by Oxford, Rain
“Take one as a gift for killing the storm monster.”
After thanking them, we took a modest little boat. However, we were unable to leave alone. The little gargoyle clambered into the boat right behind me and was impossibly heavy. He refused to be separated from my side. It appeared he marked me as his to protect.
Just as the sun was rising, we spotted the small island that was our destination. According to Mio’s map, that was the location of the troll king and the Stone of Iodus.
“Before we get there, I want to ask what happened with the storm monster back there,” Cylo interrupted the quiet morning.
I pulled out the iron pentagram. “A gift… from my nephew or my brother, I’m not sure. This belonged to my brother before he died. It is a focus tool in magic and it also stores energy and spells. I gave it to my nephew because it seemed right. The magic that was stored in this had to have been my nephew’s; it was remarkably dangerous and unstable.”
“You are willing to face the troll king without your magic?”
“Yes. It might be easier to do with Hobble, here.” I decided giving him an English name would be fitting, so Hobble sounded good to me.
Our boat hit the sand quietly and we got out. Cylo tied it to the nearest tree, but I was more worried about us being caught and imprisoned than our boat escaping. Experience has taught me that if I acted like I belonged somewhere, people assumed I did, but I never attempted it without magic as a backup.
The island was strangely tropical with jungle trees and a large beach. We only had to walk a little ways through the forest to come to the troll king’s private home. Then we had to stop and stare.
Having met trolls on Dios, I had prejudices about where they should live and what they should do. Ronez thought they should all live under bridges, but I felt that was silly since they hated water.
Perhaps trolls on this world were a more aristocratic lot. The house was nothing short of a mansion and one tower short of a castle. It was gothic, tall, and menacing with dark stone for walls. The windows were dark, but there were guards on duty at the doors. Most surprisingly, the guards were people, not trolls nor demons.
“What are we going to do, give up?” Cylo asked.
“Don’t be silly. That would be silly,” I answered.
“I really hate trolls and I do not want to end up in their dungeons.”
“Except those are people, not trolls. People are easily fooled.”
“By magic,” he said.
“Yes.”
“But you have no magic.”
“You have a point. What about what they took from you? Are you just going to leave that behind?”
Before he could respond, Hobble rushed out of our hiding spot. He ran, as best as he could, towards them with his wings flapping. The two guards took one look at the rushing gargoyle and ran, one into the mansion the other off into the forest. The stone creature looked at us as if asking us what we were waiting for. We entered the mansion meeting no obstacle.
I pet both heads but stopped when Hobble made an odd purring sound. Dylan must never see this creature or we would have a new pet that we didn’t need.
Inside the mansion was just as large and lavish as the outside. The floor was stone, the walls were red, the ceiling was high, the staircase was huge, and the furniture was delicate and looked uncomfortable. We followed the sound of people into a hallway, at the end of which were two guards. Once again, they were not trolls, but they were dressed in smaller versions of troll armor. They did not directly look at us until we were obviously heading for the door they were guarding, and then they frowned at Hobble before looking at us.
“The king is not to be disturbed at this time,” the guard on the left said. He was older with graying hair, while the other was pretty young and couldn’t keep his eyes off the two-headed stone creature.
“We have an important message that he needs to get.” I pulled a scroll out of my bag. Of course, the scroll was blank, but he couldn’t see that and this particular lie had proved useful hundreds of times. The scroll was very official paper with a wax seal and a red ribbon. The mystery of the contents was half of the trick. No one could resist a secret letter.
“What is it?”
“For the king’s eyes only.”
“Who is it from?”
“For the king’s ears only. All I know is if he doesn’t get this now, he will be very angry later. I would hate for you two to be the ones that stopped him from getting this.”
“He did not say he was expecting a message.”
“He is not expecting it yet, but plans changed and drastic measures are taking place,” I answered. Using official and dramatic language, it was easy to pull off the confidence that was necessary for this particular lie; I just hoped Cylo wouldn’t give it away. I couldn’t afford him a glance.
The older one frowned and the younger guard looked to his companion for direction.
“Jone, go on break now,” he said. The young guard hesitated and then walked away. “If the king asks, I did not let you in.”
He opened the door and Hobble stumbled in ahead of us. This room was built like the rest of the mansion, but was sparsely furnished. A large fireplace, currently unlit, dominated the far side of the room. On either side of it was a large bookshelf filled with old books. Three chairs sat facing the rest of the room. The one in the middle was huge with what looked like blue crushed velvet. The ones on either side were much smaller and red. The middle chair was currently occupied by the largest man I had ever seen. Standing up, he would be nearly twice my height and three times my girth in solid muscle, and I had never been called a small man. This man had the size of a troll but without fat or the confused, blank stare that all trolls had.
I was not dealing with the simple-minded, slow trolls of Dios.
Cylo bowed, as I guess was appropriate, but I couldn’t bring myself to be smaller than I was in the troll king’s presence. I realized the king was studying me the same as I was him, not sure what to make of me.
