Bastion

by Kyle West

  “We are glad for Isaru Annajen’s safe return…” Arminius cleared his throat, seeming to be at a loss for words. I realized he was just as shocked as the rest of us. “Please continue your meals, and refrain from speaking to the Prince until we and the king have had our say.”

  Arminius sat, and the buzz of conversation resumed.

  “Well…” Deanna said. “He isn’t dead. I wonder how many bets were lost tonight?”

  “He didn’t look like someone who’s run away for almost a week,” Aela said. “Elder Isandru, on the other hand…”

  I remained quiet and watched as Isaru picked at his food. He hadn’t gone hungry on his journey, otherwise he’d be shoveling it in his mouth.

  “I wonder how far he got,” I asked.

  Everyone looked at me, and I realized I’d made a slip. Saying that he had gotten anywhere implied that I might know where he was going.

  “I mean, how far away from the Sanctum.”

  Everyone seemed to accept that clarification, thankfully.

  “Who knows?” Aela asked. “He’s a fool who clearly has a lot of growing up to do.”

  Even if I knew more of the story, I was inclined to agree.

  “We don’t know his reasons,” Isa said, quietly. “I just hope the king isn’t too hard on him.”

  “He has a lot to answer for,” Deanna said. “If it were anyone else, the Elders would expel him on the spot.”

  “They won’t do that, will they?” Isa asked.

  “They’ve done it for far less. I wouldn’t be surprised if they did do it, if only to make a point. We’ll have to wait and see if his blood and talent is enough to save him.”

  I finished the rest of my meal in silence. Isaru had brought it on himself, and there was no telling if his actions were justifiable. If they were, surely Elder Isandru would intercede for him, and perhaps that would be enough to sway the Elders toward mercy.

  Then again, King Taris appeared oddly satisfied. Perhaps he now had the excuse he was looking for to pull Isaru from the Sanctum, if that was his intent.

  On that point, we still had to wait and see.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  BY THE TIME ANNA AND her son arrived at the Bunker 40 dig site, Askal was already there and waiting. Michael and Lauren stood in front of their tent with their eleven-year-old daughter, Callie, and their four-year-old, Julian. It had been a long time since Anna had seen them; their duties at the dig site kept them away from Colonia for weeks at a time, and Samuel hadn’t trusted anyone else to oversee the scrapping of such valuable materials. A small, walled outpost had been founded around a nearby spring, and the site was deep enough inside the Great Blight that the dragons were an additional guarantee of protection against the potential of Onyx Black’s raids.

  Anna had flown hours through the night to get here, and all she could think of was that Samuel was dead, and in the end it hadn’t been Onyx Black. It had been Colonians, people they had known and worked with, the entire time. There had always been tension in the Senate, but never did Anna think it would come to this.

  Quietus landed, and Alex, who was sleeping in her arms, roused. The outpost was quiet and dark — the Sanchez family had taken great care to not wake the rest of the settlement.

  Anna dismounted, carrying Alex with her. As soon as she did, Lauren, with tears in her eyes, came up to embrace her. Right then, Anna broke down, unable to control herself. Michael, too, had tears in his eyes.

  “We should move as fast as we can,” he said. “We can talk when we reach the dragons’ aerie.”

  Anna nodded. “Of course.”

  She and Lauren parted, and she felt Alex tug at her shirt.

  “Where are we going, Mommy?”

  Anna wiped away her tears. “We’re going to live with the dragons for a while, Baby.”

  “Why?”

  “Why are we leaving?” Callie echoed. “Something’s happened, hasn’t it? No one is telling me…”

  Callie Sanchez had her mother’s brown hair and blue eyes. She was growing to be as beautiful as her mother, and as determined.

  “Yes, something’s happened,” Lauren said, at last. “We’ll talk about it when we get there, Callie.”

  Callie looked as if she wanted to argue for a moment, but thought better of it.

  “Lauren and I can take Julian on Askal,” Michael said. “Anna, you can take Callie with you on Quietus. That’s probably the best way to distribute the weight.”

