The Demon's Game (11 page)

Nila was truly the friendliest person I knew. He
always had a smile and bone-crushing hug for me. While I understood the
pressure the king was under since most of his people moved above ground, I
couldn’t see why he would speak to me so coldly. “What’s going on?” I asked.

“This is nothing. I can deal with these fools
blindfolded with both arms tied behind my back. You have to leave. There is someone
looking for you, and I’m afraid what he might do if he found you.”

“I need your help. I seem to be…” I waved my hand at
the ninja guys in gesture. “Stopping people uncontrollably.”

“Why? Were they making you angry?”

“What? No! It isn’t on purpose. That’s why I came to
you… You can stop my magic.”

“Why can’t you stop it?”

“I don’t know what I’m doing.” As if he suddenly
understood my point, he reached out his hand. I took it, expecting to see the
ninjas come alive… and nothing happened. “Why are they still frozen? I thought
your void curse worked on Iadnah magic.”

“It does. It even works on your pet’s dragon magic.
Dylan, you have to want it.”

“I do.”

“Then demand they move again.”

“It’s not that simple,” I argued.

“Have you tried?”

I paused, considering. It seemed ridiculous, almost
embarrassing to try, but I went to the goblin guard. “Wake up,” I said, trying
not to sound half-hearted. Predictably, nothing happened. “I told you it wasn’t
that simple.”

“Then I guess everyone you ever come in contact with
will just freeze. Too bad about your kids. Or you can try it again and mean
it.”

I sighed. “Wake the hell up and protect your king
before I smack him!” I yelled at the guard. “I swear if you don’t move, I’ll
give him a very serious smack in the arm! It might even hurt him!”

The guard blinked at me, then shoved me aside to
protect Nila from the ninjas, who also sprang to life. “Dylan!” Nila yelled in
panic.

Before I could ask him what was wrong, a dark shadow
formed in front of me. It was a humanoid shape and exuded malevolence, but I
couldn’t see anything to determine who the person was… if it was a person.
There was no sound, not even a husking breathing like in the movies. All I
sensed from it was cold, both in temperature and intent.

Nila stabbed at the shadow with a knife and it
dissipated too quickly for me to find out anything else. There were two things
I did know without a doubt; it wasn’t a demon, and this wasn’t the end of it.

“Get out of here, Dylan. Dios isn’t safe for you
right now.”

“Thank you for helping me.”

I flashed back home to find everyone still frozen. I
returned to my mother’s room and smirked at the man holding the gun before
disposing of the weapon. This certainly could be a useful power if I learned to
use it reliably. “Wake up, you bastard.” As he blinked in shock of his
vanishing gun, I continued. “You have no idea what you’re dealing with.”

“What did you…?”

If I wasn’t still worried about the woman on the
other side of the flimsy wall, I would have scared him to death with magic
tricks, but I couldn’t risk it. “Get out, Jerry,” my mother said with a rare
note of strength.

The man looked from me to her and back before darting
out the door. I turned back to my mother, who appeared even more tired than
before. “I’ll call for security. They can protect you while you get better.”

“I don’t have insurance.”

“I’ll take care of it. Just heal right and get
started on the divorce papers as soon as possible. I know you always wanted to
live in Arizona, so I’m going to find a counselor and therapist in Sedona. Once
you’re healed, I’ll set you up with a good apartment, but in order to keep it,
you have to see the therapist regularly.”

“What about food and bills?”

“You can get a job and pay for them yourself, or you
can find some good volunteer work, in which case I will pay for your food and
bills.” I left without another word. My day out with the boys became one of the
most hellish days I’d had in a while and seeing my mother was incredibly
draining.

After checking on all of the patients once more, I
changed out of my scrubs, cleaned up, and slipped my bag over my shoulder. Over
thirteen-years-old, it was a slim bag that I wore almost every day since I
became a Guardian. I couldn’t bear to leave it at home, but I also couldn’t
wear the satchel at the hospital, so during my shift, I shielded my locker.

If the book ever fell into the wrong hands, Earth
could become a dumping ground for some really nasty characters. Plus, if the
person who attained it was halfway intelligent, they could use it to rearrange
the very fabric of Earth’s magic. They could even destroy the world itself.
Although I relied more on my Iadnah magic to heal or flash, I tried to use
nominal energy to do any other magic, which meant I used my Guardian bond with
my book. Being a Guardian was more about the promise to protect my world than
it was the power my book gave me, but the power certainly made it easier to
protect Earth.

