Lore, the new world of Avoli, and the demon war has begun.”
This was not something I had been looking forward to. I stood and Zeda did as well. “How will this work?”
“In a few minutes, the gods are going to start summoning the alliance to Lore. Nobody will need to sign a book as there is no book for Lore yet. Magic may feel very odd there, but I doubt that will be a problem for you. Just expect to have to reassure your people. There will be many other people there, some who will have a problem with others.”
“So the alliance may be trying to fight itself.”
“I believe the Guardians can keep their people calm. The demons, who can change their form and even look like people, will likely try to turn people against each other. There will also be demons fighting on our side.”
“How will we know the difference?”
“Dylan probably has a plan for that. This will not be an easy victory.” Light started to fill the space, but faded suddenly as Mordon winced in pain. I caught him before he hit the ground, but he was much bigger than me. He clawed at his chest as his claws shifted, only to retract and meld back into fingers as if he couldn’t hold the form.
His shirt tore and he snapped the chain of the pentagram he wore. When the metal fell into the grass, Mordon breathed easier.
The pentagram, which I recognized as Dylan’s, was not glowing red with heat but instead an odd blue aura. As a void, I never feared magic, so I picked it up without hesitation. The pentagram instantly lost its glow. I handed it back to Mordon, who took it carefully and slipped it into his pocket.
“Now, I think we have a war to win,” I said.
Chapter 13
Dylan
This would not be a war in which we could discuss strategy and carefully place each person where they were best served. These people were willing to fight, but this was an alliance of people all across the universe. Keeping the Guardians from killing each other was hard enough; these people were not ready to be joined. Only the immediate attack of a common foe would keep them from turning on each other.
Mordon arrived with an air of confidence about him. I knew he wasn’t worried; war was in his blood. He was a king both in his sago blood and in his dragon blood. I was not surprised when his father appeared behind the dragon. Ishte-mor was a cruel bastard, but he loved his son.
Nila appeared with a woman by his side. How I knew she was his wife didn’t matter. I wanted to tell Nila to leave her at home, but the words never made it to my mouth. Something happened in my separation from Mordon and I now knew things I shouldn’t. I knew Ron had met his mate and that it would be many, many years before he accepted her. It was as if I could see his future when I looked at him.
We could win this war, but there were so many paths ahead of us that it would be impossible to know how much of a loss we would take. “Divina,” I said before I knew what I was going to say. She turned to me and I hugged her, which she returned easily. Before I pulled away, I retrieved the metal bracelet from my bag and snapped it around her wrist.
“What are you doing?” she asked, shocked. She tried to take the bracelet off.
“That is the one Ron modified. I love you, Divina, and you have to live, but I cannot let you fight here today.”
She stopped struggled with the clasp and looked at me. “Why not?”
“Because I know what you are now.” I flashed her home.
“Dylan, sending your strongest allies away may not be your best battle strategy,” Regivus warned me.
“She isn’t my ally; she’s my wife.” I studied my allies as more appeared with each second. There were thousands of people who were strangers to me as well as many familiar faces. They stood apart from each other by their worlds, all afraid to mingle with their alien neighbors. Dragons, shifters, and demons stood prepared as well. There were women in the crowd, but thankfully no children. At least the gods knew better than to allow children to fight.
Many of them were afraid of the demons we would face or even the gods who were on our side, but they all knew life with demons ruling the universe would be no life. Unfortunately, the demon army we faced spanned as far as I could see.
Mordon took the pentagram out of his pocket and handed it to me. “Atos told me that if I gave offered you to him before you spilled demon blood, he would give me Sydney back.”
I didn’t bother to ask him why he didn’t. I wouldn’t disrespect him with such doubt. Rojan, on the other hand, was surely giving him hell.
“Whatever secret weapon you have, now is the time to use it,” Mordon said.
“I have several.”
“Was sending Divina away part of that?”
“No. I just can’t let her do this. She is not Iadnah, and although her loyalties will remain with me, her judgment can be swayed. Trust me, Mordon.”
“I will always trust you. I just may not like you sometimes.” He turned and walked towards our supporters. He absorbed energy, ignoring the oddness of this new world, and addressed the people. “Many of you have seen the destruction that demons can cause,” he said.
His magic amplified his voice until it resounded over the crowd. Xul stood next to the dragon, his power active to make everyone understand Mordon no matter their language.
“Some of you have heard of it, some of you just despise the idea of having a demon master, and some of you would rather die than to have your world conquered. Others still are only here because you want to fight for your loved ones.
“This is a war of life against death, light against dark. Whether you are here for honor, love, or freedom, this is not a meager battle. We cannot lose this war now, and there will be no do-overs. If there is any doubt inside you, return to your home, because you will die in this fight if your heart is weak!”
I turn
ed to Ishte-mor. “Maybe you should hide your cane,” I teased.
The man had his hands folded over the metal handle as if he was supporting his weight with it, but the spiked end did not sink into the ground deeply enough for that to be so. “This is not my first war, child, and I could defeat these demons with both arms restrained.” He was a proud man with no feebleness in his old bones. He would survive this war… as long as he didn’t…
No. He must do this on his own. Nobody can be warned. As badly as I wanted to help him, I couldn’t warn him what to watch out for. However, maybe I can manipulate the situation a little bit when the time comes to it. Ron approached me to ask me what he should do with the weapons. “Distribute them,” I said before he could ask.
“How? I don’t know who they go to.”
I put my hand on Ron’s forehead so he could learn my magic as I took the dagger from his hand. It was magic I knew from a life I couldn’t remember. The dagger disintegrated into energy and spread among the crowd.
Using demon magic, I exerted the energies of the world to form weapons for those on my side who had none. Whatever was most confortable for them, that was what they were given. The other god weapons, except for the mage staff, disintegrated from their positions as well and their power spilled over the alliance. The weapons, forged in magic or by mortal hand, became reinforced with the power of the god weapons.
Ron’s face was ashen as he felt my power, so I let him go. Although he wanted to run back to his brother, he stood his ground. “I get it now,” he said. “The balance isn’t something I have to overcome but a tool to be used. It’s like a power. You have demon magic and Iadnah magic, but I have the balance.”
“You’re right. You will have an incredible power as soon as you stop fighting who you are. What did you learn while you were looking for the god weapons?”
“On Dayo, I learned that magic is not always the answer. On Enep, I learned that I have to trust others, even the gods. On Mulo, I learned that winning isn’t everything. And when I had to give Maslye the staff, I learned that I am the balance.