  “Dad, I really want to know what’s happened. Is it Samuel? Why aren’t they here?” Callie started.

  “No arguing,” Michael said firmly. “I’ll explain everything when we get there.”

  Callie’s eyes started to fill with tears, but in the end, she nodded.

  Anna didn’t understand why Callie couldn’t be told at that moment — she would find out, anyway, and making her wait would only distress her further. However, Michael and Lauren probably wanted time to figure out how to break the news.

  “Come on, Callie,” Anna said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “It’s been a while since you’ve ridden a dragon, hasn’t it?”

  Callie didn’t respond. Callie loved flying, but it was clear she could take no pleasure in it now.

  When she was settled behind Anna, with Alex in front, Anna felt Callie’s cheek on her back as she was hugged tightly.

  “I don’t get it,” she said. “Why don’t they tell me what’s going on? They’re treating me like a five-year-old.”

  Eleven is still little, Anna wanted to say, but she also knew that Callie was right, in a way. Eleven was older than a lot of people grew to be in this world. Even Anna, at eleven, had known a life of relative peace; it wasn’t until the Reapers attacked that her childhood had ended.

  “Being young is a blessing,” Anna said, still waiting on Michael, Lauren, and Julian to mount. “You never see it when you’re young, and it’s something you only realize when you’re older.”

  “You sound so old when you say that.”

  Despite everything, Anna smiled.

  Callie’s parents had done all they could to shelter her from the Ragnarok War, and were successful, given how much it permeated their daily lives. If one thing was for sure, Callie was more mature than the average eleven-year-old. She had seen things that someone her age should never have been allowed to see.

  Soon, they were underway, flying west into the Great Blight. Maybe, Anna thought, this had been inevitable. Maybe it was their lot to return to the place from which they had come. Anna didn’t know how long it would be until she returned to Colonia. There was Ruth and the children. Ruth had insisted that they were going to let her live, but Anna knew Ruth might have just been saying that to get her to run.

  Anna didn’t know what came next. There was safety in the Great Blight, but she knew they couldn’t stay there forever. The dragons might know what to do — and until she met with them, Anna wouldn’t allow herself to lose hope.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  MY DREAM WAS INTERRUPTED WHEN a knock came at the door.

  I heard Isa stir in her bed. “What the…?”

  “Who is it?” I asked.

  “Just open up!”

  “Isaru?”

  “Let me in!” he said. “I think Martin is coming around.”

  I didn’t really have time to question it. “Give us a minute.”

  Isa squeaked, not wanting Isaru to see her as she was.

  “Just hide,” I said. “It’s too dark for him to see you, anyway.”

  I got up, opened the door, and as soon as it was open a crack, Isaru sidled in and shut it behind.

  “Thanks,” he whispered.

  “You have ten seconds to explain yourself before I’m sending you out into the corridor.”

  He looked at me. “Shanti…your parents are in danger.”

  Now, that I hadn’t expected. It took me a moment to find my words. “Wait…what? How could you know that?”

  “I went to Colonia,” he said.
“I made a promise to Jorla after I rescued you from there, and I was just following up on it. I didn’t think it would take as long as it did, but there it is.”

  “Wait…you went to Colonia? This entire time I thought…”

  I trailed off, not wanting to sound foolish.

  Isaru nodded. “Yeah. And while I was there, I did a little poking around on my own. Unfortunately, things got complicated.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, I got caught. Almost got caught, anyway. The Dragonriders came out and chased Jorla away, so I was stranded in the city for a few days. I thought I might find your parents for a bit of food, because I didn’t have any money and everyone was staring at me because…well, I look a little different from everyone there…”

  A little different? Isaru would have drawn every eye, and any amount of time he spent on the streets of Colonia would eventually catch the eye of the Hunters.

  “Anyway, I did happen to find your place, with a little asking around. The apartment was completely ransacked. Your parents are gone, Shanti. They’ve taken them to the Red Bastion, and apparently they’ve been there ever since you left.”

