The Tree

by Na'amen Gobert Tilahun

  The bonewolf struggled to get away but now she had its taste. She knew its flavor and would not relinquish it. She pulled it into her mouth, chewing and swallowing its anger and its pain, taking all of it into herself. When she swallowed the tip of the bonewolf’s tail the forest melted around her and she found herself in another room with a single door.

  Erik and Matthias were by her side, both dirty and covered with scratches but they had no open wounds that she could see. She looked down at herself, covered and sticky with blood, and saw that the wound in her shoulder had healed.

  “What the hell was that?” Matthias asked.

  TheTestOfSoul.

  “Okay, so that was the last one?” Erik asked.

  TheLastofMayersTests.

  She gestured to the only door in the room, with pillars on either side and every bit of its surface covered in carvings.

  YouCannotEnterThisRoom

  ThisIsKandakesTest

  SheShallFindMeWorthyOrNot.

  They looked at each other and nodded. Erik spoke.

  “We will be here waiting for you to return after you hold Kandake.”

  She did not know this man, not truly, but his faith gave her hope. She reached out a hand and he grasped it in his own. She smiled at him and turned to exchange a nod with Matthias before walking through the dark doorway.

  Lil walked through the door and it was gone from behind her and in front of her—Wade and Antny were staring at her. They looked exactly as they had on the night they had helped her traverse Zebub.

  “Wade. Antny.” She spoke without thinking. Their names got stuck in her throat but were recognizable. She started in shock and reached into her mouth, feeling her tongue. Then she looked down at her fingers. They were all there, no gaps were someone had taken digits from her. She started to plead for their forgiveness, but they would not let her.

  “You left us.”

  “You ran.”

  “We died in pain.”

  “We died in fear.”

  Every word was another split across her heart.

  “What can I do? How can I make it better?” Lil asked, screamed into the illusion of the Athenaeum that surrounded them.

  “Trade your life for our own.”

  The request caused Lil’s breath to catch and her hands flew to her chest, as if her life would abandon her right in that moment.

  “And what shall you do with this life?”

  “What we should have been allowed, a full life. We shall be children, we shall run and play and jump in this new world like we never have in this one.”

  Some of her emotion ebbed away, and she made note of the fact that they were talking about a new world.

  “And how will you help in the fight that is coming?”

  They were silent.

  “I have sibs . . . and others I would see survive. Will you fight for them?”

  Again. Silence.

  “The world is harsh. Yes, I abandoned you, but I am not responsible for all the ills that befell you during your life. I am sorry for your loss, and will likely be sorry my whole life, but trading my life for yours will do nothing but cause more suffering,” Lil said sadly.

  Both boys took a step towards her, but they also started to melt into the ground. Lil watched as they dissolved. She did not take her eyes away, despite the way her vision went blurry. Lil had not seen Wade and Antny’s first deaths. She would not dishonor their memory by turning away again.

  After they were fully gone, Lil wiped her cheeks and searched the dark around her. She expected another memory to show up, another failure, but the ‘dant who appeared was not one she recognized; covered in armor of black and red that pulsed and writhed across its form. Gauntlets reached up and peeled away the face covering.

  It was the ‘dant under our feet.

  But not. Her skin and hair were lighter than the other one she had met. Also, this version was older, numerous lines of pain in her face. This was Kandake. A representation of the Athenaeum she had grown up in. Lil was intrigued and excited, even as much of her mind still thought of Wade and Antny. The pain sat in her chest like a rock.

  Kandake seemed to read this in her and spoke.

  You must make choices that hurt to Hold an Athenaeum. You will feel sadness but you must always look to the bigger picture. Kandake must be chosen above all others.

  Lil didn’t like that. She would always put her sibs and the others she loved above anyone else. That was not something that would ever change.

  “What if the big picture entails leaving Kandake to be destroyed or abandoned?” She asked.

  Lil could feel the anger of Kandake pulse around her.

  That will never be a choice you should make.

  “So I should look at the big picture and always follow it unless it involves having to sacrifice you?”

  Yes.

  “Then you do not really want someone to help others; you want someone to protect you.”

  Protecting me is helping others. The knowledge, the wisdom contained in these walls will help generations to come.

  “Only if you are dedicated to helping others, no matter the cost.”

  You did not give up your life for Wade and Antny.

  “True, but that was not because I felt like I was more important than them or that I deserved to live while they do not. I did so because there is too much responsibility on me and I can help more people by keeping my life.”

  The smugness radiated from Kandake. Exactly.

  “But if giving up my life for Wade or Antny would help others? If they could keep my sibs safe forever? If they could save this world? Then I would give up my life readily. Can you say the same?”

  There was silence which Lil hoped meant Kandake was thinking.

  You are very different from Mayer.

  The voice was quieter.

  “I am. Mayer has held you in chains for many years, making sure that he lived but not fulfilling any of his promises. He has sided with the Ruling Courts. I will never do so.”

  And what would you do?

