God of the Abyss (22 page)

“More control for the gods, yeah, but less for those
who would abuse the power,” Dylan said. “It’s hard enough for law officers to
chase a man across the state line, let alone another country; think of the
trouble it would be if the outlaw could escape the world. Sure, the books limit
some of the access to power, but most people would never miss it. Humans are
known for surviving anything. If they had access to other worlds, there would
be nothing stopping them from trying to rule the universe.” He looked at me. “I
just figured out why we have to stop the gates from opening. It isn’t the
demons; it’s the humans.”

“Sago would go to war with humans if humans even
hinted at conquering Duran,” Edward said. “In fact, my people would perceive a
friendly visitor as a messenger from the gods. They would not approve.”

“In fear of a takeover, Skrev would kill any visitor
no matter how friendly,” Ghidorah said.

“Vaigda would blow up the home world of anyone who
would challenge us and then release a deadly virus that attacks that particular
species’ DNA,” Shiloh said. “Actually, ‘challenge’ might be a bit misleading.
If any other species can create technology that comes into the same class as
ours, the citizens of Vaigda would perceive it as a threat.”

Samorde hung his head in shame. “Enep would surrender
at the first sign of intruders, no matter how friendly they were. Then Regivus
would get angry and kill us all.”

“I think we have established we want the gates to
remain closed. Can we get on to the part where he explains how to do that?” I
asked. “How is the balance of the universe opening the gates?”

“The balance is the guiding force in the universe.
Almost anything anyone does acts against it, so the balance must either
compensate or fight back. I am afraid there has been too much in the recent
past for the balance to compensate… now it is fighting back.”

“But all that stuff we did five years ago…” Dylan
asked.

“You were healing the wounds caused by the imbalance,
and it was enough to temporarily settle things down. The balance is more like
gravity than a conscious being, but it has sort of an instinct. This instinct,
when threatened as badly as it has been, is to turn the entire universe back to
its original shape.”

“A factory reset. And people?”

“People are not part of the original design. Life was
design of the universe; the natural occurrence. Intelligent creatures, such as
people, were the creations of the gods. Even evolution was encouraged by the
gods. There was never anything more damaging to the balance than the Iadnah,
even before this universe was created. People would likely survive the gates
opening, but I cannot promise that.”

“How do we keep it closed?”

“I do not know.”

“Who does?” Dylan asked. Instead of answering, Janus
became smoke once more and disappeared through the void. The tear closed behind
him. “Mordon, I’ll be right back. Please try not to get ambushed by any more
demons.” He turned to Edward, paused, and turned back to me, holding out the
sword. “Use this if you need. It’s enchanted with like eighty points
disintegrate armor or something. You are in charge until I get back. Anybody
have a question for your god?”

“Can you ask Avoli to make everyone on Lore excellent
and driven swimmers?” Sammy asked. Ron nudged him hard in the stomach. “Oh,
right, and we want the theme colors to be purple and green.”

“You don’t need the world to have theme colors,” I
said.

“Well then, maybe the plants can be green and the sky
can be purple,” Sammy suggested. Dylan vanished.

“That’s Dylan’s sword. How are you able to lift it?”
Edward asked.

“It’s really light.”

“It’s really not. Azurath is a very rare metal and is
unbelievably heavy. Ronez’s was made for him as the Guardian of Earth, so Dylan
could use it since he is Ronez’s son and the Guardian of Earth. How you can
hold it, I have no idea.”

I understood his confusion; I was aware of the
stories.

Azurath was a legend of metals,
and could only be forged into a weapon with the strongest of magic. As the
magic could only be wielded by the one it was intended for, the black metal was
unbearably heavy for anyone else. It was completely beyond me how I was capable
of doing so when it was Dylan’s sword.

“Mordon is Dad’s brother,” Ron said.

“I am Ronez’s brother, and I cannot use it. I figured
Dylan being able to lift it had more to do with Dylan being the Guardian of
Earth than being Ronez’s son. Mordon isn’t even related to Dylan.”

“Not blood,” Sammy said with frustration. “It’s not
about blood. Brother is the wrong word, but we don’t know the right one.
Vretial can explain.”

“Vretial is not the good guy. You cannot trust him,”
Edward said.