  “What? Isaru…how do you know that they’re there?”

  “I spoke with Naomi. You know her, right? She was your neighbor.”

  If anything had happened to my parents afterward, Naomi would be the one to know. The image of my parents locked away in the Bastion’s dungeons was too much to bear, much less the fact that our home had been looted. The thought of Isaru coming into contact with Naomi was hard to wrap my head around, and it took me a long time to recover.

  But when I did, I’d already made my decision. “We have to go back. Tonight.”

  “That’s why I came,” Isaru said. “Together, we might save your parents. And with you, I might be able to fulfill my promise to Jorla. I had to cut my work short because I was caught sneaking into the fair — the same one where you saw the dragonling. The Prophecy is in the Red Bastion. That’s three things we can take care of in one swoop.”

  “Wait,” I said. “There’s saving my parents and finding the Prophecy. What’s the third thing? Your promise to Jorla?”

  Isaru nodded. “I promised that I would save the Radaska dragonling…the very same one you talked to when you manifested. It was the price Jorla fixed for me rescuing you. We discussed it after I got back to Haven, and she followed me here to remind me every chance she got.”

  I was still reeling from the fact that Fiona and I had been dead wrong. Isaru had never gone to Hyperborea. It seemed ridiculously obvious in light of what Isaru was now telling me.

  “I nearly freed it, but there were guards. With your help…with your skill at the blade…we might stand a better chance.”

  I sighed. “Isaru…this is a whole lot for me to take in.”

  “I know,” he said. “I imagine the Covenant is questioning your parents because they know something about you…something they’ve kept hidden all these years. If we rescue them, they can confirm everything we learned in the reversion once and for all, and save them from the Bastion in the process.”

  “Confirm what?” Isa asked, breaking her silence. “All of this is just…crazy. And what’s this talk about the Prophecy? You can’t be talking about…”

  We both looked at her. I had been so focused on Isaru that I had forgotten Isa was even there. I was glad neither of us had said anything that would give my identity away.

  “Yes,” Isaru said. “We believe we’ve found the location of the Prophecy of Annara.”

  “In Colonia? How could you possibly know?”

  “We don’t,” Isaru said. “But according to Elder Isandru, that is the likely location.”

  It took a moment for Isa to process these words. “And you both intend to go there? Does the Elder know?”

  Isaru and I looked at each other, wondering how much, if anything, we should tell Isa.

  “We have to,” I said. “My parents are there. And Isaru is right; so is the Prophecy.”

  “I can hardly see why…”

  “I can’t really go into details,” I said. “It’s…complicated.”

  “Good. Leave me out of it again. I’m probably too young to understand, anyway.”

  “Isa, that’s not what this is about.”

  “What is it, then? What’s the secret? What do the both of you know that I don’t?”

  If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me. I couldn’t say that to Isa, so what could I say?

  “Isa…you’re just going to have to trust me. If I told you, you’d think I was crazy. And I’m not supposed to say anything, anyway.”

  “What does Isandru have to do with it?” Isa asked.

  “I can’t say that, either. But this is something we both have to do.”

  “Why this sudden need to find the Prophecy?” Isa asked. “And why is Isandru using the two of you to do it? If the Prophecy is truly in the Bastion, then why not send a contingent of Seekers there to retrieve it instead of two initiates?”

  All were good questions, and I could answer none of them.

  “Maybe we should tell her, Shanti,” Isaru said, at last. “Is she really not worthy of our trust? Didn’t Isandru himself say he could be wrong on some things?”

  I felt myself soften. I considered Isa my closest friend, but at the same time, she didn’t know anything about who I truly was. Even in the darkness of the room, I could see the hurt on her face and hear it in her voice. If I didn’t tell her, and tell her now, I might lose the best friend I had in this place.

  “All right,” I said, sitting down on the bed. “I’ll tell you. But you can’t say anything to anyone.”

