Extinction (25 page)

But we had come too far. Char drew his handgun, keeping it pointed at the pavement. The dragons continued to circle, some of them dropping lower.

At last, we stood in front of the two dragons, so much larger now that we were close. They towered above, the dark gray one twice as tall as any
Elekai
dragon. Scars and crevices crisscrossed scales that appeared to be as hard as stone. Their long tails, fitted with cruel spikes, shifted back and forth, stirring dust from the surface of the freeway. A large, especially deadly spike jutted from the tip of each of those tails, sharper than any human blade. The white eyes of the dark dragon narrowed, as if in challenge. I focused on those eyes. I knew this was a test of dominance and will; I’d lose them if I looked away first. Those eyes were white, abyssal depths. Haunting emptiness
.

Unlike the
Elekai,
these were creatures without souls. They were organic robots obeying the will of their true master: Askala.

For now, that link had been severed by the Wanderer’s sacrifice. If it hadn’t, these dragons would have killed me a long time ago.

I saw the Wanderer in my mind’s eye, and calmness permeated my entire being. Wild, tumultuous power radiated from these dragons. They had hearts of chaos.

Tame them,
the Wanderer’s voice intoned.

I focused a single thought to push against that madness. That thought came in the form of two words.

Your names.

The thought pushed against the anarchic, powerful stream of consciousness that blared from the
Radaskim
dragons’ minds. They regarded me with cold, reptilian eyes.

The smaller, crimson one linked to me first, begrudgingly giving his name.

Mordium.

The dark dragon waited a long time, before the force of my will linked him to me.

Quietus.

A chill passed over me. Feeling the emotions of the
Radaskim
was so much different than with the
Elekai.
Sharing thoughts with Askal seemed to give energy. This drained it. They would obey me, yes – but only because they were forced. Whether they could find a way to override the Wanderer’s Releasing, I couldn’t say.

Mordium,
I thought.
Quietus. You are both
Elekai,
now.

Immediately, twin hisses escaped from their serpentine mouths. Anna and Char jumped back from either side of me. I remained still, attempting to affirm my control over these creatures. The dragons above circled lower. Something like a cruel smile came to Quietus’s thin, reptile lips – but really, it was more a baring of teeth. Those teeth were cracked, decaying, sharp.

Who are you to command us, puny mortal?
Quietus thought.
We are the
Radaskim,
hearts of chaos. Eternity lies ahead, and behind – we have drunk full of its emptiness. The Void calls us home, in the end. The
Radaskim
have known this, from the dawn of time until the dusk of all things. Like twin mirrors, the light ever reflects, unending, unyielding. But what can you know of these things, you of sixteen years, when my spirit has endured more than sixteen million?

Even as he spoke such terrible things, I knew them to be true.

I am Quietus, bane of a thousand worlds. The screams of races reside within my soul, of which your puny kind are no match. You have killed the Lord Chaos, no small feat – but you will find that many of Askala’s children are his equal, and that some are far more terrible. You challenge me, mortal, and seek to rule that which is eternal?

I seek only the victory of the
Elekai, I thought.
And you will help me secure it.

Something like glee danced in those white eyes.

Will I, now? Curious that the old fool gave up his spirit for this slight boon. For in so doing, he sealed his doom and that of the cursed
Elekai.
Never again shall that trickster arise. Though there be thousands of worlds yet to smite, never shall he walk them again – should you fail, little one. That he placed trust in
you,
least of all races, dirtiest, foulest, most reviled! Had we not come to destroy you, you would have destroyed yourselves.

I stood stunned at Quietus’s revelation. Mordium looked on in silence, his eyes as empty as the vacuum of space. On the sides of the highways, more dragons settled, watching the proceedings.

The
Elekai
were first,
I thought in response.
And the
Elekai
will be last.

The
Elekai
are weak! The
Elekai
plant the gardens; the
Radaskim
reap them. Such is the order of the Universe. In order to create, you must first destroy. This is the heart of truth: that existence is a lie, and we no more than a thought, the destruction of universes infinite. All things shall pass, all courses have been set from the beginning for ruin. There is no use in fighting this inevitability. The only control we have is in sweet destruction. Destruction of all, destruction of the lie that is existence! In the end, nothing shall bloom, no star shall shine, and darkness deep shall stretch eternal. No laughter, no tears, nor even memories shall be preserved. That is the fate of all things, little
Elekai,
if the
Radaskim
are not permitted to destroy. We are the gods, and Ragnarok our judgment. And like all others, humanity shall enter our thrall.

The cold wind blew, as if in time to Quietus’s dark thoughts. I stood still, not wanting to think about them. No thought crossed from Quietus for a long while.

Anna and Char watched the dragon from my either side, ready to run or fight at any moment.

Is this how you attacked every world?
I thought.
With a meteor?

Quietus answered.
The method is different, for each world
.
Different diseases necessitate different cures. And the pestilence of your race runs deep.

What makes you hate us so?

Death is my name. Quietus. The End of all Things. Yes. I was created by my Mother to hate, and that hatred I have nursed for uncounted eons, mostly in darkness. You know not the darkness of space, being trapped with your thoughts for thousands of years, with nothing but the fell whispers of the Dark Mother – such imprisonment I have endured between Reapings. Death brings succor, and I drink deeply of its draft – though I am never permitted to embrace it in full. How I
long
for that death, little
Elekai.
But she will not let me have it, not until all fades to silence.

You can be free,
I said.
It has been said, in order to know hate, one must first know love.

I have debated this vile thought for years untold,
Quietus answered.
And there is only nothing. You seek, and you do not find. Everything is a lie. There is only...nothing...the ultimate truth.

