Obviously I said too much, because by the time I shut
up, my friend’s eyes were round and glazed with shock. “How about I go on
another day and give you some time for this to sink in?” I asked.
Mordon nodded and continued stirring his sleeping
potion.
Although I stopped willing my book to translate for
me, I still felt it intensely, and I couldn’t understand why. Then I realized
it wasn’t the book but the danger it was in that I felt. That meant either I
was getting better at sensing it, or…
“I’ve got to go,” I said quickly. I tried to stand,
but I was too late. The ground came speeding to my face even as everything went
dark. The last thing I heard Mordon was calling my name in panic.
This vision differed from the others because I was in a large, dim
cave. All around me were columns of stone with glowing cracks and chips.
Everything looked slimy.
A heavy hand came down on my shoulder and before I
could inhale to shout, the other one closed over my mouth to silence me. With
great relief, I recognized his scent as he pulled me back a few steps into the
shadows. Edward let me go and pointed off to the side.
I was amazed we could actually move in this vision.
Thirty or so feet from us was a man who looked to be
in his mid-twenties. His long black hair was tied back and blended into his
baggy, dark brown clothes. He was pale and thin, so much so that if he added a
cape and some hair gel, he would look like a young Dracula. To complete his ensemble
was a belt around his tunic with a sword attached. The man kneeled on a
cushion, writing something in a thick black book.
There was a slight flashing of light about ten feet
in front of us and I instantly felt the pain that came when leaving the dream.
I closed my eyes and the pain suddenly vanished.
Instead of the cold night air and suffocation that I
expected to feel, the air was still warm and humid. When I opened my eyes, we
were still in the cave, but in a different area. Edward had moved us out of the
exposure zone. I quickly located the man, who was now smiling at the person who
had just entered.
“You fool!” she yelled. It was the little girl with
red hair and eyes.
The man stood. “Is that anyway to talk to your older
brother?” He didn’t sound irate for having been yelled at.
“What were you thinking?!”
As soon as she was in reach of the man, she raised
her fists to hit him, but the man grabbed her forearms to hold her still. After
a few seconds of struggling, the fight left her and she nearly collapsed with
her apparent misery.
“Why?” she cried.
Her brother let her go. “Because I could. Because you
were being watched and Shio was wasting everyone’s time on Earth. I had the
opportunity to hunt, I did, and it paid off.”
“Then you really did find them?” the girl asked with
astonishment.
I glanced back at Edward behind me, but he was giving
them his undivided attention.
“I would never lie to you. Vretial is sending for
Shio now. And you were right; they are on Duran.”
She smiled brightly. “I told Shio. He must feel so
foolish. Maybe we can---”
“No. Leave it to Shio. Whatever they did to make it
look like the book was on Earth, it was a decoy. Obviously, they know we are
looking for it. It is better to give Shio a few hours to work.”
“Why?”
“I have tracked them to Anoshii and you may have been
too young to remember, but magic is not allowed on Anoshii. They cannot live
there; no Noquodi would live in a place where he cannot practice magic.”
“So Vretial’s just going to wait?”
“Don’t count on it. Even though it would be best to
avoid such a public place, Vretial is not that patient. We will give Shio a
chance to get the book himself. Either he will get the book, get himself
arrested for magic, or flush them out. At the very least, he can be a distraction.”
“But I want to get the book for Vretial.”
“If you fail, Vretial will have no mercy. I want you
to watch Shio, but stay out of trouble,” the man commanded. “Stay far enough
away that you are not detected and refrain from using magic on Anoshii.”
Edward put his hand, which was shockingly cold, on my
shoulder. I felt no pain or suffocation; I just woke up.
* * *
I could smell the sweet perfume of Divina even before
I opened my eyes. I was still in the courtyard at the inn, Divina was on one
side of me, and Mordon was a few feet off to the other side. He looked
terrified.
“Are you okay?” Divina asked.
“Yeah. Edward’s probably coming. Are you okay?” I
asked Mordon.
“Daikala sai?” Divina translated.
Mordon nodded.
“They know we’re on Anoshii,” I said. Divina was
unsurprised. “They’re not going to wait until we leave. What do we do?”
