Extinction (23 page)

I couldn’t speak, because the Wanderer had so silenced me. It had always been easy for me to get discouraged. It was hard not to, watching your world being swallowed before your eyes. Something Makara said a long time ago came back: you fought, even where there was no point in the fight. You never knew what tomorrow would bring.

Alright,
I said.
I see what you’re saying.

The Wanderer raised an arm, as if in benediction.

The last battle comes. And remember: do not lose hope. You never know who’s counting on you, or who’s looking up to you. You have changed much, Alex. The
Elekai
are yours to command. And I believe that their powers are beyond even your imagining.

With that, the image of the Wanderer faded into the ichor.

Remember...though I have passed from this world, my words will always be with you. Never give up, even in the darkest moments. When you find yourself in a hole...look to the stars.

I stood there for a moment, my throat clenched, realizing that the Wanderer really
was
gone. His image had now passed; all that was left was the clear pink fluid. I almost wondered if he had been there at all, if all this had only taken place in my head.

Whatever the case, it was time to turn back. I swam to the shoreline, nearing the surface. When my head broke through, the air felt cool and light in comparison to the heavy liquid. I tried to breathe, but my lungs were full of the ichor. I coughed, spewing the liquid out of my lungs. It landed on the surface of the pool, quickly rejoining it. I sucked in a mouthful of air.

As I continued to hack, Anna strode into the pool. Makara shouted my name, while everyone else watched me worriedly.

My feet found the bottom, and I stood with the ichor up to my torso. Finally, my lungs seemed to be empty of it. I stood there, panting, feeling the liquid crawl off me and rejoin the surface of the lake.

Anna grabbed me, pulling me into a fierce hug.

“You were under there for at least
five minutes,”
she said. “What the hell?”

“I breathed it,” I said. “Whatever that stuff is, it works as good as air.”

“Come on,” she said.

Anna guided me back to shore. Once on dry ground, the liquid that clung to my skin and clothes flowed downward. I collapsed to the xenofungal bed, exhausted.

“Your eyes are white,” Makara said.

“Huh,” I said. That didn’t really bother me anymore. “I talked to him. The Wanderer.”

The murmuring of the Raiders quieted at this statement.

“He’s alive down there?” Makara asked.

“No,” I said. “I mean...I guess I really didn’t talk to him, but maybe to his memory
.
He wants...he wants us to not give up hope, even now. I know it’s easy to give up, but we can’t. We have to keep fighting.”

“Alex, you need to worry about getting some rest,” Makara said. “Are we good to head back to the army?”

I shook my head. “No. There’s one thing I have to do here.”

“What’s that?” Anna asked.

I stared at the pool, toward the inlets leading deeper into the cavern.

“I have to visit
my
army.”

***

T
he dragons were gathered in one of the farthest caverns from the entrance. It was a lot of swimming to get there. While the rest remained onshore, everyone who could swim decided to come with me. This included Makara, Samuel, Anna, and Julian, along with several of the Raiders. Even Ashton had decided to come; he said he wanted to investigate the cavern more fully, along with experiencing the lake’s vaunted regenerative properties. He said something about a Fountain of Youth.

The final cavern was the largest of all. From side to side it stretched for hundreds of feet. Perhaps it had been carved out by the
Elekai.
The walls and ceiling glowed silvery pink, filling the cavern with dim bioluminescence. The surface of the lake glowed, and on the far end where liquid met shoreline, the dragons waited – some dozen of them. Another dozen or so were in the lake itself, only their long necks and angular heads visible above the surface.

The dragons watched us enter their sanctum, their white eyes blazing fiery light. Their scales were various shades of red, dark crimson, all the way to a pink so light that it could almost be white. The dragons, of course, were large, though not as large as the typical
Radaskim
. The
Elekai
dragons’ forms were sleek compared to their counterparts – the
Radaskim
were angular and brutal, as if they had been carved from stone, hewn only for war.

