Extinction (26 page)

“What are we going to do in the Great Blight?” Anna asked.

“Two things,” I said. “One, the
Radaskim
will hopefully be fully converted to our side by the
Elekai
dragons. And two...I need answers.”

“What answers? Do you think there’s a way to stop this?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “But I have to think beyond the Wanderer. Maybe the
Elekai
know something.”

“You mean the dragons?”

“The Wanderer spoke of songs crossing between the stars, a while ago. Perhaps there is something in them – some secret that will help me understand what I’m supposed to do.”

Anna touched my arm. “Alex...I don’t understand any of that, but if you think there might be answers...I’ll come with you.”

“I don’t know anything either, Anna. Maybe Quietus is right. Maybe it’s hopeless. But it’s not hopeless until we give up. The Wanderer believed there was hope, and that’s all I need.”

“Alright,” Char said. “I’m not sure about this, Alex. Just...don’t go doing anything stupid. Though I’m afraid you already are.”

“This is what I have to do,” I said.

“Maybe so,” he said. “But did you have to drag her into it?”

“We’ll be fine,” Anna said.

Char hugged Anna before backing away. It was time for us to depart.

I turned to Quietus. At a wordless command, the large
Radaskim
knelt to the ground to be mounted. Anna and I carefully climbed Quietus’s right haunch and settled on his back. His back was a little rougher than Askal’s, but not unbearably so. We were squeezed pretty tight between two spikes. Quietus raised his head, letting out a horrible roar. We were so high off the tarmac; Quietus was much bigger than any of the
Elekai
dragons.

“Do we
have
to do this?” Anna asked.

The other dragons watched, awaiting my command.

“We need to,” I said. “I have to get these dragons to the
Elekai.
I don’t trust them to make it on their own. My power might lessen with distance.”

“Maybe,” Anna said.

She wrapped her arms around me, and I gave the order.

Go.

Almost violently, Quietus shot into the sky. He gave two mighty flaps, and we were flying upward. I held on tightly so as not to fall, and Anna held tightly to me. Askal would
never
have lifted with such power, threatening to shake us off. It was as if Quietus was finding every opportunity to defy me.

As the ground dropped away, the other dragons lifted, forming a
V
behind Quietus. I realized that Quietus was the leader of the
Radaskim
dragons, now that Chaos was gone. If I controlled Quietus, I could control those who followed him.

Or at least, that was what I hoped.

***

T
he wasted, Blighted landscape passed below over the next few hours. The air was frigid until we were over the xenofungus, where warm updrafts took the edge off the cold. Even so, without pause, it wasn’t until nightfall that the
Elekai
Xenolith came into view.

Anna still held onto me, her head resting on my shoulder. She had been sleeping, or tying to sleep, for the past two hours now.

There it is,
I said.
Land nearby.

You do not want us to enter by the Dragons’ Way?

The Dragons’ Way?

I will show you. You have much to learn.

The Xenolith grew in size as we neared. Quietus flew around the Xenolith until we were on its opposite side.

Command it, human.

I thought for a moment. He wanted me to open the way into the Xenolith.

Open.

Below, the xenofungal floor began to open. Narrow at first, just a sliver of darkness. But the gap widened, until the entire surface of the fungus had pulled back to reveal a pink, iridescent glow, which I knew to be the surface of the lake.

Immediately, Quietus dipped below, stretching his wings as he descended. His dragons copied his movements almost exactly. The entrance rose to meet us. We sunk below the surface of the Great Blight; the air became muggy and thick from the humidity of the ichorous lake.

Quietus glided above the surface, settling on a far, empty shoreline. The other dragons, with flaps of wings, settled nearby, forming a line. They faced the pool itself. Above, the opening closed.

Anna and I hopped down from Quietus, stretching our stiff legs. All I could think about was how hungry I was and how much I had to pee. We’d been riding that thing for almost twelve hours straight.

“I don’t even care if this is holy ground or whatever,” Anna said. “Or if there are twenty dragons watching me.”

Toward our left, the shoreline bent around and was hidden by the wall of the cavern.

“You might get some privacy over there,” I said.

Anna went off while I waited with the
Radaskim.

This place is vile,
Quietus thought.

It’s your new home,
I said.
You better get used to it.

Quietus gave his trademark hiss, but thought nothing more.

Mordium, the crimson dragon, just stared with baleful, empty eyes. The rest of the dragons gazed across the surface of the lake, their thoughts unreadable.

Their stench fills this place,
Quietus thought, his lower lip curling.

Anna returned from around the bend, and I decided it was my turn to go. I told her to stay where she was; I didn’t want her too close to the dragons while they were out of my sight. She stopped, and I went around the bend and relieved myself after twelve hours.

When I came back, the dragons were pretty much as I’d left them. The cavern was empty of the
Elekai.
They
had
to know that we were here, so either they would come, or we would have to go find them.

I stepped into the liquid, and closed my eyes.

Askal.

From somewhere in the cavern, I felt Askal’s consciousness respond.

You bring great evil into our home.

They will become
Elekai, I said.
The Wanderer purchased them with his death.

Hmm. Even those as dark as these?

Yes,
I said.
They have not come to realize it.

Their minds are dark,
Askal thought.
As is their intent. If we appear, it will go badly.

They will not disobey a direct command from me,
I said.
Is there a way we can make them turn faster?

They must decide for themselves,
Askal said.
The Wanderer has opened the path to their redemption. It is up to them to continue down that path.

Then they’ll never turn,
I said.
They truly hate everything. They have no hope and find joy only in killing.

Many things that seem impossible actually aren’t,
Askal thought.

