Kingdom

by Kyle West

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Also by Kyle West

  Map

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Chapter Fifty

  Chapter Fifty-One

  About the Author

  Also by Kyle West

  Glossary

  KINGDOM

  The Xenoworld Saga, Book 5

  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 © 2017 Kyle West

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

  First e-book edition, September 2017

  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

  CHAPTER ONE

  I SAT IN THE CAPTAIN’S seat of the Odin, with Pallos strapped in beside me. Staring out the windshield, the mist hung thickly upon the ground. The tall trees surrounding the meadow seemed ghostly in the pre-dawn. This mist was encroaching into the Hollow further than it ever had, an insult to the sanctity of the Elder Dragons’ home.

  The sooner we were gone, the better.

  “All systems go?” I asked.

  Pallos cleared his throat. “All systems are functioning, yes.”

  I turned on the intercom. “Attention. We’re taking off soon. The sooner you find a seat, the sooner we’re off to find Isaru.”

  I clicked off the intercom and reached for the throttle to engage the lift thrusters.

  There was nothing left but to—

  Shanti . . .

  The Elder Dragon Queen’s voice entered my mind, urgent. I pulled my hand from the throttle while Pallos looked on in confusion.

  “Something wrong?” he asked.

  “Maybe,” I said.

  I sought for Silence to communicate with her. The void surrounded me, coming quickly out of habit. In that void floated another mind, waiting. I forged a link between Quietus and myself.

  Quietus . . . is something wrong?

  Yes, she said. The Elder King and I must speak to you.

  We. She was including Askal, then.

  What about?

  It is best we meet face to face. Come to the lake.

  The dragon severed the connection before I could respond, leaving me with silence . . . and questions.

  “Power down the ship, Pallos. There’s one last thing I have to attend to.”

  “Power down? What’s going on? At any moment, Isaru could—”

  “I know,” I said. “Quietus just summoned me. She won’t keep me long.”

  At least, that was what I hoped.

  “I see,” Pallos said, although his eyes told me that he didn’t see. “Powering down, then.”

  I unstrapped myself from my seat and walked out of the flight deck. I jogged past the conference room and into Odin’s wardroom, where most of my crew sat at the table. Isa and Shara spoke excitedly, probably explaining everything that had happened to the others over the last month. Elders Isandru and Tellor were listening, along with the boys from the Sanctum who had decided to follow me: Ret, Samal, and Nabea. Fiona stood off to the side, listening with a hand under her chin, while Mia sat next to her brother.

  All of them were held rapt by the girls’ story, so rapt that only one of them even noticed my entrance.

  “Shanti?” Mia said. “What’s going on? I thought we were leaving?”

  Isa ceased speaking as everyone looked at me.

  “Quietus and Askal want to see me,” I said. “I’m not sure about what.”

  “You better not keep them waiting,” Elder Isandru said, stroking his long, silvery beard. “We’ll be here when you return.”

  I nodded. “Be back soon.”

  Before any of them could ask anything more, I pressed the exit button for the blast door. As soon as the door hissed open, a few tendrils of fog immediately eddied along the deck. That fog seemed like something alive and altogether unnatural. It was as if the Hollow knew it was to be abandoned soon and searched for any territory to invade. Gazing outside made me feel uneasy. I put my hand on the hilt of my sword. I didn’t think there would be anything out there . . . at least, not until the dragons left.

  But it never hurt to be careful.

  I ran down the boarding ramp as the door shut behind me.

  I reached the spongy turf of the xen below. Already, the fungus was starting to lose its characteristic glow, a sure sign it was dying. The Northern Reversion was spreading at an alarming rate. Above, swirls of leaves fell from the Silverwoods, piling thickly on the forest floor. The air was pungent with autumn, though it was only late summer. This far north, winter arrived sooner . . . but I couldn’t help but feel that come spring, these trees would never regrow their lost leaves.

  The lake was about a mile from here. Running, I could make it in less than ten minutes.

  I set off, following the trail into the forest.

  CHAPTER TWO

  I RAN AS FAST AS I could through the trees. The path to the lake was straight, flanked on either side by tall, glowing trees. As I got closer to the lake and deeper into the Hollow, signs of life returned. The trees and plants were surrounded by an ethereal aura, while the pink xen glowed with vitality. One wouldn’t think that just a mile in the other direction the rotting of the reversion began. There were still signs, though; the leaves fell thickly here, too, and the wind had a harsh and almost violent quality, stripping even more leaves from the trees. And there always the mist . . . thinner here, but still present.