  “Be a beacon in the dark. We must help others and ask for help in return. We must stand together in this if we are to survive.”

  Very few of my later Holders have ever felt thus.

  “Perhaps that has been the problem. It is long past time for something new.”

  Kandake spoke quickly, words tumbling over one another. This is the way it has been done for millennia—

  “And how has that gone for you?”

  There was silence.

  “When you require someone to put you and their duty above everything else, then that duty becomes all that matters. It is entirely too easy for people to mistake power for duty when their duty involves taking charge of powerful things.”

  And if you had to make the choice between saving all this knowledge and your sibs?

  “I would find a way to save both, but if I had to choose then I would save my sibs. I love them.”

  You would allow all this knowledge, books for the ages, to be destroyed? Kandake did not sound pleased, but neither could Lil feel anger in them.

  “Yes. Those who value knowledge and power above lives are the problem. Knowledge is important but knowledge can be regained and rebuilt. The pain of losing one you truly love is never really gone. It is always there and alters your world.”

  I used to love and be loved. Before I was an Athenaeum.

  “You remember that?” Lil asked startled

  At times when all of Corpiliu is sleeping, which happens too rarely, pieces of us will reach out to each other, to know each other. And then I remember clearly that I was a goddess. That I strode across the land. That I had children who loved me.

  “Yes.”

  You brought one of my children with you tonight. I feel him nearby. His presence clears my mind. As if his presence allows me to think more clearly.

  Lil stayed silent, unsure what Kandake meant, but not wanting to stop the Athenaeum’s train of thought. Kandake looked
at Lil closely; circled her and looked her up and down. Finally, she smiled.

  You are now my Holder, Liliana Blackthorn Johns. Rise and let it be known.

  Lights blinked into existence and swirled about her body. The ripped purple robes and ragged silver ribbons she was still wearing disappeared. Clothes formed around her naked body, all white, but cut similarly to the outfit that Erik had been wearing. A loose-buttoned shirt was tucked into tighter pants. Her feet were encased in shoes that felt thick and hefty. Over her shirt she wore a jacket that hung to her waist.

  She looked at Kandake, who had begun to fade away.

  You will leave this place. You will go to the place where it all began. You shall take all of the pieces of my heart with you, and all those who seek its shelter. Now go. They need you.

  With a wave of Kandake’s hand, Lil found herself in the front hall, watching Arel and Jagi face off against a monster as an army waited in the background.

  ERIK

  Erik looked over to Matthias after Lil had disappeared through the door. He watched Matthias lean against a pillar and close his eyes. An odd feeling of lightness rose in him. He looked down to find himself drifting out of his body. He found himself strangely calm about this. He drifted up from his body, through the roof, and through the sky. With a small kick of phantom legs, Erik’s perspective flopped over and he was looking down on the Athenaeum; looking down at the many enemies suddenly gathered at its doorstep. He could see Mayer and Chayyliel and Riana in the crowd, though they disappeared as he rose higher and higher. He could see hundreds of cities and the space that separated them was small but treacherous; deserts that looked baked to glass, storms of sand and lightning, and waters teeming with so many vicious animals they looked as if they were boiling. He could see the darkness. He could see it swallowing whole chunks of the land, darkening parts of cities, making this world its wormy apple.

  He rose even further, the whole world becoming clear.

  It was not a full planet. It looked as if someone had tried to stretch playdough over a globe, but only had enough to cover a third it. It made Erik think of skin, stretched to its limit. In some places, the skin of the world was almost transparent, and he could see the white beneath, the preserved bone that gave it its form.

  The world turned, and he was facing her unfinished part.

  Her?

  But he could see her clearly now, curled in a ball beneath the flesh of the planet. She was twisted in a way that a yoga instructor would envy. Her face was in profile and he could see the pieces of her that were missing. The side of the face he could see was missing most of its top half. The cheek and nose had divots in it where pieces had been dug out. Only her lips were still whole.

  Erik tried to drift closer, but no matter how he moved, he stayed at a distance. Then the perfect, dark lips sighed and smiled.

  She whispered.

  My child.

  Erik started, which made his perspective spin in the air.

  I have waited for one of my children for so long; one of my blood, of my line. The affection was thick in her deep echoing voice.

  He tried to speak but he had no body to speak with.

  Simply think it and we shall both hear.

  “Where am I?” His own voice echoed.

  Your physicalform is where it was; your mind is with me, deep in the bones of Corpiliu. I was the last to fall. I would not give up and so they killed me and used my body, piece by piece, to form Corpiliu.

  “Bia.” It was no question. Erik knew this woman, down in his marrow and blood; the blood that led all the way back to her.

  I have not seen one of my physical descendants in so long. Some of my spiritual children were here for a time, pretending to be traitors to me.

  “In the war of the descendants?” He asked. He remembered all the different histories that Matthias had run him through. There was war in all of them.

