Kingdom

by Kyle West

On the way, I briefed the crew on all the Nameless One had told me. To my surprise, there was just enough time to go through everything before we reached the edge of the Crater. One part I did leave out, though, since Pallos was listening. It wouldn’t have been wise to tell him about Shen’s plan to destroy the Xenofold once the Hyperfold was removed.

  I would go over that bit once we were safely on the ground.

  “I don’t like it,” Mia said. “How can we trust what he said?”

  “Something tells he was telling me the truth,” I said. “A gut feeling.”

  “Perhaps not the whole truth,” Isandru said. “Until we know his motives for all this, we should tread carefully.”

  “I don’t see the harm in checking it out,” Shara said. “If he gave Alex the answer, why shouldn’t we trust him?”

  I was of a similar opinion.

  “The harm is in the Hyperfold itself,” Isandru said. “Once we connect to it, we will be leaving our world and joining his.”

  I didn’t ask who Isandru was referring to. We would be part of Shal’s world, where he got to bend the rules.

  “So long as all of us are bonded, we should be powerful enough to resist the pull,” I said. “There’s five of us in all: Elder Isandru, Fiona, Mia, Shara, and me.”

  Shara’s eyes widened at being included. “Me?”

  I nodded. “Compared to us, you are still learning. But we will need every little bit of power we can get.” I looked at Isa. “And we’ll need you to keep watch, Isa. While all of us are bonded, we won’t be able to do much. If we let go, we will all have to let go at once, that way no one is left in the lurch.”

  Pallos listened in silence as he guided the ship down into the Crater.

  “How far out are we?” I asked.

  “Fifteen minutes,” he said.

  We dropped down into the Crater, going through layers of fog until we broke through. Below, the vast forest spread before us, at the end of which, far to the south, we could see the high broken towers of Hyperborea. Just before that city was the Tower of Shal, the place where the key to the Hyperfold had been kept. For all I knew, it was still where we’d left it.

  “Radar picking up anything?” I asked.

  “Nothing,” Pallos said.

  “Set course for the Thought Dome,” I said. “It’s a bit west of the main city.”

  Pallos veered the ship to starboard without comment.

  We shot over the trees. If there were dragons here, they’d hear or see us for miles around. However, it seemed as if Isaru had taken every Mindless here to go attack the Eastern Kingdoms.

  That would only work in our favor.

  “There it is,” Fiona said. “That’s it, right?”

  “Yes,” Isandru said.

  Mia stared at the windshield with unbelieving eyes. “I didn’t get to see it when the Shen picked me up. It’s hard to believe it still stands, though the rest of the city is fallen.”

  It was hard to tell just what was going through her mind. Shock, sadness, and disbelief to be sure. The last she’d seen Hyperborea had been nearly two centuries ago, when the city still stood. She had gone to sleep in that world only to wake up in this one.

  “It struck me, too,” Isandru said. “In our time, Hyperborea was a city of lights, canals, and gardens, home to more than three hundred thousand souls. The most populous city north of Nova, when even Shen hadn’t dreamed of anything so wondrous.”

  “It fell,” Mia said, “just as I dreamed it would. Anna’s prophecy,” she turned to me, “your prophecy. You predicted it.”

  “That part of me I can’t remember,” I said.

  “The Dome is still shining,” Isa said.

  “The only part of the city that still receives infusions from the Sea of Creation,” Isandru said.

  “It must be stopped,” Shara said.

  That’s what we were here for.

  “There’s a bridge leading into the Dome,” Pallos said. “It seems strong enough to bear the Odin’s weight.”

  “Put us down there,” I said.

  “That’s the entrance,” Mia said. “There was a bridge leading from the city directly to the Dome. Rather than build on the ground, they didn’t want to disturb the trees beneath. The Dome itself was built on a plateau, with natural vents into the Earth beneath. Long before either Isandru or I were born, the site of the Dome was a grove filled with hot springs. It was a sacred place, for meditation. The Seekers would often train or meditate there.” She smiled sadly. “All that was gone by the time we came around, in Hyperborea’s twilight.”