“There is too much distrust going around,” Ron said.
“Shiloh’s council cannot work until you guys learn to trust. If you cannot
trust the gods yet, at least start by trusting my father. He may not know what
he’s doing, but he’ll never let you down.”

“Everyone acts like Dylan is amazing. What is so
special about him?” Ghidorah asked.

“You will see soon,” Emrys said.

“Maybe. He has done little more than talk so far. He
even failed to teach his children the dangers of dealing with Vretial. A parent
should have his offspring hidden away at home, with their mother. Besides, I
thought little children were supposed to take naps after lunch?” Ghidorah said,
with a pointed look at Ron.

Ron gave a perfect little eye roll and dramatic sigh;
an exact mimic of his father. “My mother is a god, my father is the most
powerful Noquodi ever born, and my uncle is a three-thousand-year-old dragon
with the heart of a knight. Do not patronize me.”

Sammy snickered. I got a horrible chill, as if I just
saw a new side of Ron and there was much more to come.

Azyle turned to me and asked, “Did Dylan just say
that you are in charge?”

I grinned.

Dylan

Standing before all the gods who were lined up with
unhappy expressions, I was beginning to feel like a messenger more than
anything else. After all, wasn’t repeating what someone else said what a
messenger did?

“How are the boys?” Divina asked before anyone else
could demand information.

“Sammy wants a swimming pool and Ron wants the sky to
be purple, but they’re good for now.” I wasn’t a very good messenger, it
seemed. “Janus gave a visit.”

“We know. He was never meant to leave the void, and
we know not why he did, but it is proof that the gates are open enough for the
beasts to get out,” Regivus said.

“Yeah, he came to warn us that the gates were
opening. I’m a little concerned that we aren’t all having Guardian warning
dreams. So far, only Azyle and Emrys have had one.” And myself. I still wasn’t
sure what it was.

“What are you not saying, husband?”
Divina
asked me privately.

“I don’t know yet. I think I had a warning dream.”

“You didn’t. Those visions are caused by the
books, like a self-preservation tactic. Anything my book does to protect
itself, I would know about it.”

“Then it must have been a regular dream,”
I
said, not believing it one bit. Something was holding me back. I knew it wasn’t
just a dream, and I also knew Divina wasn’t telling me something. I loved her
and trusted that she wouldn’t do anything to hurt me intentionally, but I
wasn’t stupid. “If the gates open, what will happen to the books?”

“The books are losing their power the further open
the gates become. Once they lose all magic, every person would have power
equivalent to if they signed the book of their world. The Noquodi would lose
the advantage they have from the gods. They would still be the most powerful
wizards of their worlds, but it would only be because of their experience. They
would also lose their immortality, meaning they would start aging again and
would be more easily killed,” Enki said.

“So I would be–”

“You have Iadnah magic,” Divina interrupted. “You
would still be a powerful wizard, but your mortal skills would be less than the
other Noquodi because you have less experience. However, your Iadnah magic
would be unaffected.”

“Ronez and Samhail never use nominal energy, anyway.
They will be fine with their higher power. What else did Janus say to you?”
Regivus asked.

“Other than the gates opening… The Ancient is still
contained for now, but apparently he’s spreading my name. I popped off to
Earth, as I’m sure you know, before Janus appeared. Edward and the others were
attacked by demons while I was gone, but they ran off when I got back.”

“That sounds like a good thing.”

“Yeah, it might be, but that demon wasn’t a fool. I
figured because you guys called him ancient, he was pretty old. You don’t get
pretty old by being stupid. I think I scared him, but I don’t think I did any
psychological damage.”

“You think it is suspicious that he is telling
everyone that you are scarier than you are?”

“I do,” I said. Maybe the demon wanted to play me up
to make his own failure less embarrassing, but I still didn’t trust it. “He was
afraid when I took away his abilities to use any kind of magic; however, I
didn’t think it was really the type of fear to last even as he sat trapped in
the void.”

“I believe he was a lot more afraid than you think.
Maybe you could not hear yourself the way he did,” Madus said.

“I was a little scared,” Avoli agreed. “You sounded
like Vretial. You had this way about you, like you knew everything that was
going to happen and you had complete control over the turnout. Every move you
made was unique from what anyone else would have done, and that made you
unpredictable.”

