I’d felt Dalejem’s stare on Revik more than once, as well.
Again, I shoved all of our personal drama out of my mind.
Taking a deep breath, I turned to the crowd as a whole. Starting with our being forced into a meeting with Atwar in Dubrovnik, I described everything we saw in Rome.
I told them about the door, about the telekinetic machine.
I told them about losing Varlan.
Seers gasped at the descriptions of the door.
A number were openly upset that we’d lost Varlan as well, particularly those who’d worked closely with him on the infiltration team. I told them about the army we’d faced when we left those caves, and what Revik had done to get us out of there.
A few clapped, holding up fists in victory at the description of Revik wiping out the Myther army––and what he’d done to Vatican City.
I told them about Deifilius.
I told them about his threats.
I told them about finding Atwar and other seers in that cell below the Coliseum. I told them about the blood collars, and what they did to seers. I told them that Atwar’s people would be joining us here soon, likely in a matter of days, if not hours.
I told them the Myther army was coming.
I also told them it wouldn’t be as easy for Revik to wipe them out next time, since they’d have telekinetics of their own with them.
I saw seers turn to stare at the Revik clones while I spoke of the telekinetics.
All six of “our” clones wore sight-restraint collars, a fact that didn’t seem to bother any of them. They clustered together on the same boulder near the creek, which was weird as hell, just in terms of visuals.
Revik saw me glance at them a few times before the meeting started. Something in my face must have been funny, because he burst out in a laugh after my third or fourth glance. From the facial expressions of others in our group, I definitely wasn’t the only one creeped out by those things.
Our one other clone, the Menlim one, was treated as much more of a security risk.
It knelt on the dusty ground even now, wearing not one but two sight restraint collars. Wreg’s security team had it bound by the wrists, ankles, arms and legs. Right now, Stanley, Chinja and Illeg stood guard over it, two of them holding rifles.
I didn’t even want to look at that one, truthfully.
Even knowing it didn’t actually “contain” Menlim that we knew of, its gaunt body, pale yellow eyes, and skull-like face were the stuff of nightmares. I’d already told Balidor I wanted it disposed of before we left this canyon, and the body burned.
When I finished telling my half of the Rome debacle, I stepped back, looking to Revik to take over for his side of things.
Giving me a nod, Revik stood.
Lily followed me back to the boulder where Revik had been sitting. Standing next to me while I sat, she leaned her head and body on my shoulder and side to watch Revik speak.
I couldn’t believe how tall she was.
If she’d been human, she would have looked around thirteen or fourteen years old.
At the thought, my throat tightened. I wrapped my arm around her waist, pulling her halfway into my lap. She let me, leaning deeper into me where I sat.
Her eyes never left Revik as he paced in front of us.
He’d shifted gears already, his light bleeding that aggressive, warlike quality I remembered from when we’d been planning the op in Dubai, and the one in Rome.
“All right,” he said, unconsciously mirroring my words. He looked back at his audience, gesturing lightly with a hand before placing both on his hips. “Some other things you need to know, in addition to what the Esteemed Bridge has told you. Brother Balidor and I managed to break into the organic computers in that underground lab in Rome.”
His eyes shifted briefly to Dalejem, who was probably our best comp-hack now, apart from Dante. Revik’s mouth tightened briefly.
He glanced back over the rest of the group, leveling his light.
“…We don’t know the exact number of telekinetics they have still alive, but we have a few rough estimates of how many they started with. From what Adhipan Balidor and I were able to decipher from the data we de-encrypted, they initially bred upwards of several hundred seers. That’s several hundred telekinetic seers, using primarily my DNA.”
Murmurs broke out in the group, flashes of alarm in aleimic light.
Revik talked over both things, holding up his hands.
“…a good percentage of those were likely used as organic material in the machines they built around the doorways on Dante’s map. Those doors and the machines guarding them were clearly the priority, according to all the text orders and oversight notes we saw.”
Pausing, he added,
“They only completed that end of the project recently… within the last year, possibly even within the last few months. It took them decades to get the cloning process right for Elaerian, and their samples kept dying. They got their most recent samples from me, while I was with them in Beijing. I’m assuming that’s why they only cloned copies of my DNA, and none of Alyson, Cass, Lily, or Maygar.”
He glanced around the group, frowning.
“It’s clear they want the doors open,” he added. “Kali’s vision has been confirmed at least to that degree. We saw a number of formulas trying to calculate the amount of light they thought they might need to stabilize a single door, and how they might be able to link the different machines in order to concentrate power. From the notes we saw, they definitely believed if they were able to open one door and keep it open, it should trigger all of the doors to open.”
Pausing to let that sink in, he added,
“We already know Allie can open a door herself, with the help of the Four. We witnessed her doing that in Rome.”
He glanced at me, his mouth grim, then looked back at the group.
