The city was located directly below the Evertree, whose silver roots spread across the cavernous ceiling, bathing the entire place in an eerie glow. And tangled in the roots of the tree was an enormous pulsing egg sack, tucked between the tendrils: the Wyrm.
Kovo had signed to Takoda that this place was called Hole, which was a strange name for a city. Meilin suspected that this was a bad translation. Then again, what did she know about these people or their naming customs? She had also noticed some carvings in the walls that seemed to be Hellan, which made sense. The Sadreans were descended, in more ways than one, from the ancient culture.
The Wyrm had not yet hatched, but Meilin could tell from the fractures in the egg’s membrane that it would soon. The Evertree roots around the egg were starting to rot and fray—which also frayed Meilin’s bond with Jhi. Even now, thousands of tiny wriggling parasites slithered from the cracks and fell to the ground far below. The same parasites that had spread all across Sadre, taking over any living thing they touched.
The people of Hole had long since been overwhelmed by the parasites. They were now what the Sadreans called the Many—shuffling, mindless drones enslaved to the will of the Wyrm. Meilin closed her eyes, thinking again of Conor. How much longer until he joined their ranks?
The streets were clogged with the Wyrm’s wriggling parasites, and so they had been forced to make camp on higher ground in the lighthouse at the edge of the city. Takoda and Kovo had blocked all the lower entrances. It was a safe place, but they were still trapped. And eventually, the Many would find a way in. The Many always found a way in.
Meilin knew this because she had already seen it happen in the city of Phos Astos. The Many had overwhelmed the Sadreans who lived there and destroyed them. If it weren’t for the actions of a brave girl named Xanthe, Meilin and her friends might have been among the casualties. Xanthe had led them away from the destruction—away from her own crumbling home—in order to find the Wyrm.
“I wish Xanthe was here,” Takoda whispered, as if reading Meilin’s thoughts. “I’ll bet she knows a lot about this place.”
Meilin bristled. The girl had been lost during a fiery race across the Arachane Fields—Xanthe had begged them not to set fire to the fields, but Takoda hadn’t listened.
And now Xanthe was gone.
Takoda had taken the loss especially hard, and Meilin suspected that he secretly blamed himself for it. But blame aside, she knew that this was no time for mourning.
“Knew,” Meilin said, more brusquely than she meant. “She knew about this place. She’s gone, Takoda. The best thing you can do to honor her sacrifice is finish what we set out to do.”
Takoda looked at her with his deep, dark eyes. “You don’t know that she’s dead,” he said. “Not for sure.”
“Maybe not,” Meilin said. “But I do know that we need you here. This whole place is swarming with the Many, and that egg is on the verge of hatching. We can’t have you pining at the window for your lost crush.”
Takoda could never know it, but Meilin’s words were just as much for herself as him. She, too, had left someone behind. Someone she desperately longed to see once more.
“This is war, Takoda. We have to behave like warriors.”
Takoda narrowed his eyes. “You sound like Kovo. Besides, if you truly believed that, you would have left Conor behind.”
“Conor got infected trying to save you!” Meilin said, stomping her foot. “Besides, he’s a Greencloak. He’s one of us.”
“Greencloaks … ” Takoda’s face twisted with disgust. “You all think that having a spirit animal is what makes someone special,” he said, his expression strained with emotion. “A spirit animal isn’t a gift. It’s a curse. It defines you before you have a chance to define yourself. After my parents died, the monastery was the only place I’d finally felt at peace. I was supposed to be a monk, to spend my life transcribing scrolls and ringing holy bells. Now I’m nothing but Kovo the Ape’s human partner. A sidekick to a monster.”
Takoda was usually so meek and conciliatory, but not now. His hands were clenched into tight fists at his side. He looked like he wanted to throttle something. It was clear he had been sitting on this well of anger for some time. “If I didn’t have a spirit animal, I’d still be home with my brothers and sisters. And Xanthe would still be safe.”
