Kingdom

by Kyle West

  “Will you guys be all right handling the Sanctum on your own?”

  Fiona chuckled. “You’re worried about Haris?”

  “He doesn’t scare me,” I said. “I just know he wants to hinder me. If he can take a chance to stop me, he will.”

  “Leave him to us,” Fiona said. “Isandru is right. The best Clerics in the Wild are at the Sanctum. People travel from all over for healing that only they can provide.”

  “What good is going there if they keep us from leaving?”

  “Elder Arminius would not allow it,” Fiona said. “Something tells me he has our back.” She turned the knob of the door. “Sleep well. I’ll wake you when we’re there.”

  “Thanks, Fiona.”

  She left the room, shutting the door behind.

  Once she was gone, it felt empty. Though I knew the others were on the ship doing their assigned duties, I still felt alone. Alone, and very weak.

  Rather than cry, I reached for Silence. As Fiona had tried, I reached out as far as I could, trying to sense Isaru.

  There was nothing.

  Perhaps she was right. Perhaps he wasn’t here. But if not here . . . then where?

  Something told me it was tied to the Nameless One . . . the Nameless One I was soon going to see. He had sent me a message.

  It was time to meet with him.

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  I SWAM THROUGH DARK DREAMS, haunted by visages of dragons, Isaru, and fire. I saw every city I knew burning—Colonia, Atlantea, Northold . . . even Savannah. Smoke clouded the sky, obscuring the sun, as people below ran and screamed. I saw Isaru standing in the fires, white eyes glowing . . .

  I was startled awake by something touching my shoulder.

  “Shanti . . . we’re here.”

  It took a moment for reality to register. Opening my eyes, I could see Mia standing next to my bed.

  “We’re here?”

  She nodded. “Yes. Let me help you stand . . .”

  With those words, I was reminded of my pain . . . my horrible pain. “Just . . . let me sleep. Please?”

  “We’ve landed right outside the Sanctum,” she said. “A contingent is already here to receive you. Isandru is speaking with them now.”

  I’d slept right through the landing—that went to show just how truly exhausted I was.

  Outside in the wardroom, I heard the blast door open, followed by the muffled voices.

  “They’re being let on board?” I asked.

  Before Mia could respond, several Seekers were standing in the doorway, only one of whom I recognized. One was a woman with shoulder-length brown hair and kind eyes. She was flanked on either side by two other Seekers, both men, one with a trim brown beard and the other bald and thin.

  “Seeker Karai,” I managed. “Long time, no see.”

  “Initiate Shanti,” she said, looking at me with troubled brown eyes. “I hardly recognize you.”

  She came to my bedside and placed a hand on my arm. With her other hand, she gestured for the other Seekers waiting outside to do the same. They stood in silence over me, seeming to feel for something.

  “I don’t need to come inside the Sanctum?”

  “No, Isandru was insistent you stay here. Everything we need is being brought here,” Karai paused thoughtfully. “Even Elder Draeus will be here soon.”

  Elder Draeus led the Clerics of the Sanctum. I could only wonder if he was to be trusted, but if Isandru invited him, then it had to be good enough for me.

  Karai pulled away, followed by the other two Clerics. “It’s bad,” she said. “Beyond my powers to heal completely.” She frowned. “I suspected as much. Dragon saliva is highly acidic . . . almost as much as a human’s stomach acid. Even a few minutes’ exposure is enough for a lifetime of scarring. From the time you were exposed to the time you were cleaned off, you had been exposed for at least a quarter hour, from what Elder Isandru told me.” Karai turned to one of her associates. “I’m going to need Aether. Our very purest.”

  “Seeker Karai . . .” I said, about to make a protest. But then I thought of what it would feel like to take it again and kept my mouth shut.

  “Never you mind, dear,” she said. “The pain will be intense, and it would be best if we could work by putting you into a deep sleep. That way, you will not feel anything.”