“What we don’t know is if she can stabilize that opening well enough to trigger the rest of the doors to open. The scientists in Rome seemed to believe a single door had to be opened fully and stabilized in order for the chain reaction to occur.”
Pausing, he flipped his hand sideways.
“We still don’t know exactly what will happen to this world when the doors are all triggered,” he admitted. “Kali’s vision tells us there’s some chance the entire planet will be destroyed, at least if the Dreng are allowed to be the ones to do it.”
“So why are we here?” Dante cut in.
When everyone turned, looking at her, she reddened, glancing between Revik and Vik, who sat to her right. She swallowed, but her voice remained unwavering.
“Like, shouldn’t we be out there?” She pointed out over the desert, without taking her eyes off Revik. “Trying to stop them? If there’s a chance they can destroy the whole planet, why aren’t we out there, stopping this Deifilius cat from opening one of those doors?”
Revik shrugged eloquently with his hand.
“You have seen the maps, cousin,” he said gently. “You know how many hotspots there are. You know, better than any of us, the security measures in place at each of those Shadow cities. We have just told you about the telekinetic machines. How likely do you think it is that we could stop them that way? Given the number of hotspots they already control? They’ve made it clear they intend to end this cycle, in one way or another.”
“But why open the doors at all?” my Aunt Carol asked. “Why would they do this in the first place? Where do the doors go?”
Revik’s eyes shifted to her.
I could tell he had a harder time delivering bad news to her. I could also feel he didn’t like that he was scaring her, or my Uncle James.
“We still don’t know enough about the doors to be able to speculate with any accuracy on that point, aunt,” he said politely, bowing his head. “According to the commentaries on the Myths––books written by high sages and those who meditated on these concepts, some for centuries at a time––there are various theories related to
the doors. Some say the doors will send you wherever you, personally, most need or desire to go. According to that theory, twenty people could pass through these doors, and end up in twenty different places. Theoretically.”
He shrugged, his tone patient, his college professor voice.
“Some say the doors open only to a single world at a time, sending any group through to a single location, especially if those people are all linked. It is not clear if those links are energetic or physical, but it could be some combination.”
Shrugging again, he continued.
“…Some say the doors act more like computers, where you program in the destination you desire, and it stays on that destination until someone changes it to a new one. Some say only the ‘worthy’ can pass through the doors. There is no consensus on what being ‘worthy’ might mean, or what happens if you are deemed ‘not worthy.’ There is not even any consensus on where the doors lead, precisely, in terms of the range of worlds. Some say those who pass through go to different locations and planets within our universe. Some say the doors open to worlds in different dimensions. Some say they lead us back to our own universe, but in different time periods, both future and past.”
My Aunt Carol frowned, glancing at Uncle James.
I saw others in the crowd frowning too, and murmuring to those next to them.
Dante frowned at Vik, who patted her arm reassuringly.
Revik waited a beat, maybe for additional questions, then went on.
“As I said, these telekinetics were not bred primarily to protect those doors, but to open them. The other telekinetics…” He motioned with a hand towards his clones and heads turned, following his gesture. “…They are more likely meant for tactical use.”
Shrugging, he focused back on the seers and humans below the rock platform.
“In all probability, the Dreng hope to make Earth a kind of way-station for these doors, which they hope to open and close at will. The underground bunkers, the humans bred to provide light to power the telekinetics… it all points to this idea of using Earth as a way-station to other worlds for the Dreng and their followers.”
Revik rested his hands on his waist, surveying the group.
“But if Kali’s vision is correct, they are wrong,” he said, blunt. “They will not be able to pass through the doors in this way. As a result, they will be forced to destroy the Earth to obtain their goal, killing the vast majority of humanity in the process.”
Exhaling, he clicked under his breath, his voice grim as he placed his hands back on his waist.
“There are several problems with our allowing this, my brothers and sisters, cousins and friends. One, all of us will die. All of our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world will die. Perhaps more critically, we will have allowed the pestilence of the Dreng to spread to countless other planets, worlds, even planes of existence. By not stopping them, we could be aiding them to enslave billions, if not trillions, of other races and beings.”
There was a silence when he finished.
Revik looked around, gauging faces.
After another pause, he went on in the same measured voice.
“We must prepare for a hard fight in the coming days.” Motioning towards his clones with one hand, he added, “As the Esteemed Bridge told you, the Myther Army is coming. They will have telekinetics and seers. They will also have many humans, and advanced weapons. Their sole purpose is to keep us from interfering with their plans in any way.”
His voice turned harder, hammering his words.
“Make no mistake––they are here to kill us. They will have no interest in our surrender, or in negotiation of any kind. They are here to kill the Bridge, as she poses the greatest threat to them. Really, she poses the only threat… the only one that matters now.”
He glanced back at me, giving me and Lily a grim look.
Turning back to the crowd, he folded his arms across his chest.
“If I know Menlim, he will have created significantly more telekinetics than he thought he’d need. Like all those in the Dreng, he does not like fair fights. He has no romantic view of fighting with even odds. He does not like risk.”
