“Keep?” I said, a cold touch of fear forming at the base of my neck and quickly running down my spine and spreading to my extremities. This thing had to be messing with me. Right?

  “I am Succaath, Sacred of Shub’Nigu,” it said. “Eldritch and immortal prince of the Relyeh, the most ancient and powerful race in all of the universes. What do I want from you?” He paused, his black eyes narrowing, his lips curling into a feral grin. “I hhhunnnnngeerrrrr.”

  CHAPTER 36

  The way Succaath said he hungered left me paralyzed with fear, literally shaking in my boots. The way the ooze-person’s face twisted and grinned gave me the impression he liked my reaction. He wanted me to be afraid. Realizing that and remembering I wasn’t completely powerless, I decided I’d rather be defiant than scared.

  “You’re hungry, huh?” I asked, fighting to keep my voice level. “Me too. I’m starving. I could really go for a McRory’s burger right now. And a beer. Do you like beer?” Succaath’s face changed and he glared at me in confusion, so I kept going. “Actually, you look like Keep right now, so I’m going out on a limb and guessing you’d really be down with some fries. Am I right? With lots of ketchup and salt?”

  “Insolent fool,” Succaath snapped, tendrils from the floor twisting around my body and climbing toward my face, probably to shut me up. “You have no comprehension of the way of things. Of the power I wield and my ability to destroy you with barely more than a thought.”

  “You know, you sound like a badly developed villain from some second-rate video game. Can we get a little depth to go with the cliched evil dialogue?”

  The tendrils pinned my arms to my sides as they climbed. I activated enhance, figuring I could just bust them apart with my added strength. Straining against them, I found they weren’t as weak as I had first assumed.

  “How dare you speak to me in such a way. You will kneel before me. You will—”

  “You’re still doing it,” I interrupted, even as I continued trying to break the tendrils which had nearly reached my face. As I continued to fail, my confidence was failing, but I couldn’t afford to let him see that he was winning. He growled and seethed with rage, the goopy tentacles tightening around me and threatening to crush me to a pulp. “But you didn’t lure me here just to pop me like a pimple, did you?” I wheezed out with the last of my breath.

  The tendrils immediately loosened, letting me breathe again. The fury drained from Succaath’s face, and he stared at me flatly. “No, I did not,” he admitted. “You are still useful to me.”

  “Did you just say you need me?” I asked, silently gratefully he hadn’t crushed me like a ripe grape.

  “I said I have use for you.”

  “Which means you need me.”

  “The Sacred of Shub’Nigu needs nothing and no one.”

  “What does that mean, Sacred of Shub’Nigu? Who are the Relyeh? And what does any of that have to do with me, Matt, Sedaya, and sigiltech? Come to think of it, if you’re so powerful, why did you team up with that asscrab Sedaya? What do you actually need me for?”

  “I just said I don’t need you.”

  “Uh-huh. You hatched this convoluted Rube Goldberg plot with no intended return on investment, then?”

  Succaath stared at me in silence. I stared back. Finally, his lips curled into a fresh grin, a harsh chuckle escaping between black teeth. “It wasn’t supposed to be this difficult,” he admitted. “But when it comes to humans, it seems nothing is ever easy.”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  “You shouldn’t. I believe it comes from your kind’s general stupidity, gullibility, and overall stubbornness.”

  “Still taking it as a compliment.”

  “Of course you are,” he muttered with a resigned sigh.

  I thrust a finger toward Matt, who hadn’t stopped staring straight ahead. “If you want me to even consider helping you, the first thing you need to do is let him go. And if your demons harmed even a single hair on his head, the deal is off.”

  “My gorathi had strict orders to be gentle with him,” Succaath said. “I oversaw his capture myself. Damage was done to him, but it was not by my hand.”

  “Damage? What do you mean?”

  The tendrils shrank away from Matt’s face and body before lowering him gently to the deck. He rested on his knees while the ooze sank back into the bulkhead. “Ben?” he said, his voice weak. “Is that you?” You’re alive! I can’t believe it.” Tears rolled from his blank eyes. his head shifting back and forth, eyes wide open but refusing to latch onto me. “It’s so dark in here. I can’t see anything.”

