by Oxford, Rain
“No, that’s the TV I told you about. This is the horror channel, where they do nothing but tell gory and horrifying stories about murder and child abuse.” I let him watch while I dug through the drawer, looking for a pamphlet. There was none. After watching the news for a few minutes, it still hadn’t said where we were. It listed a few cities, but none that I recognized. We were not in Texas. Just to double-blow his mind, I turned it to the cartoon channel, where a little animated Labrador puppy tried to teach us Japanese. “Are you warm now?” I asked, switching off the television. It looked as if he had stopped shivering.
“Yes. When will the rain stop?”
“I’m not sure. Probably in just a few hours. Earth hours are shorter than Duran hours. Duran is larger, it spins slower, and has twenty hours in a day, where Earth has twenty-four.” We talked about Earth for a while. I told him about other countries that I wanted to see, especially Japan, Italy, and Egypt.
“Now that my name is in your book, maybe Edward can show you how to travel and you can show me these countries,” he suggested.
“Sure, but I don’t know the languages. Ancient scripture, no problem, but I haven’t a clue on modern languages. Oh, look, the rain has stopped.” I got up and peered out the window. Just as I turned back to Mordon, there was a knock at the door.
“English, Dylan,” Mordon reminded me.
“I know.” I opened the door to reveal a young man about my age. He had a rather unmemorable appearance with brown hair and brown eyes. He smiled happily, though, as he wiped water off his face.
“I was told to bring this here to Mr. Carter at this time today,” he said, holding out a cloth bag. That wasn’t suspicious or anything.
I took it. “Who told you to bring it here?”
The man smiled again. “About the hottest little red-head I’ve ever seen. No one I know, just a woman. But I’ve got to be off now.” He left and I shut the door.
“One of these days, things are going to have to start making sense.” I cautiously dumped the contents of the bag onto my bed; a cell phone and clothes. Mordon grabbed the phone, examining it. “That’s a cell phone. Remember I told you about those?”
“Yeah,” he said, “I didn’t believe you.”
I knew he hadn’t. I reached over and pressed the power button. The phone lit up and vibrated, making Mordon drop it on the bed, and I laughed at his shock. “You look like a caveman just shown fire.”
“As if you were not the same when you first explored Duran.”
I threw the tennis shoes, dark blue, long-sleeved shirt, one of the pairs of jeans, and one of the jackets at him. We got dressed in the warm, dry clothes. I wore a long-sleeved, dark green shirt and jeans. I took the phone, my bag, our wet boots, and the key and we left, abandoning our wet clothes.
The rain had stopped, but it left everything a dull brown and gray. The sky and trees were gray, the ground and everything else was brown.
“Is this winter in your world?” Mordon asked, clutching his coat tighter.
Mokii had a warm, dry climate where they were more likely to have a month-long drought in the summer than a couple of snow flurries in the winter. While Mordon had traveled to other lands, he usually had the luxury of doing his royal duties in warm places.
“I guess so, but this can’t be Houston. Maybe Oregon. Let’s find the office,” I said. We went around the building to the front, where five people stood about, looking up at the sky. “Hello,” I said. “We are traveling from Houston and got lost. Where are we?” It felt odd to be speaking with my own people again after so long.
One of the two women looked at us but the others were busy having their own conversation. “Fort Smith,” she smiled.
That wasn’t very helpful. “Fort Smith, what?”
“Arkansas.”
“The green state?”
“Well, the wet state now. This is the first time it stopped raining in three weeks!” she said, obviously happy for the rain to have stopped.
“Does it normally rain like this?” Mordon asked.
The woman and I both denied it at the same time. “No place is supposed to rain for three weeks straight. Has it been a heavy rain like that? Or does it vary?” I asked.
“Heavy. But it’s not as bad as some places. Everywhere is having erratic weather. California and Nevada are ranging about twenty-five to thirty below. The rain is covering Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. I wouldn’t continue heading north if I were you,” she warned.
“What’s up north?”
“The flu. It’s killing everyone up there.”
“What is the flu?” Mordon whispered in my head.
“It’s a sickness,” I answered. “Thank you for the help. Do you happen to know Vivian Green?”
“The lawyer?” she asked.
I frowned. Had Vivian really become a lawyer? “Red hair and super skinny?”
“That would be her. She’s a big-time lawyer here. I can’t believe they know her in Texas. She works at the law firm just down the street.”
* * *
Finding her office building was easy. Vivian didn’t even see us when she walked outside, dressed in a spiffy black skirt suit. She hadn’t aged a day, but her hair was longer and lighter. She still looked fantastic.
Mordon was busy gawking at the cars when she started down the street. After I got Mordon’s attention, I pointed her out and we followed at a distance. Everyone was outside enjoying the break from the rain, so at least we weren’t obvious.
“You left her? And got Divina? What did you do so well?”
“I didn’t leave her for Divina… I left her for Duran. I couldn’t learn magic on Earth and becoming the Guardian was… It just felt like the right thing to do.”