“There is no safe,” Meilin said, softening her tone. “Not anymore.” She remembered her own mighty empire of Zhong falling to waves of Conquerors. She remembered her father dying on the battlefield, his life snuffed out as she watched. “Your monastery would have been destroyed by the Many, or Zerif, or the Wyrm. Xanthe’s city would have fallen even if we hadn’t arrived. What threatens us now threatens all of Erdas. If you want to save Nilo and Phos Astos, then we have to destroy the Wyrm—quickly, before it can hatch.”
She crouched down and began drawing a map of the city in the dusty floor with her finger. “I’ve been thinking: Maybe Kovo can help us salvage parts to build a siege engine. With a catapult we could launch some kind of missile at the egg. My father’s armies used them to defend their fortresses. I think I can draw up plans.” She knew doing such a thing would also damage the Evertree, but she thought it was worth the risk.
Takoda stepped back. “We’ve been through this already,” he said firmly. “Kovo says we have to wait.”
“Wait for what?” Meilin said, striking the ground with her hand. Ever since reaching the ruined city, there had been ongoing tension about how to destroy the Wyrm. Meilin knew they had to act, but Kovo—again and again—insisted that they not disturb the egg.
She stood up, meeting Takoda’s eye. “The Wyrm is only going to get stronger. We’ve journeyed all this way, racing to get here before it hatches. And now we’re supposed to just sit around and wait for it to do just that?”
“Yes.”
Meilin threw up her arms. “If you hate Kovo so much, why are you taking his side?”
Takoda sighed. “I don’t hate him. I wish I could, but my bond won’t let me. And I—I can just tell that this is different.… ” He shook his head, trying to describe something indescribable. “Kovo may hate humans, but he hates the Wyrm even more. He wants to stop it as much as anyone. When it’s time to act, he’ll let us know.”
Meilin blew a strand of dark hair from her face. “And just when will that be? Because soon every person in Erdas will become infected by the Wyrm’s parasites. What’s happening to Conor downstairs will happen to all of us unless we act. Do you want that blood on your hands?”
Before Takoda could answer, there was a loud whump from the other end of the room. The impact was so great that it shook the floor beneath them.
Meilin turned to see Kovo had scaled the tower from outside, returning from his rounds. The Great Ape lumbered in through the window, eyes wide. He looked out of breath, like he had raced clear across the city to reach them.
“What’s got you all worked up?” she said.
The ape ignored her, staggering closer. He placed an enormous black hand on Takoda’s shoulder. The moment he made contact with his human partner, the boy gasped, as if the very breath had been pulled from his lungs.
“I … I … ” the boy said, his voice hollow and strange.
Meilin stared at Takoda’s dark eyes, which had changed to a shimmering, iridescent color—like the inside of an oyster shell. She saw now that Kovo’s eyes were likewise transformed.
“Takoda?” Meilin said. “What did he do to you?”
The boy turned toward her, blinking his swirling eyes.
“I have a message from Abeke and Rollan.”
MEILIN STARED AT TAKODA AND KOVO, BOTH OF THEM opal-eyed and unblinking. “You have … what?” she asked.
Takoda tilted his head, as if trying to hear a faint sound. “Someone named Shane is with them.”
Meilin nearly choked on her spit. “Shane? The same Shane who tried to conquer the world?” If Shane was with them, it could only mean that they were in trouble.
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Takoda shrugged, shaking his head. “I’m just the messenger,” he said. “I actually don’t really understand what’s happening.”
Kovo grunted and made a gesture to Takoda with one hand. The boy nodded and turned back to Meilin. “Kovo says it’s him. I … I think he’s trying to help. He’s been working to keep the Great Beasts from Zerif, just like your friends. He’s trying to make up for past sins.”
Meilin narrowed her eyes. “He told you all that with just a flick of his wrist?” She knew that Kovo and Takoda had devised a way of communicating through gestures, but this seemed different.
Takoda shrugged again. “He didn’t have to say it. I just … knew.” Takoda seemed as genuinely confused by all this as she was. “It’s like I can hear different voices in my head. Kovo … and a girl I don’t know, and one more … Mulop?”
“Mulop?” Meilin said. Something like comprehension began to dawn on her. “The Great Beast?” She took a trembling breath. It was obvious that something strange was happening to Kovo and Takoda, even if she couldn’t tell what. She didn’t trust it. For all she knew, this was another plot by Shane, or perhaps some new effect of the Wyrm. “How are they contacting us?” she said carefully.
