Kyle West - Extinction

A flurry of dragons circled and fought one another in midair in the darkness above the Great Blight. Xenofungus glowed in the night; from it rose a towering Xenolith, far larger than the one outside Las Vegas.

In the storm of dragons, jaws snapped, necks thrust, tails slashed, and flying bodies pummeled and collided. Cold screams shook the air. Hundreds of white eyes glowed in an aerial dance of death.

Once again, I was present in Askal’s mind, seeing the world though his eyes. I had no idea where this battle was taking place, but I needed to find out. On my right and left, other dragons flew in a V, of which I was the point.

Are you there, little human? Have you come to witness the last battle of the Elekai?

It’s not the last battle, I thought. We’re on our way. Where are you?

Askal flapped his large wings against the cold wind, lifting higher above the Great Blight. The other Elekai dragons followed suit. From the north, more opposing dragons flew toward the fray. The Elekai were outnumbered at least two to one.

Come east, he said. The dragons will point the way.

They will point the way? What does that mean?

We will hold them here, Askal thought. Hurry, little Elekai . And…I am sorry we could not help you with the city. It will all be in your hands, soon…

Before I could ask anything further, the vision faded, and I found myself aboard the cold deck of Perseus.

When I came to, Samuel, Julian, and Char stood above me. The rest of the Raiders had formed a small ring.

“His eyes…” one of the Raiders said.

“They aren’t white anymore,” another said.

I looked up, focusing on Samuel.

“Did you see anything?” he asked.

“I don’t know where they are,” I said. “Askal said the dragons would point the way. There was a battle, and they were badly outnumbered.”

“We won’t give up,” Samuel said, grabbing my forearm and helping me up. “Not while we breathe.”

We returned to the bridge, where Ashton and Anna were seated at the controls. I had no idea how much time had passed. Makara stood behind, watching out the windshield.

“Where are we going, Alex?” she asked.

I shook my head. “Askal said the dragons would point the way. Their Xenolith is growing out of some hills on a large plain. There was a huge battle of dragons in the sky. More were coming out of the north from the Radaskim.”

“You sure it was from the north?” Ashton asked.

I nodded. “Yeah. I don’t know how I know, but I do.”

“If that’s the case, then the place we’re looking should be south of Ragnarok Crater, more or less. If those dragons are coming from the Crater, they’d fly on the straightest path possible to get to the Elekai.”

What Ashton said made sense.

“Alright,” I said. “So find a dragon, and match his trajectory?”

“The dragons will point the way,” Ashton said. “Pretty simple and direct.”

“Where are we now?” I asked.

“Almost over New Mexico,” Ashton said.

New Mexico? There would be no way the Elekai dragons could get back in time, not even if everything went perfectly.

But before anyone could point that out, Ashton spoke.

“Two dragons, dead ahead.”

I strained to see two reptilian shadows beating against the wind, distant. They didn’t seem to see us.

“What’s their course?” Samuel asked.

“Almost due east,” Ashton said. “Assuming they’re going straight to the Xenolith, we can copy their angle.”

“Do it,” Samuel said.

“Alright,” Ashton said. “Hold on.”

The ship suddenly lifted. With the change in course, one of the dragons broke, coming back to attack us. I could see its white eyes glowing in the night.

We rose higher, piercing the cloud layer and going in the direction the dragons had been pointing. Once above the clouds, Ashton allowed himself to relax. The dragon would be unlikely to follow us up here, and even if it could, we’d outpace it.

“We’ll stay up here for a bit,” he said. “We’ll come back below when I’m sure we’ve passed them.”

A few minutes later, Ashton lowered through the clouds. Once again, we were above the pink shimmering of the Great Blight. The land had flattened, but a line of pointy mountains rose to the northwest. I had a feeling that we were close. The clock on the dash showed 00:30.

A minute later, the ground stretched before us. A line of hills rose in the east, only visible from the glow of the fungus. As the hills neared, I saw the Xenolith rising above them.

“That’s it,” I said.

As we passed over the hills, there were no signs of a battle. In fact, the wide fungal plain seemed empty. The battle had concluded.

Perseus swooped by the rising Xenolith.

“Where are the Elekai?” Julian asked.

No one had an answer for that.

“I don’t know,” I said. “But Anna and I need to get inside the Xenolith.”

“How?” Samuel asked.

“There’s an entrance at its base,” I said, “if it’s anything like the last one.”

“And what are we supposed to do in the meantime?” Ashton asked.

“Not sure,” I said. “Lift off, but stay in the area.”

“Radio us when you’re ready to leave,” Samuel said.

At last, Ashton lowered the ship, setting it down on the xenofungal bed. Samuel handed me his radio.

“The channel’s on the right preset,” he said. “Try to hurry.”

“I’ll let you know,” I said.

Julian brought Anna’s wheelchair around. Together, we lifted and settled her in. I took the handles and swiveled the wheelchair around.

I knew it was crazy to take Anna with me, but I also knew she would never forgive me if I left her behind. We probably had to abandon the chair at some point. Anna could walk, albeit in pain. I could only hope that the Wanderer didn’t make us go too far.

Whatever the Wanderer told us, we’d hear it together.

Anna and I walked onto the glowing xenofungus. The air was warm and humid. Ahead, the Xenolith shot hundreds of feet into the sky. It dwarfed everything else for miles. Thick branches curved from its central trunk, and these branches carried tufts of pink growth. The Xenolith’s trunk radiated silvery light, the illumination intensifying in silver and purple hues upon reaching the upper branches. The low wind sifted through the limbs, making the Xenolith seem to sigh.

Perseus idled as Anna and I walked down the boarding ramp. Anna was managing, if painfully. I gave her my right arm for support.

I pointed to the base of the trunk, where the Xenolith’s thick roots twisted into the fungal bed. These roots were the size of normal trees, winding around each other in complicated braids. If we were getting inside, those roots would need to untangle, somehow.

I walked forward and touched one of the roots. It reacted instantly, snapping back like a snake. I pulled my hand away as the other roots unraveled as well. They untwisted until a dark opening was revealed. Pinkish, silvery light glowed from within. We peered inside.

“What’s in there?” Anna asked.

“You’ll see,” I said.

As soon as we passed the threshold, the roots behind closed and knotted themselves shut, leaving us in the spiraling corridor glowing pink with bioluminescence.

The tunnel circled down to the right, much like the one in the first Xenolith had, only this tunnel seemed to circle more widely, which made sense if the Xenolith was larger. As we descended, the tunnel widened.