Aberration

by Kyle West

“I can think of a way,” Makara said, raising her gun and firing.

  The sound was deafening and shocked me completely. But the Nameless One was moving before the shot was even fired, deflecting it with his staff.

  “I hope you don’t try that again, Makara,” he said. “Attempting to kill during parley is the worst of crimes.” His tentacles quivered in agitation. “Besides, it’s ultimately pointless. You have the choice to fight me, of course, but it will not end well for either of you. Your fate will be the Tree; I will give you to Askalon, and the war between the Elekai and Radaskim will continue, into perpetuity. As I was saying, there is only one way I can ultimately be defeated.” He paused. “Would you like to know what that is?”

  “Even if you told me,” I answered, “why should I ever believe you?”

  “Because now, we have a rare opportunity,” the Nameless One said. “Elekai and Radaskim, for the first time since the introduction of the Aberration, can be rejoined. If you join with Askalon willingly, then you can stop the invasion of Earth. You can prevent the End of All Things, the great evil that will be caused by the Rip.”

  “Why do you need me?” I asked. “Why not just kill me and do things your own way?”

  “Because I was blind,” the Nameless One said. “When I created the Aberration, I failed to see that the answer I was seeking was locked away in the Elekai Xenofold. When the Aberration was implanted, those secrets fled to where I could never find them. That is my quest, Elekim. To find them.”

  “I don’t know any secrets.”

  “I don’t doubt that,” the Nameless One said. “Nonetheless, you are the key to discovering them. A key cannot turn itself; it needs someone to twist it to open the vault. You are the key, Elekim. I am the key master.”

  “Not yet, you aren’t,” Makara growled. “Don’t trust him, Anna.”

  The alien’s red eyes flashed at Makara, though he did not deign to speak to her. He looked back at me. “I have no doubt I’ll discover these secrets either way. With enough worlds, and enough conscious energy of those worlds working together, feeding the Xenomatrix, with enough Minds puzzling it out . . . those secrets will be mine, in the end. I have all the time in the universe.” He paused. “Well, almost all the time. My Minds tell me that I’ll have the answers I seek inside a million years.” He strode forward now, staff in hand. “But why wait a million years when I can have what I seek now? When one might see the sense of my words and give me what I desire, to work together rather than shed blood, to save the universe from its eventual demise?”

  “I’ll never do that,” I said. “I don’t trust you. You forced me to make those terrible choices. I came here to end all of this, Nameless One. And I mean that. I will end it.”

  “You can end it,” he said. “You can save your world. What is a single world when the Radaskim already control over a thousand? Earth will never be touched again. Nothing compares to what you hold, Elekim. Go to the Tree. Touch it. Let it see your mind. Rejoin this world’s Xenofold. Would you not like that, Shanti? To be free of Anna forevermore. To be your own person once again.”

  What was he talking about? “To be free of Anna?”

  “I only need her,” the Nameless One said, his voice strangely calming. “For eons, I’ve been the balance for the two sides.” He gestured toward me, beckoning. “Let us restore the balance. You’ve proven yourself worthy of Askalon. Let the two sides be joined, as they were before.”

  “If it is going to be like it was before,” I said, “then you would need to remove yourself as the Arbiter. Wouldn’t you?”

  The Nameless One’s tentacles trembled, and his eyes blinked. “That cannot be done. Without me, who would direct the conscious energy of the Xenomatrix? Who would decipher the Secrets of Creation?”

  “This quest of yours must come to an end,” I said. “In your madness to stop the end of the universe, you’re destroying hundreds of worlds and ending billions of lives. You have no right to do that. Every person you kill is a universe extinguished.” I drew my blade, preparing to meet my end. “If I don’t stand up to you, then who will?”

  The Nameless One watched me, his face impassive, but his tentacles were still moving, a gesture I took to mean he was thinking. It was impossible to read those thin, red eyes, but something told me that this wasn’t the answer he wanted.

  “If you won’t give your mind willingly,” he said, “then it will have to be taken from you by force.”