“How are you contacting us?” Takoda repeated. He cast his ear to the air and responded a moment later. “Mulop has linked minds with Kovo … but the connection will not last very long. We are … very far away, and Mulop’s powers are weak.” Takoda’s voice was stilted, as though he were carefully repeating something that was being dictated to him. “Where are you?”
“I’m not sure we can tell them that,” Meilin said, inching back. “How do we know we can trust you?”
Takoda repeated her question and then listened for the answer. He snorted slightly before saying, “Rollan would like me to ask Jhi what it’s like being bonded to a snotty general’s daughter. Also, he wants to know if stubbornness is a skill you picked up from your fancy tutors.”
A smile spread across Meilin’s face. “That’s Rollan, all right.” She hoped that neither Takoda nor Kovo could hear the catch in her voice or see her blushing. “Fine,” she said, regaining her composure. “What do you need to know?”
ROLLAN STOOD NEXT TO ABEKE AND SHANE IN THE cold cavern, shivering. Drops of water ran down icy stalactites and splashed on the wet floor in small puddles. Before him sat Niri, her legs dangling in the steaming water. The girl’s eyes swirled with a rainbow of colors, her blue-inked fingers clutching Mulop’s tentacle.
It had worked. They were actually talking to Meilin. Which meant Meilin was alive. A thousand questions churned around in Rollan’s mind as he tried to decide what to ask.
But before Rollan could say anything, Shane spoke up. “What can Kovo tell us about the Wyrm? Does he know how to stop it?”
Rollan gritted his teeth. “Why does he get to do all the talking?”
Abeke put a calming hand on his arm. “If it weren’t for Shane, we wouldn’t be here at all.”
Niri asked Shane’s question. After a moment, she began speaking for Kovo. It was her voice, but the phrasing and tone sounded different—like she was channeling Kovo’s cold growl with every word.
“Aeons ago, the Wyrm’s egg fell from the stars,” she began, “like a stone plunging into a pool. It was a time before humans fouled the soil with their presence.” The girl screwed up her mouth, as if trying to find a word. “Things were quiet. Still. The world was golden and blue.… Beasts lived alongside one another in harmony—fed by the Evertree. Spirit animals didn’t exist. Neither did the Great Beasts.”
Rollan had trouble imagining a world without humans or spirit animals or Great Beasts. The thought of a world without Essix saddened him.
“In those ancient days,” Niri continued, “the continents were a single mass that covered half the world. Mountains and deserts and snow were all together in this place—all of Erdas’s wonders in a single room. When the Wyrm’s egg struck the earth, the impact was so great that the land shattered into pieces, floating apart from one another.”
“So a falling egg shattered the world?” Rollan muttered, with not a small amount of skepticism. “In my experience, that’s not what happens when eggs hit the ground.”
Niri shook her head, clarifying in her own voice. “I don’t think it was an ordinary egg. Its shell was made from a rock stronger than anything on Erdas.” A moment later, she continued speaking for Kovo. “The Wyrm was drawn to the Evertree—it could sense the life coursing through its branches. When the Wyrm landed, it caused great destruction—storms, floods, and earthquakes—that wiped out nearly every living thing for miles. Only fifteen creatures survived—sheltered from death by the branches of the Evertree.”
“The Great Beasts … ” Abeke whispered. “That’s why you know all this. You were there.”
Rollan shot a look over to the girl. Abeke’s eyes were wide with wonder. “So, you’re telling us that the Wyrm somehow created the Great Beasts,” he said slowly.
“Yes,” said Niri after a moment. “Our peaceful lives were over. Everything we knew and loved had been destroyed. We fifteen beasts were all that remained. But worst of all was what the Wyrm did to the tree itself. The Evertree survived the impact, but it was different.”
“Different how?” Rollan said.
“The tree no longer gave mere life. It did something more dangerous—it forged an invisible bond that flowed between living things.” She paused a moment to let these words sink in. “The Evertree is the source of the spirit animal bond. And the Wyrm is the source of that power. Everything leads back to it.”
