by Kyle West
Now that I had the sword, the guard’s attacks became more panicked, but finding a way to make the new sword work in Treeform took some adjustment. Even so, it was almost too easy. I had plenty of opportunities to press the attack, and with Shara helping me, it wouldn’t be long until he couldn’t defend himself.
All of a sudden, he dropped the sword and raised his hands in surrender.
Shara took his blade, quickly. We waited a few seconds to be sure he had truly given up.
“Remove your armor,” I said. “You have ten seconds.”
The guard hesitated, then moved suddenly. Too suddenly.
In tandem, Shara and I both crashed our blades into the mail, which gave off flashes of light. The mail cracked across the chest and fell, piece by piece, until the man’s heaving chest was revealed. He was knocked backward, dropping the knife he’d reached for in the process.
Shara, without a second’s hesitation, stabbed him directly in the abdomen.
More guards were coming, still out of sight around the corner. The entire fight had taken place in under a minute, but it had seemed far longer.
Shara and I didn’t waste any time, running down the hall and losing ourselves in the Palace’s seemingly infinite corridors. I let Shara take the lead, and I followed her through the maze of halls, staircases, and open archways. The enormity of the Palace was mind-boggling, and at times we passed rows of windows that overlooked the massive city below. From time to time, there were screams in the corridors, and the shouting of the Palace guards. I understood that they were trying to track us down, but how had other people been dragged into it?
And that was when, turning a corner, we almost ran right into Isaru, Mia, and Isandru, who stared at us with widened eyes. Mia was the first to speak.
“Anna?”
Now, it was my turn to be surprised – even more surprised than I was already. Before I could correct her or explain, Isandru stepped forward, placing himself between us and his sister, even as Isaru hugged me in a very rare show of affection. I was completely stunned, because it had only been a few hours since I’d last seen him, but for him, it had been two months.
“Easy there,” I said. “We’ll have time to catch up later.”
“It’s...so good to see you. I was worried something might have happened...”
“Who is this, Shara?” Isandru said. “Is this...?”
“Yes. It’s her.”
“She looks just like her,” Mia said, wonderingly. “We meet at last. In person.”
Looking at her, the feeling was all too surreal. And there was no time to take everything in or make sense of it. I next looked at Isandru, whose familiarity, despite being young, was bewildering. The fact that he was uncommonly handsome certainly didn’t help, either. Somehow, I hadn’t noted that fact during my dreams of Mia.
“We can’t stay here,” I said, finally. “I was trying to find Rakhim, because I was afraid he was holding you all. And we do need to confront him at some point.”
Mia grabbed my hand, and the gesture surprised me; it was as if she already knew me, even if I had never spoken to her. “Everything Shara has told us has come to pass. I...didn’t know what to believe, but to see you here, returned, after all the prophecies and visions...” She looked at me adoringly, as if she were looking at a god. It made me a little uncomfortable, but that was exactly the case. She had grown up her whole life thinking I was a deity and it would take time to set that straight.
“We just need to get out of here,” I said. “We all have a lot to catch up on. Is there a safe place we can go to talk?”
“Of course,” Mia said. “I know just the place.”
“Lead us,” I said.
Mia jumped to obey. Now I was absolutely sure she did see me as a goddess. Apparently, neither Shara nor Isaru had said anything to the contrary. Perhaps they did, and it hadn’t worked.
We followed Mia down the corridor at a run. She led us into an empty part of the Palace, until we came to a flight of stairs we started down. It grated me that she moved so slow compared to the rest of us, but her dress was probably hampering her movement...and considering how bulky it was, with its rainbow of hems cascading down, it was a surprise that she could move that fast at all. All the same, I followed last, looking around every landing to make sure the coast was clear.
And still, the stairs continued. The air was becoming cooler as we descended. The rich trappings of the Palace were replaced with bare, gray stones that looked like something out of a dungeon. There were no more windows, and I got the sense that we were deep underground.
“How far down does this go?” I asked.
“This is the Endless Stair,” Mia said. “Not truly endless, but it enters the Caverns of Creation itself.”
“The Caverns of Creation?” I asked.
“The location of the Sea,” Isandru said.
I was struck by Isandru’s voice. Hearing its familiarity, while also being young, was very strange. I was still having trouble wondering how I would bring up the fact that I knew him...the future him.
“Shara,” I whispered, so that the others couldn’t hear. The siblings both turned to watch, curious, but I still spoke so that they couldn’t hear. “Is this truly the Hyperfold? It’s so real that it almost feels as if we’ve stepped into the past.”
“It is the Hyperfold,” Shara said. “Isaru and I are sure of it.”
Mia and Isandru continued to lead the way quietly, but I could tell they wanted to know what we were talking about. I decided not to ask any further questions. That conversation was going to be a hard one, if Mia and Isandru didn’t already know about it.
The stairs, after a very long time, ended in a long, rocky tunnel that sloped its way downward. It would have been dark had it not been for the pink-glowing xen lamps lighting the way.
“The Palace is connected to the Sea of Creation?” I asked.
Mia nodded. “Yes. It’s not just the Sea down here, though. The Caverns of Creations extend for miles and are a literal maze. Shal will never find us down here if we don’t want him to.”