  “You can try,” Makara said. “I’ve already died, so you can’t give that to me again.”

  The Nameless One twirled his staff blindingly fast and crouched. “You’re right,” he said, his voice losing all its charm and harmonies, while being replaced by an angry discordance. “I can do much worse than death.”

  Chapter 72

  He was completely still, seeming to meditate as he twirled his staff. His red eyes clouded and grew brighter. The sea behind him began to rise, waves of ichor crashing against the shoreline. A wind rose, blowing through the Tree, carrying with it the screams of the tortured.

  Could they see me now, fighting for them? Were my friends up there? Were they even capable of seeing me through the pain?

  I couldn’t focus on any of that right now, as the Nameless One began walking toward us. The black ichor began to rise, crawling its way up shoreline inch by inch.

  “Distract him,” Makara said. “I’ll try to get a good shot from behind.”

  Though I knew it was probably pointless, I tried to reach for the Xenofold. And to my surprise, there was a connection, however faint. What was this? Why could I touch the Xenofold here in the beating heart of the Radaskim homeworld?

  I didn’t have time to question it; the Nameless One was within a couple of strides of me. Already, his long arms were bringing his staff to bear. I averted the strike, only to be swiped by one of his long, scaly legs at lightning speed. His quarterstaff was at my throat, and he paused only a moment before a few gunshots rang out.

  He cried out, his voice grating and demonic. He turned to face Makara, who was still shooting despite his quick reaction time. His staff moved quickly enough to deflect the incoming shots.

  I scrambled up with my sword and chased after the Nameless One.

  No, Anna! Makara’s voice entered my head. Get to the Tree. Save the Elekai!

  The Nameless One shouted as I turned to run for the Tree. Of course. If I could reach the Xenofold, even in this place, perhaps I could use it to free the people on the Tree. The Nameless One turned his head toward me, his red eyes flashing, but even someone as powerful as him couldn’t ignore Makara taking shots at him. Already, he was nursing his left arm, though he was still capable of wielding the staff.

  I ran, chancing a look over my shoulder, to see the Nameless One advancing slowly toward Makara. She fired again, but the alien had already anticipated the move. He brought down the staff on her shoulder, hard, but she held firmly to her gun and fired again. The Nameless One screamed in agony. Even giants bled like us. Makara fired again, but this time, she missed as he hurled his staff toward her, striking her directly in the chest.

  I couldn’t both run and watch the battle. Already, I was scrambling up one of the larger roots, making it to one of the first beings I came across, a dusky bird-like creature with dark eyes and a short beak. Several tree limbs grew right through it, and its shrieks of pain were terrible to hear.

  As I reached it, I looked down to check on the progress of the fight. Makara was kneeling, nursing her shoulder which hung unnaturally low. The Nameless One was nowhere to be seen, but Makara herself was watching the rising sea. Had he retreated there?

  I turned back to the bird. “Hold on a second.”

  For the first time, its eyes seemed to see me. It warbled something in a language I didn’t know. I connected to its mind.

  How do I free you?

  Free me, it said. Stop this pain . . .

  I reached for the Xenofold, some small kernel of which seemed to exist here. Howeve
r firmly the Radaskim gripped this world, there was still something left of the Elekai. Something had awakened.

  I directed that power into the branches piercing the bird’s chest. I felt strong resistance, and then, terrible pain. The pain of the Tree. I screamed as I forced the branches to withdraw, and as they withdrew, they left no marks in the bird, as if they had never been.

  The bird, about half my size, fluttered free and landed next to me. It gave a triumphant warble, dancing a bit on spindly legs.

  You’re the first, I said. If we can free everyone else, we might be enough to overpower him.

  The bird chortled, and then its intelligent eyes narrowed in determination. It seemed to understand as it flew off to another imprisoned Elekai. The bird shrieked as it channeled its own power to free the prisoner, as it took its pain as its own. Like me, the branches withdrew after a moment.