“Wait till Edward gets here, and then prepare to
fight. Let’s go back to the room.” She took my upper arm and easily pulled me
up.
“What about him?” I asked, indicating Mordon.
“I already spoke with him. He’s fine; just spooked.
He used magic to keep you warm until I got here.” As Divina pulled me through
the door, I waved to Mordon. He waved back, though I wasn’t sure if he
understood what it meant.
When Divina and I got back to the room, Divina was
suspiciously calm. “They know we’re on Anoshii. Do you know how they found us?”
I asked.
“No. I need a moment to think.”
She pulled a white towel out from under the table and
handed it to me, then went over to the bed and sat cross-legged on it with her
hands in her lap. It was a very attractive position with her little skirt on,
but the drive to protect my book was so desperate it superseded everything
else.
“When will Edward get here?” I asked, drying my hair
absentmindedly. She shushed me slowly, her eyes closed.
It was then that I realized what the dream meant,
what Edward being there with me meant. Edward’s book hadn’t been in danger
before.
“Divina?” She didn’t answer or even move a muscle.
“Divina!”
The door slid open and Edward entered. I jumped up
and was hallway across the room before I gained control over my relief.
“Are you good?” he asked. I nodded and he regarded
Divina. “Where’s his book?”
Snapping out of her meditation thing, she stood and
pulled my book out of her backpack. “It’s safe,” she said, handing my book to
me. There was a static shock when I touched it, but I took it anyway.
Edward reached out his hand for it. “Let me protect
it,” he said.
If he had both books, there would be nothing to stop
Vretial’s servants from converging on him.
If all of Vretial’s followers
attack him, he may not be able to fight them off. If there’s only Shio, he may
hesitate and not know who to come after first if the books are separated.
I
also really didn’t want to let the book go.
“I… I want to protect it,” I said. Edward slowly
retracted his hand and his expression was unreadable.
“What do you suggest we do now?” Divina asked.
I noticed how she worded that with “suggest,” and, by
the frown Edward gave her, he did too.
“We’ll go back to Shomodii,” he said. Divina made a
sound, but not quite an interruption. “They expect us to be here and if we
leave before they get here, they may not realize we’re gone for a few days.
Besides, I like our chances better in my territory, magic would draw in
troubles with the law, and there are innocent people here that could be injured
or killed.”
“But they don’t know who we are. If we could stay
surrounded by people so they can’t single us out…” Divina argued gently.
“What? They’ll go home?”
“They wouldn’t attack everyone, would they?” I asked.
“Why wouldn’t they? These people don’t matter to
them. They’ll kill their way to us, just like their creatures did to get to you
on Earth. If there are no more objections, let’s leave.” He picked up all of
the bags as easy as if they were empty and headed for the door. I grabbed my
music player, which had been left unnoticed on the bed, as Divina blocked his
path.
“You’re making a decision that cannot be undone;
think hard about it. Take just a second to think.”
“I thought on the way.”
“You don’t have only one book on the line; you have
yours, his, and our lives.”
“I thought on the way,” Edward repeated. “We can’t
wait for their attack. All my weapons and tools are on Shomodii; if there’s
anywhere we’re safe, it’s there.” He pushed passed her.
“There’s Earth,” she suggested, closing her eyes as
if the thought was painful.
Edward stopped. “That would strip away all my
defenses and leave us relying on you. And I still would have no weapons.”
“You would have a little power, Dylan is powerful for
his experience, and I am not too bad myself. Earth is not the first place
they’ll look for us, so we’ll have more time to prepare.” She turned to me.
“You have the instincts of a Guardian as much as he does, whatever that amounts
to.”
I realized what she meant. Their decisions were
biased by fears and desires, so she wanted to know what I thought. My first
instinct was the chance to go home, where I wasn’t heavy and I knew the world.
I shot that down, as Duran was now my home and I had to get used to it. My
second instinct was, surprisingly, to side with my mentor, but I shot that down
because I had to stand on my own feet under pressure. My third was to side with
Divina, because her low-necked shirt was awfully persuasive. While I understood
how Edward could be at a disadvantage on Earth, I was at a disadvantage
wherever I was.
“Where do you think we should go?” she asked me.
