by Rain Oxford
“Get out of here, Dylan. Dios isn’t safe for you right now.”
“Thank you for helping me.”
I flashed back home to find everyone still frozen. I returned to my mother’s room and smirked at the man holding the gun before disposing of the weapon. This certainly could be a useful power if I learned to use it reliably. “Wake up, you bastard.” As he blinked in shock of his vanishing gun, I continued. “You have no idea what you’re dealing with.”
“What did you…?”
If I wasn’t still worried about the woman on the other side of the flimsy wall, I would have scared him to death with magic tricks, but I couldn’t risk it. “Get out, Jerry,” my mother said with a rare note of strength.
The man looked from me to her and back before darting out the door. I turned back to my mother, who appeared even more tired than before. “I’ll call for security. They can protect you while you get better.”
“I don’t have insurance.”
“I’ll take care of it. Just heal right and get started on the divorce papers as soon as possible. I know you always wanted to live in Arizona, so I’m going to find a counselor and therapist in Sedona. Once you’re healed, I’ll set you up with a good apartment, but in order to keep it, you have to see the therapist regularly.”
“What about food and bills?”
“You can get a job and pay for them yourself, or you can find some good volunteer work, in which case I will pay for your food and bills.” I left without another word. My day out with the boys became one of the most hellish days I’d had in a while and seeing my mother was incredibly draining.
After checking on all of the patients once more, I changed out of my scrubs, cleaned up, and slipped my bag over my shoulder. Over thirteen-years-old, it was a slim bag that I wore almost every day since I became a Guardian. I couldn’t bear to leave it at home, but I also couldn’t wear the satchel at the hospital, so during my shift, I shielded my locker.
If the book ever fell into the wrong hands, Earth could become a dumping ground for some really nasty characters. Plus, if the person who attained it was halfway intelligent, they could use it to rearrange the very fabric of Earth’s magic. They could even destroy the world itself. Although I relied more on my Iadnah magic to heal or flash, I tried to use nominal energy to do any other magic, which meant I used my Guardian bond with my book. Being a Guardian was more about the promise to protect my world than it was the power my book gave me, but the power certainly made it easier to protect Earth.
As a Guardian, I could allow access to Earth for anyone I chose, but there were less conventional means for foreigners to reach Earth. More and more over the years, I realized that the gods had less control than they would ever admit. Vretial closed the gates between the worlds because demons kept invading… or maybe it had more to do with monopolizing power. When Divina, my wife and god of Earth, destroyed Vretial, it created fractures between the worlds and the void. I repaired the damage, but then the balance of the universe tried to reopen the original gates, which would have destroyed Earth. Throughout it all, demons were finding ways through the cracks and other creatures were misplaced all over the universe. Creatures and people were being thrown backwards and forwards in time as well as lost on completely new worlds.
After I fixed the fractures, most of the people and beasts misplaced were returned to their homes and times… but Edward ended up with a stranded juvenile gargoyle, so I’m sure all was not made right. Then Ron invoked the balance on himself and closed the gates. The one thing I was always absolutely sure of was that my life would never be simple. Here I was on Earth, trying to live a normal life as a doctor, and I couldn’t even have a normal day off.
When I stepped out into the main room, it was empty. Ignoring the obvious suspiciousness, I made my way to the doors, only to find them locked. The lights flickered before failing completely. Obviously, my day wasn’t over. Instead of frustrated, I just sort of felt tired.
“In a hurry, Dylan?” a snide voice called out behind me.
I let go of the door handle after giving it one last rattle, just in case. “I am, yeah. It’s my day off. Why couldn’t you have bothered me on a work day? Can’t you come back tomorrow? I promise I’ll be surprised.” I turned to see the men spreading out in the room, surrounding me and boxing me against the door. Really? Do they know I’m a wizard?
There were fourteen men, all dressed in black satin and leather with random rings and necklaces. Having seen the latest vampire and werewolf movies available, I could have laughed. In fact, I could probably guess their names.
Count Chocula laughed evilly and real fangs glinted in the dim light. It was cloudy outside, go figure. “You won’t find your brother and children at the bookstore,” he said. He waited for a moment and frowned when I said nothing.
“Oh, sorry!” I said quickly. “I’m supposed to sputter and say, ‘what have you done with them?’ right? I don’t really care; I can find them on my own. And if you do, in fact, still have Ron captive, he’s just screwing with you.”
“That’s why we are keeping your youngest son unconscious.”
“That’s pretty wise. I hope I get to watch when Hell tears your heart out and makes you eat it before dying.”
“You mock us, Zalaznius, but you have no idea what you’re up against.”
“I do, actually, because there is only one type of being that calls Guardians by that name.”
He sputtered, taken back. “We know you by many names, but you are slaves to the gods so we will call you such. This is our town, and you were not invited.”
“I’m sorry this town isn’t big enough for me and the local… Goth youth group, but deal with it. I’m not leaving and I’m sure as hell not going to be pestered by the Twilight Fan Cult. Now take your pretty little bling and get out of my hospital before I ruin your fancy dental work. You can set up in the Starbucks, but stay away from here; the hospital is my territory.”
