by Kyle West
“I can lead,” I said. “However, that’s impossible if I’m kept in the dark about what’s going on.”
The two Elders shared an inscrutable look. “It was our decision to keep it from you until we were here,” Isandru said. “Forgive us. Our priorities have changed. We left Auberin and the Watch yesterday evening and made straight for here. Our goal now is to get you well as quickly as possible so that you can get back to leading this crew. Leading is impossible in your current state.”
“I actually agree with you,” I said. “If they have the means to heal me here, then I’m all for it. I just don’t like how it was handled.”
“Forgive us, then,” Isandru said. “We judged you to be in no state to lead or to even be completely lucid from the Aether. Indeed, Ret and Samal only reported your waking a few minutes ago, and you needed to rest. We are doing the best we can with the information we have, so when Pallos mentioned that they have the means in Shenshi to cure you . . . then there was no decision left to make.”
I realized then what I had just done. I was chastising two Elders of the Sanctum as if I had the right to do so—two Elders that were far wiser and more experienced than me.
It wasn’t right.
“I think I’m the one that needs to ask forgiveness,” I said. “You’re doing your best.”
“Think nothing of it,” Isandru said. “We’re going to land in Shenshi, where Pallos assures us you will receive the best of care.”
“And the dragons? What happened with that? Was it Isaru’s swarm?”
Tellor shook his head. “Another. Smaller. Perhaps a scouting party to get information on the Shen”
“And the Shen are just allowing us to land here?”
“Pallos hailed them on the radio,” Tellor said. “We’ve been cleared to land at their hospital. I’ve never seen a place like this. It’s incredible to behold.”
“I was here just weeks ago,” I said.
My memory of my meeting with Shen was still fresh. Shen, who wanted to defeat the Radaskim, but rule over what remained of humanity.
“I fear that this healing will come at a price.”
“If you are speaking of Shen,” Isandru said, “he has made no demands.”
“Not yet, anyway,” Tellor said. “But I think we are left with little choice. Pallos speaks of advanced healing methods that will make you as strong as before.”
It seemed too good to be true. Then again, I had seen Shenshi. Its tall buildings were something out of a fairytale, something I would have never believed existed before seeing them. They had flying ships and thinking machines, machines which were every bit as intelligent as a person, perhaps even more so.
In the face of all that, perhaps healing all my wounds and a broken arm was quite small in comparison.
“I suppose you’re right,” I said. “Though I do not want to rely on Shen overmuch.”
“None of us do, Shanti,” Isandru said. “The nature of the Shen Collective has . . . changed since my youth. They were advanced then . . . but they are more so now.” His gray eyes were troubled. “Unimaginably advanced.”
The thrum of the engines lowered, and I felt the ship slow.
Pallos’ voice exited the intercom. “We’re safely inside the barrier. Prepare for landing.”
I closed my eyes and waited for the ship to touch down. I must have dozed because the next thing I was aware of was being lifted. I opened my eyes to see Ret, Samal, and Nabea carrying me on a stretcher off the Odin. When the blast door opened, it was to reveal the city of Shenshi in the morning light. Tall, black buildings rose high on every side, and the cool wind gusted fiercely. There was gawking and impressed murmurs on the part of my crew, but the city went mostly ignored by Pallos, who took the lead. He stopped in front of two men dressed in gray vestments not dissimilar to what I wore myself.
The dome encompassing the city stretched above us, barely visible against the blue of the sky.
“We’re high up,” Nabea said. “I would have never thought a place like this could exist. It’s even taller than my family’s castle in Atlantea.”
“It’s like those stories about the Old World,” Samal said. “Except, none of those descriptions were as grand as this.”
The boys stopped talking once we’d caught up with Pallos. He nodded toward me. I was about to ask what was going on when Pallos turned to explain.
“You should be in treatment soon, but . . . we are faced with a choice. Either we allow you to heal conventionally, which will take several weeks . . .”
“What’s the other option?” I asked.
“You take some experimental Aether treatments. You’ll heal in days, but if your body can’t stand the shock, then it could cause more harm in the long run.”
I remembered the pool of Aether I’d immersed myself in at the Sphere in the Ruins. “I’ll be fine. Let’s do that.”
Pallos nodded. “As I thought.” He turned to face the rest of the group. “None of you may accompany her into the hospital. None but me. That the ship was even allowed to land is a concession from Shen himself. Normally, outsiders are never allowed into Shenshi.”
At the mere mention of Shen’s name, all the Shen present closed their eyes and bowed their heads in reverence.
“Why can’t we come with her?” Isandru asked.
“The technology of the Shen Empire must never leave this place . . . not even in the memories of its visitors.”
“We won’t tell,” Ret said.
“We should go now,” Pallos said ignoring him. “The airship is waiting.”
“You’ll need someone to carry her,” Samal said.
“We can handle that,” Pallos said. “I will return to report on her progress. Keep the ship here.”
“Like we can fly it,” Ret muttered.
Mia and Isa came to the stretcher, the former speaking, “I’m sorry we have to do this, Shanti.”