  “The Nameless One said that it was the way down to the Sea of Creation,” I said.

  Isandru nodded. “Most of the city is directly above the Sea. The Dome, however, is directly over the Point of Origin.” He looked at me. “Are you sure about this, Shanti?”

  “I believe the Nameless One was telling the truth. This is the way forward. If we stop the Hyperfold, we can stop Shal and the swarm.”

  “And get Isaru back,” Isa said.

  “If this will heal the Red Wild . . . it will solve everything,” Shara said. “Literally everything. It will protect us from the Radaskim. But . . . it seems too good to be true.”

  “That’s why we must be careful,” I said.

  “As careful as one can be while connecting to the Hyperfold,” Fiona said.

  “Together, I know we can do it. Isaru is counting on us. If the Thought Dome is powered down, then Rakhim Shal disappears.”

  Mia’s lips tightened, but she said nothing more.

  The massive pink dome spread before us, its outer veil opaque and flawlessly smooth. It shone like a pearl in the middle of the silent, green forest. Pallos began to lower the ship directly over the bridge leading into the Dome’s side. The opening seemed to be a part of the Dome itself, like the one that surrounded Shenshi.

  Hopefully, getting inside was as simple as walking through it.

  The ship landed and we hurried off. I stayed behind a moment to speak to Pallos.

  “We’ll return soon.”

  “I’ll remain. Shanti, what if there are dragons? How will I let you know?”

  It was a good question. “You’ll have to find a way to fight them off. If that’s not possible, you’ll have to protect the ship and leave. If we come back and you aren’t here, then we’ll have no choice but to flee into the forest. Search for us there. We’ll make for the western slopes of the Crater.”

  He nodded. “I hope it doesn’t come to that.”

  “We’ll hurry.”

  “Good luck,” he said.

  “Thanks.”

  I rushed to the wardroom to join the others, who were readying their weapons. Mia was the only one without a weapon. Her eyes were wide with suppressed fear.

  “I think Tellor might have left a spare blade,” I said.

  “I’ll go get it,” Isa said.

  She was gone only a moment. When she returned, she handed it to Mia, who attached it to her belt nervously. I hadn’t had time to give her any training since the beach, but she knew the basic tenets of Treeform—enough to defend herself if it came to it.

  Likely, we wouldn’t even need to fight at all.

  “We’ll make this quick,” I said. “And I have something to say once we’re on the ground.”

  Fiona pressed the button to open the blast door, A cool, dry wind was admitted. The sky above was dark and gray, the air thick and heady with the scent of the forest. Though now late summer, it felt as though it were already autumn. Already, a few leaves were flying, blown up from the forest below the bridge.

  On foot, the scale of the Dome became even more apparent. I had to crane my neck, and even so, I couldn’t see the top due to the curvature. It stood perhaps a hundred feet away. There was more than enough space for the Odin—two more of the ships could have fit side-by-side.

  “There is one other thing I need to say,” I said. “Something I left out up there because of Pallos.” I looked around to make sure
I had everyone’s attention. “The Nameless One said that Shen wants to destroy the Xenofold, and the only thing guarding the Xenofold from him was the Hyperfold itself. If we can destroy the Hyperfold, then the Point of Origin is open to attack from Shen’s forces.”

  I waited a moment for this to sink in.

  Shara was the first to speak. “Why would he want to destroy it?”

  “The Nameless One said he thinks the Elekai are a perversion of humanity’s true nature. In this way, he is little different from the Covenant where I grew up. Only Shen is far more capable than the Covenant.”

  “Doesn’t he know that destroying it means dooming the entire planet?” Shara asked. “Why would he want to do that?”

  “The Nameless One says it is simply Shen’s nature,” I said. “He can only do what his creators instruct him to do, on some deep level that even he cannot change. He believes destroying the Xenofold ultimately protects humanity, though he needs us for long enough to repel the Radaskim invaders. When they come again, he believes he can stand on his own.”

