I couldn’t wait any longer to have the answer. You’re going to tell me how to destroy it.
Yes, the Nameless One said. I gave Odium the secret to destroy and invade Earth. There will be no balance until you gain the knowledge of how to stop it. True, that knowledge may end my reign upon this world if Shen has his way, but the balance must be preserved.
So, you’re going to tell me?
It must be stopped from the inside, where there should be a sphere-key. You must connect yourself to its Point of Origin. It will take all the power you have, plus that of your Elekai friends. Working together, you’ll be able to guide the key into the Point, shutting off the Hyperfold. However, doing so means ending the simulation and everyone still inside it. This includes Rakhim.
And once he’s dead . . . Isaru will return to normal?
He will not be as he was, the Nameless One said. But perhaps with enough time, he will return to his old self.
I must destroy it, then, I said. And deal with Shen when the time comes.
I was going to need Fiona, Isandru, and Mia to go with me to the Hyperfold. All of us were strong and hopefully, the four of us combined were enough to manipulate the sphere-key to the right place and shut the Hyperfold down. I knew it would be incredibly dangerous but with Isaru’s swarm no longer guarding the Crater, perhaps there was enough of an opening.
I should go, I said. Unless there was anything else you wanted to discuss with me?
That was the most important part, the Nameless One said. Just as with Alex, I gave you the way. It is now up to you to follow that way.
How do I get out of here, exactly?
Reach the light, the Nameless One said. Walk through.
I nodded and then walked forward. The light grew brighter as I advanced, and warmer, too. I didn’t realize how chilled I was until it started to warm my damp skin, like a fire in the mantle. I walked until I was basking in it, shielding my eyes. The ground started to slope up, and I lowered my arm once I could see again.
The tunnel continued ascending, at the end of which was daylight. I’d been down here for hours, then.
I could smell the fresh air as I approached, and could see the blue sky above. I was nearly there.
At last, I was out of the cave, standing halfway up the hill that rose from the edge of the lake. The fog had all but cleared, and looking across the blue water, I could see the others, gathered around a fire. Several crawler corpses surrounded them, there had been a fight, apparently.
I scrambled down the slope, calling out as loud as I could. They turned to look but didn’t seem to see me against the hill, half-obscured by dead trees.
Somehow, my audience with the Nameless One had caused the fog to clear. I wondered how long that would last.
I ran around the edge of the lake, calling out every now and again. It was a few minutes before any of them saw me. Their flames were doused as they rushed to join me.
Within a few minutes, we were together.
“I met him,” I said before anyone else could speak. “We need to get to the Hyperfold.”
“He told you how to stop it?” Isa asked.
I nodded. “Yes. But we must hurry, while the swarm is still away.”
“We should reach it in time,” Isandru said. “It will take the dragons a long time to fly this distance. We have a day at least.”
Still, I didn’t want to take chances. “Are there any more crawlers?”
“We fought,” Fiona said, “and then the fog began to lift in the morning. With the fog went the crawlers.”
“I think it’s just temporary,” I said. “We need to head out before it returns.”
The others nodded their agreement.
“We fought well,” Isandru said. “The power of the Xenofold is strong here again. An effect of your conversation, perhaps?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “I think things are starting to look up. I’ll explain what he told me on the way. There should be enough time.”
“Hyperborea,” Isa said. “A place I don’t wish to see again.”
“With luck, this will be the last time,” I said. “Let’s go.”
On the way, I briefed the crew on all the Nameless One had told me. To my surprise, there was just enough time to go through everything before we reached the edge of the Crater. One part I did leave out, though, since Pallos was listening. It wouldn’t have been wise to tell him about Shen’s plan to destroy the Xenofold once the Hyperfold was removed.
I would go over that bit once we were safely on the ground.
“I don’t like it,” Mia said. “How can we trust what he said?”
“Something tells he was telling me the truth,” I said. “A gut feeling.”
“Perhaps not the whole truth,” Isandru said. “Until we know his motives for all this, we should tread carefully.”
“I don’t see the harm in checking it out,” Shara said. “If he gave Alex the answer, why shouldn’t we trust him?”
I was of a similar opinion.
“The harm is in the Hyperfold itself,” Isandru said. “Once we connect to it, we will be leaving our world and joining his.”
I didn’t ask who Isandru was referring to. We would be part of Shal’s world, where he got to bend the rules.
