“Wherefore come thou, O Spirit Abaddon, forthwith,
and without delay, from any or all parts of the world wherever thou mayest be,
and make rational answers unto all things that I shall demand of thee.”
“Stop, slave, you will not command me!”
“Come thou peaceably, visibly, and affably, now, and
without delay, manifesting that which I shall desire. For thou art conjured by
the name of the Living and True God, Helioren, wherefore fulfill thou my
commands, and persist thou therein unto the end, and according unto mine
interest, visibly and affably speaking unto me with a voice clear and
intelligible without any ambiguity!”
He was yelling as I spoke, as if drowning my words
could hinder their effect. Fire roared around him and energy crashed against my
barrier. Only the ancient power of the incomplete spell was keeping him out.
I slit my arm and let the blood drip into bowl.
Energy flowed through my body to speed clotting and regeneration; only a small
amount of blood drained before the wound was sealed. When I heated energy and
pushed it into the crimson concoction, fire woke and brought the blood to a
boil.
Power in the form of black miasma burst from Abaddon
and he roared a terrifying sound. The blood pooling across the ground began to
boil. The fire surrounded Abaddon began to fade with his attention and suddenly
everything became silent. He was momentarily weakened while he adapted to his
inability to use any form of unnatural energy.
Immortal blood is not a substitute for dead or living
blood.
“You used unholy power without being sure of the
outcome? You are a foolish slave. Fight me as the servant of your god.”
“I will fight you as one who has few options,” I said
in Enochian.
He drew in an immense quantity of energy until the strain
began to weaken my circle. My shield collapsed, allowing heat and blood to flow
in. Blood reached my ankles, which were protected with my boots, and I could
feel through the leather that it was cold.
“Are you not afraid of me, slave? Will you have this
confidence as you burn to death?”
“You have obviously never fought a Guardian. You may
have power over death, but I have power over life. You are a creature of great
power, but I am created by power.”
“And yet the gods believed your kind to be inept.”
“Why do you believe that?”
“You were created by power, but now there is one
created
of
power. The day will come when he will choose to enforce the
bindings of power or allow them to fall. He will command the living and the
dead and represent the magicks of all.”
I raised my arm to wipe my brow against the heat, but
my voice remained cool as ever. “Interesting. Are the gods gossiping with death
again?”
“Always. Are you ready to feel the powers of a
demon?”
“Now, Abaddon, I admit you are a mighty powerful beast
of death, but you have made a mistake in assuming that I have not faced one
more powerful than you. You made a mistake in assuming that while you felt I
was not a threat, I would return the courtesy of a friendly conversation. As I
speak, you are unable to move your legs or cast a spell.”
“There you are wrong, little slave. You can see that
as my fire is strong, my power must be as well,” he said, his tone smooth with
condescending confidence.
“And yet this is anticlimactic. I am glad my
apprentice isn’t here to see how boring a demon can be. It is a testament to my
magic that while I have replaced your fire with my own in order to fool you,
you never noticed.”
“You lie.”
“Prove me wrong.”
He let out an enraged yell that only increased my
confidence. I didn’t wait for him to find a way out of my spell. Drawing my
depleted energy, I called upon the ancient spells I learned from my brother.
“O thou Spirit Abaddon, because thou hast diligently
answered unto my demands, and hast been very ready and willing to come at my
call, I do here license thee to depart unto thy proper place; without causing
harm or danger unto man or beast.”
He shook with anger, but couldn’t break the magic I
casted.
“Depart, then, I say, and be thou very ready to come
at my call, being duly exorcised and conjured by the sacred rites of magic.” I
breathed heavily as my spell over him burst. Just as the ground crumbled, his
magic struck me. As I lost sense of this world, my last thought was that he
would draw me into his realm. At least the grimoire had been destroyed in the
battle.
* * *
“Wake up. Wake up!”
It took me a moment to understand the Enochean words;
however, it took me no time at all to recognize the unnatural lack of voice. I
opened my eyes and looked around, finding myself desolate on a slab of stone in
the ocean.
“Well, this is unfortunate. Can you give your loving
servant a little help?”
“How then would you learn?”
Erono was a god
who felt it was a weakness to show himself, to appear as a mortal. “
Sarcasm
is a trait I would wipe from your species if it would not only reappear. You
will give your apprentice more time alone with the sago you travel with.”
