The Tree

by Na'amen Gobert Tilahun

  Razel kept any expression of horror from her face, instead allowing a small smile to creep onto it. She ignored the nausea that rose up in her at the thought the Antes having a fresh world to devour. Riana seemed satisfied by her expression and began to pace again.

  “Why was I not told?” Razel asked.

  Riana did not even glance at her. “Krezida was not told either. She was beyond useless. She was told the story that you were; that the creatures were for defense. You were only told what you needed to know.”

  The bitterness in Riana’s voice hinted that she herself had not known the whole time; the stiffness in the words hinting at the repetition of an excuse that had been given to her.

  “That is why they were brought here. Not to defeat the darkness but to give us an idea of what we will be facing. Anoan was forced to begin early by the devouring of their city, but we shall plan this and San Francisco will not stand a chance.”

  “How much time do we have?” Razel asked.

  “Months, weeks, maybe only days. We do not know for sure. Linnea was devoured as well.”

  Razel swallowed the sour taste that rose up into her mouth. She had no time to be sick.

  “What about Hypatia? We will just leave all of that behind to be devoured?” Razel asked. She thought of all the reams of knowledge she had yet to go through; the mechaniques she still wanted to build.

  “Of course not.” Riana replied. “Even Anoan was able to save many of its buildings with little to no warning. They have been preparing for this. We will pull Hypatia through the rift into the new world. There is already a building set up to house it over there. Why do you think I agreed to work with them? Useless girl.”

  Razel noted that she said I, and not we, but she did not interrupt. She narrowed her eyes at being called useless. It was far from the first time that Riana had insulted her and it would most definitely not be the last. She believed what her Holder was saying. The facts felt true, but her Holder was not that good of an actress. However, Razel did not believe Riana had known any of this for that long. She could not have kept from lording it over Razel for so long.

  “They have shown themselves to be formidable fighters. It is why we cannot allow them to return. They will sound the alarm and delay the takeover,” Riana said this and went silent again, pacing back and forth.

  “I am going back to bed,” Razel said.

  Riana stopped and finally asked, “I called you to ask if you learned anything from them after their defeat?”

  “No, nothing. They were in shock from the loss of one of their own. They should be simple to contain. They are scattered and broken.”

  “Good.” Riana smiled and Razel took that as her permission to return to her bed, such as it was.

  Razel lay down and wondered what to do. She could try to warn them but she could not chance leaving now. She decided she would wait. If she were to ally herself with someone they would need to prove themselves worthy. She would wait for a message; wait to see what they would do. Either way she would be going to a new world, although doing so not under the control of the Antes sounded much better. She dreamed of flying above a world much like her own, but one where ‘dants were in charge. When she woke in the morning, the ‘dant Elana was drifting into her room, telling her it was time. They were preparing to fight their way out.

  Razel remembered her dreams of flying and smiled. “I have a better plan.”

  ERIK

  Erik drifted in and out of troubled sleep all night long. Visions of destruction and death crept through his mind and startled him awake more often than not. He watched people torn apart while he did nothing. In other dreams, he died over and over. He would let monsters rip away his body so others could run. He saw his children devoured as he himself died. One thing kept reappearing: the image of a particular woman; tall, her skin the same Mediterranean brown as Matthias’s. She watched him at all times; sometimes from behind something, sometimes from a distance, but always there. When he lay awake he found himself haunted by whispers where he could hear no detail but his name. Ghostly figures blinked in and out of existence in the darkness of the room, holding their hands out beseechingly. He closed his eyes to them and slipped back into disturbing dreams. When morning came he was not rested.

  He slithered out from underneath Matthias’s arm and made his way to the bathroom. He figured out how to fill the bowl on the stand by fumbling with the crystals along the edge. He washed in cold water that helped to focus him. When he entered the bedroom again, Matthias was still sleeping.

  Erik decided to check on everyone else. Everyone but Tae. Tae, who he had lost. He froze, lost in the dread of losing another one of them; even Daniel. He took a deep breath and remembered there was no choice but to go forward. Daya had done an excellent job of making that clear last night.

  Erik opened the door to find a tangle of vines pretending at being human. It was a blue, flowering vine that had folded and twisted itself into a vaguely human shape. Where the eyes would have been, two bright blooms were open, the petals a startling mix of neon pink and yellow. It held up its “hand” to stop him from going forward.

  “What is going on?” Erik asked.

  He could see other Antes in front of the other rooms. One was the ball of feathers and rage that had confronted him at dinner the night before. Another looked like a miniature storm cloud swirling around itself. The final Ante was a lump of translucent, milky-gray goo expanding and contracting rhythmically.

  A buzzing started, and Erik watched as more and more of the buds on the vine Ante’s body opened and flowered. The source of the sound became apparent as the first of the bugs emerged from within the tangle of its body. They were small and their wings moved too fast to get a good count. More and more flew from inside the thing’s body and surrounded it, attracted to the flowers, and as they fed Erik noticed that their buzzing was taking on a rhythm. It rose and fell more distinctly and resolved into words.

  There has been an attack in the city. We are here for your protection. You are to stay in your rooms.

