by Rain Oxford
I smelled no lie or deceit, just confusion and a little bit of fear. “Truth.”
“Is he safe to take back to Duran?”
There was something controlling him, but it is gone now, Rojan said. Whether or not it will come back I cannot say.
I nodded. If nothing else, maybe we could shed some light on the situation. “Do you know anyone who might want Dylan dead? Who might try to use you to do it?” I asked.
“Are you joking? I can think of many who would want a person as powerful as Dylan dead. The gods did. There were prophesies about you. Your father told me that everything relied on you,” he told Dylan. “He said that you would decide the future of everyone.”
“That all already happened,” I told the Guardian. “Dylan destroyed the dark god and saved the universe from falling apart.”
Dylan glared at me. “It was Tiamat who destroyed Vretial. And he’s back. So you have no idea what happened the last seven years? You never heard my father died or that Vretial was destroyed? You didn’t have any trouble with your magic or book or anything five years ago?”
“I did have trouble, but it went away, so I assumed Mreje had solved the problem,” he said. “I never knew of your father’s death, either.”
* * *
Edward’s cabin was not exactly how we left it. No surprise, really, when you leave seven powerful men who cannot get along, two young boys who like to play innocent pranks with powerful magic, a woman almost as attractive as Divina, and a gargoyle alone. However, I couldn’t have predicted what we actually saw.
All seven Guardians were standing around, having a peaceful discussion. Meri was sitting in a seat on the porch while the boys sat on the steps. Everyone was there, including the two griffins. They weren’t attacking, and nobody was attacking them, not even Hobble.
“You can see them, too?” Dylan asked.
“Yes.”
“Oh, good. That’s alright then.”
“Oh, lord, you found another one,” Ghidorah grumbled, glaring at Rilryn. “Got the whole gang together now.”
“That’s cool; I’ve never been in a gang before. But Emrys is still missing,” Dylan argued.
“Who needs him?” the irritable Guardian asked. Edward growled at him and he growled back.
“Shut up, both of you,” I said. “I’m tired of this. There is something out there attacking Guardians, the griffins were attacking, but now they’re just sitting around, and Vretial is back, but not attacking anyone.”
“Hey, where is Rasik?” Dylan asked.
“What do you mean? He never came here,” Shiloh said.
“Then we have another one missing. I flashed him here a while ago. The griffins obviously didn’t take him. Does anybody know what’s going on?”
Each of the Guardians looked around, but nobody spoke up. The most powerful person of each of the worlds, and nobody had a clue what was going on… and then both Sammy and Ron raised their hands. When everyone stared at them, Sammy pulled Ron’s hand down.
“You know what’s happening?” Dylan asked. They nodded shyly. “Why are the griffins here and why are they not attacking?”
“They’re not attacking because everyone here is okay. Everyone is clean. They are here because this is home,” Sammy said.
“They’re ours,” Ron added.
“You went back,” Dylan said, too sternly to be a question. Ron nodded and dropped his eyes in shame.
“Not at night,” Sammy said quickly. “Sorry, Daddy, but you said not to sneak out at night. You didn’t say not to sneak out during the day. We had to save the eggs from freezing to death. The griffins were a gift.”
“From who?” I asked, but I already knew the answer.
“From Vretial.”
“Vretial was killed,” Ghidorah demanded.
Dylan glared at Ghidorah until he stepped back. “Killed implies dead. The gods are immortal. He was destroyed, not killed, and he’s back. Where are Emrys and Rasik?” Dylan asked.
Ron gave Sammy a worried expression and I inhaled to see if I could tell what he was worried about, but all I got was the deep, overwhelming, lung-clogging scent of Ghidorah. I started sneezing and tried to breathe through my mouth instead, but then started coughing and choking.
“They are hidden.”
“From who?”
“Not from who, from the dark.”
“Why are they hiding from the dark?”
“There’s something in the dark,” Sammy said. Ron smacked him lightly in the chest and Sammy looked at him.
“Sammy is saying it wrong. The dark is bad, Daddy.”