“So long as all of us are bonded, we should be powerful enough to resist the pull,” I said. “There’s five of us in all: Elder Isandru, Fiona, Mia, Shara, and me.”
Shara’s eyes widened at being included. “Me?”
I nodded. “Compared to us, you are still learning. But we will need every little bit of power we can get.” I looked at Isa. “And we’ll need you to keep watch, Isa. While all of us are bonded, we won’t be able to do much. If we let go, we will all have to let go at once, that way no one is left in the lurch.”
Pallos listened in silence as he guided the ship down into the Crater.
“How far out are we?” I asked.
“Fifteen minutes,” he said.
We dropped down into the Crater, going through layers of fog until we broke through. Below, the vast forest spread before us, at the end of which, far to the south, we could see the high broken towers of Hyperborea. Just before that city was the Tower of Shal, the place where the key to the Hyperfold had been kept. For all I knew, it was still where we’d left it.
“Radar picking up anything?” I asked.
“Nothing,” Pallos said.
“Set course for the Thought Dome,” I said. “It’s a bit west of the main city.”
Pallos veered the ship to starboard without comment.
We shot over the trees. If there were dragons here, they’d hear or see us for miles around. However, it seemed as if Isaru had taken every Mindless here to go attack the Eastern Kingdoms.
That would only work in our favor.
“There it is,” Fiona said. “That’s it, right?”
“Yes,” Isandru said.
Mia stared at the windshield with unbelieving eyes. “I didn’t get to see it when the Shen picked me up. It’s hard to believe it still stands, though the rest of the city is fallen.”
It was hard to tell just what was going through her mind. Shock, sadness, and disbelief to be sure. The last she’d seen Hyperborea had been nearly two centuries ago, when the city still stood. She had gone to sleep in that world only to wake up in this one.
“It struck me, too,” Isandru said. “In our time, Hyperborea was a city of lights, canals, and gardens, home to more than three hundred thousand souls. The most populous city north of Nova, when even Shen hadn’t dreamed of anything so wondrous.”
“It fell,” Mia said, “just as I dreamed it would. Anna’s prophecy,” she turned to me, “your prophecy. You predicted it.”
“That part of me I can’t remember,” I said.
“The Dome is still shining,” Isa said.
“The only part of the city that still receives infusions from the Sea of Creation,” Isandru said.
“It must be stopped,” Shara said.
That’s what we were here for.
“There’s a bridge leading into the Dome,” Pallos said. “It seems strong enough to bear the Odin’s weight.”
“Put us down there,” I said.
“That’s the entrance,” Mia said. “There was a bridge leading from the city directly to the Dome. Rather than build on the ground, they didn’t want to disturb the trees beneath. The Dome itself was built on a plateau, with natural vents into the Earth beneath. Long before either Isandru or I were born, the site of the Dome was a grove filled with hot springs. It was a sacred place, for meditation. The Seekers would often train or meditate there.” She smiled sadly. “All that was gone by the time we came around, in Hyperborea’s twilight.”
“The Nameless One said that it was the way down to the Sea of Creation,” I said.
Isandru nodded. “Most of the city is directly above the Sea. The Dome, however, is directly over the Point of Origin.” He looked at me. “Are you sure about this, Shanti?”
“I believe the Nameless One was telling the truth. This is the way forward. If we stop the Hyperfold, we can stop Shal and the swarm.”
“And get Isaru back,” Isa said.
“If this will heal the Red Wild . . . it will solve everything,” Shara said. “Literally everything. It will protect us from the Radaskim. But . . . it seems too good to be true.”
“That’s why we must be careful,” I said.
“As careful as one can be while connecting to the Hyperfold,” Fiona said.
“Together, I know we can do it. Isaru is counting on us. If the Thought Dome is powered down, then Rakhim Shal disappears.”
Mia’s lips tightened, but she said nothing more.
The massive pink dome spread before us, its outer veil opaque and flawlessly smooth. It shone like a pearl in the middle of the silent, green forest. Pallos began to lower the ship directly over the bridge leading into the Dome’s side. The opening seemed to be a part of the Dome itself, like the one that surrounded Shenshi.
Hopefully, getting inside was as simple as walking through it.
The ship landed and we hurried off. I stayed behind a moment to speak to Pallos.
“We’ll return soon.”
“I’ll remain. Shanti, what if there are dragons? How will I let you know?”