As a Guardian, I could allow access to Earth for
anyone I chose, but there were less conventional means for foreigners to reach
Earth. More and more over the years, I realized that the gods had less control
than they would ever admit. Vretial closed the gates between the worlds because
demons kept invading… or maybe it had more to do with monopolizing power. When
Divina, my wife and god of Earth, destroyed Vretial, it created fractures
between the worlds and the void. I repaired the damage, but then the balance of
the universe tried to reopen the original gates, which would have destroyed
Earth. Throughout it all, demons were finding ways through the cracks and other
creatures were misplaced all over the universe. Creatures and people were being
thrown backwards and forwards in time as well as lost on completely new worlds.

After I fixed the fractures, most of the people and
beasts misplaced were returned to their homes and times… but Edward ended up
with a stranded juvenile gargoyle, so I’m sure all was not made right. Then Ron
invoked the balance on himself and closed the gates. The one thing I was always
absolutely sure of was that my life would never be simple. Here I was on Earth,
trying to live a normal life as a doctor, and I couldn’t even have a normal day
off.

When I stepped out into the main room, it was empty.
Ignoring the obvious suspiciousness, I made my way to the doors, only to find
them locked. The lights flickered before failing completely. Obviously, my day
wasn’t over. Instead of frustrated, I just sort of felt tired.

“In a hurry, Dylan?” a snide voice called out behind
me.

I let go of the door handle after giving it one last
rattle, just in case. “I am, yeah. It’s my day off. Why couldn’t you have
bothered me on a work day? Can’t you come back tomorrow? I promise I’ll be
surprised.” I turned to see the men spreading out in the room, surrounding me
and boxing me against the
door
.
Really? Do they know I’m a wizard?

There were fourteen men, all dressed in black satin
and leather with random rings and necklaces. Having seen the latest vampire and
werewolf movies available, I could have laughed. In fact, I could probably
guess their names.

Count Chocula laughed evilly and real fangs glinted
in the dim light. It was cloudy outside, go figure. “You won’t find your
brother and children at the bookstore,” he said. He waited for a moment and frowned
when I said nothing.

“Oh, sorry!” I said quickly. “I’m supposed to sputter
and say, ‘what have you done with them?’ right? I don’t really care; I can find
them on my own. And if you do, in fact, still have Ron captive, he’s just
screwing with you.”

“That’s why we are keeping your youngest son
unconscious.”

“That’s pretty wise. I hope I get to watch when Hell
tears your heart out and makes you eat it before dying.”

“You mock us, Zalaznius, but you have no idea what
you’re up against.”

“I do, actually, because there is only one type of
being that calls Guardians by that name.”

He sputtered, taken back. “We know you by many names,
but you are slaves to the gods so we will call you such. This is our town, and
you were not invited.”

“I’m sorry this town isn’t big enough for me and the
local… Goth youth group, but deal with it. I’m not leaving and I’m sure as hell
not going to be pestered by the Twilight Fan Cult. Now take your pretty little
bling and get out of my hospital before I ruin your fancy dental work. You can
set up in the Starbucks, but stay away from here; the hospital is my
territory.”

One of the Dracula rejects hissed at me.

“We know you can flash to your family members, and I
know you can defeat my men to save them,” Count Chocula snarled. “But you have
to choose. Your sons and your brother are split up across the state. If you
flash to your brother, your children will be killed instantly. If you flash to
your children, your brother will be killed.”

He paused, giving me a chance to let it sink it. It
was a very good tactic that told me three things: One; they knew about me and
my family, two; they were afraid of me, and three; my family was actually in
danger. If Ron was really unconscious, then he couldn’t save Hail and himself.
Hail was brave and very intelligent, but Ron was the strategist. Mordon could
shift and eat his attackers… unless he was chained up. He was partially
vulnerable during his shift and as his bones reshaped, being chained to a wall
could seriously hurt him.

Realizing I was actually facing an organized enemy, I
reached out gently with my magic, mindful of nearby medical equipment. What my
magic showed me was a suspicious lack of power. Suspicious because either these
were the most magically deficient people in the entire universe, or they had
enough skill to shield themselves. Since they weren’t voids like the High King
of Dios, I could guess which case this was.

“There is a way you can save all three. You must give
us your book and leave this town,” the man offered.

That would never be an option for any Guardian; our
life is the protection of the book. If I gave up my book, I would die, and
while that was worth saving any one of my family members, I could never turn
the fate of Earth over to the bad guys.