  Another Elekai had been freed. Deep within the Xenofold of this world, I felt the power of the Elekai growing.

  Free them all! I said. Free them all before he comes back.

  As I climbed the trunk to free the next Elekai, a demonic bellow sounded from behind me. The Nameless One had returned, his body gleaming from the light of the black ichor. He no longer clung to his right arm, his body seeming to be completely healed. Only Makara stood before him, defiantly aiming her gun.

  I reached for another branch holding another creature, this one with brown fur and an abnormally wide head, in which were set wise brown eyes. It bellowed as I released it from the Tree, as I took its pain into myself. The branches receded, and its long arms reached out and swung its way to a nearby branch with another Elekai, much faster than I could have done.

  I was working toward the next prisoner when Makara screamed. She fell to the ground, and the Nameless One finished her off, crushing her head with one end of his staff with unreal strength. She never even screamed. His red eyes blazed upward to focus on me. He hefted his staff and strode toward the Tree.

  Glancing over my shoulder, I could see several more Elekai being freed. There were five of us, now, but there were still many more to be rescued. It would be some time before all of them were free. Not enough time before the Nameless One returned to challenge us.

  Someone had to stand between him and the Tree. I desperately wanted that someone to not be me. Despite my fear, despite my inadequacy, I had to face him.

  I shimmied down the trunk toward the base of the root I had originally climbed. The Nameless One was only walking, as if utterly sure of his victory.

  I’ll need help, I said, letting my voice be heard by all the freed prisoners. If you have any power left, bond with me. But make your priority freeing the others.

  We will help you, came the response of the original avian Elekim I’d rescued.

  I suddenly felt a surge of power enter my limbs. I was like a leaf dancing on the wind, gracefully hopping from branch to branch in the closest path to the ground below. Even on Earth, this would have been something impossible for me to do. I knew I was using this being’s memories and abilities, coming as close to flight as I could.

  It wasn’t long before I touched down, drawing my sword just in time to face across from the Nameless One.

  “Stand aside,” he said. “I’ve already killed your friend.”

  “Never.”

  His baleful red eyes blazed. “Then death it will be.”

  I deepened my connection to Silence and found it ready and waiting. The fight wasn’t only taking place here on the surface, but I sensed that a rift was opening on this very world, one that could see the Radaskim Xenofold completely overtaken. But that would never happen if the Nameless One killed me first.

  And within this power, blooming within the hostile Xenofold, I found that I shared not only my memories, but the memories of every Elekai that had so far been freed. There were ways of fighting I had never dreamed possible, and some of it was applicable to what I already knew. It was what allowed me to detect, long before it ever happened, the Nameless One’s next attack, as his staff whistled down where I had once been standing.

  Reading, I thought. A Gift from a different world and a different people. And unlike Sightform, it didn’t require much concentration to maintain. The Elekai Xenofold here, already growing in power, was more than willing to supply me the energy to fight.

  Though I could predict the Nameless One’s movements before they happened, prediction alone wasn’t enough. He could still force me into a compromising position. Knowing his next move, however, was enough to place me on more even ground. I entered Windform, to better have the flexibility and speed to counter his raw strength.

  “Those forms are older than you know,” the Nameless One said, taking a wild swing, which I ducked beneath. “When you created them, you were only reinventing knowledge thousands of years old, though you knew it not.”

  I ignored him, screaming as I spun to break his stance. His tentacles warbled as his staff took the impact. He pushed, forcing me back even as I remained light on my feet. With a disharmonic cry, he leaped on his long legs to crush me beneath. I scrambled aside, narrowly dodging.

  That leap had brought him in close contact with the Tree. He began to scramble up, ascending with surprising speed. I charged after him, swinging my blade right at one of his padded, blue feet. He gave a cry of pain as bright red blood leaked from the wound. It should have cut much deeper than that, but his skin was tough. He pushed through the pain, ascending higher, until I slashed him on the shin.

