Xenofall (The Wasteland Chronicles, Book 7) (28 page)

“We’ll have to conserve our energy,” she said. “There’s no more food, and before long, no more water.”

“I’m out,” I said.

“I know. I still have a container left, so we’ll have to be sparing.”

A couple of minutes later, we were walking through the canyon. The thick, jagged walls leaned on either side, the paths branching at random angles between the cliffs. Anna repeated her routine of climbing the rocks from time to time.

“We’re off course,” she said. “Head right.”

As we continued, the chasms narrowed and the plateaus on either side grew taller. The overhanging tops almost formed a tunnel, blocking out most of the light of the bioluminescent ceiling. We came to a fork, finding the right completely submerged in pink, bubbling ichor. It was the direction we needed to go, yet we had no choice but to head down the left path.

Anna climbed again at our next juncture. The cliffs were climbable in places, but they were higher than they had been, and it made me nervous to watch her climb.

“A lot of them are flooded,” she said from above, standing on the precipice. “And it only gets worse the further we go. Probably because...” She paused. “Well, maybe you should see this for yourself.”

I scrambled up the rocks, my right foot slipping on a non-secure foothold. A rain of rock showered into the chasm below, but I quickly shifted my right foot to another hold to avoid falling. Anna looked down at me, her face tense.

“I’m only ten feet up,” I said. “It’s okay.”

“Even ten feet can kill you if you land wrong. Take it slowly.”

I wanted to point out that she hadn’t taken it slowly, but then again, she was better at climbing than me.

“Stretch your right leg, and put it on that hold, there...”

Anna instructed me the rest of the way up. After another couple of minutes of patient climbing, I reached the top. Anna pulled me onto the flat expanse on the plateau. I made myself stand, and I surveyed the level area that made up this plateau. It stretched in all directions, before being cut off by a narrow chasm a hundred feet away. A series of mesas, rock towers, and plateaus rose above the cracks.

I stood, looking in the direction we were heading. I could see what Anna was talking about: the fissures glowed pink from being flooded with ichor. But what caught my attention lay
beyond
the plateaus and mesas.

The pink line Anna had mentioned yesterday had revealed itself as a vast, underground sea of pink ichor. It was probably two miles away, spreading seemingly forever toward the glowing line on the horizon. The collective light of that sea bathed our skin and the surrounding rocks. This
had
to be one of the Two Seas Quietus had mentioned. But where was the other one?

“That’s where our buddy was headed,” Anna said. “I’m sure of it.”

“Quietus said Askala was at the meeting of the Two Seas,” I said. “I’m only seeing one.”

“We’re not there, yet,” Anna said. “Maybe we’ll have to follow the shore.”

“Askala might live in there,” I said. “In that ichor.”

Anna looked at me. “You think so?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “Just an idea.”

“If that’s true, what do we do when we get there? Swim?”

“I hope it doesn’t come to that.”

We walked across the plateau, descending on its opposite side. Thankfully, the canyon below was clear of ichor. We continued traveling, and after a few more twists and turns, we met the ichor that submerged the rest of the chasm, forcing us to climb once again. We soon found ourselves on top of a long plateau heading in the direction of the sea. We followed it toward its end, still about half a mile away.

“What do we do when we get there?” Anna asked.

I honestly didn’t know. We were close enough now to the sea that I could make out its finer details. It even had waves. To the left and right, the sea came to an end in either direction after a few miles each way, curving around again to meet the glowing horizon. I supposed this technically made it a large lake. A miasma of light hung over its surface, reflecting off the dazzling ceiling perhaps a quarter of a mile above. The shoreline was hidden by craggy cliffs, where the plateaus dropped off and met the sea.

Maybe we would have to swim, in the end, but I was afraid that the
Radaskim
ichor would be hostile, and would maybe even lead us far from where we wanted to go.

Anna’s hand stiffened, and she pulled me to the ground. Before I could ask, she pointed ahead.

I squinted my eyes against the wavy lines of the sea. I saw nothing at first. But after a moment, the shadow of wings materialized in the distance. It was a large dragon, flying straight toward us.