“How many?” Loki spoke that time. He sat on the ground, his arm around Gina, who leaned into his side. “What would you guess, Illustrious Sword, given your extensive knowledge of the mind and tactical biases of your old guardian?”
Revik frowned as he turned over the question, his eyes showing him to be in the Barrier.
Clicking under his breath, he tilted his head sideways.
“It depends in part on exactly how long it took them to perfect the cloning process. Adhipan Balidor and I could hazard guesses, based on what we found in Rome, but we couldn’t be absolutely certain as to when this occurred. It also depends on whether other labs existed that did not share data with the records we found.”
Still thinking, he tilted his head a second time.
“If I know Menlim,” he said. “I would guess close to a hundred.”
More murmurs and gasps broke out in the group.
Those sounded even more alarmed than the ones that rose before.
Revik held up his hands.
“Hey,” he said, his voice warning as he raised it slightly. “We knew this. Brothers and sisters… cousins. We knew. Every book written from the very beginnings of our histories, from the very first sages, human and seer, they all told of this end. It was never going to be easy. It was never going to not kill many of us. It was never going to leave our world the same.”
Pausing, he infused his words with light.
“…Everything that has a beginning, has an end.”
Silence fell after he spoke.
The faces spread out in front of us were pale now.
They watched Revik silently, fear reflected in their different-colored eyes. Revik’s aleimi shone brighter as he took them in, pulling from that blue-white light of his that came from high above. I swallowed, watching him.
It occurred to me again that this truth––this probable reality and outcome––had sunk in for him a lot more than it had for me.
Thinking about that now, I hugged Lily tighter to me, and she sent me a plume of warmth. I wondered if she should be hearing this, if she was too young, then realized we couldn’t protect any of them anymore, not if Revik was right about what was coming our way.
Revik’s voice rose, infused with even more light.
“We will do what we can to prepare for this,” he said, his voice deeper now, more resonant. “We will be coming up with our own plans of war, the instant this meeting is ended. But I need you all to understand something. This. Is. A. Distraction. We cannot forget that. The war, the fighting… even the telekinetics that will be used against us. It is all nothing more than a means to keep us occupied while they enact their real plan with the doors.”
Looking over his shoulder at me and Lily, Revik swallowed.
He looked back at the crowd of seers and humans in front of him.
“The goal cannot be… will not be… only to beat them on the battlefield. We will do what we have to do to stave them off, to buy ourselves time, but remember, they are here to stop us. They want nothing more than to keep us busy so we cannot get in the way of their plans. Killing us is only a means to that end. It is their defense to keep us away from our offense.”
A voice I hadn’t heard in a long time, one I’d never thought I’d hear again after what happened at Langley, broke the silence.
“And what is our offense, Brother Sword?” Frowning, Jorag glanced at Raddi, who was also freshly out of the hospital and sat next to him on the dirt. “Didn’t you just tell Dante that trying to shut down all the doors in time was impossible?” He paused, his frown deepening. “Do we even have an offensive strategy?”
Revik glanced at me a second time.
Hardening his jaw, he looked back at Jorag and the others.
“Allie is our offense,” he said, blunt. “Allie has to open the doors before t
he Dreng are able to do what we saw in Kali’s vision. Before they try and harness the sun to let the Dreng through those portals.”
Giving me another glance, he added,
“We have to help her… in any way we can. More than that, we have to protect her while she makes her attempts. They’ll do everything in their power to kill her in order to stop her. We cannot let them near enough to try. We’ll start with Denver, since it’s the nearest. We’re making arrangements to go there now.”
“When?” Loki said.
“Soon,” Revik said without pause. “Tonight, most likely. Tomorrow morning at the latest.”
Chinja frowned. “But what will that do?” she said, glancing at me. “To open the doors? Or even one door? Won’t that actually help them?”
I knew what she was asking.
I also knew she already understood.
All of them understood, but, looking around at faces, I realized they still needed us to spell it out. We needed to give them time to wrap their minds around this.
I knew Revik understood what Chinja was asking, too. I saw him hesitate, trying to decide how to answer her, when he glanced back at me yet again.
Pushing Lily gently off my lap, I rose to my feet.
“We’re most likely going to have to leave,” I said simply.
Chinja’s orange eyes widened.
Like I said, I knew she already understood, just as most of the seers and humans sitting around her already understood. I also knew this would be the hard part.
This would be the part everyone would need convincing on.
It would also be the part no one wanted to believe was necessary––including me.
“Leave?” Chinja went from shocked to annoyed, already retreating from what I’d said. “What does that mean, Esteemed Bridge? Leave America? Leave––”
I shook my head, pursing my lips.
Again, I knew she understood. She just didn’t want to.
I glanced at Revik before I subconsciously copied his pose, planting my feet, hands on my hips.
“No,” I said. “Not America. This world. This dimension… possibly this time.”
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