Kyle West - Extinction

As the ichor continued to cloud, I explained.

“The Wanderer wanted to return to the Elekai — to literally return to them. His memories will become part of the Elekai consciousness.”

The nature of the pool became altogether clear to me. It was the wellspring from which all Elekai life sprung, whether it was xenofungus or xenodragon. Anything created by the Elekai had to come from here, just as anything that passed had to return.

Over time, the liquid became less murky. The sediment had either drifted to the bottom of the pool or dispersed throughout. Over the next minute, the lake’s surface and depths gleamed once more, clear and smooth as glass.

I realized what I had to do. I turned to face everyone.

“I have to go in there,” I said. “Whatever the Wanderer wanted me to do…it starts in that lake.”

“Alex…?” Anna said.

I looked at her, taking her hands and looking her in the eyes. I didn’t know what was going to happen in there, and I didn’t know who I would be when I came out…Alex Keener, or the new Wanderer.

“Be careful,” Anna said.

“Whatever happens,” I said. “I love you.”

I reached out and touched her face. Her eyes held back tears. I wished I didn’t have to do this, but the Wanderer had told me it was what I had to do. Still, it was hard to turn from Anna and walk forward.

Everyone was quiet as my first boot was covered by the sticky ichor, then my second. I kept walking forward. Once the ichor was up to my shins, it seeped inside my boots. The warmth rushed around my socks, soaking through. Still, I strode forward, until the ichor was up to my torso, until I stood in the spot the Wanderer had been mere minutes before. It felt strange knowing that his body, his memories, were now part of the pool I stood in.

I turned to see Anna, Samuel, Makara, and Julian standing on the shoreline, shoulder-to-shoulder. Ashton stood a few feet off, and the Raiders stared, probably unsure what to think. I turned back to the pool and swam out further.

That was when the ichor pulled me under.

Panic rose in my chest, and still, I was pushed to the very bottom by a current. The pressure increased, and the thick warmth of the ichor was suffocating.

My panic subsided a bit when a familiar face appeared before me. The Wanderer stood on the lake bottom, as if he were standing in the free air and did not have thirty feet of liquid above him. I realized that this was a hallucination, from my lack of oxygen.

Breathe.

I had been holding my breath for well over a minute now. There was no way I was coming out of this pool unless I did as the Wanderer said.

But I needed air to breathe, not this liquid substitute. My lungs burned with the need for oxygen — my only hope was that there was enough in the liquid to help me survive.

So, I breathed.

The liquid seemed to squeeze into my lungs. My body immediately rejected the liquid, forcing it back out. But it sucked it in again, greedily — only to force it out once more. My body was caught between the need to breathe and the panic of having something that wasn’t air in my lungs. Slowly, I became aware that my head had cleared, and the burning in my lungs had ebbed. My panic, slowly, settled into calm as my heart beat madly.

I accepted, instinctually, that I would have to breathe this liquid, at least for a little while.

I focused my attention before me. The Wanderer still stood just ten feet ahead, garbed in his usual brown robe. His white eyes shone brightly in the thick, warm liquid.

I couldn’t speak, for obvious reasons. I breathed the liquid in and out, wondering whether the man who stood before me was flesh and bone, or merely a vision.

Are you real?

The thought crossed over through the liquid. The Wanderer stood, his form wavy.

Yes.

If he was alive, then it meant that he hadn’t really died. He could still lead the Elekai.

Seeming to guess my thought, though, the Wanderer shook his head.

My time to walk this world has passed. The sacrifice, once made, cannot be undone.

How are you still here, then?

I will always be here, the Wanderer thought. I am the Elekai, now. And I will always be with you, wherever you go.

Do I have to lead, now?

The Wanderer nodded. The prophecy has come to pass. This is your time to shape the fate of the world.

It’s…too much.

It always is, Alex. Even I didn’t know what I was doing.

That’s…comforting.

Isn’t it? The Wanderer’s thought entered my head, and the implication was that it should be comforting. It has always been a fool’s quest. But we should be glad that the battle in Los Angeles was won. Askala is thwarted for the meantime, but in the coming days, she will have another army ready. We must use the time given to us to prepare the final attack, before she strikes again.

All I could think, as the Wanderer “spoke” to me, was why it had to be me, and why it couldn’t have been someone far more qualified.

Why did you pick me? I asked. I’m not saying I won’t try. I just have to wonder. Was there something different about me that made you decide that I was the one to do it?

There is one quality I have looked for in each Champion, the Wanderer said.

I was about to ask him what that quality was, when he spoke again.

You must think lightly of yourself, and deeply of the world.

What?

It was a saying, on a faraway world. Its name cannot be pronounced, nor understood, by any human. It was the first world attacked by the Radaskim, millions of years ago. And it was the first to fall. When the Radaskim first came there, they were greeted as gods. It wasn’t long before that notion was dashed.

If all of those worlds have been conquered, then what hope do we have?

I thought I caught the Wanderer smiling. I had no idea how he could smile at something like that.

There never was much hope, Alex. Know this: it is much better to hope than to despair. The greatest things are accomplished by the tired and the discouraged, by the ones who don’t give up. If they have no song to sing, they find one.

I couldn’t speak, because the Wanderer had so silenced me. It had always been easy for me to get discouraged. It was hard not to, watching your world being swallowed before your eyes. Something Makara said a long time ago came back: you fought, even where there was no point in the fight. You never knew what tomorrow would bring.

Alright, I said. I see what you’re saying.

The Wanderer raised an arm, as if in benediction.

The last battle comes. And remember: do not lose hope. You never know who’s counting on you, or who’s looking up to you. You have changed much, Alex. The Elekai are yours to command. And I believe that their powers are beyond even your imagining.

With that, the image of the Wanderer faded into the ichor.

Remember…though I have passed from this world, my words will always be with you. Never give up, even in the darkest moments. When you find yourself in a hole…look to the stars.

I stood there for a moment, my throat clenched, realizing that the Wanderer really was gone. His image had now passed; all that was left was the clear pink fluid. I almost wondered if he had been there at all, if all this had only taken place in my head.

Whatever the case, it was time to turn back. I swam to the shoreline, nearing the surface. When my head broke through, the air felt cool and light in comparison to the heavy liquid. I tried to breathe, but my lungs were full of the ichor. I coughed, spewing the liquid out of my lungs. It landed on the surface of the pool, quickly rejoining it. I sucked in a mouthful of air.