One of the Dracula rejects hissed at me.
“We know you can flash to your family members, and I know you can defeat my men to save them,” Count Chocula snarled. “But you have to choose. Your sons and your brother are split up across the state. If you flash to your brother, your children will be killed instantly. If you flash to your children, your brother will be killed.”
He paused, giving me a chance to let it sink it. It was a very good tactic that told me three things: One; they knew about me and my family, two; they were afraid of me, and three; my family was actually in danger. If Ron was really unconscious, then he couldn’t save Hail and himself. Hail was brave and very intelligent, but Ron was the strategist. Mordon could shift and eat his attackers… unless he was chained up. He was partially vulnerable during his shift and as his bones reshaped, being chained to a wall could seriously hurt him.
Realizing I was actually facing an organized enemy, I reached out gently with my magic, mindful of nearby medical equipment. What my magic showed me was a suspicious lack of power. Suspicious because either these were the most magically deficient people in the entire universe, or they had enough skill to shield themselves. Since they weren’t voids like the High King of Dios, I could guess which case this was.
“There is a way you can save all three. You must give us your book and leave this town,” the man offered.
That would never be an option for any Guardian; our life is the protection of the book. If I gave up my book, I would die, and while that was worth saving any one of my family members, I could never turn the fate of Earth over to the bad guys.
“What is your name?” I asked.
He hesitated. “Sardis, prince of the largest North American coven.”
“Good to know. I always try to get the names of those who I kill. You see, I hate killing. I usually leave that to Mordon, but sometimes someone just must be dealt with. For those few, I want to know their names. There was a demon once I had to kill with a sword. I didn’t ask his name and I regret it. You wouldn’t happen t
o know it, would you?”
“How would I know who you killed?”
“I heard I was developing a bit of a reputation in the void, so I thought there might be a demon down there bragging that he was killed by me. You might know, since you have contact with the demons.”
“How would you know that?”
“You don’t speak Enocian and they’re the only ones who call us Zalaznius.”
“You do have a reputation. It is said you can destroy demons with a single word, that if anyone goes after your family, it will be the last thing they ever regret, and that you have powers even greater than the gods. I have also heard that men of every race would rally together and form an army to protect you, but that you can protect yourself. The demons say there are several tribes of Malta that banded together to fight evil in your name and the same on Mulo. Some believe you are a thirteenth god, more powerful than the others and I have even heard you rule the gods and keep one as your pet. I don’t believe most of it.”
I smirked. “No, it isn’t a hundred percent true; I have no god as a pet. I am married to Tiamat, and the others are more like my brother-in-laws.” I flashed to Mordon as his jaw dropped in shock.
When the light cleared and I saw where Mordon was, it was my jaw that dropped.
Chapter 4
Mordon
Dylan was the kind of man to give everything he had to help others. When I first met him, he was barely an adult, silly, accident prone, and sarcastic. Over the thirteen years I knew him, he grew up into a respectable person. He only agreed to be a Guardian to protect his girlfriend, but since then, it became who he was. Dylan was a healer. Guardian, doctor, wizard… they were all the same thing for him. When everyone else in this universe gave up, Dylan would be there, defending whatever was left.
It was odd to me that Dylan wanted us to move to Earth. He first suggested it after Ron closed the void gates, but he only mentioned it off and on for the next three years. Then, all of a sudden, he became a lot more adamant. Some days, there was almost a panic about him, like there was an itch under his skin or something important he forgot.
Dylan came to me first and told me he wanted us to move to Earth. Of course, by then I knew it and was just waiting for him to make the decision. Even Divina was fine with it, but I got the feeling she knew what was going on better than us. I almost felt bad for her that Dylan was so distracted with moving to Earth. Every day it became more and more like a mission. His dreams were odd and full of monsters from other worlds we visited, but when I asked him about them, he honestly didn’t know why.
Rojan suggested that Dylan’s magic was sensing danger and the dreams were some sort of Guardian warning dreams. Dylan’s powers were still developing, even after all these years. Divina wasn’t exactly forth coming with information, since she didn’t really have any more idea about what Dylan was than we did.
So I didn’t know if we were here because Dylan missed Earth or if there was danger about. I didn’t know how long we would be here or if I was supposed to make a place for myself on this new world. I didn’t know if I could ever learn to drive one of those horrible metal cars. The one thing I did know for sure was that Dylan and I were a team and we would make it.
But only if I found a place to shift.
Before the move, Dylan wanted to get me used to Earth and living in an apartment, so on many of the days that he worked, he would flash us to Earth while he was working and I would spend the day in the little apartment. When he flashed us home at night, I could barely make it outside before shifting. Pent up dragon energy combined with Iadnah magic made me feel like Rojan was trying to burst out of my skin with impatience. Since Dylan wouldn’t be flashing us twice a day, I was hoping it would be easier to handle, but we encountered other difficulties. Trying to sleep in the middle of the city was horrendous.
