Dissolution Read online

  While the meat cooked, we kept an eye out for potential threats. An hour after sunrise, the woods were well-lit. While it allowed us to see our surroundings, I still felt exposed; even if a dragon flying overhead couldn’t see us, it might smell the cooking meat. So far, however, no dragons had passed overhead.

  Fiona and Shara returned, their cloaks filled with hazelnuts and blackberries. Shara was already cracking the hazelnuts and setting them near the fire where they could warm and dry. I instantly felt better as soon as I started eating berries. When the rabbits were finished, they gave me a whole one to myself.

  I ate and I ate, and once I’d finished with the meat, I was still hungry. I ate more nuts than anyone else, and more berries. I made myself stop, even though I could have eaten more. I’d probably eaten twice as much as anyone else, and it was hard not to feel guilty, even if I actually did need the food.

  Drowsiness took hold of me, caused by the food and the warm fire. That was cut short as soon as Isa extinguished the flames with dirt, spreading the coals with her boot while the others worked to cover all traces of the fire. By the time it was hidden, it was as if it were never there.

  The fire had been a risk, but one that had paid off. All of us were full and ready for the long hike to the Ragnawall.

  CHAPTER TWO

  ON OUR WAY WEST, I could see that we wouldn’t be lacking for food. We passed overgrown orchards of apples, pears, plums, and apricots, along with wheat and corn that grew wild under the trees. Edible brown mushrooms grew thick on the undersides of logs, and the woods were rife with game of all sorts; rabbits, deer, squirrel, among many others, all fat from living the good life.

  Even if the city had brought on the downfall of the Xenofold, it was easy to see why the original settlers had been tempted to stay here in the first place. For all of its danger, the land was a fertile haven for life. The frost was already melting, to be replaced by a thin veil of fog.

  That fog was a reminder of our need for haste. Normally, Shal had the ability to fill the crater with fog at will. That he wasn’t now suggested that he didn’t have the ability to do so. Maybe we had dealt him a blow, or perhaps Isandru was fighting him even now to prevent this.

  Whatever the case, we needed to hurry. A thick fog would make it nearly impossible to find our way out of here.

  It wasn’t until midmorning that we heard our first dragon. As soon as we heard the beating of its wings, we scrambled for the ground, hiding beneath a fallen trunk and remaining there until it had completely passed. The dragon was a sign that Isaru was looking for us, and that leaving this place would be very difficult.

  As we kept going west throughout the day, a dragon flew overhead every thirty minutes to an hour. But Isaru couldn’t have sent every dragon to search for us. Ragnarok Crater was small, and every dragon searching would have meant almost constant contact with the swarm. A sizeable chunk had to be off doing something else.

  I tried to stay positive, but I could see the fear in my friends’ eyes. If Pallos was still checking the crater to pick us up, he would get one shot to do so; the dragons would be drawn to Odin’s position as soon as they were aware of it. If the dragons were aware of Odin, connecting with the ship would be more difficult.

  As we walked through the trees, avoiding wide meadows and streams, my mind kept returning to the events of the previous day. Mia’s death played out over and over in my head. No matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t see how I could have saved her, or how I could have stopped Isandru from reentering the Hyperfold.

  The loss of them both hit me again and again throughout the day, never diminishing in pain. No one spoke, probably plagued by similar thoughts. Mia had shown such promise; she had never asked to be a part of our world.

  She had never asked to be taken from it, either.

  There she was again. Anna, adding her own thoughts to the matter.

  Are you still there? I asked.

  Yes, the voice said. I’ve always been here. If you need help . . . just ask.

  My guardian angel, then.

  I had thought it sarcastically, but Anna seemed to just be amused. I know you didn’t ask for this. When you fight, so do I. When you reach for the Xenofold . . . I am there. Maybe you never heard me speaking so directly, but you have used my abilities before. Many times. That’s why you know how to do so much, though no one has ever taught you.

  I already knew that but being reminded of it wasn’t comforting.

  Just don’t take me over, I thought. This body is mine.

  Even though it was supposed to be hers.

  “Are you all right, Shanti? Are you hungry again?”

