God of the Abyss (48 page)

“And you think my boys will help you after what you
did?”

“Oh yes, because you’re not going to tell them.”

“Why the hell would I not tell them you killed their
grandfather?”

“It’s very simple; one day, you’re going to need
something from me. Something far more than an energy-neutralizing charm. One
day, I will be your only hope, and when that day comes, you’re going to need me
on your side.”

“I don’t trust you.”

“I’m not asking for your trust. I don’t even want it.
You know when I’m lying, so you tell me.”

“You were lying about Mordon being created because of
the balance.”

“I was. I created him because without him, you
couldn’t have made it. You freed me from the balance, so I saved you from it.
The dragon offering his soul
was
an act of the balance.”

“You saved me so that I could save you, or to repay
me for saving you?”

“Yes.”

“So if I turn around and destroy you again, it would
totally be justified?”

“If you like. But there would be a price. There is
always a price for magic, young Guardian. Didn’t anyone tell you that?”

“The kind where healing one person means the death of
another? I can’t accept that. I won’t accept it.”

“No, not that kind of price. It’s worse than that,
and better. The price is on your soul. If you use your magic for healing, your
soul will only know goodness. Your magic will reflect mercy and happiness. Your
friends will benefit from your presence and you will find more allies than
enemies. However, if you use your magic to kill, it will become volatile, and
you will find it increasingly difficult to help people.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

“You should teach it to your son. Now, that isn’t to
say bad things will not happen to you. You have powerful enemies, Dylan. No
matter how powerful you become, if you are ignorant of your foe, you will
eventually lose.”

“I was aware of the balance and I still feel like I
lost. I wasn’t prepared for my little four-year-old to turn the tables on me.
Did you know what was going to happen?”

“Sadly not. That child is as unpredictable as his
mother and creative as his father. I have to say, if he and Samhail choose not
to be my Guardians, I will be disappointed.”

“You want them even with Ron’s new affliction? Will
he turn out like you?”

“He could never turn out like me. I made sure of it.”

“Sammy is your son, isn’t he?”

“Yes. They are welcome on Raktusha, for any reason,
whether as its Noquodi or visitors, as long as they are together. If they are
apart for any real length of time, things will become tricky. And like I said,
if they choose for Samhail to be Avoli’s Noquodi, then I will just have to wait
and ask your daughter.”

“I don’t know how Ron was even born. How could I have
another child? I’m not sure I believe you. You said you couldn’t see the
future.”

“I said I cannot see my own path as well as the other
Iadnah can. You have escaped an eternity of living with the balance of the
universe inside you. Be grateful. But your journey does not end here. You are
so young, and you have so many adventures to travel.”

“How can I be grateful when my son has just been
burdened with this? He’s only four.”

“And yet, he did it. He will live with the consequences,
and he will be happy. The universe can never hurt him the way it tried to do to
you. Your son will be happy.”

“You can see it?”

“Yes. As clearly as anything I have ever seen before.
You would not have been as well off. When you remembered what I told you, when
you realized what I did, when you had to make the same choice… you were
willing. Were you afraid?”

“Terrified,” I said. He smirked. “But not of death.”

“Of course not. I have seen who you are, Dylan. I
have seen everything that you are and will be. After all, I know magic better
than any other god. Do you want to know what you are destined for?”

I didn’t hesitate. “No.”

“You have nothing to fear. You have no destiny, only
choices. You are above the gods in one thing; you have the power to choose. In
fact, if you refused to let your son suffer his ‘affliction’ as you so call it,
you have the power in you to change it. However, you need me to show you how
to. You decide your fate and the journey there. That is a power not even the
gods have.”

“How is that possible?”

He grinned. “You pursued me, if you remember. Right
from the beginning, it was never about protecting your book. When Samhail
feared me, you did everything in your power to keep me away from him, but you
never stayed away yourself.”

“You were a mystery to me. The things you did and
the… I get it now, that it was a strong force inside you. The mystery has been
solved.”

