Extinction

by West, Kyle

  What?

  It was a saying, on a faraway world. Its name cannot be pronounced, nor understood, by any human. It was the first world attacked by the Radaskim, millions of years ago. And it was the first to fall. When the Radaskim first came there, they were greeted as gods. It wasn’t long before that notion was dashed.

  If all of those worlds have been conquered, then what hope do we have?

  I thought I caught the Wanderer smiling. I had no idea how he could smile at something like that.

  There never was much hope, Alex. Know this: it is much better to hope than to despair. The greatest things are accomplished by the tired and the discouraged, by the ones who don’t give up. If they have no song to sing, they find one.

  I couldn’t speak, because the Wanderer had so silenced me. It had always been easy for me to get discouraged. It was hard not to, watching your world being swallowed before your eyes. Something Makara said a long time ago came back: you fought, even where there was no point in the fight. You never knew what tomorrow would bring.

  Alright, I said. I see what you’re saying.

  The Wanderer raised an arm, as if in benediction.

  The last battle comes. And remember: do not lose hope. You never know who’s counting on you, or who’s looking up to you. You have changed much, Alex. The Elekai are yours to command. And I believe that their powers are beyond even your imagining.

  With that, the image of the Wanderer faded into the ichor.

  Remember...though I have passed from this world, my words will always be with you. Never give up, even in the darkest moments. When you find yourself in a hole...look to the stars.

  I stood there for a moment, my throat clenched, realizing that the Wanderer really was gone. His image had now passed; all that was left was the clear pink fluid. I almost wondered if he had been there at all, if all this had only taken place in my head.

  Whatever the case, it was time to turn back. I swam to the shoreline, nearing the surface. When my head broke through, the air felt cool and light in comparison to the heavy liquid. I tried to breathe, but my lungs were full of the ichor. I coughed, spewing the liquid out of my lungs. It landed on the surface of the pool, quickly rejoining it. I sucked in a mouthful of air.

  As I continued to hack, Anna strode into the pool. Makara shouted my name, while everyone else watched me worriedly.

  My feet found the bottom, and I stood with the ichor up to my torso. Finally, my lungs seemed to be empty of it. I stood there, panting, feeling the liquid crawl off me and rejoin the surface of the lake.

  Anna grabbed me, pulling me into a fierce hug.

  “You were under there for at least five minutes,” she said. “What the hell?”

  “I breathed it,” I said. “Whatever that stuff is, it works as good as air.”

  “Come on,” she said.

  Anna guided me back to shore. Once on dry ground, the liquid that clung to my skin and clothes flowed downward. I collapsed to the xenofungal bed, exhausted.

  “Your eyes are white,” Makara said.

  “Huh,” I said. That didn’t really bother me anymore. “I talked to him. The Wanderer.”

  The murmuring of the Raiders quieted at this statement.

  “He’s alive down there?” Makara asked.

  “No,” I said. “I mean...I guess I really didn’t talk to him, but maybe to his memory. He wants...he wants us to not give up hope, even now. I know it’s easy to give up, but we can’t. We have to keep fighting.”

  “Alex, you need to worry about getting some rest,” Makara said. “Are we good to head back to the army?”

  I shook my head. “No. There’s one thing I have to do here.”

  “What’s that?” Anna asked.

  I stared at the pool, toward the inlets leading deeper into the cavern.

  “I have to visit my army.”

  ***

  The dragons were gathered in one of the farthest caverns from the entrance. It was a lot of swimming to get there. While the rest remained onshore, everyone who could swim decided to come with me. This included Makara, Samuel, Anna, and Julian, along with several of the Raiders. Even Ashton had decided to come; he said he wanted to investigate the cavern more fully, along with experiencing the lake’s vaunted regenerative properties. He said something about a Fountain of Youth.

  The final cavern was the largest of all. From side to side it stretched for hundreds of feet. Perhaps it had been carved out by the Elekai. The walls and ceiling glowed silvery pink, filling the cavern with dim bioluminescence. The surface of the lake glowed, and on the far end where liquid met shoreline, the dragons waited – some dozen of them. Another dozen or so were in the lake itself, only their long necks and angular heads visible above the surface.