  “But if we don’t kill the Hyperfold,” Isa said, unsure, “then we die anyway. Right?”

  “It’s a terrible irony,” I said. “Humans created Shen, and Shen will destroy us, all the while thinking he is saving us. We were the authors of our own doom before Hyperborea even existed.”

  Isandru stared out at the Dome. “For all this place’s evil, there is a reason why the Dome is the only thing that still stands. It cannot be destroyed. The Shen have studied it, extensively, and have even replicated some of its technologies. You see their own domes—weaker versions—covering their own cities.” Isandru looked back at us, the wind blowing strong and sending his long, gray hair flying back. “Perhaps Shen will lash out again and destroy the Xenofold, even with the threat of the Radaskim. One thing is sure, however. If we do nothing, then the Xenofold is dead, anyway.”

  “Which raises a new problem,” Shara said. “If we succeed in destroying the Hyperfold . . . how will we protect the Point of Origin from Shen? If Shen is as powerful as everyone says, then that seems impossible, right?”

  “I will try to convince him otherwise,” I said. “If that doesn’t work, then I don’t know what will.”

  “What do you suggest, then?” Shara asked. “We’re still doing this . . . right?”

  I nodded. “I see no other choice. We turn off the Hyperfold and let the Sea of Creation rebuild its strength. Once it’s fully restored, it will project a field wide enough to weaken any Radaskim who enters it. There is no victory without doing that.”

  “And Shen?” Shara pressed.

  Now this was the hard part. “A war would be impossible to win and cost countless of lives. That must be avoided, if possible.”

  But looking at it from here, it didn’t seem possible. The Shen Collective controlled almost the entire planet, leaving only North and South America relatively untouched. Attacking it head on with any sort of army would be suicide.

  “If he won’t listen to reason, then we will have to find some way to stop him,” I said.

  “You mean, kill him.”

  “Such as a rogue artificial intelligence can be killed . . . yes.”

  CHAPTER FIFTY

  IT WAS QUIET AFTER THAT, save for the wind, but no one could argue against it. If Shen couldn’t be convinced, that left us only one option.

  One option that, if we went to Shen, he would instantly see, as intelligent as he was.

  Mia saw that reasoning, too. “Then we can’t go to him about this. That would be showing him our hand.”

  I nodded. “Exactly. He doesn’t know that we know how to destroy the Hyperfold. But given how closely they watch this place, it won’t take him long to figure that out. He will either strike before the invasion or after . . . assuming he survives. If he strikes before, I don’t see what we can do to stop it. But I don’t think Shen would do that because I don’t think even he has enough to challenge the coming Radaskim host, though he hinted that the entire purpose of his empire is to protect humanity from it.”

  “Whatever the case, we don’t have much time,” Isandru said. “Shen has no physical form. Every computer on the face of the planet would need to be dismantled to destroy him. We would have better luck attacking the wind.”

  “I don’t know how it would happen,” I said. “But if our world is to have a future, the Xenofold must be kept safe. If we must die doing that, then so be it.”

  “We’re going in, then?” Shara asked.

  “Yeah,” I said, “we’re going in.”

  “Once we do this,” Isandru said, “there will be no going back.”

  It felt as if we were standing on the edge of a precipice. From the flight deck, I could see Pallos watching us, wondering what we were talking about, knowing he was being left out.

  “We should go,” I said.

  The others agreed, following me to the entrance of the Thought Dome.

  * * *

  An anxious weight formed in my stomach as we walked up to the entrance. I reached out, grabbing Silence, wrapping myself in it, making myself immune to the fears which threatened to overwhelm me.

  I had never bonded with more than one person before. I had done it to show Mia how to use a sword, but I didn’t know how much harder it would be to bond five people together. Still, the Nameless One had said we’d need that much power to find the key to destroy the Hyperfold.

