It was the little girl with the red eyes. She looked
younger than ever surrounded by the huge trees, with the same white dress and
her hair tied back into a black ribbon.
“Hi. What is your name?” she asked harmlessly.
I’ve never had much experience with little kids, but
I knew they could be very dangerous, especially the quiet ones. “I’d love to
chat, but I’m late for a fight.”
“There will always be fights… well, not when my
master gets the books. But you don’t have your book on you.”
“How do you know I’m a Guardian?”
“You smell like one. That, and ink. Where is your
book? If you tell me, there will be no reason to kill you,” she said. Her tone
was entirely innocent and it was extremely creepy.
I focused on the energy around me, and then on the
temperatures, or the differences anyway. Unlike Divina’s warmth or Edward’s
heat, this girl radiated something cold that went straight to my bones. Whether
she was telling me the truth or not, there was nothing good in her.
I pointed behind me. “That way. How are you speaking
English?”
She looked insulted. “What is English? My master’s
powers make sure I am able to understand and be understood by anyone.”
That made sense because my book was apparently able
to translate in my dreams, but something about it bugged me. “Where is Edward?”
I asked.
She frowned. “The other Guardian? We will take him to
my master until we can get your book. If you are very cooperative, I will ask
my master to send you and the other Guardian back here unharmed, even though it
is an inconvenience.”
“I have no proof you will keep your word.”
“Of course not. But I can promise you that if you do
not cooperate, my master will get impatient and kill the other Guardian to
punish you. Also, because my master will be upset with me, I will punish you. I
will strip through your brain to find everything important to you, and destroy
it.”
It was so creepy to hear someone say that in a
child’s voice.
Edward hadn’t shown me how to protect my thoughts.
“That is okay. It would not help; I can search your
memories without you thinking them. Your lover… Vivian. What if I killed her?
What if I used my magic on you to make you kill her? And… your mother. You
dislike her, but you love her. And… Divina. She has your book. So, I guess you
are not really needed. In which case, surely my master would not care if I kill
you.”
That was my cue. I didn’t clear my mind or close my
eyes. I pushed the energy already built up inside me into her as fast as I
could, which seemed to catch her by surprise. As I flooded her with nominal
energy, I heated the energy inside her. It was a dark and dirty trick, but I had
to protect myself. For a moment, I thought it would work. She broke out in
sweat and groaned, before shaking it off like a dog. I could feel the energy
cool and leave her body no matter how hard I tried to keep it heating.
When she started laughing, I gave up. “I would say
nice try, but that was just weak,” she taunted.
She raised her right hand and I didn’t even get the
chance to spot a hiding place before excruciating pain filled my body. I was on
the ground, spasming when it suddenly ended. Shinobu was in my arms, though I
couldn’t feel her over the numbness that came in absence of the pain. The
little girl cradled her arm with the utmost agony on her face, as there was a
very sinister bite on her wrist and all the skin around it was black. The blackness
was spreading quickly and the skin around the bite was dissolving.
That would explain why Edward didn’t want me to be
near Shinobu.
Despite the fact that she was evil and wanted to kill
my loved ones, I wanted to help the little girl; I don’t like seeing children
in such pain. I also thought about taking off in the opposite direction, but I
could barely move, let alone get up and run. I was even too numb to feel the
energy around me, so I couldn’t do any magic. Knowing I had to make it to
Divina, I rolled over onto my knees, holding Shinobu up so I didn’t crush her.
My limbs didn’t want to cooperate, so it took several minutes before I could
even manage to crawl. All the while, the girl was screaming and groaning in
pain.
Shinobu jumped out of my arms in order to hiss at the
girl. “Shinobu,” I grunted. “Go find Divina. Protect her.”
She looked from me to the girl and I thought for sure
the little animal didn’t understand me. Then, with one more hiss at the girl,
she ran passed her victim and ran towards Divina’s place. I managed to get
feeling back enough to climb clumsily to my feet.