  With a roar, he pushed off the trunk and flung himself down at me, a movement I saw ahead of time, but couldn’t dodge. His weight crashed into me as we both fell through the open air, the xen below doing little to cushion my fall. I twisted, so that my body wouldn’t be crushed under his greater size.

  But he still hit my left arm. I yowled in pain, but that pain was nothing compared to everything I had gone through. I rushed to stand and meet my foe, holding my sword in my right hand while my left hung uselessly at my side. I rushed forward to deliver the death blow while he was still getting up, but one of his legs shot out and struck my knee. Even as I attacked through the pain, he lifted his staff high enough to block my strike.

  I backed away, before he could bring the other end of the staff to bear, a move that suddenly happened just as I’d read it.

  We faced off against each other, neither moving, but there was no question that I was the worst one off.

  “We can still end this,” the Nameless One said, catching his breath. “Earth can still be saved.”

  “I’ll not betray my world,” I said. “We’ve lost worlds, family, friends, because of you.”

  The Nameless One considered me for a moment, as if unbelieving of my foolishness. “Then die. I’ll offer no more chances. No more bargains. Don’t ask for mercy, because there will be none.”

  He came at me, and sword and staff, once again, met with a clang.

  * * *

  He was right. I couldn’t hope to defeat him. My only chance was to draw this out long enough to give the Elekai a chance. The Nameless One could not reach the Tree while I still lived.

  It was simple. I had to stay alive.

  Before, the Nameless One had been holding back, perhaps in the vain hope that I might take his deal once I realized I wasn’t his match. He no longer held back. Every strike was with the intent to kill, and it was all I could do to dodge or parry each thrust. He fought with unreal strength and speed I could never hope to match. Without the collective memory of the Elekai, not just of Earth but of all the worlds represented here, I would have been dead. I tired quickly, but at the same time, I was also drawing more power as each Elekim was released from the Tree’s clutches. That power was enough to keep going, at least a little while longer.

  As we dueled beneath the limbs of the Tree, the Nameless One began to fight more desperately, but still without signs of tiring. His strikes came quick and sure, unhesitating, relentless. If I released my hold on Silence, I would feel the pain
of my wounds, the exhaustion setting in, and would no doubt be dead within seconds. The power of the Xenofold roared within me, seeming to burn me from the inside out. Even if I survived this fight by some miracle, I was past the point of no return. The Xenofold would consume me whole at this rate.

  It was all I could do to direct that energy toward my opponent. There was nothing but the fight, the parries, the counterstrikes, the dodging and narrowly escaping death countless times.

  But despite the increasing power of the Xenofold, of the bond shared between me and the other Elekai, it could only sustain my body so long. My movements were becoming more lethargic, and soon, it would be enough to tip the balance in the Nameless One’s favor. He unleashed his full fury on me, designed to break me once and for all. Doing so, however, left an opening. I cut him on his abdomen, but he danced back just enough for the wound to not be mortal. Even so, his own movements began to slow. He cried out, in either pain or frustration, before staggering to the Sea in a bid to rejuvenate himself for another confrontation, a battle where I would surely die, as weakened as I was.

  I hobbled off after him, but he kept me at bay with his staff. I had no choice but to watch as he entered the Sea, submerging himself beneath the black waves. The ichor glowed at the point of entry, though I could see nothing of his form beneath it.

  I fled in the direction of the Tree. If I waited for him to reemerge, he would defeat me more quickly. By getting some distance, I could buy some more time.

  But as I came closer to the Tree, I saw that I was no longer alone. A small army had gathered to make its final stand. A hundred champions from a hundred worlds stood in solidarity, all without weapons except what nature had given them. Some stood on two legs, like me, and some on four. Some had feathers and scales, others with chitin plating or fur. There were angular insectoid heads and antennas, and some were remarkably human, despite differences in size or coloring. And standing at the forefront were my friends, their faces grim and determined, and hovering next to them was the original goofy-looking bird I had saved first. Behind them, on two fat legs, rose what looked like a giant bear, if a bear had the trunk of an elephant.