The Tree

by Na'amen Gobert Tilahun

  Byron eyed it suspiciously.

  “When will Bastion and I get the payout that we deserve?” Melisande asked, looking at Byron with a smug look.

  It took everything in him not to kill her then and there.

  “Your reward is at hand,” the statue answered.

  Byron smirked as they cheered. He understood the answer, even if they did not. He pulled on the power that he was loaning them to get moving again.

  He began to speak again as they walked.

  “Ruth understood what was wrong about the world. Together we tried to find a way to fix it. It’s well known that all the gods are dead, but death is not the same for gods. It’s also known that when one uses their powers too often, riding on that thin line of exhaustion, sometimes you can make contact with your god. We found a way to make that contact more long-term and useful. Communication could happen, but it took a sacrifice of one of us to act as conduit. Ruth volunteered, and gave up her form.”

  “I took her power and some of her essence inside of me and had a direct line to our ancestor. Then I joined the Agency. Do you have any idea the kind of information a government can gather when they have little to no moral compass? It’s amazingly vast. They have the answers to eternal mysteries hiding in their files and records, but they haven’t put the details together yet.”

  The hallway they walked down got more and more narrow until Byron’s shoulders were brushing the walls. The hall widened into a circular room that had only one exit opposite the entrance.

  “It wouldn’t have worked if Ruth and I didn’t have the same fount of the bloodline, as we suspected. It was only later, with the information I finally put together, that I learned who the fount of it was.” Byron looked around the room. “Irony or destiny? It’s so hard to tell the difference sometimes.” Just as Bastion was heading out of the other end of the room, Byron deliberately kicked a small outcropping of different-colored stone. Spikes flew at them from the ceiling and he pushed Bastion forward, saving both of them any injury. He heard a cry of pain behind them.

  When he turned to look, Melisande was holding a hand over her upper arm, where a spike had scored a line in her clothing and skin.

  “It’s just a flesh wound. Walk it off.”

  He rose and turned back to Bastion who was looking at him in anger. Byron prodded at Bastion until the boy started walking forward again. It felt good to let all of this out into the air. He had held it inside for so long, and now it felt like not only was he telling Bastion and Melisande, but he was speaking to the universe as well. Wherever what was left of Ruth rested, he hoped that she could hear him, and was proud of him. He would take this world and remake it; without the prejudice and without the anger and without the things that separated people.

  They moved through a hall that was obviously older than anything else they had been through; the stones of the walls were crumbling but covered with faint traces of paint, images of small figures that looked like humans fighting off monstrous beings. Didn’t take a genius to work out the symbolism. Byron stopped moving as soon as they exited the hall spotting the many small spouts in the roof that lined the hall on either side. He looked all around him, searching for a hidden lever and spotted a few of them.

  “You’ll love the new world. There will be no reason for the anger you carry inside you all the time,” he said as he triggered the lever closest to him. What came out of the spouts was not fire, as he had expected, but something black and viscous that fell over the boy’s head and silenced any sound he was going to make before it was formed.

  He stepped back into the previous room to avoid the sloshing liquid. He watched as it drained away, sinking directly into the stone. He looked behind him and saw Melisande crumpled on the ground. He had wondered why she had said nothing through the process. The wound in her shoulder was now a putrid yellow and dripping onto the ground.

  “Huh. Guess it was more than a flesh wound.” He moved on and kicked the still-decaying corpse of Bastion out of his way.

  The next doorway opened onto a stairway heading down. It crossed a number of other stairways, like an Escher painting, but as far as he could see, everything was right side up. He breathed deep, finally feeling whole again. His power rushed back to him with every breath; the deaths of his two companions having released it from their bodies. He had felt hollow without it. Their attempt to charm the Antes had proved that the little bit of power he was able to grant them was truly useless here, and having Ruth’s power back, layering over his own, made him feel that much more powerful. So powerful that he could feel the presence of the Athenaeum itself. Watching. Waiting. Not happy.

