by Kyle West
A veil of white smoke overhung the Crater, slightly obscuring it from view. I looked around, hoping that the Wanderer would be here. But he wasn’t. I knew this to be a vision, though it was as real as life. I could feel the cold, dry air. I could feel my boots on my feet, the tufts of fungus beneath my soles, the clothes on my back. I even felt the familiar weight of my Beretta on my right side and my knife sitting opposite.
Was this real?
Unsure, I took a few steps forward, as if testing it out. It certainly felt real enough. Had I really fallen asleep on Gilgamesh only to wake up here?
Suddenly, three xenodragons flew out from the Crater from one of the cracks in the Earth, one after the other, shrieking as they streaked into the sky like missiles. Their wings unfolded as their bodies angled upward – it was as if they had been shot out. As their momentum slowed, their wings unfurled fully, and they took to the wind with deadly grace, allowing warm updrafts to carry them further and further upward. More dragons shot from the Earth, going after the first ones. There were a dozen or so, followed by still more...
I just watched for the next few minutes as more dragons vacated the Crater. I stopped counting after fifty.
“Los Angeles is the least of your concerns now,” a voice said.
I turned around to find the Wanderer standing behind me. He had just disembarked from his completely white dragon. I hadn’t heard him land. His eyes glowed white within his hood, his cloak thick and brown about him, its tail whipped by the wind. He wore leather boots and carried his trademark walking stick.
“Is this really happening?” I asked. “Am I really here?”
The Wanderer did not answer, merely staring up at the red sky. The dragons were now turning west.
West, toward us.
“Who are they attacking?”
“The time is coming,” the Wanderer said. “The final battle is about to start. Askala has already sent her legions to the outskirts of the Great Blight.”
“But we aren’t ready! We just needed another week...”
The Wanderer smiled, as if he understood that sentiment. “Askala has always been careful, and she does not take chances. She is striking when you are weakest; when you least expect it.”
“But how are we supposed to stop that?”
The Wanderer looked upward once more. His white eyes held no answers.
“Should we...should we attack now?”
The Wanderer looked at me once again. “In the end, it doesn’t matter who among humanity comes out on top. These are trifling concerns in the grand scheme of things. Are they not?”
“So you’re saying that we should end it now?”
The Wanderer shook his head. “No. I am saying that if something isn’t done now, humanity will soon be extinct. The Radaskim are launching their final assault. There is no time for disunity. All must come together as one.” The Wanderer leaned forward, his white eyes blazing. “You must unite them.”
At last, the dragons stopped leaving the Crater. The first that had left were now specks in the sky, lost in swirling, crimson cloud. I didn’t know how long it would take them to reach...
“Where are they going?” I asked.
The Wanderer continued to watch the sky. “They are searching for you.”
“They are coming to Bunker 84, then.”
Just after we had got everyone settled in, we were going to be attacked.
“As long as we are underground, they cannot reach us...right?”
The Wanderer nodded. “Maybe so. But it also means that you cannot leave.”
We stood on Ragnarok Crater’s rim for another minute or so.
“Elias said there was no darkness as great as the human heart.” I looked at the Wanderer. “Was he right?”
The Wanderer was quiet for a moment. “There is no darkness as great as the human heart. But he left out one critical point: there is also no light as great. Be wary of evil men, Alex. They always tell a half-truth because they can’t stomach the full.”
I was quiet at that. It was a moment before the Wanderer spoke again.
“We always have the choice, Alex, to be good. And sometimes, the most evil of men begin as the most good. In fact, that is almost always how it turns out.”
“I’m really going to have to do it, aren’t I?” I asked.
The Wanderer stared down at the Crater with me. “You see those cracks in the ground?”
“The ones the dragons came out of?” I asked.
The Wanderer nodded. “Those are the Warrens. Deep within those scars is Askala. I can sense her, down there.”
“Can she sense you?”
The Wanderer nodded. “Oh, yes. I know she can. Though you are here in a dream, I am here in the flesh.”
“Then why doesn’t she kill you?”
The Wanderer smiled. “Do you really think the heart of the Elekai is confined to this old body? If that were the case, then we’d have but to destroy Askala with a single blow. But it is not that simple, is it? That is why she must be infected – must be turned. She has been ‘destroyed’ before. It has never worked.”
“We were right to shoot down Grudge’s idea, then.”
The Wanderer nodded.
“There is no other way, then. I have to do this.”
The Wanderer did not answer for a moment. At last, he spoke.
“Be very careful, Alex,” The Wanderer said. “The time is coming and it is coming soon. You will face a choice. A series of choices. You must choose rightly, or it will all be for nothing.”
I didn’t bother asking what those choices were. The Wanderer would probably not tell me. It seemed he had a way of answering questions and leaving me with two more than I started. Asking him questions was a battle I was sure to lose.
All the same, I couldn’t stop myself. I thought of what Anna told me – how she would save me from having to die. I felt that the Wanderer was saying that this was one of the choices I would have to make.
“How are we supposed to get the Reapers to help us?” I asked. “How could I ever convince Makara to set aside her vengeance?”
