Total Eclipse

Drive, David told the Dji

You rang, boss? She sounded just the same as before, amused and none too concerned with our lives. That was a rock-stupid thing to do, you know. And now Im stuck back being the damn Conduit, because you went and got yourself claimed. Again.

It was that or end up on the Mothers chain, David said. Ill take a slightly limited version of freedom.

Youd better hope its slightly limited. Whitneys voice cooled, and all of a sudden her rich Southern accent dropped completely away. Let me make it clear, both of you: Im not standing for Dji

Of course, David said. I need you keeping a look-out for Dji

Maybe, Whitney said. And maybe Ill just think about it, boss man.

That didnt sound good. Whitney was crazy but consistent, and if she meant what she said, we had a fifty-fifty chance of her just washing her hands of us and letting the Dji

Granted, we had resources, but I didnt like losing Whitneys support. We were in enough trouble as it was.

Please, I said. Its my responsibility, Whit. Take it out on me if you have to.

Whitney made a sound that I found particularly irritating. Oh, I will, she said, and the Southern accent crept back into her voice. Believe me.

Whitney, David said. Hide us. Now.

Oh, all right. I felt something pass over us, like a shimmer of heat, and I knew that shed done as he asked. From now on, we were traveling unseen by anyone without Warden powersand probably by most who actually had them. It wouldnt fool someone of Lewiss quality, but it would serve to get us past any roadblocks, helicopters, and sharp-eyed patrols.

We zoomed past a road five miles out where several shining military-style vehicles were parked in neat lines. I got a flash of Dr. Reids face as he spoke to a group of people. Hed done it. Hed evacuated the compound.

That made me feel better, and also, oddly, very tired. Maybe the anxiety had been keeping me alert, but now I felt like I was dropping fast toward exhaustion. Not too surprising. It had been a big afternoon, what with nuclear explosions and getting shot and bleeding out.

I must have yawned, because David smiled and pulled me close. He felt better than one of those memory foam mattresses.

Do you want to sleep somewhere more comfortable? he asked, and touched his lips gently to the skin just beneath my ear. I couldnt work up much in the way of sexual excitement, but I shivered a little and gave him a weary smile of my own.

Im going to dream about hotels. Fancy ones, with the nice fluffy bathrobes and slippers and expensive soaps. None of this window-unit air conditioner crap. I stopped and thought about it for a second. Does that sound self-absorbed, given the ending of the world and all?

Maybe a little, he said. But I understand. And I wish I could give it to you. The best I can do is the backseat, for now.

I sighed. Thatll do.

And truthfully, a fabulous hotel would have been wasted on me, because after Id climbed over the seat and pulled Davids warm, long coat over me, I was asleep before a mile passed under the fast-turning wheels.

Id like to say I didnt dream, but I did. It was vivid, and shocking, and it felt, well, real.

It felt like Id stepped out of a dark place and into a bright, harsh sun, and I raised my hand to block out the glare. Only it wasnt the sun at all.

It was a giant, vaguely man-shaped form stalking toward me, and everything it touched in its wayrock, trees, fleeing animals, a car full of peopleburst into instant and immediate conflagration. It was the Fire Oracle, but pulled out of his hidden sanctuary and made subject to the will of the Mother.

It was burning everything.

I watched from my frozen, helpless spot as it stalked toward a town in the tree-lined valley below me. That was when I got a sense of scale, and realized that this glowing, terrifying creature was towering hundreds of feet in the air, taller than any building in the modest downtown. I could hear the screaming coming up out of the town, like birds sounding an alert. I could see tiny forms of people ru

The extinction, without mercy, of the entire human race, done systematically and thoroughly.

I was watching tens of thousands of lives end, and I knew it would happen over and over and over, and it was so neat, so clean. Nothing left to bury. The charred land would heal itself, as it so often did; nature would take over the abandoned ground. Animals would return, free from being hunted out of existence by humans.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and turned to face . . . myself. No, it was my daughter, Imara. She looked haunted, the way her father did. The way my own face appeared now, seeing this horror unfolding in front of me.

Imaras face was mine, but her eyes were different, more like Davids. She was dressed as she was when Id seen her in Sedona, in a dress made of shifting red sand. It flowed around her, constantly in motion, and flashes of her bare skin showed through. It might have seemed somehow flirtatious, but instead, it was stu

She silently put her arms around me, and I felt the sand move around both of us, whispering secrets.

Baby, I said, and felt the hot pressure of tears. Oh, sweetheart. Thank you. I wanted to see you.

I know. I wanted to see you, too.

I looked back over my shoulder. The town was still dissolving in flames and screams, and my entire body ached with the intensity of the horror I felt. Imaras arms tightened around me.

No, Mom, dont try. You cant stop it. You cant help it. This is why its so important for me to stay where I am, and not let anybody close. I know you didnt mean to do it, but you breached the Fire Oracles barrier when you broke out of there. You weakened it. And once you did, the Mothers influence got through to him. He lost himself. Thats why I need you to stay away from Sedona, and Im so sorryI know that sounds terrible, and I wishI wish Imara took in a deep breath. I wish I could keep you safe with me. But I cant.

Is all this happening now? I asked. The smoke and flame and screams kept rising, and now I started dreading the moment when the screaming would stop. Is this a dream, or is this really happening?

Mom

Tell me.

Imara looked at me with pity in her eyes, and said, Its why the Wardens needed you to distract those of the Dji

My fists clenched, and my nails dug in deep enough to burn and cut. The Wardens have to do something!

They are. But this isnt something Wardens can fight. It isnt even something the Dji