by Oxford, Rain
“Life was different when I was young. I was never surrounded by girls or given the opportunity to explore what was out there, including heartache. I thought the feelings I had for Milia was the strongest type of love, and so I was miserable for several years. I actually went into a depressed state in which Ronez had to take care of me. But I learned to keep living. My life was going to last until I ended it, which would leave my world and everyone in it in danger. Eventually, there came women I loved even more, and the older I got, the more deep the love and painful the loss when they died or left.”
There were a few minutes of silence. I didn’t want to bring up the other women he loved, not because I didn’t want to hear about it; I just didn’t want to bring up more bad memories. He had a long life of loss. The only one he loved who wouldn’t die was Ronez. Ronez was killed very recently and I am a reminder of that. That thought made me miserable. So we both sat there in misery, his much stronger than mine, and mine considerably more guilt related.
“Did you find any books you were interested in?” he asked, his voice neutral. I shook my head at the fire.
“No. Not that I’m interested in yet. Did Ronez like religion?” I asked.
He looked at me. “Yes, he was fascinated by most of them. He loved myths, religions, and philosophies, much more than magic even. He said it was a great way to learn the best about people.”
There was silence for another moment.
“Listen.” His voice was different, almost grave, as he stared at the fire. “Whatever happens in your life, your utmost priority has to be the protection of that book. Ronez always took foolish risks. He put his book and himself in danger too often. In the end, though, he made the right decision, even though it meant his death. Understand you may have to make the same decision.”
“I know. I’m not sure I really know what that means, but I know what I would have to do.”
We stood up simultaneously. Edward brought his hands together as if in prayer, opened his hands very quickly, and then made a motion like he was pushing something into the fire. The fire lashed out angrily and died.
“Cool,” I said. “Do you always show off for your apprentices?”
“New apprentices are always awed by the simple tricks. It’s nothing special; all I did was blow out the fire. Most of my apprentices have been young teens who lose interest quickly if the magic seems unobtainable.”
He started for the porch and I grabbed the lantern before joining him.
After putting his dirty clothes away, Edward stayed up to read a book while I went off to bed, not knowing how much longer my legs could last. The bath had been nice, but my muscles really hurt. I sat down and kicked off my shoes, then got up and moved them so Edward wouldn’t trip over them. It was very dark and quiet; even Tibbit made no sound.
I thought about the book and how I would possibly have to risk my life for it. Everything I would ever do would have to include the book’s best interests. Why didn’t that bother me?
* * *
It wasn’t long before I drifted into a dream. However, this dream wasn’t normal; it didn’t involve Vivian or Mother, or college. Nor did it involve Edward, the yorkie, Tibbit, Ronez, or the haunted springs.
It was pitch black for a few minutes before my eyes started to adapt. Even then I couldn’t see the walls or floor, only the outline of a tall man who stood between me and a light. I realized why I hadn’t seen anything before; he had just lit a lantern. Because of the position of the light, I could barely make out anything about the man other than that he faced away from me.
“Are you sure?” His voice was cold and calm with no emotion, but at the same time it was deep and menacing.
I couldn’t look around; I didn’t seem to be able to move. It was so vivid, but I didn’t feel anything, not even the temperature of the room.
“Yes, my Lord, there were two of them.” The new voice was light and worried; a child’s voice. “The book of Earth had a Guardian. Shio told us he killed the Guardian of Earth, but maybe he lied. Do you trust the one he killed was a Guardian?”
“I do not trust Shio, but I know the wizard he killed was a Guardian. There must be a new Guardian. I’m disappointed that it found one so quickly, but I’m more interested in the other Guardian. Two books are together. Now is the time to hunt them.”
“But… two Guardians, my Lord? With you unable to leave… we might be outmatched,” the child said, apprehensive.
“You don’t understand. One is new, practically a child. The other Guardian must be protecting them both. That means both the Guardians and their books are vulnerable. Send Shio to find them. Tell him not to attack, only report back.”
“Where shall he start the search?”
“I don’t care. He defeated one Guardian already, so he can find them. If he finds another Guardian, not the two I’m looking for, he is to take the Guardian’s book anyway and return it to me. Go now.” The man started to look over his shoulder, but before I could see his face, my body lit up with pain.
* * *
I woke from my dream and sat up, but I had no breath to scream. My body felt suffocated even as the pain immediately dulled. After a few seconds, whatever was constricting my body released me and I sucked cold air into my aching lung. I was sweating profusely.
The bedroom was lit with sunlight, which went a long way in helping me to get my bearings. With the understanding that it was just a dream, I tried to calm my pounding heart. Edward, who had been holding the bookshelf up, approached me cautiously, as if I was freaking out.
“What did you see?” he asked carefully, for he was trying not to panic me.
Tibbit was screeching his lungs out. I leaned back, clutching my ears. “Turn it off!” I cried.
Edward looked up. “Shut up!” His voice wasn’t very loud, but it was deep and seeped authority. It even had a hint of growling in it. The bird stopped dead. Edward must have known how horrible I felt, since he leaned down and handed me a piece of Wigknot bark. I raised it weakly to my mouth, my hand shaking. “What did you see?” he asked again, calmly.