  Byron tried to speak to it, leeching as much charm into his voice as possible. “Hello, I am not here to hurt you, Kandake.”

  In response the stairway he was on began to shake and rotate, moving on a direct collision course with another. Byron ran down the steps to the landing and leaped onto one of the stairways below him. He landed, and crouched down, covering his head as the stairwells above him collided and rained down chunks of stone.

  “Okay, so lying to you isn’t gonna work? Fuck.”

  Byron hurried down the stairway he had landed on and through a hallway that looked vaguely familiar. He turned the corner and skidded to a stop in front of three people, all of whom looked pissed. He cursed at Kandake. The thing had only pretended to be open to them. It had pretended to let them in and had instead moved him around so that he was back near the entrance. He zeroed in on the figure of Matthias, who looked quite murderous.

  “Well, fuck me.”

  He did not waste any more time and turned, taking off down the same hall he had been down before. He heard the footsteps behind him and cursed. He had never wanted to hurt Matthias, but now he might have to kill him. It did not sit as well with him as he had thought it would.

  LIL

  They moved quickly after Kima and Assan left. Lil knew where Kandake was in relation to the Ruling Courts and led them through the streets. She spent much time glancing around. Having spent so long inside the Courts and then in the Out, she had not realized how badly the darkness was ripping Zebub apart. Everywhere she looked, there were barren patches where ruins testified to buildings that had recently stood there. ‘Dants stayed in their homes, peaking out through curtains. It was not safe, but where could they go? The Athenaeums were all closed because their Holders were absent. They could brave the wild ways between cities but they must have heard that other cities were affected as well. They could attempt to find one of the ‘dant-only enclaves that littered the wastes, but those ‘dants had generations of experience hiding.

  They could do nothing but pretend that the walls would protect them and be ready to flee when they proved ineffective.

  Davi was dozing in her arms and Min was clearly exhausted as well, stumbling along with them and refusing to be carried. They had taken her lack of tongue and inability to talk in stride. Neither of them could read so Arel or Jagi read them what she spelled with the branch. Now that they were with her, and Arel and Jagi were at her back, she felt settled. The trembling in her stomach, a worry that had pushed at her since she had been separated from her sibs, was finally gone.

  Razel moved up alongside her.

  Lil nodded in acknowledgment.

  Razel cut her eyes at the other ‘dants walking with them. “They are from a different world. One that touches our own.”

  Lil was no stranger to the idea of other worlds. She had read of such things, but the fact that such people had appeared just as she was told there was a way out of her dying world could be no coincidence.

  WhyDidTheyCome?

  “They believed it was so they could help us to try and fight the darkness, but the Courts never intended to fight it,” Razel explained.

  DoTheyKnowWhatItIs?

  “If they do, they have not told me.”

  Lil nodded. She would not mention the demiurge. She did not know how the others would react, knowing that the horror that devou
red them had created them as well. It was something she was still wrapping her mind around. Something she did not understand yet.

  WhatDoTheCourtsPlan?

  “They plan an invasion of the other world. They plan to fight the darkness from there,” Razel said.

  ItIsFoolishToFightAWarOnTwoFronts.

  “They believe they will need the resources,” Razel replied.

  Lil’s only reply was a shrug. It made no sense to her. Had they wanted to use the other world’s resources, it would have been much better to strike some sort of bargain. Except that this would mean the Ruling Courts would have to share something, give something up. None of them dealt with that particularly well. Especially if these ‘dants were the entire population of the other world. Most of the Antes and all of the Courts would balk at treating with anything like ‘dants as equals. Better to conquer them and rule, rather than get their cooperation.

  None of the outsiders had reacted to overhearing what Razel said. Was it because she had already told them or had they suspected as much?

  Lil turned down the street that would lead to Kandake. One of the others angled toward her as they moved. She shifted Davi so he was in the arm away from the approaching stranger. Simply because they acted as allies was no reason to trust them. The continuing ache in her body was proof enough of that.