“I’ve been here before. I’ll be fine.”
“Be careful . . . such as you can be,” Mia said. “This is a dangerous place for an Elekai.”
“We must go,” one of the men meeting Pallos said.
Mia and Isa each gave me a quick hug before the stretcher was borne off.
“You better not let anything happen to her, Pallos!” Samal yelled. He was already far away.
“Yeah!” Nabea called. “You’ll have us to answer to!”
Pallos ignored them, and instead, looked down at me. “Don’t worry. It’s as much in our interest to get you well as it is theirs. You have nothing to fear.”
“This treatment . . . what’s involved?”
It took a moment for Pallos to answer. He seemed to be reluctant. “It is an Aether bath, essentially. You’ll be given a respirator.”
“I’ll be under it, then?”
Pallos nodded. “It’s different from the Aether that’s made among your people. The components are different. It’s a milder version. The method of refinement is a closely guarded secret. It’s far less crude than what the Elekai use. It’s a form that even a non-Elekai can use. All the poison has been removed.”
“It’s still dangerous, though.”
“Yes. Very much so. It’s only used when conventional medicine cannot help. We still have a choice, Shanti, to do it the long way.”
“Do it the fast way,” I said. “We don’t have the time. And I’m not afraid.”
In truth, though, I was. If this Aether was different than the kind I was used to, then it might affect me differently.
It had to work, though. If it didn’t, the entire Wild would be conquered by the time I got out of here.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
I FADED IN AND OUT of consciousness as the airship maneuvered between the high black towers of Shenshi. The moments of consciousness were punctuated with the pain of my injuries, stirring me to wakefulness. The times of darkness were filled with dreams of monsters and dragons while receiving those same wounds again. The darkness continued for a long while, and I sw
am through nightmares until, at last, I opened my eyes to find myself in a brightly lit room.
I began to panic when I realized I wasn’t actually in a room, but a room within a room. I was surrounded by glass on all sides. All was silent. There was something on my face; with my good arm, I reached up to touch. It seemed like some sort of breathing device.
I wanted to panic, but my training urged me instead toward Silence.
This is the treatment, I thought. They aren’t killing you.
Air rushed through the mouthpiece, absent of any smells or dust that could have come from the outside. It was clean air in the truest sense, without any impurity.
Several people watched me through the glass, wearing white coats, along with several of the humanoid mechs I had seen on my first trip to the city. Their forms were blurred through the glass.
“What’s happening?” I asked.
The words were muffled through the breathing tube. I’d be surprised if they could pick that up through the glass.
And then, there was a click. I jumped, but I could only squirm in my current position. I was restrained across my chest and legs. I couldn’t have escaped if I tried.
Silence, I thought.
The void kept me calm, even as a pink, swirling liquid started filling the tube from the bottom. The thick, gooey substance touched the bottom of my feet. It was warm as it crawled up my skin, ever higher, until it crept past my ankles.
This is the treatment, I thought. Don’t panic.
My skin began to tingle where the Aether touched. The tingling soon became a burning sensation, none too pleasant. And still, the Aether rose past my knees, to my hips, then my navel.
Someone stepped forward as the liquid rose higher. I recognized his long brown hair and wide face—it was Pallos.
I tried to say something . . . but I knew he couldn’t help me. He probably didn’t even know I was conscious. My eyes were barely open and the glass was blurred.
I tried to imagine that the Aether was warm water, even if it felt like anything but that. When that didn’t work, I pushed everything I was feeling outside of myself, feeding it to the Silence. I breathed slowly through the tube, even as the Aether burned past my neck like fire. People had died from this. If I could separate myself from the pain I might have a chance.
At last, I was fully inundated. I opened my eyes and could see images swirling in the pink. There was the city of Colonia, my home. There was Jorla dying of her wounds. There was a similar pink sea stretching to a dark horizon, at the end of which shone a light as bright as the sun. It was the Sea of Creation, and the light was the entrance to the Xenofold.
I was Anna from four hundred years ago, and Alex was about to leave me forever.
* * *
I saw his face, then, as if it were yesterday. “Alex?”
He nodded. His soft brown eyes gazed into mine. His hair was the same, brown and slightly tousled. His face was strong and sure. The eyes had seen pain, but love shone through them still.
“Don’t be afraid, Anna. I’m with you.”
“Are you really here?”
He nodded again. “Even if you can’t hear me, I’m here.”
“I’m so confused. I don’t know who I am anymore. The girl, Shanti . . . I’m starting to take over her life. I don’t know who is going to win. I don’t know if I want to win. None of it is fair . . . she didn’t ask for it. I didn’t ask for it.”
“I know,” he said. He reached forward. Though his hand touched me, I couldn’t feel it. I could only feel the fire.
“You’re starting to remember,” he said. “But you must step aside.”
“Step aside?”
“Give the girl everything you have. Don’t hold anything back. She needs your power, Anna. Without it . . . everything we worked so hard for is going to pass away. The Elekai will pass from the world and the Radaskim will reign supreme.”