  Erik did not believe it at all and he certainly did not like it.

  “If the danger is outside the Hive, then there should be no problem with me going to speak to my companions.” He went to move around the Ante and the bugs flew from its surface to form a moving wall before him. Erik was close enough to see the details of their horrifying forms: they were long and thin, with both ends brandishing mouths filled with serrated teeth. The grinding of these twin jaws was what made the buzzing sound. They had four limbs that hung down from their bodies, all of which ended in wicked, sharp-looking hooks.

  “What is the meaning of this?” Erik asked impatiently.

  The buzzing answered him. Our orders were to confine you to your rooms.

  “I see.”

  Erik could feel his power rising in him, and along with it rose the pain in his head, but it was easier to deal with today. There was also a shiver of pleasure that accompanied the pain this time; the relief of stretching a muscle that had been cramped and still for too long.

  He was ready to reach forward and see how this Ante did when its vine was in pieces when he thought of Tae.

  Erik had lost people before. He knew that thoughts of them could hit at any time for any reason. There was very little rhyme or reason to how the mind dealt with grief, but he could not help but think that this was a sign. Should he have ordered a retreat as soon as he saw how big the darkness was? What would defeating a single manifestation of it even solve? There was something about this world that made the temptation to sink into the easy trade-off of action and reaction very strong.

  He let the power fade from his body.

  “You will bring me Chayyliel immediately or I will not be responsible for my actions.”

  Lord Chayyliel will arrive as soon as able. It was hard to read emotion into the buzzing of hideous insects but Erik did not think he was imagining the contempt and dark humor in the words.

  He pulled back.
“I see.”

  Then he closed the door in the Ante’s “face.” Erik went to the bedroom and shook Matthias awake.

  “They have posted guards at the doors. We have to move, now.”

  Matthias blinked at him owlishly, face soft and sweet, but Erik refused to be charmed by it. All too soon, Erik’s words sank in, and world-weariness seeped back into Matthias eyes and face.

  “What should we do?” He asked.

  “Can you think of a way to call Elana in here?” Erik inquired.

  Matthias smiled. “I sure can.”

  He stood and Erik followed him back into the living room. He was not expecting Matthias to simply tilt his head back and scream.

  “Elana! Yo, Elana! Elaaaaaanaaaa!” In a matter of seconds, she had floated in through the ceiling with a sharp smile on her face.

  “I could have done that.” Erik said with a reluctant smile.

  “But you didn’t, so I solved the problem.” Matthias smiled back.

  Erik shook his head and turned back to Elana.

  “Did you find anything last night?” He asked her.

  “Not really. I stayed out until the sun almost rose and I didn’t notice anything happening in the immediate vicinity.”

  “Okay. I need you to go to all the others, don’t let anyone see you. Let them know to be ready. We’re getting the fuck out of here ASAP.

  “Then, I want you to find Razel. Tell her we need to get out of here and she needs to be ready to go.”

  Elana nodded and sank through the floor, off to do all that he had asked.

  Erik looked at Matthias. “We should get ready.”

  They washed up and Erik pulled his red suit back on. It was a little worse for the wear but better off than the clothes he had peeled off yesterday. Barely an hour later, by Erik’s estimation, Elana reentered the room.

  “Okay, here’s the plan.” She said.

  Erik raised an eyebrow at her declaration, but kept his mouth shut and listened.

  “I am going to phase all of you out of here and into an adjacent room upstairs where no one is watching. Razel is waiting for us there. She says she has a way for us to get out of The Courts.”

  “Um, any details on this daring escape?” Matthias asked.

  Elana looked faintly embarrassed. “She said something about dragons and I didn’t ask any more questions.”

  “Dragons?” Erik questioned skeptically.

  Matthias turned to him. “Oh, so after everything you’ve seen, dragons are where you are going to draw the line?”

  Erik shrugged. “Fair point.” He turned back to Elana. “Go get the others first; come for us last. Make sure you aren’t seen.”

  Elana nodded and drifted out the way she had come, through the ceiling.

  They waited silently until she returned.

  She reached for Erik. “It’ll feel weird. At least that’s what everyone says.”

  “Get Matthias out first. Come back for me.”

  “No—” Matthias started.

  Erik turned to face him and smiled. “Shut up.”

  He did, and allowed Elana to wrap her arms around him. “So, here’s the thing; you’re the propellant here. Bend your knees and jump up.”

  Matthias crouched quickly.

  “Not that hard!”

  She cautioned him a little too late and they shot through the ceiling. Erik heard a thump and yelp from above him and held his breath waiting for the guard outside the door to make itself known, but there was nothing.

  “So, this is what’s happening.” The voice came from behind him.

  Erik almost wished he would never hear the voice again, but he also felt that same sick happiness that it was still around. He knew by this point that Daniel was not just going to disappear.

  “Yes, we have to make a break for it.” He replied.

  “Don’t want anymore blood on your hands?” Daniel asked.

  The hands in question clenched and Erik said nothing.

  “First me and then Tae. It seems like young men are just destined to die around you. I wouldn’t be that shocked if Matthias was next.”

