Last Dragon Standing (Heartstrikers #5)(34)
“No one claimed you were incorrect,” the Black Reach said irritably. “I wish I did have something brilliant, but we’re dealing with a Nameless End. Survival of any kind is the best we can hope for against a foe like that.”
“If that’s the baseline, then my way was better all along,” Bob pointed out. “At least in my plan, everyone lived.”
“If the future you’d saved for us could have been called living,” the construct growled. “Your plan would leave us puppets. My way, fewer survive, but they are the best dragons this world has to offer, and their futures would still be full of possibilities.”
“Would we even be dragons anymore?” Bob said, his voice growing heated. “Your Brave New World of Nice Dragons wouldn’t even include our spirit.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I appreciate you adding me as your plus-one at the last second, but if my sister can’t come, I’m not interested. Your salvation sounds boring beyond belief.”
Terrible as things were looking, Julius couldn’t help but smile. He knew Bob would never give up Amelia. He just wished they had another choice.
“Well, I don’t like any of it,” Marci said, echoing his thoughts. “Is there a plan C?”
The two seers frowned in unison. “Nothing I can see,” the Black Reach said.
“Me neither,” Bob said, running a shaking hand through his long black hair. “It gets pretty dark, doesn’t it?”
“Quite,” the Black Reach agreed, peering into the Kosmolabe. “Whatever we decide, though, we’d best do it quickly. If the Leviathan gets much bigger, this plane will soon become too fragile to support our end of the portal, and then we really will be trapped.”
As though to prove his point, the ground began to shake, causing Amelia to gasp in pain.
“What is it?” Julius asked.
“Same old, same old,” she replied, her voice shaky. “Just the unpleasantness of having an extra planar interloper rooting through your metaphysical insides. He hasn’t tried to take a bite out of me yet, though, so I think we’ve still got time.”
“How do you figure that?” Marci asked. “A Nameless End in your insides sounds pretty serious.”
“Oh, it’s serious,” Amelia said. “He’s forcing his way into our plane like he’s getting paid by the inch, but he hasn’t actually started devouring it yet. Probably because he’s not done with Algonquin.”
“I’m sorry,” Julius said, confused. “Tell me again why he has to finish Algonquin first.”
“Because she’s his cover,” Amelia explained. “Remember, this is still a healthy plane. Normally, a Nameless End couldn’t squeeze more than, say, a pigeon-sized amount of themselves through the barrier. Algonquin cheated the system sixty years ago by letting the Leviathan live inside her water. By using her magic to hide his true nature, he was able to get a lot more of himself inside our plane than he should have. Now that she’s given up, he’s eating her wholesale, but it’s still not triggering the plane’s defenses because, technically, he’s still undercover. He won’t have to hide much longer, though. Once he finishes eating Algonquin—and I mean all of her, as in magic, lakes, rivers, the works—he’ll be so big, the barrier won’t be able to kick him out anymore. Once he doesn’t have to worry about getting the boot, he’ll be able to eat the rest of us at his leisure, and our plane will end.”
That was the grim picture Julius had been worried about since the beginning, but hearing his sister describe the details now gave him a spark of hope. “You’re certain he hasn’t finished eating Algonquin yet?”
“Absolutely,” she said. “If he had, we’d all be dead, which was the entire point of that explanation. Pay attention next time.”
“I have been,” Julius said. “I just wanted to be sure, because I’ve seen how Algonquin moves around between her lakes. She literally is her water, so if some of that water still exists, then some part of her must still be alive as well!”
Amelia glowered. “I know that tone in your voice. Don’t bring your optimism into this, Julius. Raven knows a lot more about spirits than I do, and he’s convinced Algonquin is gone.”
“But how can she be gone?” Marci asked. “She’s an immortal spirit. You were just bragging to Svena that you could come back from anything now. Why shouldn’t that same standard apply to Algonquin?”
“Because she’s got a Nameless End inside her!” Amelia yelled. “Emphasis on the End.”
“But she can’t be ended yet,” Julius said excitedly. “Because if she were, we’d all be dead, as you just said. Since we’re not dead, we have to assume that some part of Algonquin is still alive.”
“Okay, fine,” Amelia said. “Maybe a bit of her is still hanging around being crazy. What does that matter? This whole thing was her idea. We’re in her end game. Even if you could reach her, it’s not like she’s going to change her—hey!”
Julius sprinted away, not even bothering to stick to human speeds as he jumped onto the railing of his broken porch. He jumped onto the collapsing roof next, clambering over the broken shingles until he was right at the edge of the hole Bob’s landing had punched through the second and third stories. He was about to make a leap for what was left of the Skyway overhead when Marci yelled his name.