“That will never happen!”
Alex looked at me sadly. “If it does . . . we may not have another moment together before the end.”
“Then I’ll have to fight with everything I have. I . . . just want you to hold me, more than anything.”
Alex smiled and stepped forward. He wrapped me in his arms, but I felt nothing of his embrace. He was like a ghost.
“It’s not fair,” I cried. “I had to watch you die. I had to live on after you, and when I went to join you, I spent almost four perfect centuries with you. Out of all of us who returned, I was the only one who had to leave.” I tried to gain control of myself. “At the time, I didn’t know how hard that would be.”
“You aren’t alone, Anna. The world needs you now.”
“It needs you, too.”
“But I must remain here.”
I sighed. “I know, my love.”
“You haven’t died yet, Anna. Only those who die can remain here forever. That is why you had to leave. If the Radaskim win, they will destroy the Xenofold, along with all the memories it holds. They will drain what remains of the Sea of Creation. The Sea of Destruction will do away with all that’s left.”
“I know all that.”
“That’s why you have to fight.”
I knew that, too. “I wish it didn’t have to be like this.”
Alex held his embrace. “I love you, Anna. I wish we’d had more time on Earth. Because of that . . . I want, more than anything, to spend eternity with you here.”
I could barely speak. “I want that, too.”
“Then fight,” he said. “Survive. Do what you came to do. Restore the power of the Sea of Creation. Restore my power.”
“But I don’t know how to destroy the Hyperfold,” I said. “Until then, all we can do is run. Rakhim and his dragons . . . they will destroy everything.”
“Talk to the Nameless One.”
“I tried, Alex. There was no light at the bottom of the lake.”
“He will return as the power of the Hollow fades. The Elder Dragons repressed him, but as that land returns to how it was before they came, he will reappear.”
“When?”
“You will know the time,” he said.
“How will I know that?”
“You will feel it in your heart. Always reflect on it, Anna. You will know.”
The words were still unclear, but I made myself nod. “I understand. I just . . . need to survive this.”
“I will give you the power to survive,” Alex said. “I will shelter you from the fire.”
Alex held me like that, and as good as his word, the fire receded from my skin.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
I OPENED MY EYES AND found only the surrounding pink Aether. Through the glass, I could see the people and mechs bustling around, as if in a panic.
What’s going on?
Then, there were bubbles from above as the Aether swirled down, draining from the vat. I felt myself pulled down with the current, but the restraints kept me in place. I stood there, dripping wet with the stuff.
Then, warm water showered down on me. I felt grime slide out of my hair and down my skin. I only now realized that I was naked.
I remembered Pallos standing in front of me before the treatment. I was sure I had clothes on then, but perhaps not.
A few minutes later, the shower stopped. I opened my eyes to see someone watching me through the blurred glass. They touched the outside of the vat, and a moment later, the door opened, revealing a short, spectacled woman whose black hair was done up in a bun.
“Marvelous,” she said. “Can you move your right arm.”
I did as she asked. To my surprise, I could move it with ease.
As the steam escaped the vat, I started to shiver. She held a blanket in her left hand, which she draped around my shoulders.
“Well done,” she said, enunciating her words clearly. Espan was clearly not her first language.
“I’m . . . healed?”
“You’ve seen for yourself,” the woman said. “Come. Sit on this examination table.”
I moved my arm, unbelieving that it had healed so completely. The only pain was from the residue of the Aether itself. It was as if sunburn covered the entirety of my body, but a mild one at that.
As bidden, I stepped out of the vat and onto the cold, linoleum floor. I sat on the examination table, facing the woman.
“How is this possible?” I asked.
“It is a very complicated procedure,” the woman said. “Never mind about that.”
“And who are you?”
She looked at me, her brown eyes magnified by her thick lenses. She had a warm, kind face and a light brown skin tone that seemed characteristic of many of the people here.
“I’m Dr. Xiao.”
She offered no more than this.
“Can you explain the process to me, anyway?”
“I doubt you could understand it with your lack of education.” I didn’t know if Dr. Xiao was being rude or matter of fact. “Stay still.”
She proceeded to examine me from head to toe. I tried to be comfortable with the entire process, but I was very aware of my nakedness under the blanket. Dr. Xiao lifted what appeared to be a shiny glass screen in front of her, filled with words and moving images.
“That’s a computer, right?” I asked.
Dr. Xiao looked up from it. “Pardon?”
Surely, it was. I remembered Isaru talking about them back in the bunker we had found on our way to Hyperborea. I was surrounded by technological marvels, but for some reason, I found that one the most interesting.
“A computer. Yours looks smaller than the ones I’ve seen.”
“Oh, this,” Dr. Xiao said. “All the doctors get one. It’s a smaller type of computer that you can carry around. I’m not sure the word for it in your language, or even if you have a word. We use it to enter records and look up information.
“I see,” I said.
“And how are you feeling?”
“Fine,” I said. “My skin feels like it’s burning, though.”
“That’s normal,” she said, “for those who’ve survived the Aether tank. It should go away within a few hours.”