{Enki | New Cinder}

Bones needed to think and quickly. A fully decompressed Gargantuan Tritan, presumably Primary Rem, had snatched Celindria out of her lab like a doll from her house. The cave’s integrity was compromised with all the subterranean activity, and the Shadow crew needed to get Pax and evacuate immediately. He shouted, “Cave in! We need to move. Now!”

Halfway between the cage and the door to Celindria’s bedroom, Ross cried out, “What about Pax?!”

Chris said his first words since relenting his volition. “Tameka said to leave him to her.” And his words made sense.

Jack patted Chris’ shoulder.

Bones looked at Ross. “Are you good with leaving him for Tameka—”

T.a.o. returned, and thank Elden, the little angel brought backup.

He and Ross spoke simultaneously. “Man, am I glad to see you.” “You’re a sight for sore eyes!”

The Seamswalker seemed aware but unaffected by the state of the crumbling lab as she said, “Korac waits. All the tin soldiers migrate toward the final winter.”

Lamassau stopped blinking at the gaping rock hole long enough to turn that blinking stare at the cryptic woman.

Kyle pushed by him. “Ross!”

She was in the middle of helping Jack scoop Chris onto their shoulders and smiled at her brother. “Let’s get out of here—”

The ground shook and rock erupted from the breach in the wall, and it never. Stopped. Falling. Two boulders collapsed from above and divided the lab, cutting them off from each other. Pehton cried out, stumbled, and fell into Andrew, who was nearest to the cell. Bones and Lamassau crouched and covered their heads near the lab’s exit. Closest to Celindria’s bedroom, Devis held Para, and Ross and Jack held Chris. T.a.o. and Kyle were with them, and, through a rain of gravel, he suggested, “We’ll come back for you!”

Bones waved them off. “Hurry and—”

An avian screech pierced the sound of thundering rock. Loud enough that they covered their ears and ducked as if expecting a giant bird to attack. Following the sound, the smell of jasmines perfumed the air.

Were Remorse and Celindria fighting or fucking?

Andrew shouted “Go!”

T.a.o. Seamswalked them presumably back to Cinder’s Shrine. Although, with The Afflicted One leading the way, it wouldn’t surprise Bones if they ended up at Six Flags.

Another boulder crashed into Celindria’s workbench, and Bones declared this his limit. “Let’s go up top!” He shouted loud enough for Andrew and Pehton to hear. Lamassau nodded and together, the four lifted the rock separating them and crowded the entry together, ready to head out until Pehton touched Bones’ arm.

“One second.”

She concentrated for a moment before the smell of kerosene nearly overpowered the jasmine. Fumes became flames.

Pehton surrounded their quartet in a ball of fire. Remnants of the rock shower torched on impact and disintegrated into ash before reaching them. She said, “It’ll help with the smaller stuff, but not the big rocks—”

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The ceiling collapsed behind them, and Bones shouted, “PAX!”

Someone else joined him until they formed a chorus of shouts. A shape moved through the dust where Celindria’s room once stood. In the darkness, two midnight orbs glowed in Atramentous, but standing at a third of the height of an adult.

It was Pax.

He opened his tiny wings and flew out through the hole in the ceiling with no regard for them.

Bones felt relief and fear in equal measure. What the fuck was really happening here?

Lamassau shouted over the rhythmic, deafening pounding in their wake, “Do you know how to get out of here?!”

Andrew answered before Bones could. “In ninety-eight percent of the Probabilities where we survive, it’s because Celindria built a secret stairwell as an emergency exit strategy.”

Pehton sounded as nervous as Bones felt when she asked, “And what about the ones where we don’t survive?”

Andrew’s normally tan skin turned green as he said, “Sometimes it’s the Tritan lift rendered useless by the cave-in. There! That corner.”

Collectively, they rounded the next junction, and everyone sighed in relief.

Stairs.

And they were clear of debris.

Bones suggested, “Celindria must have reinforced this build.”

“So did she know she might one day face a decompressed Primary?” Incredulity lightened the terror in Lamassau’s voice.

Pehton laughed, and it was haughty. “Are you kidding me? She builds all of her fail safes for the day I come knocking. Pay back’s a bitch, and her name is Pehton. Now, let’s get out of here.”

No one wanted to talk about Pax.

Ross came over the earpiece. “Hey, team, we’re trying to come back for you, but T.a.o. says it isn’t possible. Are you okay?”

Lamassau answered her. “We escaped before the ceiling caved in. Pax escaped, too, but… He’s not with us. We’re on our way to the surface of wherever these caves come out. Over.”

Iuo interrupted the frequency. “Be careful out there.”

As they rounded the final spiral to this never ending staircase, Bones mused, “Don’t worry, Porn Baron. We’ve got more poker to play so I can win Lamassau’s stash of watermelon Jolly Ranchers from you. Over.”

Bones had never been flipped off by a Pil platinum middle finger before, but Lam made it look natural with his gauntlet—

They spilled onto a mountain of black rock, and not just any mountain. This was Li mountain, same as on Cinder now, but covered in cranberry vegetation and black-barked trees with bright orange leaves, like Pehton’s feathers.

“Is this Cinder?” Her voice held so much wonder.

Lamassau reminded her. “New Cinder on Enki, but yes. This was before Li’s devastation—”

An earthquake unsteadied them—

Nope, not an earthquake.

Half a mile away from them, they could see the hole in the mountain from the collapse in Celindria’s lab. Through that, Bones made out the Gargantuan Tritan’s blue body, shifting in a cavern of his making. He’d hollowed out Li Mountain for a battleground, and somehow Celindria was alive and still fighting. It was harder to make her out, but occasionally, Bones glimpsed her dark violet complexion and the white gown she wore, frayed but not covered in blood. She wasn’t flying so much as flitting around, moving too fast for Bones to see.

Pehton ran a hand over her orange feathers, gaping. “I… I can’t believe what I’m seeing. Why are they fighting—No.” She held up a hand. “No, I know why. It’s Celindria. She pisses everyone off.”

Andrew pointed and whispered, “There’s Pax.”

He was right. Bones had almost missed the tiny Progeny, gazing down into the wreckage. He asked, “What’s he doing?”

Lamassau’s tone was more serious than normal. “He’s waiting for her to tag him in.”

They all turned and stared at the green Tritan, expecting him to elaborate.

“Think about it. Pax is the child of half a Gargantuan Tritan, half a descendant of Elden, and his mother is one of the most powerful beings in the galaxy. If Remorse proves too much for Celindria to handle, Pax is more than a match for his grandfather.”

They were faced with two options. Get off this mountain before it collapsed under the pressure of Celindria and Remorse’s battle. Or stand and watch. Lamassau was the only one without wings, and Bones would snatch him if they needed a speedy escape.

With all that in mind, Bones decided. “Is it callous to ask for popcorn?”

Lamassau handed him a bag of Cheetos. As Bones gaped at him, the Tritan said, “You’re welcome.”

But now, Bones gaped at something beyond his truest of friends. Beyond the cliff’s edge. Out where the Ignis Desert should be with its basalt lava fields, bodies littered the ground.

Pehton, sounding concerned, asked, “Bones, are you—Oh. My. Elden. What am I looking at?” She’d obviously looked across the plane as well.

“What is it—” Lamassau turned and stopped talking. He stopped breathing beside Bones.

Andrew took a step closer to the edge, looking not at all surprised and sounding not at all concerned to Bones. No, when he spoke, Andrew sounded final.

“This is it. This is why.”