One of the dragons in the center gave a resounding call that echoed throughout the cavern. The call was taken up by the others, until a melodious song filled the entirety of the space. For the amount of creatures singing, it was not very loud; the fungus-lined walls probably had something to do with dampening the volume. For some reason, the song made me sad. I realized that the dragons were mourning the death of the Wanderer.

When we reached the shoreline, walking out of the lake, the song continued. I stood and watched the dragons as they paid tribute to their fallen master. I realized then that I had never seen the dragons outside the context of battle. At heart, they were peaceful creatures, and it was for the promise of peace that they fought.

When the song ended, only one of the dragons continued, letting his voice resound a moment longer than the others. It was Askal. He paused a moment, waiting for the sound to dissipate, before turning to me. Something about his face, and those eyes, seemed morose – there was no outward difference in appearance, but it was something I
felt
coming from him.

The
Elekai
did not express emotions the same way humans did. They could directly empathize with one another and literally
feel
one another’s thoughts and feelings. As a human, I could only feel a bit of that. Being human had its limitations, but if I could have felt every bit of these creatures’ souls, it probably would have been too much to bear.

Finally, Askal seemed to relax. I walked past several of the dragons while everyone stayed behind. I stood in front of Askal, craning my neck to look at his face, about thirty feet above. Askal backed away before lowering his head to bring it level with mine.

We meet again, little human.

I wasn’t touching Askal, so I hadn’t expected any thought to pass from him. The thought must have carried through the xenofungus. I understood little about how the
Elekai
communicated. At times, touch was necessary. Sometimes, the xenofungus was sufficient to bridge the gap. But then, there were the visions from the Wanderer, and my being able to dream and experience the world through Askal’s eyes. Those were the most baffling, because neither touch nor xenofungus served as a medium. That would probably remain a mystery to me, but it seemed as if in those times that the communication was carried by the air itself.

We meet again,
I said.

We have lost a dear friend today,
Askal said.
The Elekai will mourn the Father’s loss for many cycles, until he is born again.

I didn’t know what a cycle was, but I supposed it was a very long time.

“I know,” I said. “I’ll miss him, too.”

I switched to speech; that way everyone who was gathering behind me could listen, too. Askal did not seem confused by the transition.

We have much to do, little human,
Askal thought.
Though I suppose you are not so little anymore.

“What
are
we going to do, Askal? Half the dragons are still hurt.”

We must wait, a little while longer. We have to heal in both heart and flesh. It will be a few days before the
Elekai
fly again.

A few days. I didn’t even know if we had that long. But there was no way we could win the battle without the
Elekai’s
support. A few days would give us time to make sure things were taken care of in Los Angeles. It was time enough to come up with a strategy for the final battle.

“Will you guys be okay here for the next few days?”

I cannot guarantee our safety,
Askal thought.
But all the entrances will be closed until you return. If we are attacked, you will be the first to know, Lord of the
Elekai.

Don’t call me that,
I thought.

Something like amusement came from Askal.

You and our Father are the same. He did not like being called that, either. But that didn’t make it any less true.

Still...
I thought.
Just call me Alex.

Askal nodded his assent – a surprisingly human gesture.

“We probably need to get back to L.A.,” I said, turning to the others. “The
Elekai
will be okay until we get back.”

“Are you sure?” Makara asked.

“They can’t leave their wounded behind. Askal says they’ll be ready in a few days.”

“Let’s get moving, then,” Ashton said.

W
e went on
Perseus
and just slept. Ashton took us as far as Los Angeles and put the ship on hover mode. There was no way we could keep on going without getting some much-needed sleep.

I slept so deeply that it might as well have been a coma. I was sleep-deprived, not just from last night, but from every night before where I’d only gotten a few hours here and there. It wasn’t until it was night of the next day – a full fourteen hours later – that I woke up, finding that I could sleep even more if I wanted to.