Something like a sigh escaped the dragon – a strange sound to come from a creature so large, so brutal. It sounded...pained. Tired.

What is truth,
Elekai,
but your conception of it? I have searched the depths of your heart and know that you hold no conviction. A being of no conviction is but a leaf in the wind, having no control over its course. It goes where the wind wills. What do you believe, young
Elekai?
I see you hope that I might be changed. Hope is but a dream, a dream best abandoned before it blinds with false brightness.

Hope does not always lead to a false end.

There is no fighting the
Radaskim, Quietus thought.
On countless worlds they brood, and this world is just one among thousands. Four hundred years hence, they shall return. That was the duration of our last stasis – four hundred long years. From the world of Tar’Sha’Lak we sailed the Void, four hundred years ago. The Dark Mother may be killed, but never shall the
Radaskim
fall. We are too many. A Second Reaping shall come, far more terrible than the first...

Four hundred years, little
Elekai.
Are you ready?

I sensed no lie in Quietus’s words. I only felt a numb, cold shock overtake me. What Quietus said
was
true. Even if we won, in four hundred years, they would return from the nearest
Radaskim
world.

For a long time I stood there, until Anna touched my arm.

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

It was a while before I could bring myself to answer.

“I know when Xenofall is coming.”

A
long silence passed. I explained nothing, and Quietus said nothing further, feeling his work complete. His eyes, once again, were empty of thought or emotion. He had said his piece, and now only waited for my reaction.

“I thought...” Anna began. “Wasn’t
this
Xenofall? Wasn’t Xenofall us fighting Askala and winning the war?”

I had to explain everything to Anna and Char. It wasn’t easy; most of what Quietus told me was thoroughly depressing. I stressed that Quietus had not lied to me. Though the dragons railed against it with all their spirit, I was in control and they couldn’t disobey a direct command – at least until Askala had found a way to reclaim them.

Then again, the truth they revealed could be misleading, and the outlook Quietus had painted was incredibly bleak.

“So if we defeat Askala,” Anna said, “They’ll just come back again. In four hundred years?”

I nodded.

“That means,” Char said. “If we win, it’s not really a victory. It just delays the inevitable.”

“That’s right,” I said. “Even with four hundred years, it’s hard to imagine how we could prepare for something like another invasion. Even if we could, would it really be enough?”

“So they attack,” Anna said, “over and over, until they finally win.”

Char shook his head. His blue eyes seemed angry, more than anything.

“Would’ve been nice if the old man mentioned something about that,” he said. “He must have known.”

“I don’t know if he did,” I said. “Or maybe he didn’t want us to think the fight was hopeless. Maybe, even with Xenofall...there’s a chance we can still win.”

They both looked at me, as if I had that answer.

“I’m not saying I know what it is,” I said. “But four hundred years is a lot of time to search for an answer.”

Anna shook her head. “All of this is just so hard to imagine. So, the
Radaskim
are on that planet, and it’s apparently four hundred years’ travel time away?”

I nodded. “That’s the gist. He said that world was called
Tar’Sha’Lak.”

“Right,” Anna said, wincing at the weird name. “This makes the battle so much bigger. So much more...impossible. I’m starting to realize how tiny we are.”

“The Wanderer had faith in us, that we would find the answer,” I said. “Maybe...maybe we’re a lot closer than we think.”

Once again, Char and Anna looked at me.

“What would that answer be, Alex?” Anna asked.

I shook my head, and sighed. “I don’t know. I’m still thinking.”

“Maybe
he
knows,” Anna said, pointing at Quietus. “You said that dragon will tell you anything, and that he can’t disobey a direct order. Get him talking.”

I nodded. “It’s worth a shot. But...it’s draining.”

Anna grabbed my hand. “I’ll be right here. If you need to break off the connection...do what you have to do.”

I nodded. I turned back to Quietus, who met me with those chilling white eyes.

It was time to find out more.

***

C
an Xenofall be stopped?

Something like amusement came from the dragon.

Stopped? Do not waste your thoughts on this, little human. You will not even reach Askala, who dwells in the depths of Ragnarok Crater.

There has to be a way,
I thought.
The Wanderer would not have died if there wasn’t a way.

You understand nothing,
Quietus said.
We are but thoughts that take mortal shape. We never truly die, until our thoughts die. Your kind has not learned this. If you are a thought, you can live forever.

You mean with the xenofungus,
I said.
Your memory, your being, returns there.

Yes,
Quietus thought.
You begin to understand now. You humans thought to do this with machines, but life is so much more complicated than machinery – infinitely more complex, beautiful and meticulous. Life gives endless possibilities for growth, for nurturing, for evolution – machines are hard lines, angles, inflexibility.

Your life is like a machine,
I thought.

It is, in its essence,
Quietus thought.
All life is. To destroy us, you would have to destroy that which could never be destroyed: a thought. Even if all the xenofungus on this world were destroyed, the information is saved on countless other worlds. Thought-waves emanate outward, communicating, storing our beings for eternity.

Maybe you have no hope,
I thought.
But I do. I don’t believe the Wanderer would die for nothing. That’s why you’re going to help me.

And what is your command?

You and your dragons are to come with me. Immediately.

Quietus cocked his head.
You mean...to ride me?

Yes,
I thought.
Is that a problem?

Yes. The problem is that I should be killing you. Only, I cannot.

I shook my head.
You’re going to meet the
Elekai.

Quietus hissed. I continued to stare, until at last, Quietus relented.

It shall be as you say.

I turned from Quietus. Anna and Char awaited the report.

“We’re going to the Great Blight,” I said.

“Now?” Anna asked.

I nodded. “You and me. Char, you can go back to Makara and the others and let them know what we’ve learned. When they’re done here, tell them to meet me at the Xenolith.”