The Edge

Tola: Part Eleven

The next part of the night was a blur. She knew, at some point, that Gideon got her home; that she'd said something about going back for Nathan, but Gideon told her Edward had it covered. Sure enough, Edward eventually showed up with Nathan and they all drove home. Nathan immediately went back to his room, but Tola was settled down in the living room with tea and a heavy blanket. Both of those helped her calm down, as did Gideon's presence.

She wasn't completely calm, though. She couldn't stop shaking. The memory of that strange creature still clung to her mind, coating it like an oil slick. She wasn't sure she wanted to know, but she had to ask.

"That's the creature from the altar, isn't it?"

Edward sighed. "It is." He looked tired, even more so than when she first met him. "I'm sorry he showed you that. I don't know why he'd be so cruel."

Tola wasn't sure it was cruelty. She thought how blank Nathan had been ever since they first met, how much more he'd seemed as he stood on the grating and stared down at the creature. Maybe he'd only wanted her to understand why he was so blank—so cold and dark and alone inside. He had been carrying the secret of what this planet held for so long; she could imagine how the silence around it must have felt.

Had showing her given him some peace? She didn't know. She wasn't sure she ever would. Any other day, Tola would have worried about him, but right then, she was more worried about the creature down in the mines. "What is it?" Tola asked.

"We're not sure. It came from the deep parts of the planet not too long after we started digging. All the fuel started disappearing after that. Men who were down there couldn't handle the sight of it. I never saw it for too long, but even what I saw was...a lot to take in."

Tola understood. She was still having a hard time comprehending everything herself. "Why make the altar to it?"

"Some people got this stupid idea that it's a dark god or a...divine emissary, I guess, to punish us for our hubris. They think if they make offerings, it will go away and the fuel will come back. That's human nature, I guess. Applying a supernatural explanation to things we don't understand. Like saying the fairies curdled your milk."

Tola understood what he meant, but she wasn't sure she'd go that far. She believed in a lot of things, but there was no way something like that was divine. That much she knew for certain. "What do you think it is?"

"I don't think it's that special. I just...think it's something that lives here. Something we didn't know existed until it was too late. The drilling and the digging probably woke it up." He thought for a moment. "I guess it is a kind of punishment, though. Actions have consequences. It's just...not divine punishment, you know? Just the wrong planet and a lot of rotten luck."

That made sense. Something else was on Tola's mind now, though, a thought brought to life by the familiarity of the creature's smell. "So...do you think that thing is the real reason Roland's sick?"

"Maybe. I don't know. No one's been sick from being around it, but I don't think anyone's been injured the way he has. You're not in any danger, if that's what you're worried about."

She hadn't been, though she was grateful to know. Most of her concern had been for Roland, and that concern was slowly growing into terror the longer she thought about it.

If it's something from that creature that's harming him...I don't know if I'll be able to help.

Her powers could heal injuries, and did a good job helping the body fight off illnesses and infections, but they weren't infallible. There were things that were too strong for the body to defeat, even with her help.