“What is your name?” I asked.

He hesitated. “Sardis, prince of the largest North
American coven.”

“Good to know. I always try to get the names of those
who I kill. You see, I hate killing. I usually leave that to Mordon, but
sometimes someone just must be dealt with. For those few, I want to know their
names. There was a demon once I had to kill with a sword. I didn’t ask his name
and I regret it. You wouldn’t happen to know it, would you?”

“How would I know who you killed?”

“I heard I was developing a bit of a reputation in
the void, so I thought there might be a demon down there bragging that he was
killed by me. You might know, since you have contact with the demons.”

“How would you know that?”

“You don’t speak Enocian and they’re the only ones
who call us Zalaznius.”

“You do have a reputation. It is said you can destroy
demons with a single word, that if anyone goes after your family, it will be
the last thing they ever regret, and that you have powers even greater than the
gods. I have also heard that men of every race would rally together and form an
army to protect you, but that you can protect yourself. The demons say there
are several tribes of Malta that banded together to fight evil in your name and
the same on Mulo. Some believe you are a thirteenth god, more powerful than the
others and I have even heard you rule the gods and keep one as your pet. I
don’t believe most of it.”

I smirked. “No, it isn’t a hundred percent true; I
have no god as a pet. I am married to Tiamat, and the others are more like my
brother-in-laws.” I flashed to Mordon as his jaw dropped in shock.

When the light cleared and I saw where Mordon was, it
was my jaw that dropped.

Mordon

Dylan was the kind of man to give everything he had
to help others. When I first met him, he was barely an adult, silly, accident
prone, and sarcastic. Over the thirteen years I knew him, he grew up into a
respectable person. He only agreed to be a Guardian to protect his girlfriend,
but since then, it became who he was. Dylan was a healer. Guardian, doctor,
wizard… they were all the same thing for him. When everyone else in this
universe gave up, Dylan would be there, defending whatever was left.

It was odd to me that Dylan wanted us to move to
Earth. He first suggested it after Ron closed the void gates, but he only
mentioned it off and on for the next three years. Then, all of a sudden, he
became a lot more adamant. Some days, there was almost a panic about him, like
there was an itch under his skin or something important he forgot.

Dylan came to me first and told me he wanted us to
move to Earth. Of course, by then I knew it and was just waiting for him to
make the decision. Even Divina was fine with it, but I got the feeling she knew
what was going on better than us. I almost felt bad for her that Dylan was so
distracted with moving to Earth. Every day it became more and more like a
mission. His dreams were odd and full of monsters from other worlds we visited,
but when I asked him about them, he honestly didn’t know why.

Rojan suggested that Dylan’s magic was sensing danger
and the dreams were some sort of Guardian warning dreams. Dylan’s powers were
still developing, even after all these years. Divina wasn’t exactly forth
coming with information, since she didn’t really have any more idea about what
Dylan was than we did.

So I didn’t know if we were here because Dylan missed
Earth or if there was danger about. I didn’t know how long we would be here or
if I was supposed to make a place for myself on this new world. I didn’t know
if I could ever learn to drive one of those horrible metal cars. The one thing
I did know for sure was that Dylan and I were a team and we would make it.

But only if I found a place to shift.

Before the move, Dylan wanted to get me used to Earth
and living in an apartment, so on many of the days that he worked, he would
flash us to Earth while he was working and I would spend the day in the little
apartment. When he flashed us home at night, I could barely make it outside
before shifting. Pent up dragon energy combined with Iadnah magic made me feel
like Rojan was trying to burst out of my skin with impatience. Since Dylan
wouldn’t be flashing us twice a day, I was hoping it would be easier to handle,
but we encountered other difficulties. Trying to sleep in the middle of the city
was horrendous.

The boys left the kitchen after arguing about Hail’s
clothes. Whereas Dylan was absolutely aware of how manipulative Divina really
was and how often she lied to him, Dylan was clueless about his youngest son.
Ron was the most perfectly disastrous combination of both his parents. Ron was
unbelievably clever and as mischievous as his mother.

Unfortunately, in one horrible aspect, he was very
different from his parents. Ron wanted to be all-powerful, and he had the means
to be. Like his mother, he would manipulate people because he honestly thought
he knew what was best, but he was better at it because he understood a mortal’s
thought process better than Divina. At this age, it still wasn’t clear how he
would turn out. It was my opinion that the gods should have been more afraid of
Dylan’s son than Dylan himself. Dylan was a healer down to his very soul. Ron
wasn’t.