  The dragons watched us enter their sanctum, their white eyes blazing fiery light. Their scales were various shades of red, dark crimson, all the way to a pink so light that it could almost be white. The dragons, of course, were large, though not as large as the typical Radaskim. The Elekai dragons’ forms were sleek compared to their counterparts – the Radaskim were angular and brutal, as if they had been carved from stone, hewn only for war.

  One of the dragons in the center gave a resounding call that echoed throughout the cavern. The call was taken up by the others, until a melodious song filled the entirety of the space. For the amount of creatures singing, it was not very loud; the fungus-lined walls probably had something to do with dampening the volume. For some reason, the song made me sad. I realized that the dragons were mourning the death of the Wanderer.

  When we reached the shoreline, walking out of the lake, the song continued. I stood and watched the dragons as they paid tribute to their fallen master. I realized then that I had never seen the dragons outside the context of battle. At heart, they were peaceful creatures, and it was for the promise of peace that they fought.

  When the song ended, only one of the dragons continued, letting his voice resound a moment longer than the others. It was Askal. He paused a moment, waiting for the sound to dissipate, before turning to me. Something about his face, and those eyes, seemed morose – there was no outward difference in appearance, but it was something I felt coming from him.

  The Elekai did not express emotions the same way humans did. They could directly empathize with one another and literally feel one another’s thoughts and feelings. As a human, I could only feel a bit of that. Being human had its limitations, but if I could have felt every bit of these creatures’ souls, it probably would have been too much to bear.

  Finally, Askal seemed to relax. I walked past several of the dragons while everyone stayed behind. I stood in front of Askal, craning my neck to look at his face, about thirty feet above. Askal backed away before lowering his head to bring it level with mine.

  We meet again, little human.

  I wasn’t touching Askal, so I hadn’t expected any thought to pass from him. The thought must have carried through the xenofungus. I understood little about how the Elekai communicated. At times, touch was necessary. Sometimes, the xenofungus was sufficient to bridge the gap. But then, there were the visions from the Wanderer, and my being able to dream and experience the world through Askal’s eyes. Those were the most baffling, because neither touch nor xenofungus served as a medium. That would probably remain a mystery to me, but it seemed as if in those times that the communication was carried by the air itself.

  We meet again, I said.

  We have lost a dear friend today, Askal said. The Elekai will mourn the Father’s loss for many cycles, until he is born again.

  I didn’t know what a cycle was, but I supposed it was a very long time.

  “I know,” I said. “I’ll miss him, too.”

  I switched to speech; that way everyone who was gathering behind me could listen, too. Askal did not seem confused by the transition.

  We have much to do, little human, Askal thought. Though I suppose you are not so little anymore.

  “What are we going t
o do, Askal? Half the dragons are still hurt.”

  We must wait, a little while longer. We have to heal in both heart and flesh. It will be a few days before the Elekai fly again.

  A few days. I didn’t even know if we had that long. But there was no way we could win the battle without the Elekai’s support. A few days would give us time to make sure things were taken care of in Los Angeles. It was time enough to come up with a strategy for the final battle.

  “Will you guys be okay here for the next few days?”

  I cannot guarantee our safety, Askal thought. But all the entrances will be closed until you return. If we are attacked, you will be the first to know, Lord of the Elekai.

  Don’t call me that, I thought.

  Something like amusement came from Askal.

  You and our Father are the same. He did not like being called that, either. But that didn’t make it any less true.

  Still... I thought. Just call me Alex.

  Askal nodded his assent – a surprisingly human gesture.

  “We probably need to get back to L.A.,” I said, turning to the others. “The Elekai will be okay until we get back.”

  “Are you sure?” Makara asked.

  “They can’t leave their wounded behind. Askal says they’ll be ready in a few days.”

  “Let’s get moving, then,” Ashton said.