  Before I could respond, Fiona was holding out a pear. Rather than answer her, I took the fruit and started eating.

  * * *

  As afternoon waned into evening, the trees thinned while the ground became hilly and rocky. No one had said a word since we’d stopped for lunch under a copse of maples a few hours ago, where Isa had managed to catch a trout with her bare hands and cooked it over the fire, as the rest of us munched on fruit gathered during our walk.

  Without ever mentioning it, we never stopped to camp. By the time night arrived, there were no more searching dragons, which was good, because the forest had thinned while the terrain had become more open and rugged. In the far distance the Ragnawall was visible, sparkling with pink luminescence. The land sloped ever upward in rolling, craggy hills toward that wall which extended higher than even the rim of the Grand Canyon at its deepest. We guided ourselves by the stars to make sure our course was still going west. The soil and xen of the lower forests gave way to rocks of the twisted hills.

  Somewhere on these slopes, Odin would appear. Or at least, so I hoped.

  We worked our way through the hills late into the night, taking advantage of the full moon and clear skies. We ate the remainder of the food we’d gathered on the way. We didn’t stop, not until dawn came to reveal the vast forest spread behind us to the east, and the even vaster crater wall ahead, impossibly high and insurmountable.

  We continued until we couldn’t walk any longer. There was no sign of Pallos or Odin, just as there was no other signs of life. Even to the east, where the red sun broke through Ragnarok Crater’s haze, there was no sign of any living thing. The towers of Hyperborea were lost to the mist, impossible to see.

  I kept watch while the rest slept in the shelter of some nearby rocks. The visibility was poor. Despite our altitude, I could only see perhaps a quarter to a half mile in any direction. Pallos would have to literally be right on top of us to have a shot at finding us.

  For all I knew, we could be waiting on this hill until the day of our deaths. Standing there and watching my friends sleep, it certainly felt that way.

  When we needed to drink throughout the day, we drank from a nearby stream. When we needed to eat, one of us stayed behind while the rest went into the forest to scrounge whatever these rocky heights offered . . . which was very little in comparison to the crater below.

  Without a ship, this place was a prison. The only trail leading out that I knew of was to the south, where we had come in all those months ago. I didn’t want to take that option; surely, Isaru also knew that was the only way out, and we were sure to be caught if it ever came to that.

  We waited all day long, and into the next night. I closed my eyes, meditating and finding Silence. I reached out, as far as I possibly could. I couldn’t have said how, but I felt that someone was looking for me, someone I knew but couldn’t name. Pallos had no ability to connect to the Xenofold, so it couldn’t be him.

  If there was someone searching, though, who could it be?

  I thought about sharing this with the others, but decided not to in case I was wrong. What hope I had faded with the daylight as we settled into a fitful sleep.

  This was the second night. And since Pallos hadn’t come during the first, I was beginning to lose hope.

  * * *

  And then, the sound of Odin’s engin
es jolted me from my sleep. I was screaming for the others to wake, but they were already up, waving madly in the predawn. We were taking off our cloaks despite the bitter cold, waving them like madwomen.

  The ship roved over the hills slowly, methodically, its spotlight shining at the top of each crest. It went to every hill but the one we stood on,

  Odin passed right over us, scanning the hill just beyond.

  “No!” I screamed. “Turn back, turn back!”

  But, suddenly, miraculously, Odin did turn, shining its spotlight directly onto us. I was blinded, and the others’ joyous screams were lost to the din of the engines as it pulled in close. Within the minute, it was landing while the boarding ramp extended.

  Part of me wondered whether I was still sleeping, if this was just a dream. When the blast door hissed open, I wanted to weep for joy. But the person framed by the doorway wasn’t Pallos at all, but the person I had felt searching for us during my meditation.

  So that was how Pallos knew where to find us.

  CHAPTER THREE

  “HIGH PRIEST MARKAS?”

  THE LOW morning light didn’t illumine his features well, but if the wild gray hair and beard was any indication, then it was him.

  He walked down the ramp, extending a gnarled hand to help us on board, his light brown eyes looking right into mine, his expression one of concern.