“The unknown was what kept you interested, and now
that it’s gone, you’re done with me. However, I’m not done with you. You are a
mystery to me. I don’t know how you defy the universe the way you do, but I
will figure it out. I will hunt the answers down until I have them. I never
stop.”

“Are we related by any chance?” He just looked
thoughtful. I peered up at the apple tree above him. “We’re in the Land of the
Gods.”

“Of course. You’ve seen it before.”

“The white room, the judgment room, yeah, I know.
This place feels the same, but it looks nicer. Though I can see the wind, I
cannot feel it. I can see the sunlight but it isn’t warm. Did you bring Ron and
Sammy here to talk to them?”

“Often, yes. Sometimes we met right outside your
territory. For me, it was fun to be so close without your mate even able to
detect me, but for the boys, it made them feel more secure to be close to their
parents. I helped Sammy to understand his visions. Your wife underestimates
them.”

“Ron is going to turn out like her.”

“He will be a perfect mixture of both his parents.
Samhail will be different, because he’s Ron’s balance.”

“So he will be like Mordon and Vivian.”

“It would seem so. Their griffins will be there to
protect them… as well as the rest of your family, all of the Guardians, your
demon, the gargoyle, and your little fluffy beast.”

“Thank you for giving them the griffins. It is a relief
to know that two powerful, magical creatures are protecting them. Are they
siblings?”

“No, of course not; sibling griffins would fight for
dominance constantly. They are a perfectly matched pair,” he said.

I laughed. “So in some odd years, there will be baby
griffins? And what will you do now? I know you’re rebuilding your own world.
Aside from waiting around for my sons to make their decisions, it might be
difficult for you to successfully get a population going with the other gods
trying to destroy you.”

“They will have to get over their hatred of me. I
left voluntarily; my siblings could never match my power.”

“Not even Tiamat?”

“My sister is not as powerful as me, nor will she
ever be, but she’s different. There has always been something about her that
made her… successful in whatever she fought for. I admired that. Fortunately,
she never despised me like the others. I believe I can convince her to go her
own way, because I never wanted to hurt her. The others I would destroy on a
whim and without hesitation. If it came to that, I would regret killing her.”

“As if I would let you.”

He laughed. “You, a mere human mortal, would protect
your goddess against me?”

I smirked back. “There are no mortals here.”

“You are right, of course. No matter, it is not me
you should worry about. I have no aspirations to end anyone, mortal or
immortal. It is your goddess you should mistrust. You have no idea what she’s
up to. I think you would hate her for what she does without your knowledge.”

“I could never hate her. I know she lies, and I know
she has used magic against me before, but I also know she only ever does it to
protect me. I can live with that because she can’t help herself.”

“I think your love makes you foolish.”

“Maybe so. I love my family and I will be whatever I
have to be to protect them.”

“Never have anything you cannot afford to lose.
Anything you would die for is a weakness,” the god said.

Strangely, it sounded like the voice of experience.
“Take Ronez.”

“Your son, Ronez, or your father?”

“My father. He is unable to be brought back because
we cannot both be the Guardian of Earth. Take him as your Guardian.”

“I am sorry, Dylan, but while that would have worked
before his death, it is impossible now.”

“But you’re the most powerful god.”

“I am the second most powerful force in this
universe, bested only by the balance. Unfortunately, your father now belongs to
the void.”

“But he’s been brought back before.”

“As a demon. He was imitating a creature of the
void.”

“So do what I did with the Ancient and make him your
Guardian.”

“I don’t want your father as my Noquodi.”

“Then take me. Bring my father back to be the
Guardian of Earth, and I will become your Guardian.”

“Dylan, do not take this the wrong way… I don’t want
you either.”

“I’ll have you know I’m a fantastic Guardian.”