“Are you talking about the shadow monster? That thing that attacked us in the woods?” Everyone around us had confused expressions.
Sammy hesitated, obviously unsure of what to say. “You said we were never to talk about it.”
Ron didn’t bother. “No. The dark is bad. There’s something coming.”
“Vretial?” Edward asked.
“Something bigger,” Ron said.
What could be bigger than a god?
“Something worse,” Sammy added. “Don’t you see it’s getting dark?”
“Of course it is, it’s night time,” I said. I looked up and saw that the sun was below the tree line. Well, I couldn’t see where the sun was, but it must have been sunset. It was still half an hour or so before full dark, so that left plenty of time to get inside if there was some horrible monster hiding in the dark.
“What are you talking about?” Shiloh asked. “You have been gone an entire day and the sun has only been up for about three hours. It is morning.”
“Then why is it so dark? I did not even realize it had been getting dark until he said that,” Ghidorah said, looking around for the sun. Both griffins flexed their wings in agitation.
“Dark?” Edward asked. “It’s not dark at all. I’m getting sunburn.”
“They can’t see it.”
“Mordon, shift your eyes,” Dylan said.
Glancing quickly at Ghidorah, I shook my head, because I couldn’t stand seeing him again. Dylan grabbed my arm and I felt his energy cycling through me, gently taking some of my fire. I didn’t even have the chance to warn him before he put up an energy shield in front of Ghidorah. While his normal shield had a purple and blue glow and looked like electricity trapped in layers of glass, this time it was opaque black.
Dylan’s eyes became solid black, which I always thought was creepier than it must have looked on me. On the other hand, I was never prepared to see it. He glanced around quickly before letting my fire go and dropping the shield.
“How did you know not to look at him?” I asked.
He rolled his eyes. “As if I wouldn’t know exactly what was bothering you, you dork. You normally refuse to do your dragon eyes if Divina is in the room too. Obviously Ghidorah’s soul bothers you as much as his smell. Rojan can’t see the dark, either. It looks nearly high noon through your dragon eyes.”
I am looking through your eyes, though, and I can see the dark. Why can a dragon not see something that is there?
Maybe it’s targeting some of us.
“Samorde, can you see the dark?” Dylan asked. The man in question didn’t answer. His eyes darted around as if he was afraid, but it was a little too dark to see his expression perfectly, and there was no way I was going to try to get a scent again.
“What is he doing?” Ghidorah asked.
“He’s just standing there, not moving,” Edward answered. “Samorde, can you hear me?” When Samorde didn’t respond, Edward took a cautious step closer. The darkness started fading slowly, but Samorde still looked scared. Edward got almost within reaching distance from him before the frightened Guardian vanished, along with the darkness. The sun was shining straight above us.
“Seimei, go after him!” Ron said. One of the griffins spread his wings and disappeared. The other griffin looked at Sammy, but the child shook his head, so he settled down.
As suddenly as Samorde had disappear
ed, Rasik appeared with a flash of bright light. “Oh… that was odd.” There was no physical sign of injury or stress.
“What was?” I asked. “Where have you been? Do you remember anything?”
“There was a bright flash of light, I was with Azenoth, and then I was here.”
“I’m sorry. Seeing Azenoth must have been terribly traumatic,” Dylan said. “What did he have to say? Nothing kind, I’m sure.”
His eyes widened. “Dylan, the gods are always listening. You should not speak of them that way. Azenoth just wanted to warn me against betraying him… he also may have told me not to talk to Nano.”
The Dios Guardian glared. Shiloh stepped between them while trying to be inconspicuous about it. “Once the council is enacted, I know we will be able to work together without our gods’ interference.”
Ghidorah snorted rudely.
“Edward, I need your help,” Dylan said, walking off into the forest. Everybody stared after them as Edward followed.
“Did he call Kiro ‘Edward’?” Shiloh asked.
“It’s a nickname Dylan gave him when they met on Earth. Nano, catch Rasik up on the last seven years.”
“Me, too, please,” Rilryn said.
