Aberration

by Kyle West

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Also by Kyle West

  Map

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Chapter 62

  Chapter 63

  Chapter 64

  Chapter 65

  Chapter 66

  Chapter 67

  Chapter 68

  Chapter 69

  Chapter 70

  Chapter 71

  Chapter 72

  Chapter 73

  Chapter 74

  Chapter 75

  Chapter 76

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Also by Kyle West

  Glossary

  ABERRATION

  The Xenoworld Saga, Book 7

  Kyle West

  Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2019 Kyle West

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

  First e-book edition, December 2019

  Want to know when my next book comes out? Sign up for my mailing list!

  Also by Kyle West

  Post-Apocalyptic/Dystopian

  The Wasteland Chronicles

  Apocalypse

  Origins

  Evolution

  Revelation

  Darkness

  Extinction

  Xenofall

  Post-Apocalyptic/Fantasy

  The Xenoworld Saga

  Prophecy

  Bastion

  Beacon

  Sanctum

  Kingdom

  Dissolution

  Aberration

  Chapter 1

  The Tower of Shal stood tall, quiet, and lonely under a veil of snow and a slate gray sky. Light no longer emanated from its pointed peak, the first physical sign that the Hyperfold no longer communed with Odium of the Dark. That tower had formed the bridge between the Xenomind and Rakhim Shal’s abomination. Now, that the Hyperfold was gone, the Tower served no purpose.

  But far to the south, Odium still lurked. Perhaps the Hyperfold had been destroyed, but doing so had only delayed the inevitable. The battle for Earth had still to be fought.

  We flew our dragons through Hyperborea’s decaying towers, between which the wind howled, carrying with it shards of ice and snow. The despondent streets and alleys had never looked bleaker, nor more sinister, than in the gloom of this winter morning.

  Though the resplendent, ichor-woven clothing made for me by the Sea was warm enough, my face and ears were stinging with the first bite of winter. We were soon soaring over the snow-wrapped forest west of the city, above the Highbridge leading to the Thought Dome, which rose above the bridge’s terminus. Its color was faded and anemic, where before it had glowed.

  Before the Thought Dome’s entrance stood Shara and Isa’s tent, its veneer buffeted by the wind. Isaru and I’s time in the Hyperfold had only taken minutes for us. For them, however, it had been several weeks. A pile of firewood had been stacked against the tent’s side, while only ashes of an old cookfire remained in front of it.

  The four of us landed our dragons between the camp and the Thought Dome’s entrance. I walked ahead while the rest followed behind. I stared at it a moment before reaching out in an attempt to feel its power. I had to make sure it was truly gone.

  But all I felt was a gaping emptiness, deeper than even that of a reversion. It gnawed at me from within. Was something still inside, causing that feeling?

  “It’s dead, now,” Shara said. “Has been since yesterday.”

  Isa’s piping voice sounded jarring, given the circumstances. “We saw the light go out as it happened.”

  I turned my head toward them. “I have to make sure. This’ll only take a couple of minutes.”

  Silence met these words. They probably thought I was being stubborn. That I didn’t believe them.

  Well, let them believe that. I didn’t want to take any chances.

  Shara, seeming to understand, gave a nod of acceptance, though her green eyes were worried. “All right. I’ll wait out here, if you don’t mind.”

  “Me, too,” Isa said, wrapping her thick, winter cloak around her tighter. “Might get a blaze going if it’s going to be awhile.”

  “This shouldn’t take long,” I said.

  “I’ll have a look, too,” Isaru said, coming forward. Though his face was resolute, I could detect a trace of fear behind his gray eyes. “If that’s all right.”

  I gave a slow nod. To tell the truth, I was relieved he was coming. Surely, he felt that emptiness, just as I did. That should have been all the answer I needed, but I had come this far. I wanted to see what our sacrifices had bought us.

  This is where Isandru died, I thought. This is where Mia died. This is where Alex . . .

  No. I had to believe he was still alive. If he wasn’t . . .

  I stopped cold. My thought, or hers? I pushed the thought down. Better to get this over with quickly.

  Such was my hesitation that Isaru went ahead of me. He reached the Thought Dome’s outer, permeable barrier first, holding up a hand and pushing himself through. He slipped beyond the sheer surface. I followed him through easily enough, trading the frigid winter air of Ragnarok Crater for the sterile coolness of the Dome’s interior.

  Once inside, I was struck by two things; the darkness, and the silence. The barrier blocked all sounds from outside, while in the center, there was no nova of light released by the Hyperfold’s Point of Origin. Nothing could be seen save the dull, milky glow of the walkway. The silence was absolute, deeper than mere quiet. It was the quiet of space, of nonexistence. It felt as if any sound would only be swallowed by that silence.