“Perhaps you cannot,” the Wanderer said. “Makara is Makara, and always will be. So will Anna be, for that matter. Or Samuel. Or any of the rest.”
I paused. “You speak as if you know them.”
The Wanderer smiled. “Of course I do. I’ve looked into their eyes. I have seen their stories. You forget that night in the Boundless, three months ago. Their stories will continue and follow their courses and there is nothing you can do to stop that. You shouldn’t want to.”
“So...let Makara do what she wants with Carin Black?”
“That remains to be seen. Even I don’t know how all of this will play out. Everyone will be here soon, however. That much I can see.” He looked at me. “One thing is for sure; you must stand strong and be resolute. Trust your heart and your goodness even when death and chaos swirl around you. That is all any brave man can do.”
“Brave man.” I smiled. “I don’t really feel that brave.”
“We all feel fear, Alex. It’s what we do with it that counts.”
I didn’t know why, but the Wanderer always had a way of making sense. Not scientifically, maybe, but in the soul. It made me ask my stupidest question yet.
“Are you God or something?”
Suddenly, the Wanderer was laughing – a deep belly laugh. “No. I’m not God. But I am certainly something.”
“Sorry. I don’t know if it was the long white beard, the cloak, or your truth bombs. It just seems like you fit the bill.”
The Wanderer’s smile remained. It seemed to take him a moment to find his words.
“When you meet God, Alex, you will know. You won’t have to ask.”
The dragons, even the tail end of them, were now distant. I didn’t know how long it would take them to reach Bunker 84. Nonstop, it might be a full day. It was hard to predict.
“I need to warn the others,” I said.
The Wande
rer nodded. “You must hurry. We will have one chance, and one chance only, to strike. We cannot waste it.”
“And Augustus?” I asked.
“I know you see him as your enemy,” the Wanderer said. “But he comes at an opportune time. Make use of it. Make whatever promises you must make in order to complete your mission. The survival of all depends upon it.”
The Wanderer then turned to me, his glowing white eyes haunting. He leaned forward, grasping my wrists with both of his gnarled hands. His walking stick fell to the ground.
“You must unite them.”
I found myself nodding, and as I did so, everything swirled about me and I felt the vision fade.
***
I awoke with Anna still cradled in my arms. My heart was pounding like crazy and sweat covered my entire body. Anna slept on, her breathing even. It was dead quiet, save for the hum of the fusion drive aft. I almost didn’t believe the dream was real.
Almost.
“Anna,” I said, shaking her shoulder.
I felt her stirring, her muscles tensing.
“The Wanderer came to me.”
She turned to face me. Her eyelids were heavy. “Oh?”
“You’re not going to believe this, but we have to get moving.”
Anna suddenly looked more alert. “Get moving?”
“The Radaskim are attacking,” I said. “He showed me the Crater, and there’s at least fifty dragons headed this way.”
“You sure?”
“Yes. If they get here, then we won’t be able to get out. They’ll lock us in.”
Anna sat up now, the sheets falling from her body. “Okay. How sure are you?”
“We need to get going. Even if it was just a crazy dream – and I don’t think it was – we need to confirm it.”
“Where are we going?” Anna asked, sliding out of bed.
I stood up, checking my digital watch. It was 03:30. Not as bad as I thought.
“We can make the announcement from the bridge,” Anna said.
“Let’s go,” I said. “I’m not sure how much time we have.”
***
Thirty minutes later, everyone from the inner crew was gathered in Gilgamesh’s conference room. Makara had rolled Samuel in on a wheelchair. Julian and Michael were next. Char and Marcus entered not too long after, followed by Ruth and Lauren. Each took up their seats at the conference table. When they asked me what this was about, I told them I wanted to wait until everyone arrived. Ashton was the last to enter. Groggy-eyed, he sat at the head of the table.
“Now, what is the fuss about?” he asked.
“The Radaskim are attacking.”
Everyone turned toward me. They hadn’t expected that.
“And you know this, how?” Ashton asked.
“The Wanderer came to me in a vision,” I said.
I sounded ridiculous saying it. I never believed in such things until recently. But the Wanderer had come to me before in a dream and it had turned out to mean something then.
“I know that might not be solid, empirical evidence,” I said, “but this is the Wanderer we’re talking about. In my dream I stood on the edge of Ragnarok Crater, seeing it in perfect detail. At least fifty dragons are on their way here, hunting me.”
Everyone stared at me, as if trying to decide whether or not I was serious.
“How far away are they?” Makara asked.
“I’m not sure,” I said. “When we leave, we can fly this ship in that direction and do some scouting...”
“No need,” Ashton said. “I’d like to do a little more damage than that.”
Everyone was now looking at him.
“What do you mean, more damage?” Samuel asked.
“Aeneas still has three nukes left,” Ashton said. “Why not meet that force in the middle and take it out for good? We might end up destroying it entirely.”
“Wait,” I said, “wasn’t it you who just said that nukes are unpredictable?”
Ashton shrugged. “They are, especially when it comes to taking out the entirety of the Radaskim at Ragnarok Crater. But as far as a pack of dragons, hopefully traveling close together...it could completely wipe them out, or at least thin their numbers to make them manageable.”