The boys left the kitchen after arguing about Hail’s clothes. Whereas Dylan was absolutely aware of how manipulative Divina really was and how often she lied to him, Dylan was clueless about his youngest son. Ron was the most perfectly disastrous combination of both his parents. Ron was unbelievably clever and as mischievous as his mother.
Unfortunately, in one horrible aspect, he was very different from his parents. Ron wanted to be all-powerful, and he had the means to be. Like his mother, he would manipulate people because he honestly thought he knew what was best, but he was better at it because he understood a mortal’s thought process better than Divina. At this age, it still wasn’t clear how he would turn out. It was my opinion that the gods should have been more afraid of Dylan’s son than Dylan himself. Dylan was a healer down to his very soul. Ron wasn’t.
I sighed, knowing Divina had a point; my dragon form was designed for life in a desert, and there were none of those around here. At least Shomodii had wide enough clearings to take off and land, because I really couldn’t travel through a forest. If I tried to take off or land in dragon form anywhere near town, even with my camouflaging, the general populous would disapprove.
“I should at least try the library. Now, Dylan told me about this bus thing. How do I order one?”
She laughed. “There isn’t a public bus system here; it’s too small a town. Besides, you’re not going to find your answers at the library.”
“Then where?” I asked. She sipped her tea and I could see it in her eyes that she was contemplating whether she should tell me or keep quiet. “Please, Divina. This isn’t one of those, ‘Oh, I’m a god and I need to keep a secret’ things. This is one of those, ‘my skin is going to crawl off if I have to go a month without shifting’ things.”
“You’ve lived most of your life unable to shift.”
“And for only the past ten years of it was I even able to sense Rojan. Whatever Dylan’s demon did to make me able to shift, it made Rojan a lot more powerful. Before, he was a dragon and I was a wizard who could feel and talk to him. Now it’s like we are the same being. There is too much power in my blood. When I get stressed or angry, I need to shift. The dragon part of me wants to claw its way out. The more I suppress it, the worse it gets.”
“Like you’re bottling up your energy. I get that, I just didn’t realize it was a big deal. Dragons can shift into people, but they can’t live as people entirely. When I created dragons, it was during a time when magic and magical beasts were revered. As sago and humans hunted dragons more and more, Erono and I created a genetic mutation in your blood. In times of great need, you could hide your power and take the shape a person. The need was greater than our predictions, though, and dragons had to choose to either pretend to be people their entire lives or be hunted to extinction. On Duran, it is no longer legal to hunt dragons, but there are still many who believe in them, and some even know that dragons can shift. On Earth, humans stopped believing in dragons altogether.”
“But dragons aren’t extinct on Earth?”
“No. Dylan never told you why he chose this town?”
“Why? He chose this town randomly.”
“I don’t think he did. He didn’t tell me and I didn’t ask, but I figured he didn’t realize it himself.”
“Realize what?” I asked, trying not to show frustration. Divina was the love of Dylan’s life and it was for that reason only I wasn’t constantly trying to strangle the goddess. She was incredibly beautiful and powerful, but getting a simple answer out of her was impossible.
“This town. Everyone in this town is either a paranormal creature, from another world, a wizard, or married to such. Maybe twenty percent is human and seventy-five percent of that twenty is descended from Guardians. I went to the grocery store last night for eggs and ran into a water sprite having a mental breakdown in the diaper section.”
“Why were you in the diaper section?”
“I was trying to get to the eggs section. Come to find out, she was pregnant and her husband was one of the land tribe people of Malta. She was terrified that her child might be unable to swim. I told her if her child was half water sprite, she sh
ould try water-proof diapers. I don’t think that helped her.”
“That sounds like good advice to me. Then again, I’m not a water sprite, I’m a dragon, so what does this have to do with me?”
“Oh, yeah. Her neighbor is a dragon. A desert dragon, like you. I have no idea if he has found a place to shift or not, but I got his number.”
“But if everyone here knows about dragons…”
“That’s not what I said. I said everyone here was more than they seemed. Many would have no idea what a dragon was and be terrified if they saw a man shift into one. Besides, everyone will hide their true natures unless they are in private with those they trust. Nobody wants a human to accidentally learn about all the supernatural creatures here and call in hunters. There may be organizations, packs, covens, and tribes here, but it’s going to be very secretive. Call the dragon and find out what he does.”
She got up and went to the drawer by the sink to pull out a pencil and paper. I could barely wait for her to write the number before snatching it away to memorize. “You wrote numbers in English.”
“Yes. You said you can use Dylan’s power to translate, but you need to learn to read human numbers. Those are the same numbers that are on the cell phone Dylan gave you. Do you remember Dylan’s number?”
“He said I just push and hold the top middle button.”
“That’s speed dial.”
“So what number do I push for this dragon?”
She sighed.
When I dropped the boys off in the apartment one door down, I had pretty much forgotten that many people here weren’t human. Therefore, I was shocked to smell the woman, Stacy. I thought at first that she was cooking something, but when I took a deeper scent, I realized it was her. She smelled very strangely of caramelized sugar, lavender, and sunlight. We introduced ourselves and the boys went inside to meet her son.