It was a good question. “You’ll have to find a way to fight them off. If that’s not possible, you’ll have to protect the ship and leave. If we come back and you aren’t here, then we’ll have no choice but to flee into the forest. Search for us there. We’ll make for the western slopes of the Crater.”
He nodded. “I hope it doesn’t come to that.”
“We’ll hurry.”
“Good luck,” he said.
“Thanks.”
I rushed to the wardroom to join the others, who were readying their weapons. Mia was the only one without a weapon. Her eyes were wide with suppressed fear.
“I think Tellor might have left a spare blade,” I said.
“I’ll go get it,” Isa said.
She was gone only a moment. When she returned, she handed it to Mia, who attached it to her belt nervously. I hadn’t had time to give her any training since the beach, but she knew the basic tenets of Treeform—enough to defend herself if it came to it.
Likely, we wouldn’t even need to fight at all.
“We’ll make this quick,” I said. “And I have something to say once we’re on the ground.”
Fiona pressed the button to open the blast door, A cool, dry wind was admitted. The sky above was dark and gray, the air thick and heady with the scent of the forest. Though now late summer, it felt as though it were already autumn. Already, a few leaves were flying, blown up from the forest below the bridge.
On foot, the scale of the Dome became even more apparent. I had to crane my neck, and even so, I couldn’t see the top due to the curvature. It stood perhaps a hundred feet away. There was more than enough space for the Odin—two more of the ships could have fit side-by-side.
“There is one other thing I need to say,” I said. “Something I left out up there because of Pallos.” I looked around to make sure I had everyone’s attention. “The Nameless One said that Shen wants to destroy the Xenofold, and the only thing guarding the Xenofold from him was the Hyperfold itself. If we can destroy the Hyperfold, then the Point of Origin is open to attack from Shen’s forces.”
I waited a moment for this to sink in.
Shara was the first to speak. “Why would he want to destroy it?”
“The Nameless One said he thinks the Elekai are a perversion of humanity’s true nature. In this way, he is little different from the Covenant where I grew up. Only Shen is far more capable than the Covenant.”
“Doesn’t he know that destroying it means dooming the entire planet?” Shara asked. “Why would he want to do that?”
“The Nameless One says it is simply Shen’s nature,” I said. “He can only do what his creators instruct him to do, on some deep level that even he cannot change. He believes destroying the Xenofold ultimately protects humanity, though he needs us for long enough to repel the Radaskim invaders. When they come again, he believes he can stand on his own.”
“But if we don’t kill the Hyperfold,” Isa said, unsure, “then we die anyway. Right?”
“It’s a terrible irony,” I said. “Humans created Shen, and Shen will destroy us, all the while thinking he is saving us. We were the authors of our own doom before Hyperborea even existed.”
Isandru stared out at the Dome. “For all this place’s evil, there is a reason why the Dome is the only thing that still stands. It cannot be destroyed. The Shen have studied it, extensively, and have even replicated some of its technologies. You see their own domes—weaker versions—covering their own cities.” Isandru looked back at us, the wind blowing strong and sending his long, gray hair flying back. “Perhaps Shen will lash out again and destroy the Xenofold, even with the threat of the Radaskim. One thing is sure, however. If we do nothing, then the Xenofold is dead, anyway.”
“Which raises a new problem,” Shara said. “If we succeed in destroying the Hyperfold . . . how will we protect the Point of Origin from Shen? If Shen is as powerful as everyone says, then that seems impossible, right?”
“I will try to convince him otherwise,” I said. “If that doesn’t work, then I don’t know what will.”
“What do you suggest, then?” Shara asked. “We’re still doing this . . . right?”
I nodded. “I see no other choice. We turn off the Hyperfold and let the Sea of Creation rebuild its strength. Once it’s fully restored, it will project a field wide enough to weaken any Radaskim who enters it. There is no victory without doing that.”
“And Shen?” Shara pressed.
Now this was the hard part. “A war would be impossible to win and cost countless of lives. That must be avoided, if possible.”
But looking at it from here, it didn’t seem possible. The Shen Collective controlled almost the entire planet, leaving only North and South America relatively untouched. Attacking it head on with any sort of army would be suicide.
“If he won’t listen to reason, then we will have to find some way to stop him,” I said.
“You mean, kill him.”
“Such as a rogue artificial intelligence can be killed . . . yes.”