We crawled away from the edge, trying to find a safe place to descend and hide in the chasms. Glancing back one more time, I realized we didn’t need to hide.

Quietus?

I watched her approach over the cliffs, the ones above the sea. Anna came to stand by me, touching my arm. All was silent as Quietus flew the last of the distance to the plateau. She glided downward, extending her legs and landing in front of us lightly.

I had no idea how she had gotten down here, but what she said was even more unexpected.

Your friends fight for their lives beyond the Sea of Destruction.

Anna and I looked at each other. There was no time to stand here and ask for details.

It was only after Anna and I were mounted and Quietus taking to the air that I started to ask questions.

What’s happening? Where are they?

She knows you are here, but she is looking in the wrong place,
Quietus said.
She thinks you are with your friends. Askal is there, too, fighting with them.

Then there’s no time to lose,
I said.

***

W
e flew over the Sea of Destruction, as Quietus had called it, leaving the black cliffs far behind. The waves danced and crashed a couple of hundred feet below us. A warm updraft rose from the surface – Quietus barely had to flap her wings to keep aloft. It felt as if we were floating.

Soon, we were miles from the mainland, and the cliffs and chasms were far behind. I focused intently on the distance, keeping my eye out for any sign of land.

“We came a long way,” Anna said. “Much farther than I would have ever guessed.”

“They must have been going the opposite way,” I said.

I could only hope that we weren’t too late.

As we flew farther away, a dark line materialized on the horizon. The opposite shore wasn’t far away. The dark line spread in the distance, its boundary with the sea squiggly. If that was land, it was like no land I’d seen before.

Behold,
Quietus said.
The Sea of Destruction.

I thought we were over the Sea of Destruction,
I thought.

No. This is the Sea of Creation. The black sea is the Sea of Destruction. They meet in the middle, forming the Point of Origin. That is where Askala lairs. You will see it, soon. That is not our destination for now. There is land on the other side of the Sea of Destruction, and that is where your friends are. It’s also where the worst of Askala’s monsters are.

As Quietus spoke, I looked at the meeting of the two seas in the distance. While the Sea of Creation was pink and bright, the Sea of Destruction was dark as night. Very little light reflected from its dull surface, but I could see it roiling far in the distance, much more violently than the pink Sea of Creation. Right in the center of the two seas was a molten, brilliant line, and in the middle of that line, a colossal whirlpool of interweaving pink and black swirling downward to a single point of light as bright as the sun. As we neared, the whirlpool became larger. We were far from it, but high enough that I could look down into its funnel. I couldn’t see the bottom – not only because it was too deep, but it was so bright that I had to avert my gaze.

She’s in
there?

Yes,
Quietus said.

I tried not to think about
entering
that whirlpool. But wasn’t that what Quietus had said? We would find Askala where the Two Seas joined, at the Point of Origin.

We left the whirlpool behind, and now we flew fully over the black Sea of Destruction. On the horizon, I could see the beginnings of dry land, made of wicked, jagged spires wreathed in black smoke. Fiery rivers descended from the heights, meeting the Sea in streams of molten red. That area looked far more inhospitable than where we had left.

As we neared, I could see three dragons swirling above a ridgeline not far from the black ichor. Two
Radaskim
dragons were fighting against one
Elekai.
I knew immediately that
Elekai
dragon was Askal.

Hurry,
I said.

I’m flying as fast as I can,
Elekim.
We will be there soon.

True to her word, Quietus seemed to fly more swiftly. The cliffs fast approached, and as they got nearer, I saw human forms fighting among the rocks, while horrible, twisted monsters closed in from the periphery. Horrifying screams filled the air, but thankfully none of them were human. Gunshots echoed off the rocks.

