The Tree

  “I don’t know, but we can’t just let this happen. You’re the one leading us. Don’t let Tae’s death be in vain.”

  Matthias tensed. It was a risky move. Calling on Tae’s death could motivate Erik or it could ignite his temper. Matthias held his breath until Erik sighed and the exhaustion seemed to etch itself deeper into his face. Erik closed his eyes for a moment, but his lips moved silently. Matthias tried to read the words but they were moving too fast. His hands were raised and rubbing at his temples. Finally he stopped and opened his eyes again. Matthias stifled a gasp at the burning red that flared in his eyes. The others were not quiet about their surprise, but Erik did not seem not to notice.

  “Lil. We need to find her. She was the only one invested in saving this world. Someone with that drive, and with that need did not just stop because she no longer had official backing. We’ve been going about this the wrong way—I’ve been going about this the wrong way. They said fight, and we didn’t question it. We need information and since the Ruling Courts don’t seem to be willing to give it, we’ll get it another way.”

  “Tae said that Razel was our way in and—” Erik broke and looked down at the floor for a moment before looking up at them all again, steel and fire in his gaze, “—since we no longer have Tae’s visions to help us we’ll have to feel our way through. Tomorrow I will talk to Chayyliel about more freedom to explore this city. I doubt he will let us out without guards, but I want to get us familiar with the city.”

  He turned to look at Matthias. “Would you be able to track her if you had something of hers?”

  Matthias started to shake his head but then thought better of it. “At home, I would say no, but here I don’t know. I also don’t know if her magic would be able to block my power.”

  “It’s still worth a try. I’ll speak with Razel and see what we can do,” Elliot said.

  Erik nodded. He stood and swayed. Matthias was there immediately, hands on Erik’s hips to steady him. Erik smiled in gratitude but it was muted and small. It was likely all he could muster right now.

  “Elana, I have a request,” Erik said

  Elana looked up from where she and her girlfriend had been curled into each other.

  “Yes.”

  “Reconnaissance. Of all of us, you are the one who can get around the most easily. Can you get the lay of the land tonight?” He asked.

  Elana was quiet but nodded and Matthias looked at the two of them. They were still in shell shock over the skin revelation. Why had they not taken Elana’s meat and made it into a monster? Or had they? If the questions were at the edge of Matthias’s mind they must be front and center in Elana and Daya’s.

  “Are you two alright?” Matthias asked.

  Elana looked at him and shrugged before tugging on Daya’s hand and leading her from the room.

  The others followed, with Elliot saying he was going to sleep in Erik’s room tonight. Matthias waited until the door closed before he began to guide Erik to one of the bedrooms.

  “Don’t want to go to sleep,” Erik mumbled even as he lay down and Matthias stripped him of his shoes, leaving the rest of his clothing alone. “Nightmares.”

  Matthias frowned and went to leave when Erik’s voice came back to him.

  “Don’t go. Sleep with me?”

  Matthias hesitated.

  “Please.”

  He stripped off his own shoes and climbed on the bed behind Erik, curling around him and not commenting on the way that Erik’s hand gripped his own so tight, the way Erik’s body shook, the way wetness slowly soaked the pillow they both shared.

  MAYER

  Mayer was running out of time and choices. The loss of his apprentice and the subsequent knowledge that the Courts had shared with him had narrowed his goal down to survival. Their world was doomed, crumbling around the edges, missing the essentials to rebuild. It would have been falling apart anyway but now with the darkness its destruction was expedited. Those that they had summoned had failed and now their own plans had to move forward. There was no going back. Not if they wanted to live.

  He entered the workspaces below the Hive of Sorrows and Riches. Now that the plan was moving ahead quickly he had access to all of the workrooms, and not just his own. Mayer bypassed his personal work space to go to the main collection warehouse. The room was large and divided into two halves. On one side were the cages with the specimens pre-change. They were guarded by numerous Antes chosen for their imaginative way of disciplining ‘dants. The Antes sneered at him as he moved toward the other side of the room. He ignored the cries of the ‘dants in the cages, begging for freedom or death.