But just as I did, the black stopped spreading and
the skin stopped dissolving. With the injury up to her shoulder and the flesh
eaten to the bone, I felt pity for the child. I had never suffered anything
that looked so painful. When the damage started to reverse, I remembered that
it was me and Divina who were in danger.
After a minute, the little girl was completely healed
except for a scar in the shape of a bite mark and she glared at me. “My master
will punish you for this.” Her voice was shaking in pain. “He will do far worse
than kill you. Now, I can go get the book from your friend myself and kill her,
or, you can go get it from her and she can be left out of this.”
I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t just hand over
my book, but if it would save Divina…
At the very least, she will know what
to do. And with her protection, maybe the little girl can’t get through.
“Lead the way,” she said.
I did, slowly, limping, but the girl was staggering
even worse than I. She was not completely healed from Shinobu’s bite, which
would explain why she wanted me to get the book from Divina myself. As she
wheezed behind me, I knew the only reason I was still alive was that she was too
injured to kill me.
I followed the springs for about thirty agonizing
minutes when I came upon a clearing. The property was much like Edward’s;
however, the house looked like something no single man would own. The grass
around the cabin was overgrown with many colorful wild flowers, some of the
colors I had never seen before. The cabin was low to the ground; the walls were
no higher than six feet and made of brick. The roof appeared to be made of
straw. It had a little wooden door and two little windows on the front, and a
small chimney on the side. A ring of bright red and blue mushrooms surrounded a
large rock a little ways from the chimney. It was quite a soft, gentle, small
home; one I couldn’t imagine a woman as energetic and exotic as Divina being happy
with.
“You cannot give her the book,” Divina said,
appearing beside me. I considered her veiled expression, and then glanced back
at the little girl, waiting patiently on the other side of the springs.
“I can’t let her kill everyone.”
“So kill her.”
The ease with which she spoke of killing made me
uncomfortable, not because I wasn’t already used to it, but because it was the
same way the little girl did. The only ones who seemed to take life seriously
were Edward and I.
“I don’t kill people.”
“You’re a Guardian; you’re going to kill people. Come
inside.” Before I could protest, she had her arm around my arm and was guiding
me in.
“They have Edward. The little girl said they’d kill
him if I don’t give up the book peacefully. Now, I don’t believe they’d just
let him go, but I do believe they’ll kill him if I don’t give them the book.”
The door swung open as we approached, then closed behind us.
The inside of the small cabin was a shock. I had
expected there to be magic over the cabin, but not so much. The first thing I
saw was the large wooden table in the middle of the room, covered with white
plates and books and fruit and bread, with pottery of the most unusual sort and
pumpkins and knives, not the dining type but the ones meant for blood, also
with maps and candles. Next to the group of seven lit candles was a skull I
could only assume once belonged to a sago. Six chairs surrounded the table;
tall chairs with rich red wood and high, pointed sides. Hanging above the table
was a simple chandelier, a circular metal ring with six candles. Across the
table was a brick staircase, which also served as a wall for one of the five
bookshelves.
The room was not too large; no bigger than
fourteen-by-fourteen, but it was nearly twice as large as it appeared on the
outside. The fireplace was full of bright flame and crackling wood, although
from the outside it emitted no smoke. One bookshelf to the left of the
fireplace was full with jars and pottery, while the others were all packed with
books. Above the fireplace was a large portrait of a large black horse in the
forest. In the corner between the fireplace and staircase was what looked like
a small altar of some sorts, with a tall pedestal, an open book, and two
well-worn candles.
Sitting on one of the chairs at the table was
Shinobu.
“Have faith in your mentor. Don’t you think he can
handle himself in a fight?”
“But Ronez… Edward wanted to fight those creatures on
Earth to get revenge. What if he allows himself to be captured in order to get
to Shio?”
“That’s possible, even likely, but it’s his business.
He would be foolish to put his book in danger, but if it’s already in danger, I
wouldn’t put it passed him to escalate the problem by trying to satisfy his own
anger. You have to focus on protecting your own book.”
