Revelation

that was even possible. Why would he be sad about stopping the Radaskim, his mortal enemy?

“It is possible,” he said. “If you infect the Radaskim Xenomind with the Elekai version of the virus, their conquest of Earth will end.”

That was it. That was the answer. It was something. I could take that information back to Samuel, and we could figure out, together, how we would go about doing that. We could return to the Great Blight, find the Elekai version of the virus, and fly to Ragnarok Crater. From there, we could find the Radaskim Xenomind, and…

I realized I didn’t know what that looked like.

“The other Xenomind,” I said. “What does it look like?”

“She — if it can be so called — is like a mother to the rest of them, the agent that creates new forms of life. Askala is the one you seek, a Radaskim Xenomind ancient and terrible. She has conquered a hundred worlds before yours. Once done, she leaves, and begins anew. If she were somehow infected, then the Elekai version of the virus would take her over, placing the entire invasion under my thrall.”

“What does Askala look like?”

“She…changes form. I have ancient memories of her as a giant dragon, a wyrm, a labyrinth of tentacles deep within the ground — it is always different, depending on the world. But you will know her when you see her.”

I thought of the massive xenodragon that had been roosting in Raider Bluff. Could that be Askala?

“What about the big dragon? I asked. “You’ve seen it, right?”

“Yes, he comes with her from world to world,” the Wanderer said. “He is her Guardian. He was called Chaos, on the world before this one. And he is a fearsome enemy. A commander of hellish legions.”

“Is the final attack coming?”

The Wanderer smiled grimly. “It has already begun. With the death of the Xenolith, all that held them back is now gone. The Elekai were the only ones keeping the Radaskim from harming people more than they already have.”

“This is the world given your protection?” I shook my head. “I hate to imagine what it might be like without it.”

“You will soon see,” the Wanderer said. “The Great Blight will spread far more quickly now. Legions of monsters will lash out in an unending tide. Even if you kill them all, more will come, birthed within the Warrens of Ragnarok Crater. We Elekai will attempt to grow a new Garden, to distract Askala, but it will prove difficult to convert the xenofungus to help rather than hinder us. Even I don’t know how much longer we have until this position is overrun. Until then, we can be of little aid. All you can do is run.”

“That is our plan, for now,” I asked. “We are running west, toward L.A.”

“West is your only option,” the Wanderer said. “Soon, you will forget all of your wars when faced against the full might of the xenoswarm.”

“How much time do we have?”

“Weeks? Months?” The Wanderer paused. “Days? I can’t say. It all depends on Askala, and when she decides the time is ripe. Remember, it is not only the Wasteland she is after. The whole world is her goal. She may forget about you for a while as she focuses on the east, or on beginning new colonies across the ocean. I wouldn’t count on that, though. For now, at least, almost all her armies are focused here. And for good reason. You are the only ones with the knowledge to stop her.”

“Does she know about us?”

The Wanderer nodded. “Perhaps not specifically. But she knew someone had come into the Great Blight, to Bunker One. Yes — my own Elekai agents told me about that journey. She knew enough then to attack you, and what’s more, to try to find you while you were in the Empire. Something tells me that her focus follows you and your friends, and her eye is now set on Vegas and its survivors. It will be her goal to crush it, before the city has a chance to fight another day.”

“I have to get back and tell the others.”

“In time. I need to tell you how to stop Askala.”

Yes, I guessed that was important, too. “How?”

“The Elekai virus is the dominant form,” the Wanderer said. “Within it is the ability to reprogram the Radaskim version. You see, the two viruses are the same. The only difference is whether a single gene is on, or off. The Radaskim have this gene turned off. The Elekai version has it turned on. If the Radaskim Xenomind is infected, the morality gene will be turned on, effectively making that Xenomind Elekai. Doing so is nearly impossible, as Askala is heavily guarded. Why do you think every world has failed to stop the Radaskim invasion? But if Askala becomes Elekai — so does the rest of the Radaskim swarm. The invasion will end.”

Even if I didn’t understand the mechanics of it, the premise was still simple. Get Askala infected with the Elekai version of the virus, and the rest would take care of itself. It was probably much more complicated than that, so all I could do was hope it was that simple.

I had a lot of questions, but for some reason, nothing came to mind. I had to learn as much as I could before returning to the others. The feelings of betrayal were gone, replaced with the need to share this information that would change everything.

“Where did the dragons come from?” I asked.

“They came from the First World, Askalon,” the Wanderer said. “The dragons were the lords of that world — intelligent, flying beasts that had their own wars, societies, and philosophies. The xenovirus and xenofungus was all native to that planet, living in balance. The dragons would eat the fungus, while the fungus depended on the dragons in order to spread. The dragons became gardeners, tending their xenofungal fields, creating homes within them. Everything existed together with a single consciousness that individual beings could access with merely a thought. This ability was given by the xenovirus, which permeated all life on Askalon. This first consciousness was the beginning of the Elekai — the first Xenominds — which the dragons worshipped as gods.”

“Where do the Radaskim come in?” I asked.

“A mutation in the xenovirus gave rise to the Radaskim. Somehow, the Radaskim virus found a way to use the dragons. However it happened, the Radaskim used the dragons to conquer their first worlds.”

“How did they get through space?”

“The Radaskim Xenominds heard whispers of other sentient races. They heard them fall from the sky, from the direction of the stars. For eons, the Radaskim dragons evolved skins and bodies that would survive the vacuum of space, using directed evolution. Soon, they resembled nothing of their former selves, and became the Vessels. The first of these were primitive, compared to what exists now — but sufficient for the first, short journey.”

“So, Xenofall is real?” I asked. “When the Radaskim win, more are coming.”

The Wanderer shook his head. “It is the opposite. If the Radaskim lose, more will come. The First World is far, and it will take many thousands of years for them to return. But they will return, again and again and again, until the end of time.”

It was almost unthinkable. Even if, against all odds, we won here, the victory was only temporary. It was strange to think of a few thousand years as temporary. But if that was all we got, well…I supposed that was worth fighting for. Maybe future generations could be taught to remember and fight.

Many thousands of years was a number so small to a Xenomind, and so incomprehensible to a human. The human side of me said that many thousands of years would make no difference, in the end. But perhaps it was the Elekai side of me saying that thousands of years was not good enough. The entire race of the Radaskim had to be destroyed, before they…

Saved the universe?