The only other person in the room, the woman in the chair on the right, stood. She was tall for a woman, only slightly shorter than me, with black hair to her waist and emerald green eyes. Her long, silver dress made her appear thinner than she was, but I could see plenty of muscle definition. She was more warrior than arm ornament.
“Who are you?” she asked in Lilat with a tone that demanded attention. She was clearly the queen here and knew her position well.
“I am Cylo,” the poor man shook. “I came here to get something back that was taken from me.”
Neither royal figure showed any change in expression. I thought they would be angry and insulted at being accused of stealing, but they showed no sign of such.
“What was taken from you?”
“I lost my memory and cannot remember what it is. I just knew if I came here that I would get it back. I could feel it the moment this man told me where he was going.”
Then the queen turned to me. “And who are you? What are you doing here?” she asked.
I had a choice to make on the spot; spin a lie or tell the truth. Certainly they would not allow me to take the Stone of Iodus. Royal people were not reasonable like that. Just as I opened my mouth to lie, the door burst open. A tiny little girl, no older than five, ran inside. She didn’t even look at us, just ran to the king and tried to climb into his lap. He picked her up and held her with an uncanny gentleness for his size.
For how closely she resembled the queen, I knew she was their daughter. She had shoulder-length, straight black hair and sharp green eyes that were currently filled with tears. Oddly, she had inherited none of her father’s size. Maybe only male trolls were that big. She wore a puffy black dress with silver trim and red jewels.
“What happened?” the queen asked, her voice now gentle and kind.
“I was eating and one of the gou took the food out of my hand.”
“Did it hurt?” the king asked. She nodded and buried her head in the spa
ce between his arm and chest. He held her hand and gently kissed it. “Better?” she nodded again.
The queen turned back to us and the softness in her gaze quickly vanished. “Now, back to the strangers who have barged uninvited into my home.”
After seeing that show of emotion, I really did not want to lie. She may be a queen and married to a troll, but she was a person who had something to protect. “I am Kiro, the Noquodi of Duran,” I said, giving the queen a small bow. Cylo gasped in shock and even the queen looked a little startled for a moment. “I came here when Rasik, Noquodi of Kahún said that he was losing his magic. He wanted my help, but I really came for selfish reasons. You have the Stone of Iodus, capable of opening a hole into the void and contacting the demons. I need the stone.”
“The Stone of Iodus would also bring magic to the lands, and our people hate magic,” she said. At least it wasn’t my head she demanded.
“I understand that, but the matter is more important. Your Noquodi is losing his magic because the world is losing it. Although you can block the magic from being accessible, it still makes up the fabric of your world. Without magic, your planet and consequently your people will die.”
“And calling up demons will save this world?”
“No, I need to make a deal with them to help my nephew. My nephew will save this and every other world.”
She glared now. “Who is your nephew, saver of worlds?”
“Dylan Yatunus, my brother’s son. He is the Noquodi of Earth with more power than any other Noquodi so far. He has made a goddess fall in love with him, and fight for him. He has power of no limits, but he only helps others with it.”
“And why should we believe you that this world will die without magic?” the king asked. Obviously his wife was the wiser of the two.
“Have you not seen odd things happen that were not meant to be?” I asked. I pet Hobble’s left head. “This creature, for example, and others of his species, put an entire community of people in a time bubble to protect them from a sea creature that will not exist for many thousands of years.”
“A sea monster?”
“A sea monster that will evolve on Vaigda in many generations.”
“A sea monster from another world… how do you know this?”
“Noquodi know things. A long time ago, it came up in a card. Right now, there are a lot of futures being taken away. I can help, but only with the Stone of Iodus.”
The king and queen looked at each other and I knew they were communicating silently. How they were doing it without magic, I didn’t know. Without waiting or confirmation from her parents, the little girl climbed off her father’s lap and pulled her necklace from where it was tucked in. It was a large emerald on a strong gold chain.
“The Stone of Iodus is a jewel?” Cylo asked.
“No, it is the little girl,” I answered.
Now the queen’s face showed shock. “How do you know that?”
“Because the emerald is pulsing with power, but it is the child’s power. The jewel is a diversion for anyone who would go after the Stone of Iodus. Why else would it be called ‘the Troll King’s Heart’ if it were not something the troll king loved?”
“This proves you are one of the Noquodi, but not that your intentions are honorable,” the king said.
“Oh, my intentions are not honorable,” I explained. “While it is in my nature to help everyone and nearly impossible for me to ignore the needs of others, I am here to help my nephew. His intentions are honorable; I care most that he is okay when this is over. In fact, even the success of his mission is secondary.”
“I believe you are being too honest, now,” the queen said.
The little girl came to me with her mother close behind and held out her tiny hand, which I took gently. This girl was not used to strength, especially from men. I figured men would avoid her for fear of breaking the small girl.
Her eyes changed from dark green to light green as everything since the moment I woke up in the goblin cell flashed through my mind. The little girl was looking at what I had done. Finally my short adventure ended and then something new happened. A crack formed in the middle of the room and grew. The only thing inside that I could see was bright white light. This crack felt malicious and permanent; a crack formed in more than this world, which would affect many worlds. It was jagged like jaws.