  It wasn’t lon
g before the trees ended that the forest opened onto the shore of the lake. The fog wasn’t as thick here, pushed back by the two dragons waiting on the lake’s shoreline. On the left towered Askal, his form pink and glowing in the night. His wide wings folded behind him, while his round head sat high above on his thick neck, as his all white, glowing eyes stared down. Though I knew he was Elekai like me, I couldn’t help but feel dwarfed and helpless before him.

  Quietus stood to the right, smaller but still larger than any other dragon I’d ever seen besides the Elder King. Her characteristics were practically the opposite of her mate: her scales were black as night while her head and body were sharp and angular. Her spinal spikes cut upward like obsidian knives, while a long, cruel spike jutted from the end of her long tail. Likewise, her wide wings contained dozens of sharp points, while her eyes were glowing white slits.

  I reached for Silence to communicate with these dragons that were like gods beside me.

  I’m here, I said. What would you have me do, Elders?

  Forgive us for pulling you here, Shanti, Quietus said. We have information that may be helpful to you.

  You’ve found Isaru?

  Quietus snorted derisively. I took that to mean “no.” If only we had. We do know for certain that he has not reached the Crater. Our scouts have reported nothing, and we’re covering every bit of the Crater. They are using all their powers to keep the mists thin to aid in your search.

  Askal made a deep sound in his throat that could only be described as a growl, though it wasn’t quite a growl because it made my body shake. The Mindless haven’t changed their flight patterns around the Thought Dome, so he has not reached them.

  What would you have me do, Askal? If we capture him . . . do you want us to return him here?

  He must be brought with us to Dragonspire, the Elder King said. Dragonspire can only be approached by the air and lies far to the south. Together, we can suppress his powers; however, should he reach the swarm, their numbers will act as a counterbalance to ours, and we won’t be able to keep him subdued.

  Subdue him? I asked. You mean, physically?

  We can take control of his mind if there are enough of us. Once he is weakened, you can carry him on your ship and fly with us to Dragonspire. There will be enough of us to perhaps heal the darkness festering within him.

  That was it, then. That was how we could save him.

  Why am I just learning this now? If this could have happened weeks ago . . .

  Because our place is still the Hollow, Shanti, Quietus said. But with Isaru awake and controlled by Rakhim Shal, stopping him becomes even more important. Until now, we didn’t know the threat he presented. And we don’t know if healing is even possible, even with all the Elder Dragons combined.

  What then? I asked. What if it isn’t possible to heal him?

  Then he must be guarded until the Hyperfold can be destroyed. But Isaru on the loose means unleashing Rakhim Shal upon the world. Shal is the chosen agent of the Radaskim. His goal is to join as many Elekai as he can to the Hyperfold in thralldom. For every being that joins the Hyperfold, the Xenofold weakens. When the Radaskim come, there may not be any resistance left should Rakhim have his way.

  I was trying to think of how to face Isaru. I knew subduing him would be difficult, even with the dragons’ help.

  There was a simpler solution, of course, but that solution was too awful to even think about.

  I knew that possibility hadn’t escaped either Askal’s or Quietus’s minds. Yet, it was a possibility we all had to acknowledge.

  If we cannot capture him . . . what else? I don’t think I need to say it.

  I peered up at their faces, trying to read the thoughts behind their eyes. I could find nothing.

  That is a choice we leave to you, Shanti, Askal said. He is your friend. It is . . . a difficult decision to make. It was we who lost him to the mist, we who were fooled into thinking he was getting better.

  The mist. The way Askal said it made the mist sound like something alive, capable of its own thoughts and feelings. A counter-consciousness to the Xenofold, perhaps, an extension of the Hyperfold’s malevolent will. If Shal possessed Isaru’s body, then he was a part of the mist, now. Perhaps he even was the mist.

  The Hollow will not be safe for long, Askal said. Indeed, its power wanes as it realizes that we will abandon it. It will be days yet before the first of the fell beasts controlled by the Hyperfold dare enter. However, that day will come soon and when it does, far be it for any dragon to remain behind.

  When are you leaving? I asked.

  Quietus snorted and then stamped her feet. The movement sent vibrations through the xen, tickling my feet through the soles of my boots.

  Mere hours after you, she said. It is when the last of us leave that the dying will begin in earnest. As my mate said, within days this place will be all but dead, lost to the mist and the beasts that inhabit it.

  There is no chance that it can be saved?