So I did. I kept sleeping until 03:30. No one in the ship was moving. I had no idea if Makara or the others were corresponding with Augustus and Black at this time. Probably. But sleep was hard to come by in this world, so I was going to take advantage while I could.

I finally got up and went to the wardroom, where various Raiders were sprawled on the floor, still sleeping. After almost a full day of doing nothing, it was hard to believe I was the only one up. My head pounded, and my eyes were heavy. I continued on to the wardroom and went to the faucet, where I filled my canteen with water. I drank the entire thing down.

After using the lav, I went to the bridge, finding the lights on. Ashton was awake. He turned upon hearing my approach. He held a mug of coffee in his right hand, from the top of which steam curled up.

“Morning,” he said. “Would you like a cup?”

I nodded, sitting in the co-pilot’s seat. Ashton took a thermos sitting on top of the dash. If that thing were to spill, it could do some serious damage to the electronics on the dash. Ashton didn’t seem to be worried, though.

“You’ve got a mug?” Ashton asked.

I didn’t really want to get back up, and was about to reach for my canteen, when my eyes came across a mug sitting on the dash. Anna must have left it there earlier.

“Right here,” I said, grabbing it.

The mug was a relic of the old world, made of thick white ceramic.

Ashton poured the hot, black coffee into the mug. I could feel its heat radiate into my skin, and its rich aroma met my nostrils.

“Careful,” he said. “It’s hot.”

I took a sip, and still the liquid scalded my tongue. It’d been a while since I had coffee.

Ashton and I just sat there, looking out the windshield. Clouds spread low and dark, covering the city. Stars blanketed the sky. I could never tire of watching them. The time showed that it was 03:36.

“Quite the show, isn’t it?”

I nodded my agreement, taking another sip. My favorite part of watching the night sky was seeing the Milky Way – that thick band of purple, bluish stars, the entire arm of our galaxy. It amazed me to know that there was
life
out there. How many other worlds were there, like ours? The Wanderer had said there were over a thousand that had been conquered by the
Radaskim.
How many others were out there?

“How is everyone still asleep?” I asked. “It’s been almost twenty-four hours since the Xenolith.”

Ashton smiled. “If they had stayed awake any longer, they would not be asleep, but dead. The human body has its limits.”

“Are you feeling any effects from the Fountain of Youth?”

Ashton chuckled. “Well, my bones didn’t hurt so much this morning, getting out of bed. Might have been my imagination, though.”

I laughed. “What do you think is in that stuff, anyway?”

Ashton shrugged. “You’d have a better idea than me.”

“I think it’s where all
Elekai
life is made,” I said.

Ashton grunted, taking another sip of coffee. “Hard to imagine them all coming from there. Are you sure they don’t reproduce on their own?”

I shrugged. “Don’t know. I thought with the Wanderer gone, I’d somehow know a bit more than I do now. I guess not.”

“Learning...
really
learning...is never free. Did you think you’d become Superman or something?”

“Who’s Superman?”

Ashton looked at me blankly. “The world truly
has
ended.”

I laughed. “I’m joking. Of course I know who Superman was.”

“You scared me for a minute. But there will come a day kids don’t know who Superman was.”

“Maybe they’ll have some new thing,” I said. “Maybe Dragon Man.”

“That’s just...
no.”

“Alright, whatever. On that learning thing, though...maybe a lesson isn’t learned until you accept it.”

“Hm.” Ashton took a long drink of coffee before refilling his mug from the thermos. Once done, he set the thermos back on the dash. “And
have
you accepted it? Your new job, I mean.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever be ready to turn into an alien.”

“Is that what you think the Wanderer was?”

Maybe the Wanderer had a human form, but he was
definitely
not human.

“I think he was a god of some sort,” I said. “A Xenomind. Who can comprehend what
that
really is? I just want a few more days to be me. That’s it. And that’s not going to change as long as I can help it.”