The bright white within was a trick… a trap. It may have looked light, but inside there was darkness. It was an end to all things. She had opened a hole to the void.
Chapter 7
Mordon
When we were not immediately attacked, I opened my eyes. I had seen something in the demon right before I closed my eyes, and I wanted another look. Dylan, Sammy, and I were alone on a beach. No demon, no people, no buildings or cities that I could see. To one side was a forest and to the other was endless sea. The sky was overcast, like there was a storm, and the wind was wet and chilly. “Dylan,” I whispered. He didn’t move. “Dylan, you need to look.”
He did. “Where are we?” he asked after a moment.
I sniffed the air and could smell clean, wet water, forest, and sand with a hint of metal. “We are above ground. Even the forest room of Dios had a smell of dirt and lack of sunlight.”
“Well, we’re not on Dios anymore; the gravity is different.”
“Earth?” I asked.
“No. About the same gravity as Earth, but my magic feels funny, like it’s trying to figure out where we are. Like my magic is trying to find a signal to narrow down our position. I don’t like it. What do you smell?” he asked.
“The ocean, sand, the forest, and metal.”
“Ocean? What do you smell particularly that you call it ocean?” he asked. He didn’t ask about the metal.
I sniffed again and the cold breeze stung my nose. “Water and salt.”
“That’s it?” He dug through the baby bag, pulled out a small blanket, and tried to wrap Sammy up in it. Sammy frowned at Dylan like he wasn’t sure what was going on. “What about the forest?” Dylan asked.
“Dirt and plants.”
“Then we have a problem,” he said. Of course we did. “Where are the fish in the ocean? The animals and bugs and birds in the forest?”
I hadn’t thought of that… We had a problem. Sammy started to cry and squirm until I had to set him down. “What’s wrong?” I asked Sammy.
“His energy. Look at his energy,” Dylan said.
I focused my energy on the energy around him. Shocked, I confirmed it by smelling his magic. “His power is being blocked.”
“Yeah, contained. Edward had said that everyone has a magical weakness on one or two worlds. Maybe this world is his weakness. He’s probably crying because he isn’t used to it.” The moment I let go of Sammy, he wrapped his tiny arms around Dylan’s knees. Dylan picked him up and he ceased crying.
I sniffed again. “Interesting. His magic is masked by yours,” I said. Dylan frowned at Sammy and the little baby frowned right back.
“Maybe we should head into the forest. I don’t like being out in the open.”
Just as we turned, there was a disturbance behind us. The waves grew as a large object rose out of the sea. Far larger than us, the alien object was made of a dull black color that resembled an animal’s hide, with solid wings that curled downward. The body of it was about as round as I was tall and narrowed into a pointed nose. Two small ports opened above the nose of the object, much like eyes. Dylan tried to hide Sammy between us.
“I don’t like this. Those look like a good place to shoot from.”
“Magic?”
“I’m forming a shield.”
Unfortunately, he was powerful enough that as his protective shield formed, the energy became visible. It was like electricity trapped in glass. Dylan was not subtle when it came to protection.
The ports suddenly lit up with a purple light, which grew to encompass the entire beach. I barely felt myself hitting the ground before I was unconscious.
>
* * *
I woke to blinding lights and a baby’s wailing. After a few seconds, the light dimmed and I could open my eyes. Everything was white; sterile white. I was in a very small room, on a tall, narrow bed with a clean white sheet. Someone had replaced my clothes with a pair of thin pants and a thin, short-sleeved shirt that snapped together with four plastic snaps down my right side. White, of course. The wall to my left was mirrored, the one to my right was glass with a glass door, and everything else was white. Beside me an electronic monitor showing what looked like my heartbeat.
Through the glass wall, I could see Dylan in an identical room. They had replaced his clothes with a white outfit matching the one they gave me. He was just waking up, probably due to the wailing that was coming through unseen speakers. Across from Dylan’s room was Sammy in a small glass cradle. He was standing up and crying his head off while three men stood with unsure looks on their faces. They were dressed in matching white uniforms and I assumed they were some kind of personnel. One of the men gently pushed Sammy down and started to change his diaper. The baby instantly stopped crying and stared at the man like he was the weirdest thing in the world. When the man sat him back up with a satisfied smile on his face, Sammy started crying again. He stood up and tried to reach for Dylan.
Now Dylan was fully awake, likely from the increased screaming. He was off the bed in a blink and attempting to get the connecting door open.
That must have been encouragement enough, for the risk-taking man picked Sammy up and cautiously approached the door. However, instead of opening it, he demanded something in a foreign language and waited. Dylan did nothing until the man repeated himself, and then the Guardian slowly backed away from the door. Just as slowly, the man opened it. The other two followed him into Dylan’s room with the same reluctance, as if Dylan was a wild animal. Sammy squirmed until the man set him on the floor. Sammy tumbled into Dylan’s arms.
The man pointed to the bed and spoke calmly, but Dylan backed away and held Sammy tighter.
“I think he wants you back on the bed,” I said in his mind.