“Like when you created the body that could sustain
him, gave him his magic back, and then took it away just a little at a time.
You played on his natural instinct to hold onto what little life he had. That
is the instinct of all life, really,” Divina said.

I didn’t realize I did that, I just wanted to… well,
that was what I wanted to do, but I wanted to scare him after what he did to
Mordon. “Janus also said that the gates are being opened by the balance.”

“That is very worrisome news,” Enki said.

“It’s better than Vretial trying to open them,”
Divina argued.

“No, this is worse. Vretial can be fought and even
reasoned with. The balance cannot be reasoned with and it will exist when our
family is gone,” Regivus said. “It is not a sentient being but a force of
nature. The universe was not built for intelligent life; we created it and had
to bend the universe to our desire in order to sustain it. If the balance is
trying to revert itself, there is little we can do.”

“But you are the gods. Surely you have the power to
keep it the way you want it,” I said. Regivus gave me a doubtful frown.

“We have the power, yes, but unfortunately we don’t
know the way,” Divina said. “Opening the gates is rather easy. That is not the
case with closing them. We didn’t close the gates in the first place.”

Something was very wrong with what she was saying.
Maybe it was a lie, but the others looked sincere. I knew my wife would lie to
me without hesitation if she thought she was protecting me, but could she keep
a secret from her brothers? “Who did? Who knows how to close the gates?” I
asked.

It was Azenoth who gave me the most unexpected
answer. “Our father.”

“Your father? You have a father?”

“We are siblings; of course we had a father. He was
killed in the war,” Divina said.

“Or just lost,” Regivus amended. “So many were lost.
The only one left who might know is… Vretial. He is older than us and still
remembers what we do not. He always wanted the gates open, though.”

“Which is odd because Vretial wanted the books,
didn’t he?” I asked. Divina nodded. “Why go through all the trouble to steal
the books if he planned to make them worthless?” On the other hand… he didn’t
take my book from me when he had the chance this time. “He wanted all of the
control, but Janus said that the books gave more control to the gods than the
people. And why, in all this time that the balance has been at peace with the
gates being closed, has it suddenly decided to fight it?”

I didn’t wait for an answer because I knew then that
I was asking the wrong gods. With my quickest flash yet, I popped back to
Duran, grabbed Mordon’s arm, and thought of Vretial. I focused on the feel of
his overwhelming magic, the sound of his voice as he threatened my life, and
the need I had to find the answers to my questions. He had the answers. He
always had the answers, even to the questions that hadn’t been asked yet. Even
when he said he didn’t know, he was lying.

“Well, this was unexpected,” Vretial lied with a
laugh, sitting on the large rock under the apple tree. “What brings you to
visit my home without even a gift? I am a god, should I not get an offering?”

He was right, I guess. I mean, it was a bit rude to
nag him with questions and not even give him something in exchange. I dug
around in my bag until I found the bar of chocolate I had gotten for him on
Earth and tossed it to him. “I didn’t know if you would prefer dark or white,
so I thought milk chocolate was a safe middle ground. I was in a hurry.”

“This will do lovely.” The “evil” god looked
delighted as he opened his chocolate and started eating it.

I could feel Mordon staring at me, but I shook my
head. “There is something in the dark. Everyone keeps saying that, but what
does it mean? Why did you lie to me before about not knowing?”

“It was a bad translation that got stuck. I didn’t
tell you because you needed to wonder about it. If I told you that it was
exactly how it sounded, you would have stopped thinking about it. Really, it is
truthful, just a bit misleading. Like I said; badly translated.”

“What does it mean?” Mordon asked, getting irritated.

“Silly dragon. You should know more than anyone that
there is not a word for everything. Sometimes experience is the only way to
learn. Like getting your heart broken. It is a mortal phrase that explains a
form of pain caused by love. Something no god could understand, but not even a
person could understand it until it happens to them. I have seen what it does
to people; I have healed them before. People beg when their heart is broken.
They beg for revenge, for healing, for death… I could never stand to see that,
so I would give them what they wanted. But no matter what it was they asked
for, it was never the answer for them. It was always a mistake in the end.”

“You have a flesh body now,” I said. “You could live
forever, love, hate, and get your heart broken.”