At last, we left the blackened sea behind and made straight for the ridgeline. Now, I was close enough to make out the finer details. One of the figures – Samuel, I think – turned in our direction, pointing and shouting. All of them had gathered together, their backs to us, firing into the mass of monsters. Among them were crawlers, but also other horrible creatures I’d never seen before. There was a giant centipede that might have been forty feet long with thousands of tiny legs, which might have been a smaller version of the giant worm that had attacked the army. Its chitin was completely black, and its wide mouth opened to reveal rows of needle-like teeth. Another monster, standing as tall as a Behemoth, made its way on six legs, reptilian in nature. It had two scythed arms jutting from its torso, opening and closing like a pair of pincers. Its many white eyes glowed from its face, where a large mouth snapped open and shut.

Everyone was running out of room to maneuver, and they were being pushed toward the cliff. It was easily a five-hundred-foot drop to the sea below. Askal let out a high shriek, changing course to free himself from fighting the
Radaskim
dragons.

“Quietus...”

Hold on,
Elekim, she said.
We’re going to pick them up.

Just as soon as I’d tightened my grip, Quietus went into a short dive, fanning out her wings. The two dragons that had been fighting Askal went straight for Quietus. Their white eyes burned with hatred, and they opened their wide jaws and let out twin, horrible shrieks.

Meanwhile, Askal maneuvered closer to the cliff. Everyone had run out of room to back up. The monsters closed in, forming a ring, ready to drive the final nail in the coffin.

Askal hovered at the edge of the cliff. Everyone rushed to get on – Ruth first, followed by Michael.

Samuel and Makara continued to fight while Michael and Ruth held tightly to Askal.

Quietus gave a sudden turn, narrowly dodging the dive of a dragon. Makara and Samuel were waving for Askal to fly away. Michael and Ruth were shouting something, but that didn’t stop Askal from spreading his wings, gliding down toward the Sea of Destruction.

“No!” I said.

Quietus then went into a dive. At the same time, the frontrunners of the monsters lurched at Makara and Samuel. Quietus drew even with the cliff, just feet away from the precipice. She spread her wings, slowing down. Though she was slowing, Quietus was still going incredibly fast.

But it would be Samuel’s and Makara’s only chance of rescue. Without hesitating, they both turned and sprinted for the cliff, jumping into the air, the monsters charging into the vacated space. Makara and Samuel seemed to fly through the air in slow motion.

It wasn’t far enough. With horror, I watched as they both dropped.

“No!” Anna screamed.

And then, Quietus tilted to the left, so that both Makara and Samuel landed in the center of her left wing. Quietus tightened the wing, causing Makara and Samuel to both roll down it, toward us.

Anna and I braced ourselves to catch them. Makara rolled right into me, but my back pushed against the lower part of one of Quietus’s spikes. Quietus screamed in pain when the spike bent slightly. But she had come to a stop, and was now safe.

Samuel ran into Anna, and pushed her toward the other side of the dragon. Anna screamed, grabbing on the bottom of a spike with one hand.

I reached out with my other hand, grabbing Anna by the hand. She caught herself with her feet on Quietus’s side. Her hand was so sweaty that I was terrified it would slip. But Samuel grabbed Anna by the other arm, and together we pulled her up until she was behind me. She held on to me tight, her entire body shaking.

Quietus was still dropping in elevation. She shrieked as she spread her wings, stopping our mad descent right before we crashed into the black sea, the waves of which stretched upward, as if trying to reach us.

As Quietus flapped her wings, rising above the surface of the sea, we sat there, panting, shaken, but safe. Quietus wheeled away from the cliffs, gaining altitude above the Sea of Destruction. I sat there in silence, disbelieving what had just happened. Everyone was alive.

Askal joined us at our side. Ruth and Michael were both sitting safely on his back, holding on tightly. They both looked over at us with wide eyes.

“Everyone alright?” I asked.

Neither of them answered, and I didn’t blame them. We were heading for the meeting of the two seas: the Point of Origin. With dread, I realized our time was near.

By some miracle, all of us had survived and had been reunited. We’d made it through the Warrens, the monsters, and every other obstacle we had to face in getting here.

Askala was waiting.

W
e didn’t make immediately for the Point of Origin. There was nothing between us and Askala, and I thought it would best if we could recoup a bit and get our bearings.