These creatures of conquest and brutality were under the command of the Elekai. Which meant that I could control them.
Or, so the theory went.
As Char and I stood, staring, I definitely had my doubts. It seemed impossible that I could control these beasts — especially the big one. Those whitened eyes stared at me with such hatred — especially from the dark one.
I guessed there was nothing to do but try.
“I need to get up close,” I said.
“There's an on-ramp that way,” Char said, pointing to our left.
We walked in that direction as the dragons looked on.
“This is crazy,” Char said.
“I know,” I said. “Crazy times call for crazy measures.”
Char grunted in response.
Anna walked on my other side. She seemed tense, and it was probably all she could do to not draw her katana. A blade wouldn’t do much good against a dragon.
We reached the on-ramp. It was a short climb to the battered highway above. The charred shell of a sedan blocked the on-ramp horizontally. Flecks of turquoise paint clung to its chassis.
We went around the car and reached the top of the highway, turning to where the dragons roosted. Their heads swiveled upon stalk-like necks toward our position. Even with dusty distance, their white eyes glowed. Though these creatures were on our side, just seeing them stare at me sent a chill down my spine. There was something different about these dragons. I could feel the violence boiling within them. It was hard to imagine these dragons getting along with the Elekai ones, especially when their allegiance might only be temporary.
Anna, at last, unsheathed her blade. The dragons gave no reaction. More dragons wheeled above, a menacing foreground against the dilapidated towers of downtown Los Angeles. A chilly wind gusted, stinging with dry cold. About twelve dragons flew above our heads like vultures. I wondered if this was some sort of trap; were they pretending to be friendly, only to deliver a death blow? The possibility, or perhaps, the probability, didn't escape my mind.
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.