“If I can give them the book and make a diversion, I
might be able to do something to save the books and Edward,” I insisted.
“You’re in over your head, even as a Guardian. You
have no idea how the gods think. You have no idea what a god can do to you.”
And then it just slipped out. “But you do, don’t you,
Tiamat?” I asked. Her eyes went wide and every muscle in her body tensed. She
was stunned, which only proved what I had figured out. She was right there the
whole time and I had no idea.
“What?” Her voice was so soft I wasn’t sure if she
actually said it.
“You know things about the gods, you have power
you’re holding back, and you’re just too flawless. Even when we were running
through the Aradlin, you didn’t run out of breath. You found me on Anoshii, and
I figure that you ditched Edward so he wouldn’t get suspicious. When you
touched my book, not only did I feel that static stuff and go into a vision,
but all of Earth lit up like a beacon at the exact moment. That’s why I feel
it’s safest with you; you can protect it better than anyone else and you would
never hurt it. When I became a Guardian, you had to come check me out in
person. Edward doesn’t know, does he?”
She wasn’t even looking at me anymore; she was
staring out the window. “No. He would have told you. I was never this careless.
I never made mistakes, and no one figured me out. Except…”
“Ronez. Why didn’t he tell Edward?”
“I asked him not to. When he couldn’t keep the secret
any longer, he started a fight with Kiro so he could leave.”
“Three years ago?” I asked. She nodded. Everyone has
skeletons in their closet. She had a damn cemetery. “Why did you choose me? Why
was I the best one to be a Guardian?”
“It was destiny, Dylan.”
“Destiny made a mistake. Why?”
“You just are. You don’t get it. I did not make you a
Guardian, you were born one. I just let you live,” she said.
I closed the gap between us, but she didn’t react. It
was incredibly frustrating. She was lying to me the whole time, and she came to
me in the first place because she didn’t trust me. But still… I couldn’t get
over how I felt about her, and I wasn’t even sure what it was.
“Where’s the book? I need to go before they kill
Edward.”
She reluctantly pulled my book out of her backpack.
It wasn’t really
my
book; it was hers.
“There’s nothing I can say to convince you to let
Kiro go?”
“You mean, let them kill him? No. I have to go. Can
you make another book? Like a fake that I can give them until I can get to
Edward?”
“No, they would know. What do you plan on doing when
you get to him?”
“I don’t know. He didn’t show me how to travel yet.”
She turned to me and held out my book. I took it
slowly, but she put her hands over mine so I couldn’t put it away. We were so
close and she was so warm that it was playing havoc on my priorities.
Everything was supposed to be different knowing who she really was, how much
she lied, and it only made sense that I would push her away. Instead all I
wanted to do was pull her into my arms.
“Then I’m going.”
That snapped me out of it. “But can’t Vretial kill
you?”
“He can destroy me, yes, but I can’t imagine being
left powerless is any better. I have to protect this book. Vretial hasn’t taken
over Duran yet; we would know. There’s still a chance. It doesn’t take a
greater amount of power to beat someone like Vretial; it takes the right magic
at the right time. I’m going. You stay.”
She tried to take the book back but I slid it into my
bag on reflex.
“No. You need to keep the other gods informed of
what’s going on. If you go and he defeats you, there’d be ten confused gods,
two of which will have no worlds. If I go and he beats me, there’s eleven
pissed off gods, three without worlds, but still with power. You would still
have power, wouldn’t you?”
“Not nearly as much. If you go, you’re sure to fail.”
“I’m not so sure. If you go, there’s more to risk.”
“What do you mean you’re not sure? You think you can
best Vretial?” she asked. When she put it that way, it sounded stupid.
“Like you said; it takes the right magic at the right
time. I think I know Vretial.”
“Getting a little ahead of yourself are you? What
makes you think you know him?”
My answer was not meant to be sarcastic, but it could
have seemed that way. “Guardian’s instincts.” I reached for the door when she
grabbed me by the arm and pulled me around to face her. I had in mind what to
say, but it vanished from my lips when they met hers.