  So long as the Hyperfold exists, there is none. Askal, too, stamped a clawed foot, but unlike Quietus, this gesture was unsure and sedated. This presents a problem.

  In the form of the Northern Wild becoming completely overrun?

  This would happen eventually, Askal said. Now, however, it will happen more quickly. What would have taken years will now happen in mere months.

  So, we must be even faster in evacuating Northold.

  Northold wasn’t the only settlement in the Northern Wild, of course. There were many others of varying size, although Northold was the largest.

  The task, I realized, would prove nearly impossible. People were going to die, no matter what we did. I felt a weight in my heart from the mere thought.

  I will try my best, I said. Even if it’s not enough.

  Save those you can, Quietus said. In the end, your best will be enough for them. Do not focus on what you can’t do . . . focus on what you can do.

  Though it appears impossible, Askal said. This war is far from over. Though the death of the Northern Wild presents a grave danger to anyone living in it, it is only the beginning. The rot and the mist will only spread further south. I cannot say how quickly. The Red Mountains may form a natural break, but that will only be a temporary reprieve.

  The Hyperfold must be stopped, I said. Only . . . I don’t know how.

  I had thought about how to do that so much that the very words were starting to lose their meaning. Stop the Hyperfold. Stop the Hyperfold. Stop the Hyperfold.

  One word always came back.

  Impossible.

  That is the main reason we called you from your ship, Askal said.

  You know how to destroy it?

  No, Quietus said, but we know of one who does.

  CHAPTER THREE

  THEY KNEW OF ONE WHO did? Why were they telling me this just now?

  Who?

  Long ago, during the time of the Ragnarok War . . . you, Anna, stopped in this place. We all did. In fact, our Hollow was built here not to hide ourselves from humanity, but to hide the source of power. A source of power so great that it went beyond the Xenofold and the Hyperfold.

  What power? Can it destroy the Hyperfold?

  Alex—Elekim—came here to learn his purpose, to defeat the Radaskim Xenomind, Askala. There, he discovered what it was he had to do. He had to become one with the Xenofold, to supplant her by sacrificing his humanity to become a god.

  “Alex . . .”

  The very name felt like a punch in the gut. These weren’t my feelings, but Anna’s. That didn’t lessen their impact or make them any less real.

  Quietus went on nonetheless. He spoke with the Nameless One.

  The Nameless One . . . I had written about him in my Prophecy.

  I was supposed to find him, I said. Are you saying . . . he’s here?

  Yes, Askal said.

  Of course. How could I have forgotten? Anna’s memory of the event returned to me, even if the memory was as hazy as the fog that surrounded
me.

  This was where Alex had learned he was to die.

  He spoke with him here, I said. He dove into that lake until he found a light. Beyond that light he found the Nameless One. I looked up at Quietus. Are you saying he’s still here, after all this time?

  The Nameless One is ageless, she said. He has been before the Elekai or the Radaskim. If there is anyone with the knowledge that will help us it would be him.

  Then why haven’t you spoken to him yourself?

  Askal snorted—the sound made me jump. We have tried. But always, when we dive there is no light. It is not to us he wishes to speak.

  So, he might talk to me, then.

  As the wife of Elekim . . . perhaps, Quietus said. Though it is deep and dangerous. You will dive past the point of no return. You must have faith in the light.

  And if the light isn’t there?

  Quietus was silent.

  One thing was sure, though, the Hyperfold had to be destroyed. If we couldn’t do that, then it was the Xenofold that would be destroyed.

  If the Xenofold dies, I said, Alex dies. I’ll go into the lake.

  No, Quietus said. If the Xenofold dies . . . we all do. We bear a responsibility not only for Isaru, but for our guardianship of this place. We can no longer protect the Hollow and the secret it hides. Given time, it is possible that Shal or his agents may discover that this is where the Nameless One resides. One of us must meet him first.

  Wait. Are you saying the Radaskim want to meet him, too?

  Likely, Askal said, they already have. Their leader . . . whose name I shall not utter here . . . has likely reached him through the Xenomatrix. Whatever boon he has received must be repaid in kind to the Elekai.

  What do you mean? What boon?

  Information, Quietus said. If the Nameless One gives information to one side, he is beholden to give it to the other as well to maintain his neutral status. We already know the dark Xenomind traveling here from the Void has touched our world . . . beginning with Shal, who created the Hyperfold. Since then, none of us have been able to meet with the Nameless One. We believe this is because he has been waiting for you specifically.