  I looked down at him, focused on his eyes. They appeared intact, except his pupils were wide open, completely dilated. White hot fury poured into me as I realized why.

  “You son of a bitch,” I hissed at Succaath. “You took him outside the playing field. The failsafe burned out his optic nerves. He’s blind!”

  “What do you mean blind?” Matt said. “Ben? “What’s going on? How did you get here?” His hands spread on the ground. “What is this stuff? Where are we?”

  I tried to kneel beside him, but my feet remained held by the goop. I glared at Succaath.“Let me go.”

  The ooze released me, and I fell to my knees next to Matt, putting my arm on his shoulder. “It’s going to be okay. Just try to stay calm.”

  “Stay calm?” he said, hands reaching up to find my arm and face. “How the hell am I supposed to stay calm? You just said I’m blind. This whole time, I thought it was just really dark in here.”

  “It was,” I said. “But it isn’t now. The light is dim, but I can see you clearly. We’re going to get out of here. They have the technology here to replace your eyes.”

  “Replace them? I don’t want new eyes, Ben. I want to see, right now. I want to go home. Back to Earth. I’m so done with this shit.”

  His frustration only made me more angry, but I held it back for now, letting it burn in my gut. “I hear you. We’re in a little bit of trouble, but I’ll get us out of it.”

  “Are you still a wizard?”

  I couldn’t help cracking a small smile. “Yeah. I’m at least Level Ten by now.”

  “Is that good?”

  “It’s better than Level One.”

  He smiled, beginning to calm. “Do new eyes have x-ray vision?”

  “I don’t know. We’ll have to go shopping and see what’s available. But we need to get you out of here first.”

  “How do we do that? Where are we?”

  “You didn’t hear Suckass talking just now?”

  “I did. I thought he was one of the bad guys.”

  I glanced up at the simulacrum. “Me too. Let’s stand up.” I helped Matt to his feet. “Are you hurt anywhere else?”

  “My ribs are a little sore. Someone hit me with a metal bat or something just before those creatures grabbed me. Have you seen those things?”

  “A few,” I replied.

  “Ugly, right?”

  “Very. The things are like horror-themed Pokemon. There’s an invisible one too.”

  “You’re kidding. I guess they’re all invisible to me now.” He let out a soft laugh.

  “I wish I was kidding. That one almost got me.” I glared at Succaath again. “Which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense when you wanted me alive.”

  “It wouldn’t have killed you,” Succaath replied. “It was there to locate your companions. To bring them here as well.”

  “What about the rest of your little pets? They sure as hell seemed like they were trying to kill me.”

  “If you couldn’t handle them, then you’re of no use to me.”

  “Who else is here?” Matt asked.

  “Quasar, Druck, and Shaq are on the planet with us. Part of Kill Spree. Keep is back on Head Case.”

  “What about David?”

  “Sedaya still has him.”

  “Which was entirely your fault,” Succaath said. “If you had left him on Earth with his mother, he would still be under my protection.”

  “Alter?” Matt asked. “Gia?”

  I squeezed his shoulder. “I’m sorry, bro. They didn’t make it.”

  “They’re dead?”

  “It’s not that simple. We can talk specifics later.”

  “Okay.”

  “My fault?” I growled at Succaath. “You kidnapped my mother and sister. You started with me on Earth. If you had left me and my family alone, I never would have even known about David. But why do you care that Sedaya has him? Aren’t you two working together?”

  Succaath groaned under his breath. “As you said, it’s not that simple. With humans, it never is.”

  “Care to elaborate?” I asked.

  “I intend to.”

  I turned slightly toward Matt and lowered my voice. “Just hang in there. And trust me.”

  “You know I do.”

  Glaring at Succaath once more, I motioned with my hand. “You’ve got the floor, Succaath. We’re all ears.”