  “You don’t even have to say that,” Isa said. “Of course your secret is safe with me.”

  “No,” I said. “After what I tell you…I really do need to ask for silence. And you have to believe every word, and if you don’t, then all of this will all have been a waste.”

  “I promise,” Isa said. “Whatever you say, I’ll trust you. I’ll believe.”

  She’s too young to understand, I thought.

  “We can’t take too long explaining,” Isaru said. “It won’t be long until my father finds out I’m not where I’m supposed to be.”

  So, I explained, as quickly as I could. Isa was clearly bewildered by what I had to say, but she didn’t protest. If anything, it seemed as if she was doing her best to believe, but finding it hard to swallow all the same. I started when I first arrived in the Sanctum, and all the dreams that led me to the reversion, and how Isaru and Fiona got mixed up in it. That was followed by the revelation that I was Anna, and that both Isaru and Fiona had been witness to it, confirmed by Isandru, who had prophesied that she would return before the last Prince of Hyperborea passed from the Earth — and that that prince happened to be Isandru.

  It was a lot to take in, and I was asking her to do in seconds what I was still trying to work out after two months. She nodded numbly, seeming as if she’d been punched in the gut.

  “See why I was hesitant about telling you?”

  Then, she had the strangest reaction I didn’t expect: she laughed. It was a hysterical laughter, the kind that comes when a person is really anxious.

  “I don’t know what to think. I said I’d believe you…I have to believe you. You, Isaru, Fiona the Elder Prophet…they all believe it’s true. Is there anyone else?”

  I shook my head. “And you. And that’s the way it has to stay. We’re not even one hundred percent certain this is true. That’s why we have to find the Prophecy. If Anna wrote it, then it will have answers. We’ll learn more about the past that has been missing ever since the Exile. That’s why we have to go. And…my parents are in danger. I could never live with myself if I didn’t try to save them.”

  “You still haven’t answered me on whether Elder Isandru knows you’re going.”

  “No,” Isaru said. “He doesn’t believe we’re ready.”

  “He’s probably right,” Is
a said.

  “Whether he’s right or not, we don’t have time,” I said. “It’s now or never.”

  “And Jorla will only take us if we agree to rescue the dragonling first,” Isaru said.

  “Of course,” I said. “The question is…do we tell Fiona?”

  “I feel as if we must,” Isaru said. “At the same time…her loyalty is to Isandru.”

  That was true. If we told Fiona, there was a chance she’d tell Isandru and foil our plan. It wasn’t worth the risk.

  “If we’re going, then we need to leave now,” Isaru said.

  “You can’t just…leave!” Isa said.

  “We have to, Isa,” Isaru said. “You can’t tell anyone.”

  “I won’t say a word,” Isa said, “but when they ask me where my roommate’s gone, I’ll have to say something. Maybe you should take me with you!”

  Isaru and I looked at each other, but it was Isaru who shook his head. “You aren’t ready, Isa. You haven’t even manifested yet. Where we’re going…it’s dangerous. I wouldn’t risk you.”

  “As if you’re not risking yourself! It’s my decision to make.”

  Isaru approached her, and she let out a squeak when he grabbed her hand.

  “Isa…I promise I will return, safe and sound. So will Shanti. I would not place you at risk. That would be…”

  Isa waited for him to answer, but Isaru had no further words.

  “Please,” Isa finally managed, “find your way back. Shanti…you’re the only reason I’m still in this place. Having you here gives me hope. If I ever heard that you got yourself killed…”

  “I’m not going to die, Isa. What you saw at the tournament…that wasn’t just me fighting. It was Anna. Sometimes, she can take control of me and make me fight a lot better than I normally would. I don’t have control over it, but I think this is something I need to do. I need to help her remember her purpose…” I shook my head. “I know this is probably making no sense. But I believe it’s the right thing to do. It’s what I must do.”

  Isa sighed. “Well, there’s nothing I can say to get you to stay. Just…come back, all right? That’s all I ask.”