“Aren’t there more options than Earth or Duran? I
mean, there are eight other worlds, right? I signed Nano’s book. Maybe we can
go to Dios.”
“Nano warned me about Zer. I don’t want to be on
another world if its god is angry,” Edward said. “It would be better than
Earth, but I would still rather be at home.”
“I don’t like the thought of facing an enemy
underground,” Divina argued. “Going to Earth will give us more time.”
“That doesn’t matter if we can’t do anything with it
and it leaves me with little power. Shomodii will give us more options,” Edward
countered.
“Shomodii will do us no good if we are attacked
before we can prepare for anything.”
“Split up,” I said. They stopped arguing and looked
at me. “Divina, you take both books to Earth while Edward and I get ready here.
Then the books may not be separated, but they’re far away.”
They both rolled it around in their heads.
“It’s a good idea. However, splitting up, especially
over worlds, always turns out wrong. And putting two books in the hands of
someone other than a Guardian is just suicidal,” Edward said.
More importantly, leaving them with Divina was
dangerous to her.
“Any other ideas?” Divina asked.
Edward continued. “Splitting up may not be a bad
idea. Divina, you take his book and I keep mine. We’ll go back to Shomodii and
I’ll prepare for the attack at my place. Meanwhile, you gather protection
supplies at your place. Then you take him to Earth, put up protection for him
and his book, come back, and we’ll fight,” he said. Divina nodded her
agreement.
“Him,” in this case meant me, which meant that their
plans once again left me huddling in a hole. “Why can’t you just put protection
over the books and all three of us can fight. If anything, I make a good decoy,
bait, or diversion.”
“No.”
“Sorry, sweetie, but you are sitting this one out. I
know it makes you feel low, but imagine how we would feel if you were killed,”
Divina said.
I did.
“Now imagine how you would feel if one of us died
trying to protect you.”
I did, and it must have showed on my face.
“The best you can do right now is relieving us of
having to worry and keep track of you and your book while we fight, which is a
lot more than it sounds.”
I nodded, even as my mind raced. I had to think of
another way; thinking was my thing, and the only thing I was good for.
Run away and guarantee my book’s safety until the
enemy found me, or try my best to help Edward and Divina. I knew that, in my
situation, Ronez would try everything he could to switch places with either
Edward or Divina, and his only conflict would be who to fool into safety.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t powerful enough, and I couldn’t risk the books like
that. I knew what the smart decision was, but I just couldn’t convince myself
that running away was the right thing to do.
By the time it dawned on me what was happening, we
were already down the stairs. “Divina? Will you use your mind talking thing to
say bye to Mordon for me?”
She put her arm around my shoulder and pulled me
closer. “Sure,” she said.
“And what would you like me to do about your
little stalker?”
she asked me in my mind.
I looked back down the hall and didn’t see anything
at first. Then, after closer inspection, I saw her through the glass walls.
Shinobu was in the courtyard garden with her two front paws pressed against the
glass. I reflexively tried to go to her, but Divina’s arm was unwaveringly
secured around my shoulder.
“She’ll follow us. Kiro will either be too
distracted to notice her, or so paranoid that he’ll notice the sound of her
breathing. If she follows us too far, I’ll try to sneak her into my bag to take
her with us, but she’s not to be alone with you until we talk to Kiro. She’s
doing a bad job at hiding.”
“You two keep up and keep quiet,” Edward snapped
softly. “And hold off on the magic, Divina; it’s very irritating when I’m
expecting a magic attack.”
The silence was eerie as we left the hotel and
started down the road. There were still plenty of people on the street, but
most of them were young adults and none of them seemed in a hurry. I got the
feeling that I shouldn’t talk. I watched for Shinobu and only glanced ahead to
keep on the path. Edward growled but didn’t elaborate, so I figured it was
because of me. I faced forward and hoped that if Shinobu was following, Divina
would do something.
It wasn’t long before we arrived at the gates at the
edge of town; however, these were different. Instead of entering the homely
neighborhood, we entered the grounds of a beach, which was empty save for a
large sphere, a small pedestal in front of it, and a small wooden cabin. The
bottom half of the sphere was white and the top half was glass.
“No talking,” Edward whispered to me. “No magic,” he
warned Divina with a harsher whisper.