Can’t I just order them into the pool?

Willing obedience is better than forced obedience,
Askal though.
Do you think
we
began as
Elekai?

The Wanderer changed you?

He helped us...remember.

Remember what?

Who we truly were.

That really didn’t help me. I certainly didn’t know anything more than the Wanderer, and I was expected to just step up and do his job.

It’s hard to make them remember when I don’t even know what it is they’re
supposed
to remember.

You came here to listen, did you not? The Eternal Song still resounds in the stars.

How do I listen?

You must quiet yourself, until there is nothing. Then a Voice will fill the silence...many voices. When you hear them, you will know. And make sure
they
also hear. The Song is the core of our being. Hearing it will help them remember.

I didn’t really understand exactly what Askal meant, but I decided to give it a try.

“What were you doing?” Anna asked.

“Talking to Askal. He says that I have to listen to the song of the
Elekai.”

“And then you’ll know what to do?”

I paused. “I really don’t know. I have to start there, though.”

I closed my eyes, and listened. All I heard were the sounds around me – a dragon padding his foot on the fungus, the drip of liquid in the cavern. It became so quiet that I thought I could hear even the fungus growing. Something about that fungus drew me – I felt its consciousness fill my mind. The feeling was...overwhelming. I realized that
this –
the collective consciousness of the fungus – was the beating heart of the
Elekai.
Here were stored all the memories, thoughts, and instincts that guided a race. All the dead who had passed. All the spirits that awaited rebirth. Information continued to be added in a never-ending stream, from the stars themselves...

I realized that
this
was the Eternal Song of the
Elekai.

Now in tune with the fungus, I turned my attention skyward – and I heard it. I could never interpret this information myself, or translate it into words. The fungus was the intermediary, and only through its vast intelligence could I begin to comprehend the soul of the
Elekai
beaming down from the heavens. There were
Elekai,
not just on this world, but on many others. There were also worlds that
should
have been, and worlds now dead. But still, every world had its own Song – all blended with perfect majesty of sadness and joy. It was a Song, never-ending, that I could never tire of hearing.

And I understood, in that moment, why the
Radaskim
could not win.

I conveyed the song to the
Radaskim
dragons. It was as if some ripple of energy coursed through them, paralyzing them. They realized the truth, just as I did, that the
Radaskim’s
quest for the Secrets of Creation could never come to pass. They sought to acquire the consciousness of every race in the universe, and even if successful, they would still come up short.

Because the
Elekai
held the Secrets. And the
Elekai
could never be conquered.

The truth was in the xenovirus itself. The dominant gene was
Elekai,
the recessive was
Radaskim.
A recessive gene could never countermand the dominant. The
Radaskim
could never conquer the
Elekai,
so long as the
Elekai
version of the xenovirus was in existence – and if it
wasn’t
in existence, that meant the
Elekai
were gone from the universe, along with the Secrets.

What these Secrets were, I could never comprehend – something older and deeper than the universe itself, woven into the very fabric of space-time. And, somehow, the
Elekai
were the key to unlocking it – a key the
Radaskim
could never acquire.

All of this information passed in a single moment from me to the
Radaskim.
Their entire philosophy – their
religion –
existed so that they could find those Secrets to recreate the universe. And here those secrets were, all along, living within themselves, the only place they could never find them.

Unless they became
Elekai.

We will do as you say, Alex,
Quietus answered at last.
The Song speaks a truth higher than any I have ever known. This day, we become
Elekai!

With that pronouncement, Quietus gave a terrifying roar, echoed by the rest of the dragons. He stepped forward toward the pool, setting one foot inside at first. The ichor surrounded it, but Quietus did not hesitate, only pressing on until the liquid reached the tips of his wings and rose up to his breast. Then, his long neck descended and plunged into the surface. The liquid frothed and churned about him, becoming cloudy. I realized it was cleansing him, converting the
Radaskim
virus that formed the essence of his being.

Next, other dragons stepped forward, entering the pool.

“What’s happening?” Anna asked.

“They are becoming
Elekai,”
I said.

“It worked!”

“They realized the truth.”

Anna turned to me. “What’s that?”

“The Secrets of Creation – the Secrets that can destroy and recreate the universe – they are known only by the
Elekai.
And the
Elekai
can never be conquered.”

“How can they
not
be conquered?” Anna asked. “Haven’t they been conquered on every world so far?”

“I mean, yes, they can be physically destroyed. I was referring more to the xenovirus itself. The
Elekai
version can’t be conquered by the
Radaskim
version.”

“Because it’s dominant, right?”

I nodded. “The only way a
Radaskim
can learn the Secrets is if they become
Elekai.
But doing so defeats the purpose of being
Radaskim.
If the
Elekai
ever die out – the Secrets go with them.
That
is why they can’t be conquered.”

“And what
are
those Secrets?”

I shook my head. “You kidding me? I don’t know. I don’t think anyone does. It’s so deep that it can only be understood by the entire collective consciousness of the
Elekai,
and maybe not even then. Maybe that’s the
Elekai’s
purpose: they only know the Secrets because they are its guardians. They plant the gardens, that they might understand them more. But maybe with all the gardens in the universe, it wouldn’t be enough.”

Anna was quiet, thoughtful. “So, what you’re telling me is that there is no way the
Radaskim
can win?”

I nodded. “That’s the way I understand it. I guess...this is how I turn Askala. She must listen to the Song and learn the truth as well.”

“They can still kill us,” Anna said. “Maybe the
Elekai
will win, in the end, but we’re still just caught in the middle of their war. It doesn’t stop
us
from dying.”