  I tried to detect any signs of hostile life. Here, in the Crater, my senses were dampened, much like in the Hollow. Still, I could sense the others around me, all centering themselves for connection with the Xenofold. The only exception was Shara, who hadn’t even developed that skill yet. I would have to bring her in myself.

  I was the first to reach the entrance, covered in a thin veil of pink. It was hard to tell what it was made of, exactly. It didn’t seem to be any sort of material, and yet, it didn’t seem like pure energy, either. As impossible as it was, it felt like something in between. It pressed onto my skin as I passed through, thick, and once I was on the other side, I found myself in the vast, cavernous space, all sounds from the outside blocked out, replaced by a constant thrumming that vibrated to my very core, emanating from a shining light straight ahead.

  The bridge led straight to the center of the dome, and that bridge seemed to float in midair. Below us was bathed in a bright, pink glow, all converging toward the dome’s center. I saw then that this dome wasn’t a dome, exactly, but more of a sphere where the bottom half was underground. Down there was a sea of shining pink Aether, a supply of an unquantifiable worth.

  The others broke through the veil, gawking at the interior while standing behind me.

  Ahead shone the bright orb of light at the top of a column that extended all the way to the bottom of the Sphere.

  “It goes all the way down to the Point of Origin,” Mia said. “I don’t know how it works, really, but it tells the Xenofold to funnel its creative abilities here.”

  “Can we do it from here?” Shara asked.

  “We’ll need to get closer to enter its field,” Mia said. “We need every advantage we can get, and proximity is one of them.”

  “It’s so bright,” Isa said. “Are you sure we can do this?”

  “We have to believe we can.”

  “This is an evil I’ve been wanting to stop ever since its creation,” Mia said. She took a step forward. “Strange. This is what I’ve wanted. Why do I hesitate?”

  “It is that way, sometimes,” Shara said. “When you anticipate something so long, and it finally happens . . . it’s rarely what you thought it would be. It’s enough to give anyone pause.”

  “Perhaps you’re right,” Mia said.

  “We should be moving, though,” Shara said. “Get this over and done with while the skies are still empty of dragons.”

  We walked down the bridge. The dome was so large that it took a long time to make it to the center, even with walking quickly. The shining light seemed to run from us,
but in time, it was clearly bigger than it had been earlier. I could feel the heat from it like a second sun. I had to shield my eyes.

  “Find Silence if you haven’t already. And join hands. I’m going to begin soon.”

  I felt Fiona’s hand in my right, and Shara’s in my left. Isandru and Mia stood to the right of Fiona.

  “Focus on the light,” I said. “Let me lead.”

  I turned my head where Isa watched. “We’re about to start. Call out if anything happens.”

  Isa nodded. “Will do.”

  I strained to sense what the others were doing around me. I felt their attention focused on the light. I reached out with my own mind, and just like that, I managed to connect everyone’s thoughts. I could feel their feelings—their fear, their anticipation . . . even their trust. But it wasn’t good enough to know everyone separately. Everyone’s connection had to be forged as a single link, a connection to the Xenofold that would be far stronger than anything attempted in decades, and more likely, centuries.

  Even so, I had to pray that it was strong enough.

  I pulled as hard as I could from the Xenofold.

  Join me.

  Fiona was the first to add her stream to mine. Instantly, a river became a torrent, barely controlled. The power flowed out of us and into the light ahead. At last, I regained control, and Shara added her power to ours, a small trickle that, all the same, amplified the power flowing out of us even more.

  I expanded my awareness as the power flowed through the three of us.

  Mia, I thought. Now!

  At first, her stream was thin, but it just kept growing . . . and growing . . . until the river was a dam breaking forth. It seemed with each person added, the power increased was exponential. I almost cried out from how much effort it took to control it. It was as if I was standing beneath a waterfall draining the entire ocean.

  And yet, I could step back and control that flow. The light ahead was vibrating with the force of the torrent.

  Isandru, I said, are you ready?

  Are you?

  I knew his power, added to what was already present, would be difficult to control.