  One of the men handed her a vial of Aether, which she took. It was more than what Isandru had given me. I had the strangest urge to reach out and grab it from her.

  “Have you used Aether before?” she asked.

  “Yes,” I said.

  “Then you are aware of how it feels,” Karai said. “It is important to note this: after using Aether, you cannot use it again for a week. If you do, your chance to become dependent on the drug shoot up exponentially. Now, I have to ask . . . have you used Aether any time in the last week?”

  “Err . . . yes, actually.”

  “And when was this?”

  “. . . Yesterday.”

  “Yesterday.” Karai frowned. “What we are going to do will be very painful, and I’m afraid that the pain of it will send you into shock, complicating things further. The only solution that I can see is to give you the Aether, it is the best way to achieve direct and reliable results.”

  “Let’s get on with it, then.”

  “However,” Karai said, “I cannot let you leave the Sanctum in good conscience. After a second burn of Aether, you will almost certainly seek it out again on your own . . . at least until the memory of it fades. One burn, a strong person can resist, but two . . . even the most strong-willed will fall without outside help.”

  “What do you mean by burn?” I asked.

  “It refers to how it feels when it’s in your system,” Karai said. “It’s reported to feel like fire, but without the pain.”

  “I see,” I said. “But I must leave the Sanctum once we’re done here, Seeker Karai. I don’t know what’s happened at the Sanctum since I’ve been gone, but much has happened in my life. I am Anna returned, and I’m needed somewhere critically after this. You must heal me as best as you can. But I can’t stay. There is too much required of me.”

  “Shanti . . . I cannot—”

  “If you cannot,” I said, “then I must seek alternative treatment.”

  “The best treatment you can find in the world is here!”

  “Then heal me,” I said. “Just know that in doing so, I cannot be asked to stay.”

  “If you leave,” Karai said, “you will seek out Aether again. It will consume you, and it will destroy you.” Karai looked at me sternly. “Even the best and brightest of us are not immune. Don’t think I don’t know. It is an open secret among the Seekers concerning Elder Isandru’s . . . condition. Who do you think it was who supplied him with the stuff? The Clerics. It was seen that giving it to him was the lesser evil than keeping it away from him. He said the same thing too, Shanti. That he had too much to do, that without Aether, the effects would be far worse. Perhaps he was right. But I want to prevent that if I can.”

  “I understand where you’re coming from.”

  “Then it’s settled?”

  “I’m afraid so, yes. Thank you, Seeker Karai. I apologize for having wasted your time.”

  Her eyes widened. “What? You can’t leave here! Without treatment, it will only get worse! Do you think the acid isn’t still eating away at your skin? What will happen when it reaches your veins and returns to your heart? It is poison, Shanti. Without immediate treatment, you will die!”

  “And the world will die if I am forced to be a prisoner here!” I said, my voice rasping. “The fight against Aether that comes after will have to be my fight. If I had the time, yes, I would stay. But I simply do not. Even if you can’t understand my position . . . I just ask that you trust what I’m saying. Ask anyone else on board this ship. Ask why Fiona gave up her life here to follow me. Eventually, everyone will have to make that decision, not just her and the ones who chose to follow me. You’re with me or
you’re not. The Radaskim won’t care when they return, when Xenofall comes.”

  “Stop.” Karai held up a hand. “I can’t make sense of what you say, Initiate, but I cannot allow you to leave here without healing. Let it be as you say.” She held up the vial Mia handed to her. “Drink this. All of it.”

  “It’s a lot,” I said. “I’ve never—”

  “You’re going to need it. It isn’t just for your own benefit. We will also be drawing that power when we lay hands on you. You will wake when you are ready to wake.”

  I nodded weakly. “Okay.”

  Seeker Karai handed the vial to me. I looked at it only a moment before tipping it back into my mouth—better to get it over with quickly.

  There was no taste, just pure, warm sliminess crawling down my throat, seeming to vibrate in my stomach as if it were something alive.

  “When you feel something, tell us.”