I turned to the boys. “What is your dad up to?” I asked.
Sammy glanced at Ron and then back at me. “You’re his brother; you know him better than us.” He stepped around me. “Ikiru, go find Emmy.” The griffin stood and flexed his wings before disappearing.
A few minutes later, Edward and Dylan returned carrying a half a dozen huge rocks, only to dump them and go back into the woods. Sammy and Ron started rearranging the rocks, ignoring everyone else. Edward and Dylan once again emerged from the forest with their arms full of rocks and the four of them arranged the stones without a word. Sammy had to help Ron with the bigger ones. It took about five minutes before I realized they were making a large circle.
Dylan then vanished. I hated it when I didn’t know what Dylan was thinking. He was most likely trying to organize his thoughts by organizing the world around him. He always said he couldn’t think when things were cluttered, yet his best epiphanies came when in the middle of everything blowing up.
Meri emerged from the cabin and brought us each some bread and fruit. Edward wrapped his arm around her waist, took some of the bread, and threw it at Ghidorah. He didn’t want his girlfriend anywhere near the grumpy Guardian.
I felt Dylan’s magic before he appeared next to me, so I didn’t startle. Meri, on the other hand, wasn’t expecting it and jumped. He ignored her and handed me a small, heavy potion bottle. “Drink that, hold this, and be still,” he said, handing me a stack of thick, small pieces of paper and a larger piece with colored dots all over it.
With a weird, thick pen in one hand, he took a card and held it against my back to write on it. “Rilryn, how do you spell your name?”
“Spell? What do you mean?”
“Never mind, you wouldn’t even know if I misspelled it in English.” He quickly wrote on each paper and then put a lid on his pen. “Oh, I got these for you.” He turned to the boys and pulled a book and a colorful box out of his bag. “I couldn’t find crayons.” He paused before Sammy could take the box. “Markers are for paper, nothing else. If I see marker on the walls, you’ll never see them again. Got it?”
“Yes, Daddy,” he said, taking the box with one hand and Ron’s hand with the other. Ron took the book and they ran to the porch.
“What did you give them?” I asked.
“A coloring book and markers. I said to drink that.”
I took the lid off the little bottle and sniffed instinctually. While Ghidorah’s scent still burned, the smell of the potion could be detected just a little over it. It smelled like plants. I drank it.
It was a fair feat that I didn’t spit it out. “What is that?” I asked. I trusted my friend not to poison me, but that potion was horrible and made my nose run and my eyes water. Dylan handed me a cloth.
“Allergy medicine. Sort of… industrial strength. It’ll take a while to kick in. Now, places.” He started tossing the cards down on the rocks, each with a word on them. I could fluently speak English because Dylan taught me, but while I could recognize English letters, I never learned to read it.
Edward picked up one of the cards. “Shiloh, this is your seat.” He went from rock to rock, looking at names. When he called mine, I looked at the card.
“Is that my name in English?”
“No, Dylan’s trying to be funny. He wrote ‘King Arthur.’ Whatever you do, don’t ask him about the Knights of the Round Table.”
“Oh, did someone ask about---” Dylan started, looking up.
“No, you’re hearing things, kid,” Edward interrupted before moving onto another seat. A few rocks away, Edward held a card and sighed. “Ghidorah, this is your seat. Dylan, really, is this necessary?” he asked, turning the card around. The letters were definitely not English. They actually looked more Sudo, but they were not any symbols that I knew. Even more confusing was the crudely drawn three-headed monster. “Where did you even learn to write in Japanese?”
“I looked it up when I picked up the index cards and yard sale stickers,” he said. Right in front of him, Samorde and one of the griffins appeared. Without even blinking, Dylan took the startled Guardian’s arm and led him to a seat between Shiloh and Ghidorah. “This is your seat. Sammy, get him some water, please.” He turned and took a step back an instant before Emrys and the other griffin appeared. “Your seat is over here.” He led Emrys to a seat nearly opposite of Samorde.