“I had a dream. It was just a dream. What happened in here?” I asked, indicating several fallen books.
He sat beside me on the bed. “Tell me what you saw.”
“I was in a room with a man… I couldn’t see him because he was turned away and there was a light on the other side of him. He spoke to someone. I don’t know where she was, but she was a child, I’m sure. He asked about two Guardians; a new one and another one. The girl was telling him about us. She knew about me and that you’re with me. The guy told her that our books are vulnerable together and ordered the girl to send someone named Shio to find us. I think Shio was the one who found Ronez. When Shio finds us, he’s got to report back without attacking. The girl was worried about taking on two Guardians because of something about him not able to leave, but he told her we wouldn’t be a problem. He turned but before I could see his face, I felt pain and woke up. What happened here?”
“I woke with the cabin shaking. You were soaking up energy and lashing out. As a Guardian of the book, you’ll have visions when the book is threatened, but if you can see him, he can see you. You were taken out of it by the book so you wouldn’t be seen.”
I was feeling fairly back to normal by then. “How can they track our books?”
“Like the servants and me, they can hunt the scent of the books. However, that only works for a small distance. They wouldn’t be able to find it here unless they were near my territory.”
“I forgot about that. So, the books stink?”
“No. They have a distinct aura that can supposedly drive big animals away and smaller ones out of their minds. When you first approached it, did you want to leave it and get away?” he asked. I nodded. “That was for its own protection. The fact that you did pick it up and keep it without becoming its Guardian is… interesting. Then again, I have never seen a book unclaimed. I imagine the instinct to sign it would be strong whether you
were meant to be its Guardian or not.”
“Aren’t you taking a big risk protecting and teaching me?”
“It is a worse risk to leave you and your book defenseless. I’ve already thought this over before you signed your book. How they travel the worlds is the real mystery.”
“The man made it sound like that wouldn’t be a problem. They got to Ronez. What if Vretial found a way around the books? And if he did, why does he want the books?”
“The gods are all watching him, keeping him restrained. If he did find a way for his servants to travel without the books, he would still want more books to take control of more worlds. As for Ronez… Most likely, he let the wrong people sign it.”
“But you?”
“I have trust issues.”
I frowned. “You trusted me pretty quickly. How do you know I’m not with them? That I didn’t find the book before you and play dumb to get you to let me sign your book?”
He chuckled. “You are smart. Pretty paranoid, too.”
Just because I’m paranoid doesn’t mean there isn’t an evil god out to get me. And my little book, too.
“I thought of that. Ronez and I told each other every new name put in and why it was done. He only had two humans in his book, and both died over a hundred years before your birth. You’re clearly human and I knew you couldn’t leave Earth to serve Vretial and travel back to kill him without your name in his book.”
“So you think Vretial’s servants had signed his book?”
“I don’t see any other way to travel,” he said.
“If that’s the case, we have nothing to worry about, because their names are not in your book, right?” I asked. He frowned and nodded. “Was Ronez ever without his book?”
“No.”
“You said he told you every new name. Did he ever mention Shio or did you see the name in your book,” I asked.
He shook his head, thinking. “Ninety percent of the names I can’t read, but he never mentioned Shio. We always familiarized ourselves with each other’s books, and I examined it while you slept the first night you got here.”
“Ronez was killed on Earth? For sure?”
“Yes. His body was never found, but Erono, god of Duran, said he was on Earth when he died. I spoke with Ronez’s boss, who said that he was hanging out with an employee, who also went missing at the same time. I assume he was killed as well. I checked his house and found nothing out of order except for his guitar on the floor. That was how I found you so quickly; he lived in Austin, Texas. Though, I must say, it was hard work to track you down in such a populated city.”
“Did you look into the employee?”
“Yes. There was nothing unusual. He was a recent college graduate who wanted to fix cars before he started his real career.”
“The man in the dream said that Shio was the one to kill the Guardian, so if Ronez was on Earth, and Shio’s name was not in his book, then he is either human, or the god has found a way for his servants to travel.”
He sighed. “The gods are sure the answer is simple, but they speak very little of it to the Guardians. It’s your book; you must follow your instincts. If you feel it’s not safe, you must do whatever you have to in order to make it so.” He reached into his bag and pulled my book out.
It looked so innocent, which was ironic because it could kill me, Edward, everyone on my world, and everyone who’s ever signed it. He handed the book to me. It’s very light for something that could do more damage than an atomic bomb.
“What do your instincts tell you to do with it?” he asked.
I thought about it, lightly rubbing my fingers over the soft black leather. “My instincts say to trust you.” I handed it back to him, surprised by how much I didn’t want to let it go, and he put it back next to his.
He went to his bed, pulled out the potato-sack-thing of clothes, and then paused, frowning. “Do you need to eat?”
“I can’t eat when I first wake up; I don’t get hungry for several hours. How come I can’t feel the magic? You said a Guardian can feel his magic. I can’t.”
“You can, you just aren’t trying. You may be a Guardian, but you’re also an untrained wizard with potential. When you learn what magic feels like, you will learn to be aware of it at all times.”