“Why am I going to do this?”
“Because I have given you the order. You will not
question your god. Your very existence is to follow my orders.”
“Then you should not have given me the curious
instinct I have. Why should I leave Dylan with Divina? And how do you know of
her?”
“Do you think I do not know what you do and will
do? Tiamat’s Guardian will learn from the woman, develop ideas, and make
important decisions. It is Tiamat’s wish to leave him in your care, but she
expects him to learn much more than you alone can teach him.”
With that statement, the longest, in fact, that I’ve
ever heard from him, he vanished. I suddenly found myself on the shore before
the Aradlin forest.
The forest was just as large as Edward’s, but the trees were more
sinister looking. They blocked almost all light and even the ground plants
looked evil. “Oh. It’s that kind of forest.”
“Yep,” Divina said. “Try to be very quiet, don’t move
too quickly, and
please
try not to trip.” Despite her warning, she
bounded forward almost cheerily while Edward and I followed more cautiously.
It smelled like a swamp, and what could smell better
than moss, malaria, and alligator urine? The surprisingly cold air was thick
with moisture and dread and it felt as if the chill in the air was a warning to
retreat. I couldn’t see anything at first, but when my eyes adapted, I saw dark
shapes moving slowly around us. I pointed one out to Edward.
“They’re just trying to get around like us; it’s when
they flee that you need to worry,” he whispered.
I went back to trying not to trip, barely succeeding
even as Divina held onto my arm. As time passed, walking became easier and I
grew more aware of Divina’s body practically pressed against me, but my body
wasn’t used to hiking for hours on end or weighing so much. We walked for hours
until I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Edward…” I whispered. By then, Divina was holding me
up like an injured person.
He glanced at me but kept walking.
“He needs a minute,” Divina said.
“It only takes a minute to be discovered,” he
answered. “We won’t stop. Carry him if you have to.” He sounded very worried.
“Not a chance,” I argued. “But if we get attacked,
and I’m too tired to run, there goes the new Guardian,” I said. Edward
hesitated, considering it. “Remember, I was struck by lightning less than a
week ago. Remember my heart stopped? No hospitals?”
“I get it. Don’t talk, just rest,” he said.
Not needing to be told twice, I slumped down on the
damp ground. I wanted to take off the boots, which were too big and made my
feet blister, but I had to be ready to run if I needed to. Edward and Divina
remained standing and eyed everything that moved.
After less than a minute, I stood up on shaking legs,
for I couldn’t endure their increasing apprehension any longer. When I stood,
they were visibly relieved. We started moving again, slower this time. While it
was difficult to move fluently, I could handle the pain.
About half an hour later, I was wheezing loud enough
that I thought Edward’s nails were going to cut into his palms. That’s when my
luck showed its ugly face. I felt the very slight tug around my ankle, inside
my boot, and ignored it, thinking it was a weed. I stepped forward and cried
out. Divina’s hand was over my mouth so suddenly I didn’t understand why I
couldn’t breathe. Edward helped her lower me gently to the ground and took off
my boot. The pain increased. I would have been yelling if I could have.
Edward cursed in his language, but I didn’t care; my
ankle was burning much hotter than fire ever had. Edward pulled out a jar of
the Wigknot paste and slathered it on my ankle, but while it helped to numb my
skin, the burn kept spreading.
“Hold him still!” He was trying to pin my leg down.
“I’m trying. Stop biting me,” Divina said.
I realized I had bitten down on her sweet tasting
skin but I couldn’t let go. The burn was reaching my thigh.
Edward was muttering and even through the pain, I
could feel the stirring of magic energy. And then the pain very slowly
retracted. Excruciatingly slowly. I truly wanted him to just cut off the leg,
and I really, really liked my leg.
The pain was gone, but my leg felt numb and cold. I
trembled compulsively and my eyes stung with sweat and tears. I pried my teeth
out of Divina’s skin and she moved her hand so I could breathe through my nose.
She held me against her in a comforting position and stroked my hair back.
“It’s okay now. You’re okay.” Her voice, though
quiet, was very soothing, so I leaned my head back on her shoulder. I tried and
failed not to grunt as Edward tied a white cloth around my ankle and replaced
the boot. I expected him to be furious at my outburst, but instead he looked
very concerned.