  “I am Erik.”

  Lil.

  “I would like to ask you a few questions.”

  Lil was not surprised. She had some questions herself.

  AQuestionForAQuestionAnAnswerForAnAnswer.

  Erik smiled at her. “Agreed. What are your plans when we reach this Kandake place?”

  IWillEnterTheDepthsIWillFreeTheHeartOf

  ItFromMayersControlOnceSheIsFreeSheWill ShowMeWhatToDoNext.

  Erik nodded. “Okay.”

  WhatIsYourGoalNow?

  “To help the people of this world and to get back to our world to help our people.”

  Lil snuck another look at the young man. He was not much older than her. He wore matching red pants and jacket that were stained and ripped in various places. The shirt under the jacket was black and relatively clean. His eyes looked tired but honest. She had been fooled before, but she believed that the young man believed what he was saying at that moment. Perhaps that is why she ended up volunteering information.

  ThisWorldIsDoomedOurOnlyHopeIsHerPromise.

  “Who is she?” Erik asked, watching her. She had no idea if it was the question he intended, but he was not taking it back and so she answered.

  SheNeverToldMeHerNameSheWasAnOldOne

  HerBodyUsedToBuildThisPlaceSheSaid

  SheWasOneOfTheLastToFallInTheWar.

  Erik looked lost in thought at that. They turned and Kandake was visible in the distance. The place was dark in a way that Lil had never seen, and it saddened her. Many ‘dants resented the Athenaeums. But that resentment lived alongside an odd hope. The hope that if you were in big enough trouble, the Athenaeums would help you. To see it dark made her feel as if she and Mayer had taken the hope out of this part of the city when they went to the Ruling Courts.

  AreTheirAntesInYourWorld?

  “No. The only ones that appear are those that come from here. Perhaps in some of the darker forests and swamps or in the caves yet unexplored there are some hiding but I do not believe so.”

  Lil nodded and she wondered at such a life: one without the fear of Antes always hanging over your shoulder. She had no doubt that their world had its own problems. She had lived too long to believe in any world that was perfect. However, the idea of the weight of Antes being off her back was like being promised something wondrous in the distance. If she could take Davi and Min there, they could be raised in a place free of Antes. A hand landed on her shoulder and she took in the pale, chalk-white skin.

  She looked back at Arel and Jagi. And then thought of June. Could she leave them behind? Could she take them with her? They were not horrible. Was it possible there were other Antes in this city who were like them? Antes not inherently vicious?

  She was pulled from her wondering by Erik’s voice asking his next question.

  “You believe this ‘old one’ though? What evidence did she provide?” She shook her head as she remembered.

  NoEvidenceWasNecessaryICould

  FeelCorpiliuThroughHerTouchThe

  PlacesIHadNeverBeenThePlacesThatHadDiedLongAgoI FeltThemAll

  AndForABriefMomentIKnew

  EverythingAboutThem

  “Sounds like some pretty good evidence to me,” Erik said, almost to himself.

  It made Lil smile.

  IWouldAskYouToTakeCareOfMySibs

  InCaseIDoNotSurviveThis.

  The man was silent for long enough that she worried that she had asked for entirely too much. They did not know each other at all but, something in her body recognized him as a kindred spirit. He had been through pain, though his scars were not as visible as her own. She could see the determination in the folds of his face. The attempt to do his best and protect those that he loved. She knew the promise of someone like that was something she could trust.

  Or she hoped it was.

  She had no intention of leaving her sibs after having just found them, but if she had to give all of herself to wrest control from Mayer, then she would do so. She trusted Arel and Jagi to protect them, but they would know nothing of the new world. Min and Davi would need someone to teach them. When he spoke it was quiet.

  “I will do my best. You have my word.”

  She believed him. As they neared the doors Lil saw that one of them was hanging open just a little bit.

  ThisShouldNotBeOpenEveryoneBeOnYourGuard.