  CHAPTER 37

  “The plan was simple,” Succaath said. “I would guide Duke Sedaya to the remnants of sigiltech. I would give him instruction on how to use it, and together we would assemble a grimoire of all the sigils we recovered. In return, he would provide me with an army of Gilded. A force to be reckoned with in this part of the universe, and others.”

  “Others?” I asked. “Like Earth?”

  “No, not Earth. Your planet still has time, though Sedaya would prefer to cut it short. The Spiral is only one of many pockets of life in the vastness of this universe, and a mote of dust across the endless sands of all universes. As Sacred of the Relyeh, I have seen many civilizations rise and fall, and many more succumb to our arrival, becoming one with the Relyeh as all things inevitably will.”

  “Even Earth?”

  “Do you care about nothing else?”

  “I care about my family,” I said. “You already know that. Why did you have agents on Earth if Sedaya was supposed to be taking care of everything?”

  “All things that need to be revealed will be revealed with time. I understand humans lack patience, perhaps because of your short lifespans. But do try.”

  “Fine. Carry on.”

  “The Relyeh are the first beings to exist in all universes. Shub’Nigu, the world-god was there before time itself and gave us life to complete a single task. To become all. For millions of your years we’ve progressed throughout the multiverse, assimilating life forms we admired and destroying those we didn’t, at all times hungering for more.”

  “Hold on,” I said, cutting Succaath off. “This isn’t exactly the kind of opening that leaves me inclined to help you.”

  “Did I not just request patience?”

  “Yeah, but then you basically told me that your species is obsessed with war and will probably try to conquer both the Spiral and Earth at some point in the future.”

  “Some point in the future can mean millions of years,” he answered. “Why does what happens far beyond your lifetime concern you?”

  “Because it’s still my planet. My home.”

  “Will you have any awareness of your home and its fate once you’re dead?”

  “I guess that depends on whether you believe in the afterlife.”

  “Do you?”

  “I don’t know. It just—”

  “Ben, can you just let him give us his side?” Matt asked. “I’d really like to be able to see again before I die.”

  “I’m just saying.” I said.

  “We know. Succaath, keep talking.”

  “Some time ago, we encountered a race unlike any other we’ve encountered before. A race more advanced than any other. Matching our onslaught with an equivalent defense, we’ve been locked in a stalemate for many, many years, each side unable to gain an advantage over the other.”

  “Let me guess,” I said. “Sigiltech was supposed to give you that advantage.”

  “Ben,” Matt chided. “Can you let him get more than two sentences in at a time?”

  “Sorry,” I replied. “This just doesn't seem to be going anywhere.”

  “A matter of perspective," Succaath's mouth twisted into a sneer. "As I was saying, in his infinite wisdom, Shub’Nigu tasked me with scouring the universe for anything we might use to gain the upper hand. Otherwise, there was a real possibility our ancient stalemate would become an infinite impasse, and that we would never achieve our true destiny.”

  “Doesn’t the word destiny alone imply that you’ll achieve it one day?” I asked, unable to keep quiet. “If you can’t, doesn’t that imply it wasn’t really your destiny? Maybe you aren’t supposed to conquer the universe. Maybe you’re supposed to just get Netflix and chill.”

  Matt shook his head and sighed.

  “You aren’t completely wrong,” Succaath said, surprising me. “ As Sacred of the Relyeh, it is my purpose to understand our purpose. I’ve spent centuries pondering that exact question.”

  “And?”

  “Only time will reveal the truth about the fate of all things, including our war with the Axon. You are correct that if we never achieve victory then we must reconsider our destiny. But we also must continue fighting, because giving up would be to abandon our purpose, in which case we’ll have failed. And failure is not an option. I’m sure you understand the need to battle to the end.”

  “I do. But that’s some Catch-22 you've got there, isn’t it? Odds are the stalemate will go on forever.”