Both Emrys and Samorde looked extremely confused. Samorde seemed otherwise healthy, but Emrys’s clothes were dirty and torn as if he had been in a fight. Sammy brought Samorde some water and Ron brought Emrys a cup of something else. The Guardian sipped the liquid before looking at the child with wide eyes. “What is this?”
“Hot chocolate. Chocolate is Earth’s leading non-addictive antidepressant.”
“It is not an antidepressant,” Edward argued.
“Alright, everyone sit down. We need to figure this out,” Dylan said. Everyone took their assigned seats and I looked around in shock. Dylan had figured out who went where perfectly so that there was no fighting. “Let’s deal with the Guardian thing first. Unless you want me to give the ‘round table’ speech?”
“No, please no,” I said. “Let’s talk about the Guardian thing. Rilryn attacked us, then the griffin attacked him, and he was fine. His soul was suppressed or something. So either something was controlling him, or something possessed him.”
“It was the dark,” Sammy said. “The dark was in him, but Ikiru got rid of it. Ikiru and Seimei only attacked the Guardians when the dark was in them.”
“Who is susceptible to this darkness? The griffins never went after Dylan, Ghidorah, or me.”
“Nothing can possess me,” Ghidorah said, “and your dragon can keep you safe. As for Dylan and the boys, I doubt anyone can possess someone with Iadnah energy.”
I knew it was possible because the ancient demon was able to possess Sammy for a short time. He had only been able to possess me because Rojan allowed it. I don’t know what the demon would have been able to do had I not gotten it out of Dylan as fast as I had.
“No one can control Sammy because of me,” Ron said.
“But five years ago, the griffins were attacking anyone,” Edward pointed out.
“They were lost then. I was too young to control them and Ron wasn’t born yet,” Sammy explained. “They were confused and scared and their masters, from their points of view, were erased from existence. They couldn’t find or feel us and that made them…”
“Unsure who was friend and who was foe,” Ron finished.
“Oh, we’re missing someone,” Dylan said. He disappeared. Everyone seemed confused for a moment before I rolled my eyes and pointed to the empty spot next to Nano.
Nano picked up the card and frowned. “I am not very good at reading English, bu
t I think this isn’t a name.” He turned it so that we could all see and Edward started laughing hard. Sammy turned red with embarrassment and Ron’s mouth dropped open.
“Oh, god,” Sammy said, hiding his face in his hands. Edward laughed louder, getting a startled look from Meri.
Before I could ask what the card said, I felt it. I felt what I hoped to never feel again in my life. Right in the middle of the circle, the air crackled with charged energy and the void opened. A crack in space and time opened and out of the abyss came three of the most horrifying creatures I ever saw.
One of the creatures looked like a skeleton with clawed fingers and glowing red eyes. Instead of the flat, normal teeth that people had, its teeth were sharp. Most ominous was the black tar-like substance oozing from between the bones.
Another creature had a shape similar to people, with arms, legs, and even fingers, but everything was elongated and skinny, and its skin was dark blue. I barely stood past its belly. The face was more creature than person with black holes for eyes and a mouth full of jagged teeth. It had no nose, ears, or hair. As tall as it was, it stood sloped over as if deformed.
Standing only a few heads taller than me, the last creature was like a cross between a reptile and man. It stood bipedal but with huge arms that made me think it could run on four legs. On the end of those arms were long fingers and sharp claws. Its skin was a splotchy brown color and was covered in sparse fur. It had a short snout with teeth too large for its mouth. On top of its snout were big nostrils. Its eyes were small and the color of blood.
Unlike me, the Guardians were ready. Ghidorah struck the blue creature with a plasma ball while Edward hit the skeleton with blue lightning. Both beasts turned on their attacking targets. I pulled my fire and struck the reptile creature to no effect. None of our assaults were hurting the creatures at all.
“Get Dad’s sword,” Sammy said.
“Bring it here.”
“I can’t. It’s azurath metal, created for the Guardian of Earth; not even Granddad can use it. You can wield it because you’re Dad’s brother. It’s under the bed,” Ron said.