“Does it burn anymore?” he asked, standing.
I shook my head. “I’m sorry,” I whispered, my voice
slightly broken.
“No, it’s not your fault,” he said. “It didn’t cut
too deeply, but you will not be able to run until it’s given more attention.”
“What was it?” I asked.
He kneeled down on the ground to talk quietly. “There
was a plant that has tiny, long feelers. It sensed your body heat and one
wrapped around your ankle. When you pulled away, it was so thin that it sliced
right through your skin and bone. You are very lucky it didn’t cut off your
foot. When it touched your blood, it became poisonous. I got it off and used
magic to remove the poison, but I can heal it much better later. Right now, we
need to go.”
They each took one of my arms and pulled me up, then
immediately froze, listening to something. Divina held up two fingers and
Edward nodded. Divina very slowly lowered me to the ground… and then settled herself
on top of me!
“What are you doing?” I asked.
She put her finger to her lips inches from my own.
“Just holding you down. Whatever you do, don’t move.”
She scooted a couple of inches down and laid her head on my chest. There was a
slight gust of wind as Edward jumped very high. He kicked off a tree and landed
gracefully on a branch, then froze again. I tried to relax and when I couldn’t
do that, I released my energy, which I had subconsciously taken in again. There
was no sound and nothing moved except for Divina’s chest as she breathed.
She was not as heavy as I thought she would have
been; although her body was denser, she couldn’t have been any heavier than
Vivian on Earth. My hand brushed her side and somehow found its way under her
shirt. I quickly removed my hand and clutched the cold dirt. She didn’t react,
though she must have felt it. Divina was very soft and warm, and fit nicely in
my arms.
Then I heard it.
There was something moving very quickly through the
woods, coming closer. It slowed to a prowled before it came into view. Its body
was similar to a velociraptor, but with thick, long arms and muddy-green, scaly
skin. While it was standing bipedal, its arms looked to be just long enough to
walk on four legs. It had four fingers on each limb and each finger ended with
a long, sharp, hooked claw. Its head was shaped like an alligator’s with huge,
super sharp teeth, except that its snout was slightly thinner and flatter. It
made a clicking sound as it looked around. The slits it had for nostrils moved;
it was sniffing the air.
“Do not move a muscle.”
Divina’s voice rang in
my head and I was thrilled that I didn’t jump in surprise.
“It can smell us
but not see us. Just don’t move or make a sound.”
It sniffed around for a
few minutes before wandering slowly away. Divina didn’t move.
The snarling and snapping startled me a moment before
the raptor came rolling back into view, fighting with another beast! This thing
looked like some huge wolf with coarse black fur. I wasn’t sure which one’s
blood was being smeared all over the ground. I hoped it wasn’t the raptor’s; if
he won, he wouldn’t be able to see us. However, that wouldn’t help us much if
they rolled over us while fighting.
Preoccupied with the fight, I was confused as Divina
pulled me up. When I saw another wolf-beast coming at us from the side, I
didn’t need encouragement to run. Divina had to help because I couldn’t walk
through the woods on two legs let alone run on one. The wolf, on the other
hand, was agile and fast. I didn’t know what I tripped over, I just remembered
falling.
“Stay down!” Divina said. She reached down, grabbed a
large rock, and threw at the wolf’s face. Clearly more interested in revenge
than food, it was suddenly chasing Divina.
For a second, I wondered if I could stand up or if I
had damaged my other ankle. However, I decided the risk of being trampled was
too much. I rolled over, grabbed hold of a tree, and used it to heave myself
up.
My uninjured ankle didn’t hurt, but my cut one burned
to high heaven. I took a moment to gather my energy and listen to what was
happening around me. The sounds of the raptor and the wolf had died down, but I
could still hear the second wolf chasing Divina. And then…
You’ve got to be kidding me…
I heard heavy breathing right behind me and didn’t
dare turn to look. Once again, I ran with everything I had. My injured ankle
made the agonizing exercise slower, but huge, snapping jaws was a fantastic
motivator. The beast was barely jogging; he was toying with me.
It wasn’t long before I landed wrong on my uninjured
ankle and hit the ground hard. Small, sharp rocks dug into my back, but I
didn’t have the chance to get up before the beast had me pinned. I stared right
into pure blood-red, globe eyes.