  It would only take minutes to go mad in such a place.

  A phantasm of Shal’s emaciated form appeared before my eyes, his eyes dark and hollow pits, his open mouth a toothless maw. I would have screamed, but the sound was choked from within. Something
was pressing down on my chest, making it difficult to breathe, all the while my heart pounded like a fist within me.

  This place was but a taste of where Shal was now: the dark void beyond the Hyperfold, unconnected to any reality, where even death itself could bring no relief.

  Isaru pulled me by the hand. When we got back outside, the cold air of the Crater had never felt more welcome.

  * * *

  Back outside, I was shocked by a world of life and color. Green pine, spruce, and old oaks bare of leaves were laden with fresh-fallen snow. The clouds above were parting, revealing a deep blue sky. Even the towers of the broken city had an eerie beauty in their ruinous state.

  Anything could be beautiful after that darkness.

  “See what you needed to?” Shara asked.

  I suppressed a shudder. “I wish I could unsee it.”

  Shara nodded sympathetically, seeming to wait for me to say more.

  “The Hyperfold’s dead,” I said. “Of that, I’m sure beyond a doubt.”

  Perhaps it was beyond dead. Isa watched me from behind the flame she had started, despite my earlier admonition that we wouldn’t be staying long. Isa embraced Isaru, neither of them speaking a word. I held my hands to the fire, grateful for any sort of warmth.

  Isaru was the one to break the silence that had settled over all of us. “The Hyperfold is not a part of me anymore, but I still feel its echoes. I’m thinking I shouldn’t have gone in there. Not with the wounds of my former slavery still fresh.”

  The Hyperfold had taken and used Isaru, and through Rakhim Shal, had made him do horrible things against his gentle nature. Things that couldn’t be undone. Isa hugged him tighter, though Isaru seemed numb to it.

  “The fight goes on,” I said. “We’ve done so much, but the battle is only beginning. Odium has had a month to be on the move. When we get back, we’ll find things changed.”

  And likely not for the good. I kept that thought to myself, though.

  Shara came to stand beside me, looking into the fire. “I’m almost afraid of what we’re going to find.”

  “Almost?” Isaru asked. “I’m terrified.”

  I thought of how perilously close Odium’s host had been to Sylva when we left the south. Doubtless, he’d assaulted the city by now. And Sylva wasn’t far from Kalear, where my parents were, along with the Sphere Priests, Sanctum-dwellers, refugees, and the people who called that place home.

  How many people were in danger of falling to Odium? How many had already fallen? My skin went cold at the thought that everything might be gone when we returned. That we might even be the only ones left alive.

  This realization only gave me a new sense of urgency. “We should find food and get going. With luck, we can make it to Haven two days from now.”

  “We still have the food Shara and I gathered,” Isa said. “Should be enough to make the journey and then some.”

  “We should eat now, then. Enough to last us until dinner tonight. Put on a warm stew, if you have the stuff for it.”

  Isa nodded and set to work. While the dragons flew off to find their own food, she threw in forage from the forest below, along with some venison she must have already hunted. Within the hour, the stew was boiling hot. Thankfully, it cooled quickly once taken off the flame. We passed the pot until the whole thing was gone.

  Isa doused the flame with some nearby snow just as the dragons returned, settling on the edge of the bridge in a row to make ready for departure. It was almost noon now, but all of us, dragons included, were well-fed and ready for the long journey south.

  Chapter 2

  We made good progress, flying high and over the southern Ragnawall, and then over the Plains of Decay well into the evening, which was clear of fog for the first time in months. When the mountains at last rose in the distance, their snowy slopes were lit by a canopy of stars and full moon. The cold was really starting to settle in. I was wearing every piece of clothing I had over my ichor-woven robe, and thankfully, my hair was long enough to cover my ears, offering some protection from the wind. When I sensed the dragons reaching the point of exhaustion, I asked Flame to make camp in a hidden mountain vale below us, which seemed to have plenty of trees for cover.

  Once dismounted, the dragons flew off to look for food while we gathered wood for our own dinner. Before long, a strong blaze was burning while a pot of stew simmered over the flames.

  We ate quickly, the dragons returning a short time after. I slept longer and more soundly than I had in a long time, safe in the knowledge that the Hyperfold could no longer haunt my dreams.

  I woke to the sight of early morning snowfall. The fire was still going strong, someone having tended to it during the night. I slept another hour and then roused everyone, after which we ate the previous night’s leftovers.

  After dousing the flames with snow, we mounted the dragons and began the last leg of our journey, which would hopefully be warmer. If all went well, we would be in Haven late tonight.