“You could have taken her with you.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but I had nothing to say. Luckily, Mordon knew me and respected me enough not to push. Vivian arrived at a decent little two-story brick house with a one-and-a-half-car garage and a quant, fenced-in backyard.
We waited for a while before going up to her door and knocking. Vivian answered the door and threw herself into my arms.
“Hello, Vi,” I said. I extracted myself politely and with great difficulty.
She wore a very tight, light green tank top, a dark green denim jacket, a gold belt, and tight, camouflage-patterned jeans. She was still tall and model thin, but I didn’t feel the same attraction for her as I used to. My insouciance wasn’t surprising; I loved Divina.
“Dylan, god, I thought I would never see you again. How have you been? Where have you been?” She pulled me inside and Mordon followed.
“Far away. I took an apprenticeship. I’m sorry I disappeared on you.”
“Don’t worry about it. You had responsibilities. Magic and all that.”
I froze. What the hell is going on? I felt like I was in the middle of a bad joke or B-movie and everyone on Duran and Earth was in on it. “What do you know about that?” I asked.
Vivian sat on the couch and picked up her tea. “Not much. I met a friend of yours who explained to me that you are learning magic to defend people. So very you.”
I plopped down on a chair across from her, then jumped back up in shock as I had sat on a plastic toy. I got a cold feeling as I regarded the toy. The room was modern with off-white walls, matching carpet, and black leather couch and chairs. The television was large and tables classy. It was a very mature room with stuffed animals and toys strewn about. No child’s drawings or coloring books… just baby toys.
“Do you have a baby?” I asked. Vivian smiled, got up, and left the room. She returned a minute later holding a tiny baby.
“He’s eighteen months old.”
Before I could object, she sat him in my lap. His shiny hair was sort of a medium brown/copper, too dark to be ginger but definitely more red than brown. He looked up at me with an incredible shade of purple eyes; an eye color I have seen before.
“He’s sago!” I declared unwisely. I
glanced over at Mordon to make sure. I had gotten used to Mordon having one purple eye and one blue, and purple eyes was not an uncommon color on Duran.
“He’s mine,” she corrected. “His name is Samhail and I’m his mother. That makes him half human.”
“Who is his father?” I asked. The baby let out a giggle and head-butted my chest.
“Sammy, stop it, that’s not your daddy. A friend of yours. I won’t say anything more, though. I don’t want to give away any secrets he might have. Oh, shit.” She jumped out of her chair.
I smelled the smoke and got up, careful not to jar the baby in case he would start crying. The back of the easy chair I was sitting on had caught fire.
Then, as suddenly as it had started, the flames died. I looked at Mordon. He nodded, letting me know he put the fire out. The baby babbled and reached for Mordon. Vivian reached behind the chair and pulled out a candle that had fallen from the shelf.
“You are just as unlucky as you’ve always been. I should have expected it,” Vivian laughed.
But it had been a long times since I was unlucky.
“So what have you been up to?” she asked.
“Well, other than learning magic, I’m sort of engaged.”
“That’s fantastic. Have any babies of your own?”
“No, no, nothing like that. It’s complicated, really,” I said.
She looked Mordon over, then turned back to me. “Complicated? How complicated? Who’s your friend?”
Mordon approached her and shook her hand. “I’m Mordon and I am also single.”
She giggled. “Sorry, babe. I’m still waiting for the baby daddy to come home,” she said.
He frowned at me in confusion. Mordon learned every bit of his English from me; he didn’t speak chick. “She is waiting for Sammy’s father to come back. How long has he been gone?” I asked, repositioning the baby. He kept trying to dive-bomb the floor.
She smiled sadly and drank down her tea. “He never saw his son. He said he would come back before, but he had to get things ready first. You had only been gone for six months when I met him. I still missed you and searched for you. He found me and explained everything. How did you find me? And why?”
“You will probably not like it.”
She smiled. “I doubt I will if you’re back. I take it you’re here to save the world.”
“Yes, but I just have to save one person in order to do it,” I said slowly.
She frowned. “Who?”
I looked at the little child, who had grown somber in reaction to our tone.
“Oh, Hell. You don’t mean Sammy,” she said. “He’s just a baby. He’s too young for magic and other worlds.”
“How long has the country had erratic weather?” Mordon asked.
“For a few months now. It started out bad and didn’t let up. Northern U.S. is all flu. To the West is freezing temperatures, central is rain, southern is earthquakes, and eastern is over-populated because everyone is trying to get away from the rest of the country. Alaska, Southern Canada, and Northern Mexico are the same, Hawaii is missing.”
“What?! How can a state be missing?” I asked.
“Planes and ships can’t get to it because of the weather. No communication can get through. You tell me what is going on.”
I sighed. “Something has come here, that wasn’t meant to come. It isn’t human, and it’s very powerful. In order for it to stay here, it needs the baby. We’re here to protect him. The thing is, we were expecting an older child.”
She gave me a deadpanned stare.
“Well, I was under a lot of stress.”
“You were wishful thinking,” she argued.
“What?” Mordon asked, confused.
