Chapter 28
Kid walked alongside Treycore, breathing heavily as he stepped through a doorway into an enormous room. The ground and ceiling were covered in vines like the ones outside the tower, stretching far beyond it.
Kid had managed to regain his strength enough that he could guide them through the tower, lead Trey, Aerysn, and the Winged Justice through a series of corridors, the Christ showing him the way. Despite still feeling weary from taking on the Morarkes, he knew what he needed to do.
Kid walked across the vines on the ground. He could feel an energy pulsing from them. He could pick up images, flashes from the creature. He saw Maggie, and the creature’s hurt…hurt for how she had wanted to get rid of it. Oh, how it had held on to that pain. How it wept over its early rejection. It may have been a monster, but its feelings, its emotions were so human. He could even feel how it clung to Janka, how it craved his affection because of the desperate need for…love. Kid understood the desire all too well. He sympathized with the beast’s pain.
As they communicated through some strange sort of telepathy, it told Kid its name. It didn’t go by the Christ. It didn’t go by any name Kid could have said if he tried. It had given itself a name it felt conveyed the monstrosity it believed itself to be. The Christ felt disgusting…hideous…and so fucking angry.
What seemed to be a couple of hundred yards away, vines grew around two columns, twisting and intertwining with one another. A thin veil stretched out between the columns, a layer of mucus from the creature, which it had created as it had made its nest.
Kid could feel its presence beyond that thin barrier. The creature rested, weary after creating and releasing that day hundreds of eggs, which took up most of the tower. Janka had clearly known its biology well enough to prepare the space to maximize the Christ’s comfort and its ability to create pods of grundars.
“Holy fucking mighty,” Fyrow said behind him as Kid started toward the columns. It was where he belonged. It was where he was destined to be.
“No!” came from behind him, and he felt that familiar hand on his shoulder.
Treycore.
His dear Trey.
He turned to his higherling.
The Winged Justice glanced around the room, clearly trying to take it all in. Aerysn eyed Kid uneasily, as though he wondered what Kid was thinking now that he had arrived at the Christ’s dwelling.
But Trey…oh…Trey looked fearful.
Trey raised his sword. “You stay here. We’re going to go in there and take care of this shit.”
“It’s not shit,” Kid said. “It’s a baby, Trey. A hurt, scared baby.”
“It’s a monster,” Aerysn said.
Kid nodded. “Yes. I know what needs to be done.”
“Well, come on,” Lanzar said. “Let’s get in there and kill the damn thing.”
“No,” Aerysn insisted, turning to the Winged Justice. “This is more than any of us can handle. This creature…you saw what Kid was able to do with just a fraction of its power. It’s an annihilating machine, created by the Almighty with one purpose. Destroy. Kid’s the only one who can do this.”
Treycore went right for Aerysn. “You are not taking him in there,” he said.
Aerysn pulled out his sword and blocked as Treycore struck at him. Kid could tell he wasn’t using his speed on purpose. He wanted to block Treycore’s attack, calm him down.
But Aerysn’s heel hit a vine and he fell backward, onto the ground.
Treycore put the tip of his sword to Aerysn’s throat. “This isn’t the way it’s going to end.”
“Treycore,” Kid said, approaching him.
Treycore turned and gazed into Kid’s eyes. Kid felt so at ease, so comforted. They were in the eye of the storm together.
While the world was in ruins and the heavens were being ripped apart as they stood in this quiet place, as he looked into those blue eyes, he could forget about all that and just get lost in all the beauty and wonder that was this creature he’d come to love.
Kid placed his hand on Trey’s cheek. “Don’t be scared, Trey,” he said.
“I’m not letting you go in there. I’m going in there my fucking self.”
“You’ll die, and then I’ll go in anyway.”