  She handed Davi’s still-sleeping form off to Arel and made sure Jagi had Min well in hand before pushing her way inside the place she had known for so long as her home. The light bulbs had been dim but as she entered they lit up to their full brightness. Some dust had settled in the time since they had left for the Ruling Courts and Lil could see the footsteps that had disturbed it. It led down the central hall, and directly into the depths of the building.

  She turned to look at her many companions.

  SomeoneMustStayHereTheyMustHelpCorral

  ThoseWhoWillCome.

  None of them said anything and so Lil looked at all of them and decided.

  ArelAndJagiIDoNotThinkTheSpiritOfThe

  AthenaeumHasAnyLoveForAntesSoItMayBe

  BestThatYouStayHere

  AlsoITrustYouWithMySibs.

  They had seemed about to argue until she added that last part and they nodded frowning. She turned to the others.

  QuinnAndHlaniIWouldLikeYouToStayHereAsWellMany

  OfTheDantsWhoComeWillNotFeelSafeAroundTwoAntes.

  Finally, she turned to Razel, but before she could say anything the other woman spoke.

  “I will stay here as well. For now, I still have a bond with Hypatia. Kandake may not take kindly to that, no matter how small it is.”

  Lil nodded and smiled. She turned to the others.

  IThinkASmallGroupWouldBeBestThreeOfUsNoMore.

  “I will go.” Erik stepped forward, as she expected him too. He was the leader. He would not be much of one if he asked his people to do something he would not.

  “Me as well.” The other young man with the tan skin and loose black curls stepped forward as well.

  Erik turned to the rest of their group. “Stay here, help if you can. Matthias and I shall return soon.”

  Lil turned and started down the hall, confident that the two would follow. Lil could feel the heart of Kandake calling to her; the strength of it. The part that surprised her was that Erik seemed to have a sense of it as well. He turned sometimes at the same time as her though he never got ahead of her, which was a good thing for his health, since there were traps along the way that she disarmed as she came into range. These were to keep those who did not belong out, and Kandake felt Lil was still allowed entrance.

  They found the first body around a corner and
Erik hissed as he saw it.

  He knelt down and felt the neck and then the wrist. “Melisande. What is she doing here?”

  The other ‘dant near them, the one with the curlier hair and the big sad eyes, growled.

  “If she’s here, then Byron probably is too.”

  Lil did not know who they were speaking of, but it was obvious that they believed this Byron was the man who had infiltrated Kandake.

  The next body was not that much farther on, though in much worse shape, falling apart and crumbling into decay.

  Erik knelt down next to it, leaning in close. “I can’t tell if it’s Bastion or Byron. Probably Bastion. I doubt that Byron would be killed that easily.”

  Just then they heard the sound of footsteps in front of them. Lil looked up to see a ‘dant in a black suit, similar to the red one that Erik wore. His hair was curly and dark red; his skin a very pale brown covered in freckles, especially his face. His eyes widened at the sight of them.

  They all stood frozen for a moment and then the ‘dant turned and ran off and the curly haired ‘dant took off after him.

  TAE

  Tae was accompanied by Patrah and Hettie as they approached the small house in east Oakland. They had insisted on bringing him, so he could speak “seer to seer,” they said. It didn’t make much sense to him but they had both insisted. So here they were walking toward the last known address of a man who was known to stick his nose in others’ business and help them without request. He sounded like an asshole to Tae.

  The afternoon sun was high in the sky and people were walking about. There was nothing to say this was dangerous, but Tae felt a familiar lurch in his belly as they turned up the walk.

  He had called on his powers after getting home the night before, expecting the limitations that his powers had had before traveling to Zebub. Instead he had been slammed with so much information he had been knocked unconscious. He awoke to his mother and father leaning over him, his mother lightly smacking his cheeks while his father flicked water on his face. Apparently, he had screamed as well. The neighbors on both sides of them had come over to check that everything was alright. It must have been quite a scream, to shock city dwellers into actually exposing themselves to potential embarrassment and pretending to care about someone they did not know.