Free God of the Abyss by Rain Oxford Page A

crazy.”
    Mordon had the decency to look ashamed, but Sammy
looked no better. Thank god my younger child didn’t get it.
    “They always suspect of us one thing or another,”
Edward said, referring to my earlier statement.
    “Do they have a good, legitimate reason to? I mean,
has any Guardian actually betrayed their god?”
    “Not that I know of. I know Ghidorah and Samorde have
refused to take assignments from their gods based on moral dilemmas, but they
both accepted punishment for it.”
    “Since you know them personally, would either of them
consider that reason to–”
    “No. Ghidorah and Samorde would be the last to betray
their gods or people. Ghidorah doesn’t even know where his book is; he hid it
from himself so that no person could invade his world and damage Skrev’s ecosystem.
Samorde is completely devoted to his responsibility to his people.”
    “Is there any Guardian who might have the motive to
obey Vretial over their own god, share information, betray the other Guardians,
or maybe even want to bring Vretial back?”
    “We have all been raised to trust in and obey our
god. Well, except for you. The fact that they trust you so much and share
information with you alone might irritate some. Nano is known for sharing
information for a price and Shiloh wants to know everyone’s business. They
might resent you for your relationship with the gods, but Nano wouldn’t betray
you for his love of Vivian and Shiloh is more likely to try to use you to get
what he wants, which is essentially peace. As far as who might betray their
god, only myself, Rasik, and Samorde have a god who is known as cruel.”
    “Well, if you were to betray Erono, how would you do
it? And for what reason?” I asked.
    He thought carefully for a few minutes. “I would do
it out of spite, because Erono didn’t care when Ronez died. I guess what I
would do is get information about Erono from you and Divina, then spread it to
the Duran people. Maybe I would make up some stuff. I just can’t imagine that
Erono has any important secrets. Regivus would be the one to betray.”
    “What about Rasik?”
    He shook his head. “Rasik is terrified of his own
god. I can’t conceive him doing anything as bold as betraying Azenoth.”
    “With fear in mind, would Azenoth be the least likely
god to betray?”
    “No. Azenoth would only kill you. Regivus would be
the one nobody would betray. Of course, Vretial would be if he were still
alive. Now, I’m telling you from the perspective of the Guardians. None of us
know the gods like you, not even Nano. Did the gods give you any instructions?”
    “They want me to determine who’s good and not good.”
    “What do I need to do?” he asked. “I assume Erono
suspects me.”
    “Yeah, because you were able to hide from him. Some
of the Guardians have temporarily hidden from their gods and the gods are
having trouble communicating with them. When was the last time you or Erono
talked to each other?”
    He frowned. “A few months. I didn’t have any
trouble.”
    “Try now. Get ahold of him and let him know I
investigated you. Your super-secret access code is green.”
    “So if I said red?” he asked.
    “Um… Don’t do that. Like, really, really don’t say
that. Before you go, I need to tell you something.” Just in case he heard it
from Erono, I wanted to tell him about Vretial first.
    We stepped out onto the porch. The boys both gave me
sad expressions as if I were leaving them for a month as I shut the door.
“Vretial warned him,” I said after we were alone. “We were following the tracks
of a dragon when Vretial called Ron out. He warned Ron that we needed to turn
away, that we were walking into a trap.”
    “I’ll watch out for him. He must be trying to get Ron
on his side.”
    “So he is back then?”
    “If Sammy and Ron say he’s back, it’s hard to argue.
But you are the one who defeated him, you tell me.”
    When Sammy first told me he had seen Vretial, that he
was