  I nodded and waited. “It feels warm in my stomach.”

  “The first sign,” Karai said. “Wait until it spreads. When it reaches your head . . .”

  And then, there was a rush—elation, fire. I felt as if I had never been truly alive until this point. Yes, I still felt the pain, but it was nothing in comparison to my incomparable joy. I felt invincible. I wanted nothing more than to dance.

  “Her eyes have whitened,” one of the Seekers said.

  “Shanti?” Karai asked.

  “Yes,” I said. “It’s working.”

  At this moment, the door opened again, admitting the swarthy Elder Draeus in his white Elder’s robes.

  “Now we can begin in earnest,” Karai commanded.

  “Relax, Shanti,” Elder Draeus said. “Close your eyes.”

  I did as I was told. As the fire spread through me, I felt as if I were floating.

  The two other Seekers gathered around, until all four stood around my bed. Four pairs of hands were placed on me, two pairs for each arm. Cold shock poured through my body, as if I were being filled with ice water.

  I gasped and fell back on my pillow, my heart racing, fire and ice battling within me.

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

  I WAS FLOATING IN THE dark space, in the same spot where there was a transition from the Hyperfold to the real world. This was where we had lost Isaru. This was where all our troubles began.

  And yet, it was empty. I was floating above the Earth, a sea of stars stretched in every direction.

  Where are you? I thought.

  I am here. I am coming.

  The dark voice I’d heard in my dreams. Who are you?

  The voice came back in a hideous whisper. Soon . . . you will know. Soon . . . you will know fear.

  You think you can scare me?

  Your world is mine.

  The stars winked out, one by one, until I was left in total darkness. Looking down at the Earth, it too had gone dark.

  All your friends will die. Isaru is only the beginning. I know the names of all you love.

  Not if I can stop you.

  If, human. If.

  Why are you wasting time with our world? Why can’t you just leave us alone?

  All must fall into thralldom. All must be slaves of the Radaskim. All must bow to Odium of the Dark!

  An unseen force slammed into me. I was falling into darkness and horrors of the unknown consumed my mind—fires and destruction rained on countless worlds.

  The epoch of the Radaskim draws nigh.

  I will stop you! I said.

  You might as well stop the spin of the galaxies, puny weakling, for you would have a greater chance of success. Your world is woefully unprepared, and its secrets are already mine. You have been betrayed.

  You’re lying, I said. No one has betrayed us.

  There was Kachar, my vessel. He has engineered the fall of what you call the Eastern Kingdoms. There was Rakhim, most useful indeed. He will engineer the fall of the Elekai tribes. There are more, working their doom, fracturing already fractured people. When we come . . . and we will come soon, it will be to a world divided, a world weakened.

  We will see about that, I said.

  I can sense you don’t even believe your own words. Even you know we cannot be defeated. Look upon my host, human. Look, and despair.

  That was when I saw it. Thousands of floating . . . things, like giant balloons, blotting out the stars, long tendrils floating behind. Whether living or dead, I couldn’t say. I had never seen anything like this. There were hundreds, thousands, maybe even more.

  They sleep, Odium said. They dream of blood. When they wake, they will feast. When they wake, it will be under an alien sun. You cannot even defeat a few hundred dragons. Perhaps you might try your hand at defeating tens of thousands?

  Even if I didn’t want to believe it, somehow, I knew it was completely true. Those vessels . . . or whatever they might be called, were moving slowly forward. Slowly toward Earth.

  There need not be death, human. Join me, and I can guarantee your station among the Radaskim. Wonders abound, and there is power untold. A bargain I offer, far greater than the scraps I offered Rakhim or Kachar. Far more than Mithras. Far more than Haris.

  Haris?

  Yes, Odium said. A most useful tool to destroy the Seekers, to keep them from following you. Run to them, human. Tell them. See if they believe you.

  Odium cackled . . . I knew that was not a sound he could naturally make, and it showed. It was utterly alien and chilling.

