A guttural scream came from Rhino, who gripped the hilt of a knife that el Pulpo had jammed into his gut.
The sneaky bastard had played dead.
El Pulpo pushed the big man, and Rhino slumped on his side, eyes still locked on X. They exchanged another nod—weaker this time, but confirmation enough that it was now on X to kill the king of the Metal Islands.
X waved Miles back. “Stay, boy. I’ve got one last thing to do.”
The dog barked as X waded through a group of militia soldiers battling Cazador soldiers. He pushed several soldiers out of the way before he saw their leader.
Just ahead, Cole Mintel raised the double-bitted axe that el Pulpo had dropped. His muscular, tattooed forearms flexed as he swung it and split open the back of a Cazador warrior.
X reached out, and Cole tossed him the axe. He caught it in the air and gripped the shaft in his callused hands. A militiaman aimed a revolver at el Pulpo and pulled the trigger, but nothing happened.
The Cazador king grinned and grabbed the man by the head, turning him toward X. It was Monk, the bearded old guard who used to stand outside the armory. He tried to scream, but nothing came out as el Pulpo twisted his head and jerked it sideways, snapping his neck.
“Hey, pendejo!” X yelled. He ran forward with the axe raised.
El Pulpo grabbed Monk’s revolver and turned the barrel on X.
This time, it fired.
A crack sounded, and a dark blur slammed into el Pulpo’s side. X looked down at his chest, expecting to see a bleeding hole, but the bullet must have hit the axe head.
The Immortal had again been spared from death.
Growling, snarling sounds snapped him back to reality.
Miles had el Pulpo by the neck, tearing at his flesh. The dog pulled out a strand of gristle and bit it off.
“Miles, back!” X shouted.
The dog pulled another strip of flesh away.
El Pulpo looked up at X, a flash of fear in his eye as X brought the axe down, splitting in two the octopus engraving on the chest plate. He left the axe lodged there and backed away.
The fighting died down around them until only gurgling and gasping sounds could be heard. El Pulpo lay on his back, his muscular arms out by his sides, the axe in his chest rising and sinking as he struggled for air.
The soldiers on both sides paused, lowering their weapons as the rising sun beat down on the bloodstained rooftop.
It took X a moment to realize that the Cazador warriors and his people weren’t looking at the fallen leader. They were looking at the sky.
A shadow passed over Deliverance, and a violent wind pressed down on the survivors. X looked up at the beetle shape descending from the heavens. An ancient speaker system on the bottom of the Hive blared a message audible over the whirring fans.
“Surrender or lose everything! We have bombs that will level your homes, sink your ships, and take the lives of everyone you hold dear!”
X felt Miles rub against his leg, and he patted the dog on the head, smiling as the message switched to Spanish from the Hive’s databases.
“¡El rey está muerto!” someone yelled.
The Cazador soldiers all shifted their gaze to the king.
One by one, they laid down their rifles, spears, knives, and cutlasses.
“Grab their weapons!” shouted Cole Mintel.
Sergeant Sloan and her remaining soldiers went to work. X watched in shock. Only thirty-odd people were still standing on Deliverance’s bloody rooftop, and most of them were injured.
So this was what war looked like…
It was over now. Finally. But what happened next was anyone’s guess. There were thousands of Cazador civilians, at least four hundred people on the Hive, and some probably hiding inside Deliverance.
X didn’t have time to think about the future. Voices besieged him from all directions, and there were Cazadores to round up.
“Eevi!” shouted Alexander. He limped over to his wife, who had climbed the ladder up onto the airship’s roof. More people followed her, including Rodger Mintel. Joining him was a group of filthy construction workers, all slaves who, apparently, had fought for their freedom. It explained the burning oil rig X had seen on the way in.
“Dad?” Rodger said. “Dad, is that you?”
Cole Mintel dropped the armload of weapons he was carrying. He brought up a hand to get the sun out of his eyes.
“Rodge?” he said. “Rodger, is that you?”
“Dad!”
They both ran to embrace.
X took a moment to bend down and hug his dog.
“I missed you, buddy,” he said. “Missed you so much.”
Miles licked his face and then followed him over to Rhino, who sat beside Sofia on the deck, with the knife still in his side. The massive warrior carefully got down on one knee and bowed his head as X approached.
“What are you doing?” X asked.
Looking around him, he saw all the Cazador soldiers going down on one knee. And not because the militia soldiers had guns pointed at them.
“El rey Javier,” Rhino said. “The Immortal.”
X shook his head. “I’m no king.”
“You killed el Pulpo,” Rhino said.
Michael limped over with Layla. “Guess that means you’re in charge now,” he said.
Layla wiped away a tear and looked out over the water. “I wish Katrina were here to see this.”
X followed her gaze to the warship, realization setting in. He couldn’t believe it, but then he could. Katrina had always been a fighter, and in the end, she had given everything.
“She sacrificed herself for us,” Eevi said. “Gave me a chance to escape.”
“She was the greatest of us,” Layla said.
Michael slapped X on the shoulder and then looked up at the Hive.
“He doesn’t really have bombs, does he?” X asked.
“Actually, Samson does have bombs,” Michael said. “It was the contingency plan. The final order Katrina made before we started the attack, just in case this happened,” he said, with a sweeping gesture that encompassed both Deliverance and the USS Zion.
Magnolia had worked her way over to Rodger and Cole.
“Good to see you, kid,” X said. He gave Mags a gentle hug, then held her at arm’s length. “You’ve looked better.”
“You, too,” she said, cracking a half smile.
“More scars, more stories.”
Her smile broadened. “The life of a Hell Diver.”
“I have the biggest scar of all,” Rodger said, pulling up his shirt to reveal the wicked gash on his chest, then turning around to show where the blade went in.
The divers chuckled for a second before lapsing into silence.
“So what do we do now?” Magnolia asked, eyes on X.
All the divers looked to him.
He drew a breath of salt air and looked out over the ocean, where Cazador vessels floated and people watched from the oil rigs. Men, women, children. Grimy, needy, fearful people looking back at him.
He didn’t see enemies this time. He saw people like those on the airship. His experience on his mission with the Barracudas had taught him that even enemy soldiers could change. Rhino and Wendig had proven it to him on his journey.
Finally, he looked at the warship where Katrina had given her life. His heart broke for her, but this was what she had always wanted for her people.
He saluted.
“Thank you, Katrina,” he said. “For being the captain our people needed.”
Janga’s prophecy had ended up being more than a fairy tale. A man had led them to a home on the water, but he couldn’t have done it without Katrina. Her bravery and sacrifice helped capture the Metal Islands from the Cazador king.