  “Shut. Up,” Erik ground out.

  “Oh, did I strike a nerve? You know it’s true. Tragedy and death follow you. Always have.”

  Erik did his best to ignore what Daniel was saying while wondering what was taking Elana so long to come back for him.

  “I’m sorry. You know I don’t mean to be mean. I’m just being honest,” Daniel said.

  Erik could hear the pout in his voice.

  “Sometimes people use the idea of honesty as a reason to be mean. I’m wondering if that was something you always did or something that’s happened since you died,” Erik replied as he made the mistake of looking at Daniel. His ex’s clothing had changed again. The jeans were the same ones he remembered from their time together but the shirt was now an old, ratty black t-shirt. The word Dolly was emblazoned across it in bright pink. Little spots of lighter pink on the word showed where rhinestones had long since fallen off and been lost.

  It was one of the shirts that Erik had raided from his mother’s closet as a teen. He’d used it as a lounging-around shirt, but after he and Daniel started dating, they had taken to wearing each other’s clothes. A silent declaration of their relationship, since they weren’t allowed to make a verbal one.

  Daniel was looking down at the ground, the expression on his face hurt. Erik steeled himself against the sympathy that rose up in him. Daniel had always been blunt to the point of insulting. So was Erik just being more sensitive? Even if that was the case, he had just lost a friend. Surely he was entitled to be sensitive about it.

  “What do you want out of this, Daniel?” Erik finally asked.

  “Just for you to admit I was right. That coming here was a mistake,” Daniel said brightly.

  Erik felt his lips thin as he frowned. He had lost Tae, that was true enough, and he would mourn that long and hard, but they had gained information they could use. The stubborn part of his nature reared up in him.

  “No. I’m tired of this, Daniel. I am sorry you died. You’ll never know how much, but I’m done with allowing you to talk to me any kind of way you want.”

  Daniel stared for a moment and seemed about to respond when Elana drifted back down into the room. She looked at both of them and spoke. “Am I interrupting something?”

  “No.”

  “Yes.”

  They glared at each other and Erik turned to her. “I’m ready, let’s go.”

  The sensation was odd; as if he had stayed the same, and the gravity around him decreased. The air turned thicker, like soup. He bent his knees and pushed off. They glided slowly up through the ceiling. As soon as his feet cleared the floor everything went normal again and he landed lightly, bending his knees to absorb the shock.

  He looked around, seeing everyone accounted for, Yonas and Tassi next to each other as always, silently waiting. Daya and Elliot were talking in the corner, and Matthias was rubbing at his head and frowning at Erik. “Show off.”

  They heard a commotion from below them. Razel, who stood near the door, turned to them.

  “They’ve found out you’re missing. We need to move. They will think you have gone down.” Razel opened the door and squeezed out into the hall. Erik and the rest followed close behind. She led them to a stairwell and they moved up two flights. The sounds from below faded away.

  Razel whispered back to them. “These floors are empty and abandoned, so we should not run into anyone—”

  “Where do you think you are all off to?” The voice interrupted from the landing they had just passed. Erik looked back down to find the creepy, Holder-Apprentice boy looking at them.

  Razel spoke from the step above him. “We are leaving, Haydn, and there’s nothing to do about it.”

  He frowned at her and took a step closer to the stairs.

  “You don’t know who you are messing with here. I am something beyond what you understand—”

&n
bsp; Erik was tired of this speech before it begun. He had heard little men try to make themselves feel important and big all his life, and they had no time. “Daya?” Erik asked since she was closest.

  “Gladly,” she answered.

  She stepped forward, her hand already flying into a punch, her skin rippling as they watched, going from flesh to gray to strong black obsidian by the time it connected with Haydn’s face and sent him into the wall. He fell to the ground and did not move. They were about to continue up the stairs when Erik heard it, muffled though it was. Someone was screaming. Erik looked around to make sure everyone else heard it. They all shared a glance.

  Erik stalked back down to the landing, tracking the sound to a door down the hall. He pulled it open. The woman who was facing him was unbowed, despite the bruises marring her face. Her hair held every different shade of color and she started to struggle against her ties when she saw their faces.

  “Holder Krezida?” Razel’s voice asked from behind him.

  KREZIDA

  The door opened, and Krezida straightened her spine as much as her tied position would allow her. She waited for her erstwhile apprentice to walk through the door, but instead she was confronted by Riana’s apprentice Razel and a large group of ‘dants she had never seen. From their clothing, they were not from Zebub or its environs. One of them, a tall ‘dant with long curly hair, hurried over and untied the ropes that bound her feet. He was about to free her hands when Razel told him to stop.

  Krezida looked at the girl furiously, but Razel only met her eyes with a cool expression before pulling the gag from Krezida’s mouth. The apprentice was careful not to let any of her skin get too close to Krezida’s teeth.

  “This is not some simple innocent. This is Holder Krezida; she is poisonous. In spirit and in body.”

  “I thank you for the compliment, Holder-Apprentice Razel. Now untie me.”

  Razel ignored her and continued to talk to the other ‘dants.