  * * *

  To my great relief, Haven didn’t look any different from the air. My greatest fear was seeing the tree burned or dismembered, a husk of its former self. Instead, in defiance to Odium and his swarm, Haventree glowed beautifully in the night, as it had every night for the past two centuries, while the walls of the Grand Canyon shone with the luminescence of the xen coating it. Several Askaleen dragons patrolled the air above the tree, their screams piercing the night as they caught sight of our approach.

  I directed Flame to land on the High Veranda outside the palace. I was so exhausted and stiff from the cold ride that I almost collapsed on the planks below instead of gracefully sliding off. We stretched our limbs and rubbed our hands together, welcoming the relative warmth of more southern lands and lower altitudes.

  Despite the patrolling dragons’ earlier cries, no one exited the palace to receive us.

  “It’s quiet,” Shara said.

  “A lot might have changed in the past month,” I said. “Be ready for anything.”

  I wasn’t sure what “anything” might entail, but it was better to be careful.

  The doors of Haven Palace opened, revealing none other than Fiona, still fully dressed and awake, even at this hour. Her face was tired and worn, and despite the one month since we’d seen her, she appeared years older. All the same, her face brightened with a smile. Her guards rushed to keep pace, their black armor clanking as they did so.

  She threw her arms around me first. “You’re alive! I’ve had such terrible dreams that I was sure it was over.”

  “It’s not over yet,” I said.

  “Everyone’s here,” she said, backing away. “Some good news at last!”

  She hugged the others and began crying as she embraced Isaru.

  Up close, I could see just how strained her features were. Deep shadows underlined her gray eyes, while small wrinkles crinkled the corners of them. Like us, she’d been through things, too, things that might have been just as hard as what we’d been through.

  More people filed out of the palace, the lead man being Elder Arminius, who was flanked by several Seekers bearing the flame of the Augur Sect on their sashes. The Chief Elder gave a formal bow as he lowered his head. “Welcome back, Anna. Welcome, all of you. Your arrival is none too soon.”

  “It’s good to see you, Chief Elder,” I said. “Truly.”

  With the greetings out of the way, Fiona settled down to business. “Well, tell us. Is it truly gone? There have been reports that the northern fogs are lifting.”

  I nodded. “Yes. It’s done. Rakhim Shal is gone, and so is the Hyperfold. All the people he’d trapped there have returned to the Xenofold, as it should be. Including Elder Isandru and Mia.”

  Fiona closed her eyes in relief and permitted herself a small smile. “At last. Despite everything that’s happening, I feel hope for the first time in weeks.”

  “What’s been happening here?” Isa asked.

  “Too much for me to bear alone,” Fiona said. “Th
e Elders have been helpful – more than helpful – but I’ve been so busy running the Two Kingdoms, and every day, the options for their preservation become fewer.”

  Before I could ask her to elaborate, we were interrupted by a young, dark-haired man running up from the inner ramp built into the trunk of the tree, who wore the black armor and red cape of an officer of the Annajen army. He raised a hand to his heart in salute. “My Queen. Lord Harrow has arrived.”

  Fiona nodded. “Good, perfect timing. Bring him to the Palace at once.”

  The man nodded. “He’s at the Roots now and shall be here in a few minutes.”

  “Excellent. You may return to your duties.”

  The man bowed and walked swiftly away.

  “Queen?” I asked.

  Fiona’s lips tightened at the question. “Uncle Arius has fallen. We . . . lost the Siege of Sylva two weeks ago. The King of the Makai died in the final defense.”

  The news was like a stab to my heart. I had hoped Sylva would still be there, but perhaps that was too much to ask. It had pretty much already been under assault when we left for Ragnarok Crater.

  “Fiona . . .” I began. “I’m so sorry.”

  “He fought bravely,” Fiona said. “And refused to let his men die alone. Not all could escape the fires of the siege. Indeed, most couldn’t.” She swallowed as she steeled herself to continue. “Thousands dead. Anything Sylva or further south now belongs to Odium. The Radaskim have been there ever since, gathering their power, waiting to push north.”

  “Waiting for what?” Shara asked. “How’s Kalear? Does it still stand?”

  Fiona nodded. “Yes, it does. As I said before, Odium and his creatures haven’t moved a mile north of Sylva, as far as our scouts report.”

  Elder Arminius cleared his throat. “With King Arius’ passing, Fiona is now de facto head of both remaining Elekai kingdoms. King Arius’ closest heir is not of age, so the Elder Council has unanimously voted to give Fiona of House Annajen full rights to both kingdoms, not knowing the fate of King Isaru.”