“No, I think even with a body that I am still merely
a god. My sister had a heart before she had a life. I was never that lucky.”

“Why do you want the gates open?” I asked.

He frowned at me. “I believe I misjudged you. Why
would you ever think I wanted the gates open? I closed them after all.”

“The others say you wanted them open. They were also
under the impression that it was your father that closed the gates.”

“They are wrong on both accounts. They always did
have a lousy memory. Our father died long before I closed the gates.”

“Then I have a better question. Why do they
think
you want the gates open?”

The god smiled and tossed his trash on the ground a
few feet from me. I stared at it for a second before returning my gaze to him.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see it catch on fire. Moron was burning it
to ash because he knew it bothered me. The god was testing me, looking for
something.

“That is a much better question. I knew there was
hope for you. Have an apple.” An apple fell from the tree right into his hand
and he tossed it to me.

“So it was you who sent me back to save the boys?
Why? And how did that shadow monster get to Duran from Skrev?”

“It was an echo, and yes, it was me who allowed you
to save them. After all, I need them alive.”

I never bit into the apple, but I didn’t have time to
respond before I felt the strength in my legs give. I was unconscious before I
could even cuss at the uncouth god.

*          *          *

Mordon was poking me into consciousness. This in
itself was no bother, and I knew it was him because he was the only one rude
enough to prod me awake. However, he did it enough that I could recognize his
mood, and this was his panicked poking.

I opened my eyes and was startled that it was so
dark. Reaching up just an inch from my face, I encountered boards. Now, I had
spent most of my adult life on Duran, but nobody could forget the details of
hiding under a bed when their mother’s boyfriend was looking for them with a
bat. Several times as a child I had felt the suffocation of heavy boards being
my only protection from abuse. We were under a bed.

“Where are we?”

“I don’t know. I woke up on the floor beside the
bed and heard someone in the other room. I figured whoever it was wouldn’t
appreciate people in his house, so I hid us in the closest place I could find.”

I heard the shower start running and breathed easy.
After a few minutes, I got out from under the bed and Mordon followed suit. We
were in a small bedroom with black satin curtains covering the walls. There
were no windows and only a small lamp on the cabinet by the bed provided light.
If the gentle gravity and homely feel of my own world’s magic were not enough
to tell me this was Earth, the electric lamp would have given it away. Having
visited most of the worlds, I found only Vaigda and Earth understood the
convenience of electric lights. The carpet was soft, thick, and dark.

I pressed my ear to the door that didn’t lead to the
bathroom and listened, but the only thing I heard was the croaking of a coffee
maker. I looked at Mordon.

“Something is really odd about that smell, like I
should know it, but it’s not right. Like it’s really close to someone I know.
The only person here is in the shower, but his scent is everywhere.”

“I’m sure we will regret this, because if the
person smells like someone you know, we might be in trouble. But we have to
know why we’re here.”
I opened the door to a hallway. To the immediate left
was a laundry/mud room with a door, probably leading to the back yard. Straight
ahead was the living room and to the right was the kitchen.

The kitchen had wooden paneled walls, granite counter
tops, and a breakfast bar dividing the kitchen and living room. It was decent
and clean without a single feminine touch. The living room held a massive TV on
a shelf with multiple game systems and shelves full of DVDs. There was a black
leather couch and leather chair.

Mordon grabbed my arm and pulled me into the kitchen
to hide behind the breakfast bar.
“The shower shut off,”
he explained.

I pulled him around to the other side, so we could be
seen from the living room, but not the kitchen.
“He just made a pot of
coffee; he’s going into the kitchen when he gets done.”
The door to the
bedroom opened and I could hear him. As I had suspected, the man entered the
kitchen. A cabinet shut, a cup clinked, and coffee was poured. Then the man
started walking towards the living room and I had just enough time to hope he
wasn’t a violent person before the phone rang.

Mordon and I looked at each other as the man turned
and picked up the phone.
Who on Earth still uses a house phone?

“Hello?”

I knew that voice. As rarely as I heard it, I knew
that voice. While my father and Edward were identical in appearance, their
tones of voice were very different. I stood up and saw my father, not ten feet
in front of me. Ronez was turned away so he didn’t see me before Mordon could
pull me back down.