  “Come inside,” he said. “It’s warm, and we have hot food aboard.”

  We needed no other persuasion, and if that weren’t enough, the sound of a dragon’s cry pierced the air, unseen in the morning mist. We ran up the ramp, and the feel of Odin’s warm air thawing my face made me sigh with relief. When the last of us, Shara, was on board, the door closed and the ship lifted off.

  All of us went to the table and sat as Odin picked up speed and altitude. The loud thrumming of the engine made all conversation impossible, but Markas offered us a reassuring smile as he remained standing near the table, holding onto it to keep his balance.

  After a short while, the ship slowed and the din of the engine ebbed, making it quiet enough to talk. “Markas. How did you ever find us?”

  Up close, I could see that his tanned face was wrinkled from decades of living in the harsh desert sun, though much of that time was no doubt spent inside the Sphere which dominated the center of the Ruins. “We’ve been searching for weeks. Yesterday was the first day I felt any presence or hope of finding you. I wanted to search within the crater itself, but Pallos refused, saying you instructed him to pick you up here. So, it took until this morning to find you.”

  I nodded. “I’m glad you did wait. Going into the crater would have been suicide.”

  Markas nodded again, as if conceding this point. It had been wise for Pallos to find Markas; as an Elekai with the Gift of Insight, he had the ability to detect other Elekai in the vicinity.

  “We’re sure glad to see you,” Shara said. “I was beginning to think we were going to die on that hill.”

  “What about the food?” Isa asked.

  “Of course,” Markas said. “Eat first. Help yourself to whatever’s in the galley. There’s coffee, toast, eggs, butter, bacon . . .”

  “I guess he knew we were coming,” Shara said.

  “I had a feeling,” Markas said.

  All of us went to fill our plates. I heaped up twice as much as anyone else, a veritable mountain of scrambled eggs, toast, and enough butter and coffee to give me a heart attack.

  We sat back down and dug in, the only sounds being the smacking sounds we made from eating so fast.

  The first one to speak was Fiona, but only after she’d cleaned her plate. “How long has it been since we entered the Hyperfold, exactly?”

  “Almost three months.” Pallos appeared in the corridor leading to the flight deck. He looked the same as before, his eyes concerned behind his spectacles. “I was beginning to fear the worst weeks ago, but Markas seemed to be confident of your survival.” He frowned. “Where is Elder Isandru and Mia?”

  All of us stopped eating, and from that one question, any joy we had found in the food was killed. From our reaction, Pallos had to fear the worst. As the leader, I’d have to be the one to deliver the bad news.

  “Isaru ambushed us while we were connecting to the Hyperfold,” I said. “He killed Mia as soon as she left it.”

  It seemed unreal as I said it, to the point where I didn’t want to believe my own words. The shock was written onto Pallos’ face. For a moment, he had nothing to say.

  “And Elder Isandru?”

  “He stayed behind,” I said. “To fight Shal in the Hyperfold. We . . . don’t know whether he’s alive or dead. But we think he’s alive, fighting for us. This was all . . . who knows how long ago. We don’t even know what month it is.”

  “It’s October the twenty-eighth,” Pallos replied, in a voice said that in the light of such news, the date was inconsequential.

  Everyone was quiet, again grieving the moment that was still so fresh in our memories. It was my failure, and talking about it just made me want to break down and cry. I pushed that emotion down. I’d have to deal with it later; practical matters had to come first.

  “It’s a wonder any of us escaped,” I said. “We were outmatched.”

  “I see,” Pallos said. “Isandru was kind and wise, and Mia a gentle spirit. They will both be missed.”

  I didn’t want the reminder. Unbidden, a tear came to my cheek.

  “Take your time to rest,” Pallos said. “Eat. We have enough fuel to stay airborne for a long time. We are quite safe up here. When you feel you’re ready, we can discuss everything that’s happened since you’ve been gone.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Fiona said. “How about we take a two-hour nap once we’ve eaten and then meet up in the conference room?”

  All of us agreed that was the best course of action, though it seemed wrong to take any such luxury when there was so much to grieve.