I sighed, knowing Divina had a point; my dragon form
was designed for life in a desert, and there were none of those around here. At
least Shomodii had wide enough clearings to take off and land, because I really
couldn’t travel through a forest. If I tried to take off or land in dragon form
anywhere near town, even with my camouflaging, the general populous would
disapprove.

“I should at least try the library. Now, Dylan told
me about this bus thing. How do I order one?”

She laughed. “There isn’t a public bus system here;
it’s too small a town. Besides, you’re not going to find your answers at the
library.”

“Then where?” I asked. She sipped her tea and I could
see it in her eyes that she was contemplating whether she should tell me or
keep quiet. “Please, Divina. This isn’t one of those, ‘Oh, I’m a god and I need
to keep a secret’ things. This is one of those, ‘my skin is going to crawl off
if I have to go a month without shifting’ things.”

“You’ve lived most of your life unable to shift.”

“And for only the past ten years of it was I even
able to sense Rojan. Whatever Dylan’s demon did to make me able to shift, it
made Rojan a lot more powerful. Before, he was a dragon and I was a wizard who
could feel and talk to him. Now it’s like we are the same being. There is too
much power in my blood. When I get stressed or angry,
I
need to shift.
The dragon part of me wants to claw its way out. The more I suppress it, the
worse it gets.”

“Like you’re bottling up your energy. I get that, I
just didn’t realize it was a big deal. Dragons can shift into people, but they
can’t live as people entirely. When I created dragons, it was during a time
when magic and magical beasts were revered. As sago and humans hunted dragons
more and more, Erono and I created a genetic mutation in your blood. In times
of great need, you could hide your power and take the shape a person. The need
was greater than our predictions, though, and dragons had to choose to either
pretend to be people their entire lives or be hunted to extinction. On Duran,
it is no longer legal to hunt dragons, but there are still many who believe in
them, and some even know that dragons can shift. On Earth, humans stopped
believing in dragons altogether.”

“But dragons aren’t extinct on Earth?”

“No. Dylan never told you why he chose this town?”

“Why? He chose this town randomly.”

“I don’t think he did. He didn’t tell me and I didn’t
ask, but I figured he didn’t realize it himself.”

“Realize what?” I asked, trying not to show
frustration. Divina was the love of Dylan’s life and it was for that reason
only I wasn’t constantly trying to strangle the goddess. She was incredibly
beautiful and powerful, but getting a simple answer out of her was impossible.

“This town. Everyone in this town is either a
paranormal creature, from another world, a wizard, or married to such. Maybe
twenty percent is human and seventy-five percent of that twenty is descended
from Guardians. I went to the grocery store last night for eggs and ran into a
water sprite having a mental breakdown in the diaper section.”

“Why were you in the diaper section?”

“I was trying to get to the eggs section. Come to
find out, she was pregnant and her husband was one of the land tribe people of
Malta. She was terrified that her child might be unable to swim. I told her if
her child was half water sprite, she should try water-proof diapers. I don’t
think that helped her.”

“That sounds like good advice to me. Then again, I’m
not a water sprite, I’m a dragon, so what does this have to do with me?”

“Oh, yeah. Her neighbor is a dragon. A desert dragon,
like you. I have no idea if he has found a place to shift or not, but I got his
number.”

“But if everyone here knows about dragons…”

“That’s not what I said. I said everyone here was
more than they seemed. Many would have no idea what a dragon was and be
terrified if they saw a man shift into one. Besides, everyone will hide their
true natures unless they are in private with those they trust. Nobody wants a
human to accidentally learn about all the supernatural creatures here and call
in hunters. There may be organizations, packs, covens, and tribes here, but
it’s going to be very secretive. Call the dragon and find out what he does.”

She got up and went to the drawer by the sink to pull
out a pencil and paper. I could barely wait for her to write the number before
snatching it away to memorize. “You wrote numbers in English.”

“Yes. You said you can use Dylan’s power to
translate, but you need to learn to read human numbers. Those are the same
numbers that are on the cell phone Dylan gave you. Do you remember Dylan’s
number?”

“He said I just push and hold the top middle button.”

“That’s speed dial.”

“So what number do I push for this dragon?”

She sighed.

When I dropped the boys off in the apartment one door
down, I had pretty much forgotten that many people here weren’t human.
Therefore, I was shocked to smell the woman, Stacy. I thought at first that she
was cooking something, but when I took a deeper scent, I realized it was her.
She smelled very strangely of caramelized sugar, lavender, and sunlight. We
introduced ourselves and the boys went inside to meet her son.