I found myself agreeing. If these dragons were going to follow me, there was no way we could deal with all fifty of them at once. We had to find a way to thin the herd.
A nuke might be the best way to do that.
“Let’s try it,” Samuel said.
I didn’t know what it was he did, but everyone started nodding their heads. It was good to have our leader back. I wondered why he was in the wheelchair. Perhaps the injury had done something to his coordination. Whatever the case, it troubled me. His thinking, however, appeared to be clear, which was what counted.
Wheelchair or not, it looked like we had Samuel back.
“Let’s have both ships packed and ready to go,” Samuel said. “I don’t want to take much food – everyone here will need it more than we do. We’ll take enough crew to man the ships. We’ll only be in the air, after all. We can leave Char and Marcus to handle things at home.”
Makara nodded. “Sounds good.”
Samuel looked around the table. “Questions?”
No one said anything. It looked like we had our plan.
“Let’s get started, then.”
Chapter 23
Four hours later, both Aeneas and Gilgamesh were in the air. We sped east toward the Rockies, across Northern Nevada, and into Western Wyoming. Though it was now dawn, there was no light in the sky. The clouds were dark and thick, blocking all light. Even going above them did little to help matters. We were as close to Ragnarok Crater as we had ever been, and somehow, it showed. Visibility was little to none.
“We can’t get visual on these dragons with these damned clouds.”
Makara’s voice exited the speakers. She was flying the Gilgamesh, which she was more comfortable with. With her were Samuel, Julian, and Michael. Ashton and Anna piloted the Aeneas. I sat up front with them both.
We would be the ones to pull the trigger, when the time came.
“Steady as she goes,” Ashton said. “Radar’s picking something up dead ahead.”
At long last, there was a break in the clouds, and we saw them. The vision had been real.
They flew in the dozens, flying high on the wind toward the west with a single purpose. The mountains below reached up in jagged spires, wreathed in cloud and covered in snow. The sun broke between two mountain peaks, casting a red, bloodlike light upon the flying dragons.
Both ships slowed to a hover. The dragons were probably about a mile out.
“Fire when ready, Ashton,” Samuel said.
There was no hesitation. Ashton pressed the button, and a streak of light shot out from Aeneas, hissing and creating a glowing trail in the cold mountain air.
As if on cue, the dragons broke, avoiding the path of the nuke. The missile tracked one dragon flying in the middle of the pack, igniting in a massive mushroom cloud.
The windshield tinted automatically, detecting the sharp increase in light. All vision of the dragons was lost as the massive wall of sound pummeled the ship.
Ashton guided Aeneas around, blasting in the direction from which we had come. This time Gilgamesh was right on our tail.
For the next two minutes, we sped away from the site of the blast. It came nowhere near to catching us.
“Are they gone?” Makara asked, her voice coming from the dash.
“We need confirmation,” Ashton said.
“We’ll check it out,” Makara said. “Be ready for anything.”
The ships turned back to face the site of the explosion. The clouds were lit with a fiery light – either from the dawn or from the remnants of the blast. As we advanced another thirty seconds, the cloud came into view, bulging upward and outward. It seemed as if there were no end to its colossal force.
“I am become death, destroyer of worlds,” Asht
on intoned.
Anna and I looked at each other. She shrugged.
“It’s from the Epic of Gilgamesh.” Ashton shook his head. “Don’t you kids know anything?”
“Never heard of it,” Anna said.
“Well, I thought it was fitting.”
We hovered at a safe distance from the mass of clouds. Apart from that movement, nothing stirred in the air. It appeared as if...
Suddenly, everything rocked as the ship dropped to port. Red lights flashed. A terrible shriek sounded from outside the ship.
We had been attacked from above.
The ship was falling, fast. I held onto the dash for dear life as the mountains reached up for us. Something chewed on the bridge from above. Covering the upper right corner of the windshield was the pointed end of a wing.
“Mayday, mayday!” Ashton said.
“Ashton!” Makara shouted. “Engage retrothrusters!”
“I am!” he shouted back. “They’re not responding.”
Another crash jolted the ship, from further back. The ship spun ever downward. No sound came from the speakers.
We had lost contact with Gilgamesh.
I suddenly heard a series of pecks slam into the hull of the ship. I thought at first that it was the dragons. But I then realized it was Gilgamesh firing on us in an attempt to kill the dragons.
“Still going down!” Ashton shouted. “There’s too many of them!”
“We need to abandon ship,” Anna said.
I realized she was right. Aeneas wasn’t in a nosedive, but it would be soon. As more and more flying bodies slammed the top of the ship, it became increasingly clear that this was a fight we couldn’t win. We had to reach the ejection pods before it became impossible to even walk to them. They weren’t far – just off the main corridor leading to the bridge.
We unstrapped ourselves from our seats. Before turning for the corridor, I saw the form of a dragon spin down to Earth, spewing purple blood. Makara had at least shot one, but she still had dozens more to kill yet. That nuke had not killed off as many as we had thought.