  He looked at the post-experiment soldiers—the Maasu. They were arranged in unmoving ranks, no hint of breath or life at all until needed. The perfect soldiers. The Courts had been the ones to present him with the old recipe for Maasu but it had been he, Krezida, and Razel that had refined and improved the process. This side of the room only had one Ante.

  “Hello.”

  There was no response. There never was. The Ante was a Turms, and they never spoke to anyone but their own kind.

  “Do you have any news of the Hunter I sent after my missing Apprentice?”

  The Turms looked up at him. Well, he assumed it was looking at him. There were no eyes on its face to speak of. Nothing but the small black pinhole of a mouth. It shook its head slowly from side to side and Mayer bit his lips to keep from cursing.

  Liliana was more formidable than he had thought. Even without her tongue she had managed to defeat the creature he’d sent after her. He could send another. No one would miss two of these monstrosities among the hundreds that he had helped make.

  Yes. Mayer would choose another; a more deadly type. But he would not send it alone and he would not send it after Liliana. He needed to draw her out. For that Mayer would need information and he might have an idea of where to get it. He left the Hive and retired to his room to rest until later in the night.

  None of the moons were showing their faces and the night was nearly pitch-black when Mayer left. He had known this would be the case when he’d arranged the meeting days ago. He donned a black cloak with power woven into the fabric. Power that would make him harder to spot. Underneath he had removed his traditional clothing; the less chance of anyone recognizing him, the better. He headed directly into the Drowned.

  They met at the wall of the water that always threatened to reclaim the Drowned, where it lapped and rose and constantly threatened to break free. No one came by the water if they could help it, fearful that anything near it could break the power holding the water back.

  Three figures emerged from the shadows. The one in the center he knew, but the others were surprises.

  “Who are they?” Mayer asked.

  “My bodyguards, of course. There are many dangerous things out on these streets,” the ‘dant said as he came close enough that they could recognize each other’s faces.

  Mayer nodded in acknowledgment. “It is good to see you face to face.”

  Byron smiled at him. “You as well.”

  Mayer had been surprised when, over four cycles ago, one of the mirrors in his office had lit up with this young ‘dant’s face, but he had been intrigued by knowledge from this other world. Byron had proven an invaluable resource, granting access to the power-wielders of Earth. Everything he had told Mayer, Mayer had passed along to the Ruling Courts. It was information that had helped them form a plan and would certainly help them in the future.

  “I hear that you have visitors right now? My old friends Matthias and Erik and the rest of their group. A Piece of advice for you; keep an eye on them. They are more dangerous than you assume.” Byron said.

  Mayer raised his eyebrows. “I know danger when I see it. They have failed. It won’t be long until they are no longer an issue. They will be no obstacle in the coming invasion.”

  Byron smiled again and Mayer could easily read the contempt lurking at the corners of his mouth.

  “
I have a favor to ask,” Mayer stated, swallowing his disgust at having to ask this ‘dant, or anyone, for anything.

  Byron nodded for him to go on.

  “My apprentice has been on the run. I need to lure her into a trap. That means I have to find bait. I want you to find her two siblings and the Antes that ran with them. I was hoping you could use your persuasion to ferret them out.”

  “Don’t you already have hunters out looking for them?” Byron asked.

  “And now I would like you to join them,” Mayer replied, sidestepping the implied question.

  Byron looked at him in silence then smiled a dark smile, one that made Mayer’s spine stiffen. “I can definitely help you with that, but first and foremost, let’s talk about the payment.”

  Mayer raised his eyebrow. “You can have whatever gold—”

  “Gold?” Byron’s voice was cold. “I have no need of shiny metal. I know what is coming, and what I need is knowledge. I want access to your Athenaeum.”

