Free God of the Abyss by Rain Oxford Page B

afraid of the god, my only goal was to keep him safe. Divina was sure he
wasn’t back… but how could she be so certain? What happens to a god who is
destroyed? What did Divina and I even do to him in the first place? And more
importantly, why did he want my kids?
    “I think I need to find the other Guardians. If I can
find out what’s happening with everyone, I can find out if it has anything to
do with Vretial. Who knows, maybe it’s someone else who is impersonating him.”
    “Just be careful.”
    I tried to give him an encouraging smile. “I’ve been
in this a while now. I had you to train me, and the gods.” I shrugged. “You
know what I’m capable of,” I said. I really didn’t want him to worry about me;
I wanted him to believe in me. He was my mentor and the person I looked up to
the most. By blood he was my uncle, but in every way that mattered, he was a
father to me.
    He sighed and put his hand on my shoulder. “I never
look down on you. I know you are capable of great things, but you are also
capable of making a mistake. You think with your head and act with your heart
and sometimes you are brilliant, but sometimes you’re not. You are young.”
    “I learn.”
    “I know. But you are so driven to figure things out.
Just…” He patted my shoulder as if searching for the words to say. “Think of
Sammy. You know he’s powerful, but every time he’s out of your sight, there is
a chance of something happening.”
    “Thanks, that makes me feel much better.”
    “That’s how I feel about you. I know you’re not a
child, and you have come so far from when I first met you, but you’ll learn
that the fear doesn’t go away just because your child grows up. So the next
time you are about to do something stupid, like drop your energy shield while
surrounded by an army intent on eating your entrails, think of me. Think of me,
sitting at home, baby-sitting and worrying about you. Think if it were Sammy or
Ron in your position.”
    I couldn’t stand the thought. “I will try to think
about it… but you said yourself that I act with my heart instead of my head.”
    “Sometimes your head has to be louder than your
heart.” We went back inside.
    Edward cleared his mind to contact his god. I felt
the moment that his consciousness left his body, but I also felt the moment he
was attacked. My first reaction wasn’t to figure out what it was, as it should
have been. Instead I pushed my magic into Edward with the purpose of pulling
him back. I felt him and something else trying to hold him. It was a cold,
angry, creepy power, similar to Iadnah energy, but dark. My own magic could
have failed, but just before I lost him, the power let go.
    Edward woke with a gasp and shudder. I sent more
magic into Edward to heal him. “I couldn’t get to him. Something attacked me.”
    “I know.”
    “It was Vretial,” he said.
    I hesitated. “Maybe. I’m not so sure. Vretial never
seemed that evil to me. Someone or something attacked you and if that is what’s
stopping the gods and Guardians from contacting each other, we have a serious
problem. It’s as powerful as Iadnah magic.”
    “So you can’t beat it?” Mordon asked.
    “No, it means I have to use my brain instead of my
strength.”
    “Oh, no, we’re doomed,” he moaned.
    “Shut up. I need new friends. We need to get to the
other Guardians and warn them. Not you, Dad,” I said when Edward grabbed his
bag. “Mordon and I can handle this. I was hoping you would watch the boys.”
    “What?! No, we want to fight the monsters!” Sammy
demanded. Ron nodded his agreement.
    “Why should I not go?” Edward asked. I had to tread
carefully so that I didn’t injure his pride. He didn’t have Iadnah energy, but
he knew so much more than me about nominal energy. He also had wisdom I would
only get with age. However, I needed his power and wisdom focused elsewhere.
    “Because it might be targeting Guardians, because the
gods are paranoid enough, and