We followed the long, winding corridor in silence. The air was cool and damp, and the rocky floor and walls soon became coated thickly with glowing xen. The tunnel widened, until it could be more aptly described as a cavern. Glittering stalagmites and stalactites gleamed in the otherwise dimly lit underground, while several joined in columns of majestic beauty. The cavern was quiet, clearly empty, and only grew larger the further we walked.
There was no trail, though evenly spaced poles marked the way, which we followed. If it weren’t for those poles, it would have been easy to get lost among the thousands of stalagmites and rock formations.
A memory suddenly struck me of being here, and it filled me with dread. Or, rather, the memory flashing through my mind had been one of dread. I remembered walking through this cavern, this darkness, knowing full and well that I wasn’t going to be able to escape – and more importantly, that the one I was with wouldn’t be able to escape.
Who had I been with, though? I couldn’t remember, but the feeling was powerful, and nothing I had ever felt before except in deep memory. Something too deep for words to describe.
As suddenly as the memory came, it was gone.
“This is the last rise,” Mia said, so quietly that I almost couldn’t hear her.
When we crested the final bit of ground, it was to see a narrow sea far below, bright and glowing and pink. I gasped at the sight. It was small – so much smaller than it was when Isaru, Fiona, and I had entered the reversion north of the Sanctum. It had to be only a quarter of the size. It sloped down far before reaching the thin, snaky Sea, and the light it produced was far less than when I had last seen it.
And, in the distance, was a bright, shining light...and extending upward from it was a long, tree-like substance. It shot up until it reached the cavern top, where the rest of it was lost.
“The Xenofont,” I said.
“The death of us,”
Mia said. “They won’t listen. None of them will. They harvest the ichor here and turn it into Aether. The whole city is addicted to it.” She shook her head solemnly. “There are far too many people who depend on it, now. And when the Sea goes, it will all be over. Not even the Elder Dragons will save us. Not when they warned us all those years ago.”
I was surprised to see that she was close to tears. But if my own knowledge was any indication, her fight would be for nothing. And of course, if this reality – this dream – of Hyperborea simulated what actually happened, then of course it would be for nothing.
“Don’t think your fight goes unnoticed,” I said. “In the future...people will remember you. Hyperborea will always live in memory, and not only for bad.”
She looked at me, and now she was crying. “How do I stop it? Is there anything we can do to save the city? That’s...that’s why you’ve returned, right? I know you’re Anna. I know your voice. You’ve spoken to me in my dreams.”
How to even explain? I looked at both Shara and Isaru, but neither could help me here. It would have to come from me.
“This is going to be difficult to say. I...don’t even know where to begin. I am who you say that I am, but in a way...I’m also not.”
Mia frowned. “What do you mean?”
I looked at Shara and Isaru, taking them both in at a glance. “How much do they know?”
Now, Isandru and Mia were both looking at them. Isaru was the first to answer. “We kept back what was necessary. We never lied, but we also didn’t tell the full story. Perhaps now is a good time tell it...so that we’re all on the same page.”
Mia and Isandru looked at them questioningly. They hadn’t been aware there was more to it than whatever Isaru and Shara had let on...all of which I was in the dark about.
“This is going to be hard to explain, so I need to know what Isaru and Shara have told you so far.”
“They told us that you were coming,” Mia said. “And here you are!”
Her saying that triggered the memory of my final dream. I looked at Isaru and Shara. “You were the ones in my dream! The Heralds of Annara, right?”
“How did you know about that?” Isaru asked. “We thought of that only because we knew it would get us to Mia and Isandru. And we did think you were coming, although we were starting to wonder...”
“Wait,” Mia said. “You saw that? What else have you seen?”
“That’s where it ended for me,” I said. “I’ve...had visions of your life, Mia. Nothing intrusive, mind you. But it feels as if I know you. It’s...strange.”
I went on to explain, briefly, all the visions I’d had. Her eyes widened with surprise every bit of the way.
“It’s true!” she said. “All of it. No one could have known all that! I can do the same for the prophecies you’ve given to me.”
“That’s the thing, though,” I said. “I don’t remember any of those prophecies.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“I am Anna, but it’s a bit more complicated than that.”
“Is this all some trick?” Isandru asked.
“No, it’s no trick,” Mia said. “She looks exactly like the Anna of my dreams, and what she knew, no one else but me could. But I’m confused...how can you not remember the things you told me?”
“I’ll...try to explain. In the future, Anna returns. Only, she returns without her memories because of the Sea of Creation.” I paused, trying not to lose them both. “I am Anna. But I grew up most of my life not knowing that. My real name is Shanti. Shanti Roshar. I was born in Colonia three hundred and eighty-three years after the Ragnarok War.
Mia did some quick math in her head. “Gods...that would be...”
“Over a century and a half, yes,” I said. “I know.”
“If that’s true, then how is it that you’re here?”
Now, came the hard part. She was accepting this remarkably well, but Isandru looked skeptical. I didn’t blame him in the least.
“This is where the news will be especially hard to accept. Shara and Isaru are both my friends. We’ve known each other for a while.”