“How come Vretial and the child were speaking English?”
“They weren’t; you just heard it as if they were because your book made you hear it that way.” He carried the bag up the stairs.
I tested my legs before getting up and found they were sore, but not too badly. The rest of my body’s pain took some of the focus away. I moaned when I reached the stairs. He expects me to walk up every one of those steps? I crawled up the stairs, trying desperately to get up there before he could see my method. I made it through the door and saw Edward was already heading out for the forest. I hurried after him, shutting the front door behind me.
I was not a good runner. Edward slowed after the third time I tripped. “Lift your feet around the weeds. Don’t stomp.”
I tried to do as he said, I really did. The monstrous rattle weeds, like prehistoric ferns, wrapped around my feet and every time I moved, they got worse. I fell with a grunt.
Edward sighed, picked me up by the back of the shirt, and yanked me out of the weeds’ grasp. “At least learn to fall right. If you fall on your hands, you will injure your wrists. You need to fall on your arm.” He indicated from his elbow to his wrist.
“Down…” I choked. He released me and I somehow landed on my feet. I coughed and rubbed my neck. “You can’t do that to me in this kind of clothing.”
“You’ll need a lot of new clothes until you stop tripping. You must ruin a lot of clothing.”
“I’m not really used to walking through the woods and weighing two hundred something pounds. I’m usually not this klutzy. Do you have any bark left?” I asked.
He pulled a particularly large piece out of his bag and handed it to me. “You’re not swallowing it, are you? It could be too strong for you.”
“I’m not as weak as I seem to be. I think I’m adapting well. But no, I haven’t been eating it.” It had a peculiar texture because when the fibers broke apart by my chewing, they became spongy and fused together like sticky gum. I figured it was some kind of sap, and it was definitely not something I wanted sticking to my stomach lining.
Edward shrugged and looked at me. “You’re adapting fast. At least you’re walking up right now. I suppose if you feel well enough, we can go to Anoshii tomorrow. That is, if you think you can control yourself around Divina.”
“You can; I’m sure I can find a way to.”
“When I first met her, I found myself in a death duel with another wizard who, at the time, was not easy to fight. Ronez had to fight me himself to get me to act rational. She tends to make it hard to think, and her behavior only makes it worse. You would fall less without those things on your feet,” he advised, looking at my shoes.
I would have no choice, soon. “You talk about Divina as if you’ve known her for a long time.”
“I have. I’ve known her for about seventy years now.” He smirked at my disbelief. “She is so powerful that I have not seen her age a day since I met her. Actually, it’s potions that she is exceptional at. If there are three things that woman is never without, they are a plan, a potion, and an alibi.”
We made it to the springs without too much falling; but still, my arms were red and scraped. I realized that we weren’t in the usual spot. This part looked rougher, the water was faster, and there was a natural rock bridge across it. Edward was headed for the bridge but I waited back to watch him pull a washboard out of the bag. It was a panel of glass, one side corrugated, with a wooded frame. He stuck it halfway into the water to rest on a rock, took one of his shirts out of the bag, and started scrubbing it against the ribbed side. It wasn’t difficult to figure out how it worked.
“Shouldn’t I do that seeing as how you’re teaching me magic and stuff?” I asked
. He looked up, his frown worried and unsure.
“This is hard to break, but I’m sure you could manage it. Either you’ll break it or you’ll fall into the water… or both.”
I rolled my eyes. “I could burn myself while lighting a fire. I could chop my head open while chopping firewood. Tibbit could eat me while I clean his cage. I could try not to go near the woods for fear of injury, trip over a hole in the ground, and bust my head open. I know how bad my luck is, but I can’t fear everything forever. It would be pointless.”
He sighed, but gave in and I took over washing the clothes while he hung them up. There was a long line Edward had strung between two trees to hang clothes on for drying. He insisted on tying it higher so it wouldn’t be at my neck height. It was frustrating mostly because I understood his point in doing it; he wouldn’t have bothered had I not been so clumsy in the woods. It wasn’t my fault there was so much ridiculous gravity. Still, I sat back while I scrubbed so I didn’t fall in because of the gravity. I don’t like gravity. Or water. Or cleaning.
After the clothes were all done, I looked around for the little girl. Sure, she was a figment of my imagination, but that was no a reason I shouldn’t introduce myself; I like to be familiar with every person in my head.
“Edward?”
He sighed. “You do remember that isn’t my name, right?”
“Kiwiyamiwhatever. Have any of the spirits around here ever talked to you?”
He sat on a rock by the edge. “I’m not sure. I’ve heard them talking, but it’s hard to be sure who they’re speaking to, or even what they’re saying. Usually I hear only random words. Speaking of which…” he said, looking at me expectantly.
“How do you say ‘yes’ in Sudo?”
“Mowa. ‘No’ is ‘labonora’, but is usually pronounced ‘laba’. ‘No, thank you’ is normally said ‘labayan’. ‘How much’ is ‘mitawa’.” He went on and on with many different words and phrases, making my head hurt. I could only remember a few of the words, but I hoped I would recognize the rest when necessary.