Total Eclipse

But what I saw in her was a distance that I couldnt cross anymore. She was part of the Earth, and the Earth had rejected my species as flawed and failed. So no matter how much Imara still felt for me, she couldnt bring herself to feel it for all those suffering and dying below us.

I swallowed a hard lump in my throat and managed to ask, Then why are you here?

Because I can help you, Mom, my daughter said. I can help you become something else.

A Dji

But youll be alone. The only human left. I can keep you safe, but only you. No one else. Is that what you want?

No, I said, and then said it more loudly, because the screaming down there was drilling into my head like a vicious power drill. No! Dammit, Imara, you have to help us!

Id like to, she said, and it sounded genuine. I wish I could. But I dont have any way to do that, and even if I did, maybe its for the best, Mom. Maybe this is what needs to happen, so things can start over. Cleanly.

I dont believe that. I backed away from her and stood several feet away, fists clenched. I will never believe that.

When things die, you have to let them go, Imara whispered, and I saw eternity in her eyes. You let me go, didnt you? You accepted it. You have to accept this, too.

I couldnt even speak. My mouth had gone dry, my throat tight, and all I could manage was a violent shake of my head.

Imara sighed and folded her hands together. Im sorry, she said. Now I have to go.

You saved my life! You can save theirs, too!

I did, she said. But life isnt a permanent condition. You know that.

And the sand hissed up over her, whipped into a blinding ball, and then it blew apart in all directions, stinging my skin as it landed.

Imara was gone.

I looked down at the valley. The Oracle was reaching the far edge of what remained of the town. There was a large building there. I could just make out the word HOSPITAL in lights at the top before the power failed.

I grabbed hold of a tree that fluttered its leaves in the hot wind, and watched with dry, aching eyes as the building melted and burned. I thought about the patients in their beds, the babies in their cribs, the doctors and nurses staying at their posts despite the destruction coming at them.

Then I held up my arms and summoned storms. Not the carefully constructed sort that Wardens are supposed to wield, oh no. I slammed together air and water with careless disregard for the balance, the consequences, for anything that Id ever been taught. I needed rain, a lot of rain, and I needed it fast.

I put together one mother of a hurricane, and I did it in under ten minutes. The clouds were thick and black and stuffed with death, and I unleashed it right over the Fire Oracle as it reached the borders of the town. Water poured down with a vengeance, and I saw steam rising from the Oracles body. The destruction of the town cooled, but the Oracle kept burning, and burning, and burning, no matter how much rain I threw at him.

Then the Oracle turned and looked at me, really saw me, and I woke up as suddenly as if someone had slapped me across the face. I jerked upright, and realized I wasnt standing halfway across the country watching that terrible march; I was in the backseat of the Mustang. I was sweaty, hot, fevered, and scared, and fumbled for some of the supplies that Cherise and I had bought what seemed liked ages ago. Water. I needed water.

David said nothing. He didnt even ask me what Id been dreaming about. Maybe he knew.

I choked on the lukewarm liquid, but got it down, and gasped, Its true, isnt it? The Fire Oracle. Hes walking.

David slowly nodded.

Cant you stop him?

No, he said, and I heard the infinite regret in his voice. For the first time, I also heard resignation. Oracles cant be stoppednot by you, not by us. Once theyve been unleashed, they wont stop until the Mother tells them to stop.

There has to be something we can do. David, I saw it. I saw a townI saw peopleI saw

He grabbed me and held me as the Mustang plunged on into the night. Stars overhead, cold and precise and uncaring. David didnt try to tell me it would be all right, and he didnt try to promise me that wed find a way to survive. He didnt promise anything at all.

I sensed desperation in the way he was holding me. He didnt believe that we could make it.

No, I said shakily, and swiped at my eyes with my hands. No, well make it. Were going to find a way to stop this. We have to. We cant give up.

Its not about giving up; its about facing facts, David said. You think we can fight the Mother. We cant. Shes judged, shes made up her mind, and theres no changing it.

I couldnt accept that, I just couldnt. It didnt make any sense to me that we couldnt somehow fix this, make the Earth understand and see humanity as her own.

I pushed it aside, because there wasnt any point in arguing with David about it. Where are we? There was a glow on the horizon, a big one, and since it was due west of us, I didnt think it was sunrise.

Las Vegas, he said. Lewis brought the unassigned Wardens here. Theyve been working with the Maat to fortify the town.

Vegas would be a prime target, I realized, purely for the fact that it existed in such defiance of the natural order in the desert. So many people, so much artificial water, so much energy being consumed.

I remembered the town Id seen destroyed, and multiplied that times the huge population of Vegas, and felt shaky all over again. All right, I said. Its as good a place as any to make a stand. Plus, we might get in a Cirque show and some time at the roulette tables.

I didnt think they let Wardens play roulette. Or slot machines.

The casinos in the know certainly didnt. An Earth or Weather Warden could jinx a roulette wheel as easy as snapping fingers, and put a Fire Warden near a slot machine and forget about it. Look, if the world is going to end, Im going to win all the money I can. Just because. They say you cant take it with you, but really, has anybody tried?

Vegas sounded good to me for another reasonaccommodations, and shopping. I desperately needed a shower and new clothes, and even though I could ask David to magically clean me up, it wasnt the same thing at all as sinking into velvety hot water, scented with lilacs, and floating. . . .

I was fantasizing about a peaceful afternoon and a hot bath the way perverts fantasize about porn.

Hell, maybe Id throw in some shopping. Id always loved the clothing stores in the big casinos. Nothing like hitting couture when youre depressed, and if youre going to certain death, why not go out wearing Valentino or Prada?

Even the best fantasies have to end, and mine didnt last long. I went up into Oversight and got the lay of the land. It was u

I checked the rearview and found that Cassiel and Luis Rocha were still behind us, keeping a steady, patient distance. I supposed theyd also received their orders to join up with the other Wardens, or else they had business of their own, though what could possibly be more important than the end of humanity was impossible for me to guess. I supposed it was a matter of perspective.

Suddenly, the Mustang gave a surprised little cough and sputter, and the engine . . . died. We had just crested a hill and gotten a view of the incredible display of Vegas lights shimmering below, like some opium dream about living jewels.

Please tell me that we threw a rod or something, I said as the Dji