“I was being stupid. I left three years ago, and I knew she never cheated on me, but pregnancy is nine months. Obviously, there was no way the baby was more than two years old. Tiamat said I would have to find a child and I was thinking he was five or something.”
“Why? Why can’t you save him now?” Vivian asked.
“In order to save him, we must take him to another world. He can come right back after that, but we have to get him out of here.”
“That’s fine, you’ll just have to take me, too,” she insisted.
“Only two problems: my mentor has to come so you can sign the book, and Sammy has to be able to sign his name.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
I didn’t have an answer, so it’s just as well that was the moment I blacked out.
* * *
I was back in Divina’s place, somehow between here and there.
“I’m sorry, Dylan.”
“That is never a good hello,” I answered. “What is wrong?”
“Your master is missing. Because of my brothers’ opposition, I cannot get the child and your friend to Duran without Erono’s book. I have asked for help from other Guardians, but my brothers are hindering my efforts.”
“Why? Why would they not want to help me stop this creature? I helped them!”
“It is not you they are against.”
“What is going on?! Everything is messed up.”
“Yes, it is. The blood of the worlds and time is mixing. Doors were opened that were not supposed to be opened. If we do not tread carefully, everything will come undone. Whatever you do, do not let---”
Without a blink or a flash I was back in Vivian’s living room. Mordon was holding the baby and Vivian was trying to get me up. Climbing to my feet was difficult due to the vertigo, but I managed.
“What did she say?” Mordon asked.
“That we’re on our own. Edward is missing.”
“What are we going to do?” Vivian asked, taking her baby.
I sighed. “Protect Sammy until the creature gives up.”
Vivian left the room to put Sammy in his play swing and I contemplated. “What’s wrong?” Mordon asked me.
I shook my head. “I don’t know. I thought she was about to tell me something very important, but she sent me back, instead.”
* * *
We decided to stay at Vivian’s house instead of going back to the motel, mostly because we didn’t have a crib in the motel. I decided to have a little fun and introduce Mordon to the shower. Duran ranged quite a bit in modern conveniences. Shomodii was a place most suited for wizards and magic often interfered with too much technology, so there was no electricity or indoor plumbing on the land. Really, I think it had more to do with older wizards disliking technology than any magical interference. Then again, I wasn’t going to find a laptop to test that theory. Still, Edward teased me quite a lot when I first moved there. Anoshii, on the other hand, did have electricity and many of the technological conveniences of Earth, including indoor plumbing. While there were no phones, there was a form of email.
Duran was full of magic and when I did find technology, it was usually astounding. The lack of things such as TV and game systems wasn’t because of a distaste for technology or deficiency of ability or imagination, but because it was a different culture. While each of the major islands had a strikingly different culture, with an overall resemblance to Earth’s Japan, none of them considered technology a good tool for entertainment. They used it for learning, making their work easier, communicating, etc… but never to enjoy.
It took me more than a year to fully grasp the concept. Sure, it sounded simple enough when Edward had tried to explain it to me, but I never really understood it until I saw it for myself. And there were no showers. Edward and I were lucky to have the haunted springs, which also ran through Divina’s territory. Other people of Shomodii had to heat their water with fire or magic. Anoshii, Zendii, and other places like them with indoor water systems had bathtubs, but no showers. Apparently, it never occurred to them.
Mordon lived in a kingdom on Mokii which, like Shomodii, chose not use electricity. While he had a tub that was filled and heated by servants, he had very little exposure to the advantages of basic indoor water systems.
“So do you have a job?” she asked. “I bet learning magic is a time-consuming thing.”
I shrugged. “It’s a different lifestyle on Duran. A few weeks before I went to Duran, I found a book lying on my lawn. I took it inside and put it on the bookshelf.” I paused to remember the details of the past three years and found myself smiling. “It was the luckiest thing I ever did. If I hadn’t accepted it, I don’t know where I would be right now.”
“You never said goodbye.”
“I did, though. Kiro knocked on my door one day, introducing himself as Edward. He was so odd, but I had to get to work. He told me there were creatures attacking, killing people, to find this book. He was going to take it and leave me and everyone close to me to die until he realized I could do magic. That was why weird stuff always happened to me; I was subconsciously doing magic my entire life. Then he decided the book chose me as its Guardian.”
“He sounds like a jerk.”
“He isn’t. I mean, his twin brother had just died and he was told to collect the book. He had to save as many people as possible and that meant getting the book off Earth. Edward gave me the choice to take the responsibility and become his apprentice in magic, and I said I would.
“It was too dangerous to have my scent around you again, so I called you to say goodbye. I told you I had to leave the city so you wouldn’t come back to my apartment that had the scent of the book all over it.”
I pulled my book out of my bag.
“He explained everything to me, took me to Duran, and started to teach me magic. He’s a great mentor and a fantastic role model. You know none of Mother’s boyfriends or those awful step-fathers were worth the dirt they walked on. Edward is a Guardian; it’s in his blood to protect and help those in need. I know anything I learn from him is right and he would never do anything to hurt me.”