  Mayer frowned. “Of course. It is open to all. Once I have done my duty here—”

  “No. No delay. I want access to it, whether you are there or not.”

  Mayer rose to his full height and pushed back his hood. The rage he felt made him feel something he hadn’t for centuries. Young. This human dared to ask for unfettered and unsupervised access to Kandake? Mayer could crush him right now with the smallest flex of his power.

  “Uh, uh. Sit down,” Byron tutted.

  Mayer found his legs bending against his will, his ass planting itself in the damp sand. He gritted his teeth before opening his mouth. “And no talking,” Byron ordered.

  Mayer’s mouth slammed shut, teeth slicing off a piece of his tongue. He swallowed the blood that filled his mouth.

  “I think it’s clear that I could take what I wanted but I am offering you a trade,” Byron said.

  Mayer narrowed his eyes at Byron and began to hum so quietly none of them noticed. The Lullaby of Alu was meant for use in dreams, against those spirits who attacked while sleeping. Easy enough to alter it. The bodyguards had slumped to the ground before Byron realized what was happening.

  “Stop—”

  Byron did not finish the order before Mayer was humming louder, letting the melody wrap itself around the human’s mind until he also slumped into sleep. As he lost consciousness, his power loosened, and Mayer stood and opened his mouth to spit blood into the churning water.

  Mayer walked over to Byron and woke him with a swift kick to the stomach. When Byron was done coughing and gasping, the Holder leaned down until his face was only a foot from Byron’s.

  “Do not try that again,” Mayer spat into the boy’s face. “I am older than you by centuries. I have survived challenges you could not even dream up. I can make you suffer in ways that you can’t dream.”

  Byron smiled up at him from his place lying in the damp sand.

  “The offer is still on the table. One location for access to Kandake at all times,” Byron offered.

  Mayer found himself smiling against his will. The boy’s audacity reminded him of himself in his youth. It was also why this ally was such a danger. Mayer closed his eyes and sought out his mental connection with Kandake. His mind skirted down the links that joined them and felt the pulse of Kandake respond. It was his place of power, and always would be. There was really nothing this weak ‘dant could do to it. Finding Liliana was a priority. No one in the Ruling Courts liked loose ends, and they tended to blame those closest to the problem rather than those responsible.

  He projected the image of the ‘dants in front of him at Kandake. The Athenaeum reflected the image back at him and whispered the word in Babel: Enemies.

  He repeated it over and over until the pulsing around the image of the three in his mind’s eye went from a calming midnight blue to a bright searing yellow.

  “Fine. Bring me the location of Liliana’s siblings and the Antes protecting them and I shall give you access to Kandake. This I swear on my bond with my Athenaeum.” He said it quietly and watched the triumph flare in the child’s eyes. Yes, he would give them access. They would simply not live that long once they entered. Kandake now would view them as intruders and deal with them as such.

  Byron pushed himself to a sitting position and held out his hand.

  “Agreed.”

  Mayer moved forward and they shook on it, once, twice, three times, before Mayer pulled his hand back and walked away. He left the waterside to the sound of Byron kicking his companions to wake them as he had done to the boy. Wrapping his cloak tighter about himself Mayer immediately circled back through the dark of the night. Near silently he chanted the poem-spell “My Love Is a Shadowed Soul,” which wrapped him even more deeply in darkness, rendering him nearly invisible. He crouched behind one of the tall sand dunes that superstitious ‘dants had built as symbolic magic to hold back the water.

  “What game are you playing, Byron?” The ‘dant did not sound pleased.

  The other one spoke up as well. “Yeah, you never said anything about an invasion!”

  “I am not required to tell you any of my plans. You agreed to follow me for power. Do not try and pretend that you care about anyone but yourselves at this point. Do you think I betray my world without a thought? I have plans upon plans, as I’m sure our friend Mayer does. The earth needs to be woken up and it needs to change, but it doesn’t need a new overlord or new monsters. The ones it already breeds are quite enough.”