  I will believe nothing you tell me, I said. Next, you’ll say my friends are going to betray me.

  You’re right. If I said as much, you would not believe me. But you and your friends are painfully weak. You cannot hope to compare to me or the swarms at my command. Surrender, and I offer you a place at my side. The power of Anna, the power of Odium, as one! All Earth shall be yours to command, and the Radaskim will never trouble you again.

  Now that’s a lie, I said. We would be your slaves.

  Slaves exalted above all others. The alternative is abject subjugation. Anna . . . you returned to save the world. This would be a way to save it. I will not offer this again.

  I will never make a deal with you, I said. Even if I wanted to, I would never trust you to uphold your end.

  As a sign of good faith . . . I can return Isaru. I can undo all the work I’ve done. My underlings will despair at being denied the promised feast, but your cooperation is an even greater prize.

  I will never join you, Odium.

  If you do not . . . then you will die. You will die utterly and painfully, and you will scream for mercy, and your screams will be music to me. In your time of darkness, when you cry for mercy, there shall be none. Only untold pain, hellish pain, legions of my demons to consume your flesh.

  I will destroy you, Odium!

  Said the fly to the god, Odium taunted. And like a fly, I will crush you utterly.

  There was sudden pain—fiery, searing pain that consumed my flesh.

  I screamed, and Odium laughed.

  CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

  AND I AWOKE SCREAMING.

  “SHE’S awake,” someone said. “How—”

  “Finish it,” Karai commanded. “Quickly!”

  The fire came again and I screamed, arching my back. Whatever they were doing to me, it wasn’t healing. It was fire.

  “A bit of the power left in her,” one of the Seekers said. “Enough for one more.

  “She can’t take another surge,” he said. “We’ll kill her.”

  “She’ll die without it!” Karai said. “Now!”

  Another shock went through me, a shock that never seemed to end. I was blinded by the pain. It was as if every square inch of my body was being stabbed by searing hot knives, over and over. It felt as if I had been inundated in magma. I felt consciousness recede as my blood boiled.

  And then, slowly, the heat went away. I was crying, screaming, panting, gasping for air; my skin felt as if it was being doused with ice water, spreading through all my limbs. I opened my eyes, but c
ouldn’t see.

  “Calm,” Karai said. “Reach for Silence, Initiate. The point of Stillness.”

  I did as I was told. To my surprise, Silence was easy to find. I held it for as long as they continued to heal me, hour after hour. I kept trying to slip away, but I maintained my hold, never minding my mental exhaustion.

  I held and held, until at last . . . I lost all my strength. I slipped into unconsciousness.

  * * *

  I awoke sometime later. When I opened my eyes, my cabin seemed to be empty . . . and there was no more fire, no more pain. I sat up in bed with a great deal of effort. I examined my skin. It was splotchy, scaly. But it was whole. I moved my arm, only feeling a slight sting in my skin that was manageable.

  Next, I felt my face and my hair. My face was rough, but all the wounds had been pulled together through the healing. My hair was still just stubble. Still, I hadn’t seen what I looked like.

  Still, I didn’t want to know.

  They had been right. They had healed me, but not completely. Any movement that was too severe was going to pain me. In a fight, that would be distracting. I would need to depend on my meditation even more to avoid the effects of the pain.

  And then, it hit me—a ravenous hunger such as I had never known.

  The hunger impelled me to stand and go for the door, clutching my stomach.

  I pushed it open, only to see Isandru conferring with the Clerics, including Karai. Karai’s eyes widened upon seeing me.

  “She needs food,” she said.

  “We have some leftovers from dinner,” Mia said. “I can—”

  “Hurry,” Karai said. “Give her twice . . . no, three times . . . as much as you would normally.”

  Mia nodded frantically. “Of course.”

  I was still stumbling toward the galley, never minding the sight I must have looked to the others.

  “Shanti, come sit. You need to preserve your energy.”

  The other two Clerics came forward, guiding me to the table. They seated me gently, but sternly.