“Oh, I agree, for your goddess. See, your goddess
also happens to be your mate, and for you two, that is excellent. Nevertheless,
I am not your mate, and for me, you would be unacceptable as a Noquodi. After
all, a Noquodi is a servant before anything else, and I’m afraid that you have
not one submissive bone in your body. You are regarded by your mate as an
equal, and I believe that you would expect the same from me. I predict that
within one of your Earth months as my Noquodi, you would have taken full
control over my world. Your mate treats you as an equal, but at least she has a
measure of control over you, whereas I would be overrun.”

“So you want my boys?” I laughed. “You think Sammy
and Ron wouldn’t have control in three hours?”

“I believe they have don’t want to rule Raktusha.”

“It is still up to them and I will support them in
whatever they choose, but help me. Bring back my father and I will create a
body like I did for my demon.”

“Your demon is an Ancient; he is as old as the
Iadnah. Someday, when your father has reached that power, he may be able to
remain in this realm, but it will not be soon. There is something I can help
you with now, however. You have a favor to ask.”

“The apple broke,” I spread my arms in attempt to
appear innocent, “and I have a small matter to clear up before we end up with a
paradox.”

“Go on.”

“I was told by Ron and Sammy how to read the map.
They said I taught them a long time ago. Obviously, I didn’t teach it to them
yet. I need to go back to that time for just a little while and do that. I need
your help.”

“Do those words hurt?” he asked.

“Like acid. Please.”

“I will not be made a tool for you to use, young
Guardian. I have a life now, opportunities, dreams… I am not a charity.”

“No, but I’m sure there will be something I can do
for you. On the other hand, I don’t know what. I have nothing you couldn’t get
for yourself, I’m not as powerful as you are, and now you have life.”

“For the most part, yes. However, you have the other
gods on your side.”

“I have Tiamat on my side. The others are on their
own sides. Of course, they will likely do the opposite of whatever you want
them to.”

“And you can tell them exactly what I want them to
do.”

“I will not betray them.”

“Betray is such a negative word. Let’s just say, I’ll
owe you one. All you have to do is relay a message. We can help each other. I
think that makes us allies.”

“So you’ll help me?”

He nodded. “I will do this, but not yet, because the
universe is still unstable. I think you’re forgetting something.” He grinned
and flashed me home.

Mordon and Divina were holding Sammy down on the bed
as Ron tickled him. I looped my arm around Ron’s stomach and picked him up
before carrying him towards the door. “You know I don’t like people teaming up
on each other,” I said. I set him down on the floor and held his arms up. “Come
get him,” I said. Sammy jumped off the bed and tickled his brother.

“That’s not fair; Ron is too little,” Divina argued.

I scowled. “All’s fair in tickle wars.” I plucked Ron
back up and dropped him on the bed. “I think it’s time for bed.”

“But we haven’t had dinner!” Sammy cried.

“Your tummy says you have.”

“That was second lunch. We need water.”

“Drink your spit.”

“We didn’t brush our teeth!”

“They’re baby teeth, they’ll just fall out anyway.”

“We need a story!”

“There once were two little boys who didn’t get to
bed on time, so they were eaten by the dragon. The end.”

“We haven’t had a bath!”

“Dream of one.”

“Mommy!” He finally turned his pout on Divina. She
frowned as if weakening to it, then laid her hand on my arm and looked at me.

“He’s right. They really do need a bath. I don’t
think I could sleep.” She was teasing him. Sammy jumped up and ran into the
bathroom. “Or we could just have them sleep outside.” Sammy ran back in the
room to save Ron and I picked him up and dropped him next to his brother.

“One thing first. The gates are still open. You need
to close them, Ron. And you need to send the demons back through them,” I said.

He frowned, turning to Sammy. “I don’t know how.”

“You figured out how to take the balance of the
universe inside you. Now you’re the only one who can close the gates. Let’s go
outside.”

“The gate to Duran is already opened, so it should be
easiest to summon the demons here and then send them through the gate,” Divina
suggested.

“Where’s Edward?” I asked.

“I sent him with Emiko to her castle to get her
settled. She was starting to really annoy me,” she said. Mordon couldn’t have
looked less bothered. We went outside as the sun was rising. It was so passed
the boys’ bedtime.