"I almost had a fit when I found out," Winkler agreed. "Thanks for your help, Florence. You're making things easier for us."
"No problem, Mr. Winkler. Take care of Ashe. He's having a hard time."
"We will."
* * *
"I don't know what happened," Ashe sighed. "I walked in behind Mr. Winkler and Trajan, thinking she wouldn't recognize me or would just ignore me. When she said my name, I felt dizzy. It's almost too much to understand."
"Beyond comprehension," Dori agreed with a nod. Ashe was wedged between Dori and Wynn on the back deck of his house. They'd left the carpet layers inside, ripping up bloodied carpet and padding.
Ashe propped wrists on his knees as he stared at the back fence surrounding the yard. "When Mom asked where Dad was, I knew something had happened," Ashe continued. "I just don't know what it was."
"At least your mom seems normal, now. You don't think it's because she almost died, do you? And there's still that whole thing about the light," Wynn huffed.
"Light?" Ashe jerked his head toward Wynn.
"Yeah. Ace told me. Said Nathan told Marcus, who told Mr. Winkler. Nathan said there was a bright light that came when he and the other vamps were taking out the Elemaiya who showed up. Ace says that Nathan swears he saw a shining woman."
"What?" Ashe goggled at Wynn. "That's just, that's, I don't know." Ashe tossed up a hand in exasperation. Memories flooded his mind, however. Memories of a shining woman, standing at a gate while Edward and the other half-Elemaiyan children escaped through it.
He still didn't have any idea where they'd gone, he only had Ren's assurances that they would be safe. He had the memory of a second woman, too, who'd stood on the opposite side of the gate. A beautiful woman, with black hair and piercing blue eyes. She had mindspeech. Had told Ashe she loved him. He still hadn't sorted that out. Was afraid to, if he were honest with himself. Her image infiltrated his dreams at times, when he imagined himself older than he was.
"I need to run home; I only told Mom I'd be gone an hour," Dori rose and dusted off her shorts.
"I'll go, too. Ace had to go to Marcus' with Mr. Winkler, but they may be done, now."
"Ace is a good guy," Ashe rose and helped Wynn stand.
"Yeah. I know," Wynn nodded shyly. "Call us if you need anything."
"I will." Ashe walked them down the deck's steps and saw them through the side gate in the fence before climbing onto the deck again.
"I suppose you'd like to know what happened last night." Griffin settled onto a chair and blinked at Ashe.
"Yeah. I do want to know what happened last night," Ashe sat on a deck chair opposite Griffin's.
"It's called Changing What Was," Griffin sighed. "Six Larentii can do it, but only on a small scale. As in individual cases. There's only one who can Change What Was on a larger scale. The fact that this is what happened worries me."
"Why? And you know about the Larentii?" Ashe didn't mean to sound as incredulous as he did, but he couldn't hold it back.
"I'm surprised you know about the Larentii," Griffin half-smiled. "Perhaps I shouldn't be so surprised. If I didn't have us so tightly shielded at the moment, we could expect a visit the moment I say Pheligar's name."
"Pheligar?" Ashe asked.
"Pheligar is the Larentii Liaison for my race. He acts as a go-between for us and those who created us. He can be quite irascible at times. If he were here, I imagine he would remain standing so as to intimidate us with his eight-and-a-half feet of blue-skinned grumpiness, and ask me what I might think to accomplish by being here."
"Do all their names end in gar?" Ashe didn't want to bring up his friendship with Ren, who'd been decidedly ungrumpy.
"The male's names. The female Larentii names ended in lar. Too bad there aren't any female Larentii at the moment. Don't ask," Griffin held up a hand to keep Ashe's curiosity from erupting. "It's too long a tale. Perhaps someday, you'll know it."
"Back to Changing What Was," Ashe said, frowning at Griffin.
"Yes. Well, do you know the Legend of the Three?" Griffin asked.
"No."
"It goes like this—in the beginning, the One created the Three. Only the One was more powerful than the Three. They were named Wisdom, Strength and Love. Those Three are more commonly known as the Mighty Mind, the Mighty Hand and the Mighty Heart." Griffin's eyes became unfocused as he gazed into the distance. Ashe watched him carefully—he imagined he might hear something few had ever heard before.
"Eventually," Griffin continued, "others were made, with varying degrees of power, who served under the One and the Three. The worlds were made, both Light and Dark, and those worlds were populated with all manner of races and creatures." Griffin's fingers tapped his knees unconsciously as Ashe watched.
"What happened?" Ashe prompted Griffin, who'd fallen silent again.
"One day, the One and the Three discovered that a blight had infected their ranks," Griffin blew out a breath. "Some at many levels of power had banded together and turned against them, seeking to destroy what had been created. The Three were given the task of pursuing the rogues—those Destroyers—and finding a way to turn them back to the Light or devising a way to eliminate them. Not an easy thing to do, since the ones they hunted were not only immortal and powerful, but were recruiting allies among the created races. The Three began to choose their armies carefully—part of their duty is to seek out and right many wrongs in their pursuit of the invasive evil."
"Is that true?" Ashe blinked at Griffin.
"Yes. There is another tale associated with that one, but it is something I feel you must discover for yourself."
"What has all that to do with Changing What Was?"
"Only one of the Three will be gifted with Changing What Was. It is something the One allows sparingly, as it is quite rare. None know which of the Three will have it, when they appear."
"You make it sound as if they don't exist, yet, when you already said they do." Ashe followed the logic.
"Caught that, did you?" Griffin chuckled. "Good job. Should have known the Ir'Indicti would figure that out. As gods, the Three can't interfere. But there's a way around that rule. If they're reborn into a created race—as one of them, they can interfere all they want. And there are ways of becoming immortal if they're born mortal, as you well know. The problem with all that is, they may be vulnerable. Their enemies may be looking for them, to destroy them in their new forms and keep them from their duty. When all Three come together in their new existence, it means the god wars are imminent. That's not a good thing, young one. Is there anything else I can tell you before I leave?" Griffin asked.