  “Perhaps. Perhaps not. For as long as we’ve existed, the Relyeh have understood the nature of chaos and the role that order plays within unordered systems. Much of our existence depends upon it. As Sacred of the Relyeh, I long ago mastered chaos, without sigils, without algorithms. But I am only one, and the enemy is cunning. When I arrived in the Spiral and discovered that humans, of all races, had discovered the means to harness chaos energy through mathematics, I immediately became enthralled. Except my timing couldn’t have been worse. Within months of my arrival, sigiltech was swept from humankind’s collective knowledge, the research destroyed or buried. The war machines were lost and forgotten, limiting my resources. And then to discover that only humans were compatible with the design!” He shook his head mournfully. “It took years for me to recover from that blow. To formulate a plan and set it in motion. To accept that I needed to work with humans to achieve my goals. A worthy sacrifice to end the Axon? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Only time will tell.”

  “You were here when the war ended?” I asked. “Why didn’t you do something about it then? Why wait nearly a thousand years to take action?”

  “A scout vessel is here, not I. This is not the only galaxy where I have extended a presence. And when you are ageless, a thousand years is but a blink of the eye.”

  “So you aren’t a primordial blob in a tiny starship?”

  “Hardly. To behold my true form would leave you weeping in terror and agony.”

  “Like lollipop music?” Succaath’s simulacrum stared back at me in stern silence. “Okay, so you convinced Duke Sedaya to help you, which probably wasn’t hard since he’s desperate for power and control. Sigiltech gives him the power to take over the Hegemony and hold onto it, while in return you get an army of Gilded to send into the battle against these Axon. Is that the short version?”

  “Yes,” he replied simply.

  “Except…” I added, leading him.

  “Except when chaos and humankind mingle, the results are always volatile.”

  “And Sedaya reneged on the deal.”

  “I always expected he might. Which is why I convinced him to form an alliance with Duke Nobukku.”

  “And you started your own mining company on Earth. Did Sedaya know about it?”

  “No. Sedaya assassinated Nobukku without interrogating him first. But he still wanted him out of the way.”

  “What about David?”

  “An unintended surprise. He rediscovered the how of sigiltech. The means to channel the energy in powerful new ways. With him, I was certain we could prevail over the enemy. But then you stole him from me.”

  “Sorry, not sorry,” I replied.

  “Perhaps it will still work out to my benefit in the end. Without David, you wouldn’t be here. Without you, it would be all the more difficult for me to mete out my revenge.”

  “That’s why you lured me here? To convince me to kill Sedaya for double-crossing you? No offense, but you wasted your time. That was already on my to do list.”

  “Killing him is too easy,” Succaath replied. “I want you to capture him and bring him to me. Alive.”

  “But you did go through all this trouble to get me here for vengeance?”

  “Perhaps it seems like a lot of trouble to you. It was barely an inconvenience for me. A single delivery pod to a planet already seeded by another Relyeh long ago. Seizing the mind of a queen is rudimentary.”

  “How did you know I would be here? I had to transit to get to this planet.”

  “I didn’t anticipate your arrival here so soon, but I knew you would come for him.” He nodded at Matt.

  “And that’s the price, isn’t it? Matt for Sedaya?”

  “A fair trade, I believe. I saved Matthew from Kill Spree. Protected him until your arrival. I would have done the same for the rest of your crew given enough time. A life for a life.”

  “Protected me?” Matt said. “I’m blind.”

  “Which can be fixed,” Succaath answered. “Death cannot.”

  “True,” he admitted. “I was holding my own out there.”

  “Colonel Coil was looking for you. He wanted to claim your kill for himself. And he would have if my slaves hadn’t come upon you first. I am the only reason you’re still alive. A fair trade, Benjamin. You leave now with Matt, and when you defeat Sedaya, you bring him to me.”

  “What about your Gilded archons? You’re just going to let go of that desire so easily?”

  “I can afford to be patient. The opportunity will come again. What is a thousand more years to me but another blink of an eye.” He paused, the ooze that composed the simulacrum freezing suddenly as if he were using a neural link. “You, however, do not have that luxury. The longer Sedaya has David in his grasp, the more powerful and dangerous he becomes. Make your choice.”