“Our people struggled to survive in a dangerous land. The desert is a cruel place, and it created cruel people. We were often at war,” The Attendant said. “But we respected this mountain. Even before Te’lo’hi’s arrival, we believed that it held great power. The power to ensure that all things in the world happened as they needed to happen. One night, we watched a falling star pierce the sky and land right in the mountain’s heart. We began to dream of a grand city. A permanent home. A safe home. We came to this mountain and found things exactly as you have seen them here. The city had been created for us. We brought seeds and saplings and Te’lo’hi provided the rest. Warmth. Protection. He sealed the mountain, keeping us safe from the violence outside. For a long time, it was enough.”
until
it was not
“When Te’lo’hi was separated from the others like him, he was not yet fully mature. He could exist in only this world, unable to travel between other realities—other stories—like the rest of his kind,” the Attendant said. “However, after many hundreds of years living with us, he realized he was growing older. All beings like himexperience a moment when their true strength is awakened. Their full power released. But this awakening would have a devastating effect on this planet.”
Kyla said, “The silver light we saw bursting out of the mountain last night. The end of the world.”
Ethan said, “It sleeps. It wakes.”
“Precisely. The moment Te’lo’hi reached full maturity, the moment he awoke his full power, we understood it would destroy more than we could ever know. Te’lo’hi did what he could to delay this change, but it brought him great pain. At last, he created a ceremony that would seal him away and prevent the end of all life as we know it. By waiting until the night before his awakening—the night his power was at its strongest—we could bend the weave of time, as you’ve seen.”
“You just had to kill someone to do it,” Ethan said.
The Attendant hesitated. “Yes. Te’lo’hi knew the power of a sundered soul. Of taking a life. It was like a spark needed to start a fire.”
“But the rest of you had to leave the city,” Kyla said. “Te’lo’hi’s power had grown too strong. Too unstable. It would be dangerous to live here.”
“Yes. Twelve of our people volunteered to undertake the first ceremony. The rest of us left the city and encountered the real world for the first time, believing that we would be called back when the time came to repeat it. Te’lo’hi had warned us that there was conflict and pain outside, but we were not prepared for the violence that had swept this continent. The white men. The disease. The starvation. Our people were scattered and lost. Soon, we had forgotten our true history. Except for a few relics passed down from parents to children, nothing remained of the city for us. Nothing but legends.”
the story was beautiful
Te’lo’hi said.
until it was not
Above them, Ethan couldn’t hear any sounds of fighting, but he doubted Hunter and Ryan could hold out forever against Jack Allen. Ethan caught Kyla’s eye, saw a nervous twitch in her lip.
They needed to hurry this up.
Sarah Powers, though, had other ideas.
KYLA
“You have got to beshittingme,” Sarah said.
Kyla had never met a woman with more moods than Sarah Powers. Not half an hour ago, Sarah had been slumped in the street like a drunk, barely able to walk. Then she’d been pensive and curious like a lost dog. Now she stood tall and furious, striding across the stone platform without a trace of fear and thrusting a finger in the Attendant’s ghostly face. “Your people just hid here, safe and sound? The world was falling apart outside, people were being slaughtered by the thousands, entire tribes disappearing, and you didnothing?”
The Attendant lowered her eyes. “There was… talk. But by the time Te’lo’hi told us how dire the world outside had become, it was too late. We needed to begin the ceremony. He couldn’t constrain himself any longer.”
Sarah’s finger swung toward the little god-child. “Butyouknew all along, didn’t you? You knew what was happening to the people of the continent. My ancestors lost our homes, our families, our entire existence. You could have stopped that. You could have changed everything.”
Te’lo’hi studied Sarah with those silver eyes. The look of pain on its face was growing sharper by the minute.
i can see many stories
many futures
but i have no way of knowing which story
will be the story that is told in this world
random chance can still take hold
bad luck
i saw futures full of death