  Chapter 21

  We went on Perseus and just slept. Ashton took us as far as Los Angeles and put the ship on hover mode. There was no way we could keep on going without getting some much-needed sleep.

  I slept so deeply that it might as well have been a coma. I was sleep-deprived, not just from last night, but from every night before where I’d only gotten a few hours here and there. It wasn’t until it was night of the next day – a full fourteen hours later – that I woke up, finding that I could sleep even more if I wanted to.

  So I did. I kept sleeping until 03:30. No one in the ship was moving. I had no idea if Makara or the others were corresponding with Augustus and Black at this time. Probably. But sleep was hard to come by in this world, so I was going to take advantage while I could.

  I finally got up and went to the wardroom, where various Raiders were sprawled on the floor, still sleeping. After almost a full day of doing nothing, it was hard to believe I was the only one up. My head pounded, and my eyes were heavy. I continued on to the wardroom and went to the faucet, where I filled my canteen with water. I drank the entire thing down.

  After using the lav, I went to the bridge, finding the lights on. Ashton was awake. He turned upon hearing my approach. He held a mug of coffee in his right hand, from the top of which steam curled up.

  “Morning,” he said. “Would you like a cup?”

  I nodded, sitting in the co-pilot’s seat. Ashton took a thermos sitting on top of the dash. If that thing were to spill, it could do some serious damage to the electronics on the dash. Ashton didn’t seem to be worried, though.

  “You’ve got a mug?” Ashton asked.

  I didn’t really want to get back up, and was about to reach for my canteen, when my eyes came across a mug sitting on the dash. Anna must have left it there earlier.

  “Right here,” I said, grabbing it.

  The mug was a relic of the old world, made of thick white ceramic.

  Ashton poured the hot, black coffee into the mug. I could feel its heat radiate into my skin, and its rich aroma met my nostrils.

  “Careful,” he said. “It’s hot.”

  I took a sip, and still the liquid scalded my tongue. It’d been a while since I had coffee.

  Ashton and I just sat there, looking out the windshield. Clouds spread low and dark, covering the city. Stars blanketed the sky. I could never tire of watching them. The time showed that it was 03:36.

  “Quite the show, isn’t it?”

  I nodded my agreement, taking another sip. My favorite part of watching the night sky was seeing the Milky Way – that thick band of purple, bluish stars, the entire arm of our galaxy. It amazed me to know that there was life out there. How many other worlds were there, like ours? The Wanderer had said there were over a thousand that had been conquered by the Radaskim. How many others were out there?

  “How is everyone still asleep?” I asked. “It’s been almost twenty-four hours since the Xenolith.”

  Ashton smiled. “If they had stayed awake any longer, they would not be asleep, but dead. The human body has its limits.”

  “Are you feeling any effects from the Fountain of Youth?”

  Ashton chuckled. “Well, my bones didn’t hurt so much this morning, getting out of bed. Might have been my imagination, though.”

  I laughed. “What do you think is in that stuff, anyway?”

  Ashton shrugged. “You’d have a better idea than me.”

  “I think it’s where all Elekai life is made,” I said.

  Ashton grunted, taking another sip of coffee. “Hard to imagine them all coming from there. Are you sure they don’t reproduce on their own?”

  I shrugged. “Don’t know. I thought with the Wanderer gone, I’d somehow know a bit more than I do now. I guess not.”

  “Learning...really learning...is never free. Did you think you’d become Superman or something?”

  “Who’s Superman?”

  Ashton looked at me blankly. “The world truly has ended.”

  I laughed. “I’m joking. Of course I know who Superman was.”

  “You scared me for a minute. But there will come a day kids don’t know who Superman was.”

  “Maybe they’ll have some new thing,” I said. “Maybe Dragon Man.”

  “That’s just...no.”

  “Alright, whatever. On that learning thing, though...maybe a lesson isn’t learned until you accept it.”

  “Hm.” Ashton took a long drink of coffee before refilling his mug from the thermos. Once done, he set the thermos back on the dash. “And have you accepted it? Your new job, I mean.”

