Into Darkness

49

Richard swallowed, trying to moisten his suddenly dry mouth, not entirely sure he had heard Sang correctly.

“You’re saying that I could never return to my world? Never? There would be no way for me to return?”

Sang nodded sorrowfully. “Yes. I am sorry. Once you destroy the device, you would not be able to return here. I am sorry, but it is the only way.”

Richard shook his head, not wanting to believe that he would have to stay there, in Sang’s world.

“I don’t know if I could leave my world for yours to fight for those on your side who can’t—or won’t—do it themselves, and then, even if I succeed, never be able to return home to my mate, my offspring, my people, and my world. That is too much to ask.”

“I am sorry, but there is no other way,” Sang said. “But it would not simply be that you fight for those like me, it would be for the survival of those in your world as well.”

Richard blinked in disbelief. “I don’t see how I could live in your world.”

“I can tell you that of all the worlds the goddess has collected, none can begin to match the beauty of my own home world, so you would at least have that. Your world, here, is a harsh, dry place. My world is lush and warm and beautiful beyond anything you have ever seen before.”

Richard had to remind himself to hold back his rising anger. This wasn’t personal. Sang was trying to find a way to end the bloodshed, even if the solution he had come up with was unacceptable.

“I don’t care how beautiful it is, it’s not my home. Everyone I love is here, in this world.”

Sang cocked his head to the side. “But this is such a dry place. I don’t know how you are even able to survive here. We have much trouble coming here because of how dry it is. We must put the jelly of the scrum plant on ourselves to help keep our skin moist while we are here, or it would dry out and crack. Then we would bleed, and we would die.”

That explained the gelatinous masses that Richard had seen slide off of them when the Glee first arrived, as well as the wet appearance of their skin.

“Sang, I’m not sure I could ever agree to such a thing—to leave everything I have here and everyone I love, never to return. As you may know, my own offspring are about to come into the world.”

“I do know about the imminent arrival of your offspring. Please believe me when I say that I sympathize with your reluctance,” Sang said, sounding sincere. “If the situation were reversed, I don’t know that I could stand to live in your world, never to return to mine.” He gestured at Vika. “But you would have this female with you, at least.”

“That is not enough, nor is it a solution.” Richard gestured up to the Keep. “My mate is there.”

“I am sorry, but while I do admit to wanting my kind to return to their ways and no longer be able to raid other worlds, the more important thing I am telling you is that this is the only way if you wish your kind here in this world to survive.

“As we speak, the Golden Goddess is right now preparing to send the largest number of Glee yet to come here to kill all the people of that place down the mountain. She wants none left alive to punish you for going into that place of magic to hide, rather than surrender. When that is finished, they will then be sent to other places in your world to hunt the people there until there are no more of your kind. This will not be attacks such as you have seen and fought against before. This will be mass attacks in many different places at the same time.

“The goddess knows of and fears your magic, and she also knows that when you retreat into this place of magic, here above us, she will not be able to reach out and take you, your mate, or your unborn children. But she also knows that with you hiding in there and not able to fight, or at least not able to fight in all the places of your world at once, there will be virtually no effective opposition to her and her forces. There will be the sport of some opposition of course, but the Glee enjoy some resistance. People in places all over your world will not be able to withstand the attacks. The resistance they put up will not be enough for your kind to survive.

“The goddess knows that your magic protects the magic of this world. If your offspring live, their magic will do the same.

“Yet, as you hide and protect them in this place, she will see that vulnerability and exploit it. With you stuck in there protecting your mate and offspring, it gives her and her followers an opening to come here to this world in mass to hunt and devour your kind until there are none left other than you and those few with you in this fortress of magic.

“Although you may in that way be able to preserve magic in your world, and the few people inside there with you, there will be no people left out in the rest of the world. They will all be dead. Your world will be a dead place.”

Richard looked over at Vika. When she realized the full extent of what was in store for their world, some of the color had left her face. What was coming was no less than the cataclysmic end of everyone and everything.

Sang was right; even if they stayed and fought, they couldn’t fight in every city, town, and village all over the world at the same time. He might be wildly successful against the Glee he faced, but he was only one man in one place and could not face nearly all of them.

“I am afraid that I am not offering you the ability to return to this place and the people you love,” Sang said. “Once you destroy the device, it will not be possible for you to return to your home. But what I am offering you is the possibility of destroying the threat that otherwise will hunt down and slaughter everyone in your world. You have seen what they have already done, how many they have slaughtered, and what they are capable of. They know no mercy and will grant none.

“They will not stop unless you come with me and stop them, and then destroy the device to prevent them from ever again coming to this world. You can only do those things in my world.

“What I am offering you is the possibility of saving the lives of those you love and everyone else in your world. I will not deceive you; that is all I am able to offer.

“I understand the sacrifice you will be making, but you must decide now because they will be coming soon and if you don’t come with me and stop them there, it will be too late.”