  “You don’t even know where the children are.” The ‘dant’s voice was soft and derisive.

  “Yes, well, I know who will know where they went, and that’s really all I need.”

  Byron stared at the water for a long moment and said nothing else. Mayer eventually left, walking through the darkened streets back to the Ruling Courts. Now it was just a matter of waiting, and he had many things to keep him occupied in the meantime.

  LIL

  Lil sat on the bare floor of the room. The bed and dresser had been pushed farther into the corner and she had sketched out a crude map of Zebub on the uneven wood floor. Over that she had traced the circle and cross, one of the oldest symbols of power that she knew. She took the root out of her pocket and opened the pouch. Carefully she placed one of the small bones on each of the points where the edges of the city intersected with the circumference of the circle. After this, she reached for her knife and sliced into the meat of her forearm so that the blood would run down her hand and drip from her middle finger. She moved quickly around the circle, dabbing each of the roots with a drop of her blood.

  As she did so, energy filled the room. It linked her to the points of the city. A buzz started in her belly and she prepared for a burp that never came. When she was done, she used a cloth in her pocket to wipe up the blood and bind the cut so it would not drip indiscriminately. She looked up at the Nif, who were all gathered on the bed, watching. She sat in the area meant to represent The Out, careful not to smudge any of the lines.

  Lil swallowed and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath, felt the chill of the air in her throat. She shivered and took another breath. She opened her eyes and found the map had opened up all around her. The rough chalk drawings had reached out of the floor, anchored by her drops of blood. The city became a vision of chalk and air.

  Min, Davi, Arel, Jagi, Min, Davi, Arel, Jagi, Min, Davi, Arel, Jagi...

  She chanted their names over and over in her mind, and each repetition of the names gained a beat, a gong that she felt throughout her body. The city around her moved, swirling around her, her view moving from the Out to the center of the city. There, in a building not too far from the Ruling Courts, she could see four pulses of light, two with the blood red of family and two with the silver glow of something she didn’t examine too closely.

  She let the names reverberate again in her mind and tried to connect with them, to feel what they were feeling. They were close to the Ruling Courts and she wanted to make sure they had not been captured. Not that it
would stop her. She would come for them no matter what awaited her.

  For a second she connected with Min and felt her sister’s fear and longing, and her need to show strength for their brother and her worry for Lil. She felt no danger or pain. She did not feel the nervousness of impending doom. Lil let the connection fade.

  She memorized the location of the building and slowly let the power go. The energy left the air, though she could still feel the buzz of power in her bones. She owed that merchant a lot, including for the idea of combining her blood with the root to break through whatever had been blocking her from finding her sibs. Her blood and this knotted wood had been so much stonger when used together. She rose and collected the root carefully, rubbing them clean of her tacky blood and lessening the connection. Once Lil had finished she could barely feel them any longer. She wiped the map and symbols from the floor.

  The branch that rested on the bed rose into the air with her thought, and floated forward.

  IGoToFindMySibs.

  The Nif at her feet chattered and made sounds of comfort, support, and affirmation. She smiled down at them, ignoring the way the expression pulled on the wounds around her lips.

  She exited the room and found Kima, Assan, Quinn, Hlani, and Uchel all sitting around talking in the main room of the house. They stopped and looked at her. She smiled at them, ignoring the pain.

  IKnowWhereMySibsAre.

  IGoToRetrieveThem.

  Kima stood up. “We will go with you.”

  Lil tiled her head to the side.

  Why?YouKnowIWillNot

  HelpWithThisRevolution.

  IHaveToFocusOnOtherThings.

  Lil had not told them everything she had learned, especially that their world was doomed. She would tell them eventually, but right now, she could not deal with the fallout of panic and nervous questions. Kima nodded but so did the others in the room, which let Lil know that her short and vague conversation with Uchel and Kima had been shared. Lil had told part of the truth: that she had spoken to the being that made their world; that she must claim Kandake for all of them, for a way out.