“What are you?” I asked unceremoniously. “I can smell
you’re not human.”

She glanced around us. “You shouldn’t say things like
that. I have a happy life here; don’t ruin it for me.”

“But I’m not… either. I’m not trying to betray your
secrets, I just want to know.”

“I’m fae,” she whispered. “You should know that.”

“I don’t know what fae is. I’m a dragon.”

“I know. I could sense a dragon moved in a month ago
and have been waiting for you to introduce yourself.”

“What do you mean, introduce myself?”

“The fae and dragons have been allies for all of
history. Couldn’t you sense me?”

“No, not until now. I don’t know anything about fae.”

Fae are not native to Duran. From what she says, I
believe she thinks we are an Earth dragon. She could be great assistance to us,
but if we tell her we are not from Earth, there is a chance she will tell us to
leave.

Worth the risk or not?

Leave it for another time when we can speak with
her in private. When the boys have been taken to school, perhaps.

“I would like to speak with you later on the matter,
but I need to go now. Can I come back in a few hours?”

“Sure,” she said.                                                                       

Ten minutes later, I was on the phone. It rang and
rang until a man finally answered. “Hello?” he asked.

“Hello, is this Taylor?” I tried to remember the phone
etiquette Dylan taught me.

“Yes.”

“My name is Mordon. I’m calling because I heard about
your… ability.”

“I do not respond kindly to threats.”

“I’m not threatening. I’m new around here and I have
the same ability. I need to know how you manage without a desert around.” There
was silence for a minute until I thought that maybe the call was dropped. Dylan
told me that was a downfall of cellphones.

“There’s a coffee shop on Fourth Street. Eli’s Java.
It’s run by some friends of mine. Meet me there in half an hour.” His voice met
with an irritating ring until I pushed the “end” button. Divina had left
shortly after showing me how to use the phone, so I locked up and made my way
down the street. I had to ask several people for the way, but everyone was very
friendly and knew where the coffee shop was.

I was freezing by the time I arrived at the little
place. It was warm and dim inside and the smell of chocolate, coffee, and cake
was strong. Comfortable looking chairs and couches lined the walls, and square
tables were placed randomly. Instead of the overhead lights I had grown to
despise, there were electric lamps on tables and tall ones by the chairs and
couches. There were only about a dozen people, most with laptops or small
computer units Dylan had told me were tablets. He said a person could read
almost any book ever written on Earth on those tablets. I really wanted one.

The counter was glass and displayed an array of
sweets, such as cakes, pies, and cookies. While they smelled very good, I
actually didn’t like anything very sweet. Behind it, two people waited to take
orders. Against the far wall was a menu painted in white across a black surface
which, of course, I couldn’t read.

“Can I help you?” the woman asked.

“Do you have tea?”

“We do. We have Earl Gray, white tea, Chamomile,
Jasmine, green tea---”

“That one, please. Green tea.” It was the only one I
recognized.

“Small, medium, or large?”

“Medium.”

“Okay. That will be one seventy-five.”

I had no idea if that was a lot of money or very
cheap, but I pulled out the walled Dylan gave me. There was paper money, which
was extremely weird, and coins, which he hadn’t given me because he said the
paper money was worth more. I studied the green papers, all wrinkled and worn.
How paper money held up was a mystery to me, but if that was his culture…

I was stumped. I recognized the number one, five, and
ten, but there were two others and I had no idea how they added up to the
number she gave me. If one seventy-five meant a hundred seventy-five, then she
had to have meant the coin money. Otherwise I didn’t have enough money, and
that didn’t seem realistic.

I wanted to ask Dylan, but if he was in the middle of
surgery or something, I didn’t want to be the cause of someone’s death.

“Excuse me,” the woman said, lowering her voice. I
realized I had laid my money out and was staring at it, clueless. “If we’re
talking about something expensive, like a camera, one seventy-five would mean a
hundred and seventy-five. If we’re talking about something cheap, like tea, it
means a dollar and seventy-five cents.” She pointed out the papers with the
ones. “If you can’t count change, then one dollar will cover any of your
change, like the seventy-five cents. So in this case, you use one of these for
a dollar, and one for the seventy-five cents. Then I will give you back a
quarter, which is the remainder of that second dollar.”

“Thank you,” I said, giving her the two dollars she
was talking about. “How did you…”