“You’re telling us that it’s the Wyrm that created the spirit animal bond,” Rollan said, and this time there was no skepticism in his voice. “Why would it do that?”
“The same reason all creatures do what they do,” Niri said for Kovo. “Because it is hungry.”
“I don’t buy it.” Rollan waved his hands, interrupting Niri. “If the Wyrm created spirit animal bonds, then it’s good. Isn’t it? Why would an evil creature bring life? That doesn’t make any sense.”
“It’s a good question,” Shane said.
Niri asked the question aloud and then gave Kovo’s response. “The Wyrm is a parasite that feeds on life itself. And like any parasite, it is both hungry … and patient. In order to feed, it needs two things. First, a food source. Thanks to the Evertree, it now has that in abundance. Second, it needs a host in order to fully mature. Once hatched, it will bond itself to that host—and then it will be unstoppable. For centuries, it has been waiting for a creature strong enough to contain it. And for just as long, I alone have been working to stop it.”
“Kovo the long-suffering hero?” Rollan threw his hands up. “I thought Yumaris was crazy, but this takes the cake.”
“Impudent human!” Niri’s lips curled suddenly into a snarl. All at once, Rollan could see Kovo’s scowling face peering out through the girl’s features.
“Niri?” Shane asked, stepping tentatively forward.
“I alone sensed the Wyrm’s hunger,” Niri growled, her voice thick with contempt—she wasn’t just translating for Kovo anymore; it was like he was speaking directly through her. “The weakness twisting beneath the world. The corruption that fueled every spirit animal bond. My war against the Greencloaks was a war against the Wyrm—for only my brethren and I could possibly contain its power.”
Niri was practically spitting now, her face a mask of fury. Her gleaming opal eyes flared red. “My first attempt to destroy it with the Hellans failed. Human civilizations are castles made of sand—easily washed away. So I took matters into my own hands. I would gather the talismans and wrest control of the Evertree, by force if necessary. Better a thousand kingdoms fall than the Wyrm should claim its host. Better my siblings die than become slaves to such a thing.”
Rollan glimpsed Shane, who was watching the girl with his mouth agape. Rollan felt a rare twist of sympathy for the fallen monarch. Shane’s kingdom had been one of those th
ousands that Kovo was so willing to sacrifice.
He also felt confusion. Rollan tried to consider what was being said—that Kovo’s wicked plotting had all been in defense of Erdas—but he couldn’t believe it. Kovo had killed too many, had destroyed too much, to ever be good.
“Once the Evertree was destroyed,” Niri continued, her face softening, “its grip on the Wyrm loosened. The Wyrm grew restless. It will wait no longer. Through its parasites, the Wyrm is creating its own perfect host. Someone more powerful than all the Great Beasts combined.”
“Zerif,” Abeke said. A silence shivered through the cavern. The thought of an even more powerful version of Zerif—one bonded with an aeons-old malevolent Wyrm—was too frightening to contemplate.
“This all sounds nice, but it’s just a theory,” Rollan said. “If the egg isn’t hatched, how does Kovo know what the Wyrm is planning?”
“He’s telling the truth about Zerif,” Shane said. “Mulop has been peering inside Zerif’s mind. Zerif thinks he’s in control, but he’s being manipulated, just like all of the infected.”
Niri swallowed, her face trembling from the strain of the connection. Drops of sweat fell from her hair. “The Wyrm is waiting until Zerif has gathered enough power,” she said slowly, “and then it will break free from its egg and find him. Once they’re bonded, nothing will be able to stop it from consuming the world.”
“We know these ruins are some sort of trap that Kovo helped the Hellans build,” Shane said. “We need to know how to trigger the trap. How do we stop the Wyrm from hatching and bonding with Zerif?”
Niri frowned, her breath coming in ragged gasps. “How do we stop the Wyrm?” she said. She turned her head, as though she were having trouble hearing the response. When she spoke, her words were halting. “The … only way to trigger … the snare … ” She interrupted herself with a sharp gasp. Mulop’s tentacle slipped from her grip, sliding back into the pool of water. Niri fell backward, her body limp.