  Yes. But also among the non-blooded. They stole and brought here. A few of my physical children hid among them. The Traitor Court squirreled away my heart and my Blooded children cut it into pieces and parceled it out. Each became the heart of one of the Athenaeums across this world.

  “And now this whole world is ending. What should I do?” He felt fear and sadness. The thought of his ancestor—the image of her in pain and the thought of losing her—made his thoughts feel slow and damp with grief.

  You will do what you must, as I ever did. For now, I am a shield; I have laid myself between the darkness and your world, but it eats through me and I tire. I long to join my family in death. So I pass the burden of protection to you.

  “I’m not ready yet; there’s too much I need to learn. I’ve lost people already.”

  You will never be ready; those who earn power are never ready for the burdens as well as the joys. But all of this is yours. All that Corpiliu is, is yours, because it is me and I give it to you.

  “What do you mean?”

  Take them with you. My children who suffered so. Take them with you.

  “I don’t understand.”

  You will when the time is right.

  He was moving away, fading back into his body, even as he struggled against it.

  You must go. The time comes. You are needed. Remember that you are my child; this world’s child.

  “Wait! Once you are gone, will the darkness come to Earth?”

  Yes. You must discover how to defeat it. Speak to those who have done so already.

  Erik could no longer see her. He had zoomed back in to see Kandake still surrounded by monsters of all shapes and sizes.

  “How do we destroy the darkness?” He shouted, even as he sank completely back into his flesh.

  The demiurge cannot be destroyed. It can be weakened and it can be torn and injured but it cannot be destroyed. It is the spirit of creation itself. It cannot die. There is always a demiurge.

  MAESTRA LUKA

  Luka had managed to leverage her alliance with Dayida Jayl and the Agency into enough power that she had control of most of the Organization’s operations on the West Coast. She was working on spreading her influence further. As it was, she had shared their methods with other cities. Many were reluctant to seek or offer help to their local Agency offices, though many did contact the independents in their area and offer an alliance.

  She was in contact with various cities in the Midwest and East that were managing to hold their own against the increased attacks—Madison, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Weehawken among them.

  The biggest disaster was Manhattan. The island was chaos. The Angelics did not have complete control by any means, but the island was burning. Whoever won would have a pyrrhic victory. The Organization had cleared out all of its people and many non-Blooded citizens via tunnels and portals the Agency knew nothing about. Dayida had managed to get some information from the Agency; they still had agents on the island, and they were holding off the Angelics as best they could.

  Manhattan was a loss. The stories of monsters had mostly been called hoaxes by the mainstream media. More and more citizens were leading credence to the stories now, though. There were dozens of theories on what was happening, from biblical to zombie apocalypse. The only firsthand information coming out of Manhattan anymore was courtesy of two blogs that remained active. One had been a cooking blog dedicated to berries called Berry Delicious, run by someone who called themselves TheBlackest-Berry. The other was a political satire blog called Tricky Dicks, run by someone calling themselves DeeperThroat.

  Both bloggers had taken to reporting on where in the city was currently safe and provided enough photos of unbelievable creatures and attacks that their stories were getting more traction. It was only a matter of time before people saw past the government excuses of flu quarantine and terrorist attacks, and the shit really hit the fan.

  Rumors were growing. Pictures of Blooded and Suits were starting to appear online and Luka had decided they had to do something about it.

  Her visit to the Mayor’s office ha
d managed to do more help than harm. They had a liaison in place now and communication was constant. Most of that communication was through Dayida. They had divided communication duties between them; Dayida took care of communications within San Francisco, Oakland, and the rest of the Bay, while Luka took care of the contact with the outside world.

  She looked at Dayida across her office, which had become their shared workspace.

  “You know what we have to do,” Luka said without preamble.

  Dayida held back a sigh. To Luka’s surprise, Dayida had turned out to be a crack tactician, though she claimed not to know how she had acquired the skill. She understood fighting a war not just with weapons, but with words.

  “We’ll organize a press conference,” Luka continued.

  “And say what, exactly? Monsters are real, listen to us?” Dayida raised an eyebrow.

  “We’ll have to prove it.”

  Dayida narrowed her eyes. “How?”

  Luka was sure that Dayida knew how. She just wanted to force verbal confirmation from Luka.

  “We’ll have to show them our powers,” Luka said.

  “No. Not gonna happen.”

  Luka knew that would be her response. Dayida used her powers quite well when necessary, and even seemed to take some joy in them, but she never spoke of them and, when asked, would only stare the asker down until they apologized and scurried away. Showing the whole world her power, and then answering questions about it, would be the last thing that Dayida would want.

  But Luka knew they also needed Dayida. She had a solid name in the art community, and even if she wasn’t a “celebrity,” some would recognize her name. Or her son’s. There were others in the Organization who had larger name recognition in their public life, but none as involved in the protection of their city.

  “Two brown women telling all the scared white folk in the country that there are really monsters out there, oh, and look, we have special powers that you don’t have?” Dayida looked incredulous.