The creature had the general appearance of a huge
wolf with matted black fur, and a flatter snout. Its ears were flat against its
head in anger, but its snarl looked more like a grin than a scowl. The beast
knew I was injured and out of strength.
Bloody dribble dripped from its mouth onto my
shoulder and a large section of the skin went numb. Its saliva was venomous,
probably a paralyzing agent.
My mind raced through all the magic I already
learned. I knew how to levitate things, control water, play with wind, make a
sun charm, and make weapons rattle. So I could bathe and blow-dry the beast. I
was stuck. However, and I suppose fortunately, the wolf’s toxic saliva also
caused hallucinations.
Use the force, Dylan.
The voice was clearly in
my head, clearly Obi-wan, and clearly a sign of schizophrenia. Of course, I was
never one to argue with Ben. I reached out with my mind and called forth a
weapon of the earth. The large rock hit my palm with almost enough force to
break my bones. Acting on instinct, I stuffed the rock into the wolf’s mouth
just as he was opening up for supper. By luck that couldn’t have been mine, it
stuck.
I rolled away just in time as the paw came down where
my chest had been a split second before with a crushing blow. The maddened wolf
shook his head and tried to snap its jaws, but when the rock in its huge mouth
started to crumble, I knew it was time to run.
I had injured my second ankle and could barely stand
up. “Come on, Ben, I need help here.”
Busy,
my hallucination answered me.
If I had had a mirror, I would have glared at myself,
but decided instead not to argue with my hallucinations. I couldn’t outrun the
beast, but it didn’t look like it could climb a tree. Of course, neither could
I, and I certainly couldn’t control the slight wind enough to lift myself up.
But I could control rocks, apparently.
I reached out with my mind and retrieved a fair-sized
rock, which I found was easy to move, to lift myself up with. Unfortunately, I
had underestimated how heavy I was.
An instant headache came on, but I preferred it over
the alternative. I remembered that earth was one of the two elements that took
more power. Without trying any harder to make it do what I wanted, which I knew
would make me lose control, I poured more energy into it. The rock jerked, but
then began to lift me up. I wasn’t having trouble with power.
The rock wavered and I looked down. I was about
twenty feet in the air with the wolf snapping at my toes; he had crushed the
rock in his mouth. As I started to panic, I started to sink.
What would Edward do?
I didn’t want to think of that; Edward would probably
face the beast head on and I didn’t like my chances of walking out of that.
Faced with few options, I let up on the energy and focused more on control. I immediately
stopped sinking and started going up again. The joy and pride I felt from
out-mastering the wolf proved hazardous and short-lived, however. While I
watched the infuriated wolf, my head collided with a particularly large branch.
Somehow, I managed to grab the branch and heave
myself up despite my sudden vertigo and nausea. It was then that I realized how
very high I was, which reminded me that I didn’t like heights. I wasn’t afraid
of heights; I was afraid of falling.
I closed my eyes and leaned my back against the tree.
The wolf snapped and growled but my assumption that he couldn’t climb proved to
be right. It was at that time that I decided magic was good. After about ten
minutes, the wolf seemed to give up, though I wasn’t stupid enough to go back
down straightaway.
Without any way of contacting Edward or Divina, and
with my broken internal compass, I was lost. Not only did I not know how to
find Edward or Divina, I didn’t know which way to go to get out of the forest.
I decided that my best bet was to wait for one of them to find me.
An hour passed with no sound and it was making me
paranoid. Though Edward and Divina were very quiet, I wanted to hear them
walking around; any sound to show that they
were
walking around. I
thought of calling out for them, but decided that it was probably the fastest
way to get eaten. The slow moving creatures in the forest had long since
returned to their migrating, which I hoped meant that the danger was gone. Not
able to sit still any longer, I held up my rock.
To my surprise, I already had a lot of energy in me,
it just felt so natural that I hadn’t noticed it.
I really do need to stop
gathering energy subconsciously.
Energy flowed through me easily into the
rock as I willed it to rise. It did with very little effort. Earth took less
control and more power than the wind, but I was much more comfortable with it.
Not allowing myself a second to feel doubt, I stepped off the branch and held
onto the rock for dear life. I sank quickly, but I was afraid to slow it down
because I couldn’t hold on for long.