“In the future, you mean.”
I nodded. “Yes. But the future is not really the future.”
Now, Mia’s eyes were not understanding.
“We’re actually in the same time period, you and me. It’s just...”
It was so hard to say. How to tell someone their entire world wasn’t even real? How could anyone accept that as truth?
I had never been receiving visions from the past, as I had originally believed, but from this place. The Hyperfold.
Both Isandru and Mia still appeared mystified, but suddenly, Isandru’s face darkened. He understood.
Seeing this, Mia looked at him. “What? What is it?”
“Our world isn’t real.” His light gray eyes turned to me. They were absolutely haunting. “This is the Hyperfold. Isn’t it?”
I made myself nod, but I was startled at how quickly he had figured that out.
“What are you saying?” Mia asked. “How do you know that...?”
“...This world isn’t real? That nothing in it matters?”
“I’m not saying it doesn’t matter,” I said. “From what I have seen...everything here is exactly as it would have been in your own time. You are just...reliving it.”
“How is that possible?”
“The Hyperfold exists here as well, right?” I asked. At Mia’s nod, I continued. “In the real world...the real past...the city of Hyperborea was destroyed. It was the Shen, as you and Elder Marius thought, but it only came after the Sea was irrevocably damaged. The war caused the Sea to lose the last of its ichor, and in the present day, all that is left of the Sea, what little it manages to generate, goes into feeding this place. This reality.”
Mia looked to Isaru and Shara, both of whom nodded.
“It’s true,” Isaru said. “All of it is true.”
Mia blinked. She looked completely stunned and at a loss for words.
“I told myself I’d accept whatever you said as the truth. But this...I never imagined this. Of course, with the creation of the Hyperfold, many people speculated whether it was possible that we lived in our own simulation, but we had no way of testing it.” She looked at me again. “And you’re saying it’s true?”
“It has to be,” Isandru said. “She has seen inside it from the outside, like looking through a window. It’s possible for someone to speak into the future. That is how prophecy works. But speaking into the past...that is impossible. The only conclusion is that we are in the same time period as they are. We are a world within a world.”
“What’s more,” I said, “Shal spoke to me while I was outside this place.”
“Shal?” Mia asked. “What did he have to say?”
“He said that he was the one who saved everyone in Hyperborea from certain doom at the hands of the Shen. He had hoped to preserve everyone’s memories and re-create them within the Sea of Creation. The tragedy lay in the fact that to keep the Hyperfold active, the Sea couldn’t replenish itself to regrow. So it exists today, but only just. The Red Wild is rotting from the inside out. Within a few years, it will most likely be uninhabitable.”
Mia’s eyes were still unbelieving, and her features demonstrated that there was an internal war waging within her.
“We’ve seen the ruins,” Shara said, quietly. “Broken towers. Collapsed bridges. Stones that have not been stirred for decades. The forest remains, but it’s not as it was in this place. The city is a wasteland, and the only thing somewhat intact is the Tower of Shal itself...and of course, the Thought Dome.”
“Then it is according to my prophecy,” Mia said. “I would never have imagined...”
“In my vision,” I continued, “Shal expressed regret that he couldn’t save everyone. That he had made a mistake. He also said I was the only one who could forge a link between this place and the Xenofold. With this link...everyone trapped here can join the
Xenofold.”
“Because in the real world...we are dead.”
Mia’s face lowered. The sight was heart-wrenching, to the point where I was wondering whether I had made a terrible mistake in telling them all this. Maybe it would have been better to not tell them the truth at all.
At the same time, I did need their help. If I was going to be confronting Shal, I needed it.
“As strange as it sounds,” Isandru said, “it does make perfect sense. I could say that you are not who you say you are, but that is obviously not true. There is no way that you could have known Mia’s dreams to the extent that you do, not unless you yourself have met Elder Marius and extorted the information from him.”
“She knew things even he wouldn’t have known,” Mia said. “She is telling the truth. I hate it, but she is.”
“It is an opportunity to right a wrong that has occurred for one hundred and fifty years,” Shara said. “I am not Elekai, but you will return to the Xenofold if this can be done. If Shanti can form a link between this place and the Xenofold.”
“The Tower of Shal was designed as such,” Mia said. “But it is also something else. My prophecies have mentioned that it is also a Beacon.”
“What kind of Beacon?” Isaru asked.
“To something dark and evil,” Mia said. “That is the extent of my knowledge.”
My mind returned to the vision I had received in the reversion, what seemed so long ago. The Wanderer had spoken of the Radaskim, of Askala. Of Xenofall.
“I think I might have an idea?” Everyone turned to look at me. “It’s Xenofall. Xenofall and the Second Darkness are the same thing. The Radaskim are returning, and that Beacon must be communicating with them...their return marks the event that will cause the Second Darkness. That is exactly it. And...”
My mind raced. Memories were returning to me like a flood.
“She’s remembering,” Isaru said, wonderingly. “You’re remembering, right?”
Shara gestured to shush him, but none of that mattered. I had it. The full truth.
“The Ragnarok War happened almost four hundred years ago, in our time. And that’s just it. Four hundred years.”