  But food was a necessity, and so was sleep. We couldn’t do much without either, and that included avenging Mia’s death, and saving Elder Isandru, if indeed he could still be saved.

  By the time I entered my cabin and hit the soft mattress, I was asleep as soon as I closed my eyes.

  * * *

  I awoke sometime later to the ship being still. We had landed somewhere. When I got up to check on Pallos, I learned that he had landed us on a mountainside about two hundred miles south of Hyperborea, far from dragons and Isaru.

  Markas prepared a hearty stew, and I ate as if I hadn’t stuffed myself several hours earlier. Meanwhile, Pallos caught us up on the previous two months.

  Although most of the news wasn’t good, I was relieved to hear that my parents were completely fine. They left Haven as soon as my father had gotten well, in order to secure the land they had purchased from King Taris near the Red Mountains.

  “They’re keeping that land for you,” Pallos said. “After these last few months, it’s known as the gathering ground for any resistance against Isaru. The Sphere Priests have mustered there as well by High Priest Markas’ command. Besides them, there are several hundred others that have gathered, not wanting to be part of the madness that has resulted since Isaru’s ascension.”

  Isaru’s ascension? But that could only mean one thing . . .

  “King Taris is dead,” Pallos said, finishing my thought. “The official story . . . well, we’ll get to that in a minute. But it’s safe to say that Taris is dead by Isaru’s hand.”

  “Oh, Isaru . . .” Fiona said, her face going white. Isa’s face went ashen as she raised her hand to her mouth. It was as if all of us had been stabbed by the same, icy knife. If there was any doubt that Isaru was still himself in any way, all those doubts were dashed in that moment.

  “How do the people accept him if they know what he’s done?” Shara asked, her voice quavering slightly.

  “That’s just the thing,” Pallos said. “They don’t know what’s truly happened, and most accept the story Isaru
tells. So much has happened that I’m sure I’m going to forget something trying to explain it all, but I’ll try my very best.”

  Pallos paused to gather his thoughts, while the rest of us waited. I felt a cold dread build in my heart.

  “King Taris was murdered by Isaru. It could have been no one else. And yet, the murder has been blamed on you, Shanti.”

  Fiona was the first to react. “What? How is that even possible? She was nowhere near Haven!”

  “It’s said that you flew in by dragon and escaped in the night,” Pallos said. “Even if the story seems unbelievable, Isaru’s hold on Haven and its environs is unquestioned. Most of the lords under vassalage to your father have sworn oaths of fealty to the new monarch.”

  “Not surprising,” Fiona said. “As king, the courts are almost under his full control. Even if someone suspected him, to point it out would be suicide.” She nodded for Pallos to continue.

  “The only open rebellious pocket is the territory under the control of your parents,” Pallos said, “and only a few lords have yet to swear their oaths, though it’s understood that they will do so soon.”

  “Awful news,” Shara said. “Your parents were very lucky that they took ownership of that land before Isaru came to power.”

  “How much land are we talking about?” I asked.

  “It isn’t much, but it is well-situated. It is known as Kalear. Its people have historically been independent of both the Annajen and the Makai, but recently swore fealty to King Taris after the last lord’s rebellion. Your parents moved there to rule in the Annajen name, but have since announced Kalear’s independence from King Isaru, citing the reasons I gave above. The land lies fifty miles off the Pilgrimage Road, running from Sylva to Haven, and is something of a backwater. It’s little-populated, but there is some good farmland, enough to sustain itself, while the terrain itself is mostly forested and hilly, while the Red Mountains form its eastern border. There are mines that produce decent amounts of iron ore and other useful metals. In the foothills of the mountains lies the castle that defends the Iron Pass and the town itself, which leads through the mountains to the plains beyond. The castle is well-built and was constructed during the time when the Annajen kingdom was young, which is good, because it means Isaru cannot attack without a significant army. As such, your parents are safe for the time being, along with anyone who has gathered to them.” Pallos paused, as if to make another note. “It’s also fortunate that Kalear is quite far from Haven, which means if Isaru means to attack it, he would have to go through some expense and effort to do so.”