  “I don’t think I’ll ever be ready to turn into an alien.”

  “Is that what you think the Wanderer was?”

  Maybe the Wanderer had a human form, but he was definitely not human.

  “I think he was a god of some sort,” I said. “A Xenomind. Who can comprehend what that really is? I just want a few more days to be me. That’s it. And that’s not going to change as long as I can help it.”

  Ashton just stared out the dark windshield, at the stars.

  “I don’t see why he chose a young buck like you, instead of an old fart like me,” he finally said. “What do I have to live for? I’ve done my living. I’ve had a long life, mostly full of sorrow. But some good moments, too. The Rock changed everything, kid. Those Radaskim ruined billions of lives at a single stroke. The lucky ones died. God, ain’t that the truth. I must have wished a hundred times to have been one of them.”

  Ashton took another sip of coffee before continuing.

  “But I had twenty years of the good life. I was young, like you, even though I’m the only one to remember it. Sometimes I doubt it, though. Was that really me? That kid, riding the bike, going camping, sneaking into movies? If no one else believes it happened, why should I?”

  I smiled. “You’re rambling, old man.”

  “Bah. You don’t know enough to become a god.”

  “You do, though?”

  Ashton chuckled. “Hell, no. Nor would I ever want to. But if someone has to do it...why not the old man?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t think I’d wish it on anyone.”

  “That’s because you’re too noble. What about the girl?”

  “Anna? Why would I wish it on her?”

  “No, not that. That’s what being young is about. You’re supposed to fall in love and do crazy, stupid things. Things that don’t make any logical sense. As an old man, it’s my job to shake my head at the stupid crap kids do. You don’t do that stuff, though. Please, can you just do something stupid, so I can shake my fist at you?”

  I s
tared at Ashton, blankly, not really sure what he was talking about.

  “Bah. You don’t know anything. All I’m trying to say is...when you’re doing what the Wanderer told you to do, you’re not just giving up your life. You’re giving up your right to be young.”

  “I feel like being young was never a right,” I said. “It was a privilege. And it ended when the door of Bunker 108 opened.”

  Ashton grunted. “Maybe so, Alex. Just because the world is unjust doesn’t mean we have to sit back and accept it. You know...maybe Anna’s right. Maybe there is another way we don’t know about. Maybe...”

  First Anna, now Ashton? I wondered who would be next.

  “I don’t think there is another way, Ashton. I wish there was, but people have a history of believing what they prefer to be true.”

  Ashton shook his head. “Maybe you aren’t as young as I thought.”

  Ashton sounded kind of sad when he said that. His eyes were full of remembrance, as if he was thinking about when he was young, back when kids had the luxury of being kids.

  “You’ll never know,” Ashton said. “You’ll never know what it was like to go to school, to ask a girl to a dance, to ride your bike in neighborhood streets, to explore forests like they were some lost world that only you knew. To drive your car for the first time. College.”

  “Is that what kids did, back then?”

  “It’s what I did. I sometimes wonder if it was all just a dream.”

  “It wasn’t,” I said. “I’ve seen movies where that sort of stuff happened, so it had to have happened. Right?”

  Ashton nodded. “Yeah. It did happen. You’re still a kid, you know? But you don’t act like it. None of you do. You are as much adults as anyone I knew. That’s what scares me. It’s not normal and never will be, in my mind.”

  “It’s normal now,” I said.

  “What about Anna, though? Don’t you love her? Would you go to the end and die, even if she didn’t want it?”

  That made me go quiet. Ashton had pinpointed something that had been troubling me greatly. He waited for my answer, and I had no idea what to say.

  “I don’t know what’s going to happen,” I said. “I don’t want anything to happen. I...I do love her. Admitting that is hard, because I know what it means. I’m convinced that I’m the only one who can stop this. The Wanderer said that much. I know Anna will never be okay with that. I don’t know if I am. But I see no choice. The other choice is the world ending, just as every world the Radaskim have invaded has ended. I can’t let that happen. I mean, what would you do?”