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.”
“That’s true,” I said. “And it doesn’t stop Xenofall from coming.”
“I guess all we can do,” Anna said, “is stop Askala and try to figure out the rest later.”
Knowing that the Secrets were safe with the Elekai didn’t change anything about what I had to do. Like the Wanderer, I had to take control of Askala, probably by giving up my life, just as the Wanderer had. But like the Radaskim dragons, would that only open the door to her redemption, or would it save her entirely? That answer remained unclear.
Quietus emerged from the pool, walking onto the shoreline. His form dripped pink ichor. He didn’t look any different, besides the eyes. They were still white, but not so empty.
I am…Elekai.
The other dragons emerged from the pool. As they lined up along the shoreline, Askal’s voice resounded in my head.
Well done.
I don’t feel like I did much.
We will show our new sisters our home, and they will learn all there is to know about being Elekai.
Wait. Sisters?
Yes — did you not know? They are the daughters of Askala. We are the sons of Elekim. But the dragons are all of one kind.
All this time, I’d thought of the Radaskim as males.
Elekim? He is…
Yes. He was the Wanderer. But now, you are Elekim, little human.
I didn’t know how I felt about that. There was no way I could fill the Wanderer’s shoes. I did not know as much, and to know as much as he did would change who I was. I didn’t want to change, but it was inevitable.
Your friends are coming, Askal thought. Enter the pool, and it will carry you to meet them.
“It’s time to go,” I said to Anna. “The dragons have found their home.”
She nodded. “We’re done then?”
“Yeah. We’ve done all we could.”
The current bore us away from the dragons, taking us through the Elekai caverns. We twisted through tunnels and openings, until at last we reached the familiar shoreline, the one with the tunnel that would lead to the exit. We left the ichorous lake behind and strode up the spiral tunnel, until we reached the door, enclosed with the roots of the Xenolith. The roots pulled back upon my touch, revealing the glowing alien fields that shone in the night.
We stepped into the warm air, to find Perseus parked about a hundred feet away. A moment after our exit from the Xenolith, people streamed off board to meet us. I couldn’t discern who they were in the darkness.
At last, we met halfway there. It was Ashton, Makara, Samuel, Julian, and Char.
“The dragons?” Makara asked.
“They are Elekai, now.”
“Bunker 84?” Anna asked.
“Michael, Lauren, and Ruth are keeping it safe,” Makara said. “Everything seems to have actually…stabilized.”
This had never been the case. We had been running like rats in the maze, just trying to reach the end. We had arrived at a place of relative peace, and the only thing left to be done was…
“It’s almost time, isn’t it?”
Ashton nodded. “We will have the final council on Skyhome. As soon as we are ready…the attack will begin.”
It wasn’t long, now. In a few days, it would all be over. Our last gamble. Finally, we had everyone on our side — Reapers, the Empire, and the New Angels. We even had the strongest of the Radaskim dragons converted to the Elekai cause. All that remained was the final battle, and that could only be decided at Ragnarok Crater.
Chapter 24
Perseus lifted off a few minutes later. Our course was Skyhome, which we hadn’t seen since we left for the Empire what seemed ages ago.
Over the next few days, every leader of the Wasteland resistance would be gathered here. Meanwhile, the people in Bunker 84 would be relocated to Los Angeles.
I would be out of action for a few days — Anna and I were to wait here as the others worked to transport Bunker 84’s residents to Los Angeles. Makara said I needed the rest, but really, who didn’t? All this was just to keep me out of action, safe for a short while. When I pointed this out to Anna, she actually agreed with Makara.
It was only for a couple of days, so I agreed. Besides, the break would be nice.
By the second day, though, I was starting to get restless. I ran around the Outer Ring, at distances and speeds far greater than a few months ago. I felt I could run forever, if I wanted to. Anna worked out with me as well. We did pretty much everything together. Anna was basically a glorified babysitter, making sure I didn’t get too bored or restless before everyone else arrived.
I’d often stand in the observation deck in the Outer Ring. Surrounded by the manifold plants and crops that grew there, I’d watch Earth pass by. Each time I saw North America, it was the same story. The Great Blight had grown to dominate almost all of the Continental United States. Before, it had just been the central U.S. — but now that pink fungus stretched from sea to shining sea. Just a thin sliver of coastline remained free of Blight, on the eastern and western seaboards, and also along the Gulf Coast. I wondered if there was something about the sea that stopped the xenofungus.
“There you are.”
I turned to see Anna approach. She had just showered, and her long black hair was damp.
“Looking for me?”
“Maybe.”
She smiled and came to stand by me. We watched the Earth pass in silence. The cloud cover was too thick for me to tell where it was.
“Is this where you go to contemplate the end of the world?” she asked.
“I thought the world already ended.”
“You know what I mean.”
I grabbed her hands, pulling her close. There was a bench, facing the windows for Earth-viewing. I led her there, and we sat. While I sat, she leaned against me, resting her head on my shoulder.
This was the first real chance we had to be together without worrying about survival. We had these two days, at least, before…
“Don’t talk about it,” Anna said.
“How did you know I was…?”
“I felt your body tense up,” she said. “Just…don’t talk about it. If I could, we’d go down there.”
She pointed, where the port gave a view of a dazzling, azure sea, pockmarked with green islands.
“The tropics?” I asked.
“Somewhere that’s not so cold,” she said. “That was my dream; after all this ended, we could get everyone to move somewhere far away from the Wasteland. Somewhere safe, somewhere beautiful, so we could forget the ugliness we grew up with. Maybe, with time, we could all heal.” She sighed. “Everything changed when that Wanderer came around.”