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182: Come to the Tree!

  ‘How have you all been?’ he asked, opting to begin prying into the man before he made any serious moves. Jo and Beth were making questioning faces at him. Jo mouthed: What’s up? He was glad to see that, for now at least, she’d decided to put the events of last night aside.

  He shrugged, because he wasn’t sure, and made a face and gesture that said something’s off. The drones circled around the walled area, and he saw people down below peering up. They looked much as they had last time, though he noted they seemed to have given up on the attempts to farm the soil he’d spied earlier. Their badly-crafted hoes lay abandoned beside the drunkenly meandering furrows they’d cut through the ground.

  ‘What? We’re all fine. Come on in.’

  ‘Anything happen? There was an earthquake. You didn’t have any problems?’

  ‘No, no, we’re all fine. Are you coming in?’

  Every single time the man spoke he told Nicolai and the others to come in. There was something desperate about him. The last time, the man’s fear and unease and even affrontedness had been quite an encouragement, a sign that he had no hidden cards, no tricks to play.

  That was now missing entirely.

  A tiny thrill birthed in Nicolai’s chest. His desire to be human, to be better, had precluded him from simply murdering these people and taking what he wanted. But if they intended to betray him, all bets were off. A smile cracked his lips.

  ‘I see your people with the goods on the far side of the bridge. Please send them over! We’re ready to trade.’

  Nicolai snorted. Pot Helmet needed to brush up on his acting.

  ‘One moment. We must deliberate,’ he replied.

  Should he do anything different? The drones showed the men on the walls with the guns, and there weren’t that many of them. Not to mentioned they were positioned fairly stupidly.

  If Nicolai had been in charge of defending this place he’d have had them in spots where they could all see and cover one another, spread out in pairs. There were towers either side of the gatehouse, some distance along the walls, though both of these were heavily damaged with the entrances collapsed, blocking them from use. Or at least, these peoples’ use. Even if he didn’t have a Pegasi ring, Nicolai would have fashioned a rope ladder or some other method and created a route for guards to get up there. They were the best positions available.

  Instead of any of that, the guards were in the same positions as last time; mostly concentrated in two groups on the walls either side of the gatehouse, which acted as a barrier between them, cutting them apart and preventing them from helping one another. There were a few more armed individuals on the ground between the walls and the tree, who would be almost entirely useless in response to a surprise assault.

  Were he, Jo and Beth to rise on one side, they would be able to quickly overcome one of the groups, and then pause to reload and ready themselves for the next group while taking up good positions to fire on the people on the ground.

  His Mask twisted over his face. It was saying: he should make sure this was a trap before going in, guns blazing. Maybe Pot Helmet actually, truly did just… trust him. Actually thought that there was no danger and no reason to be upset at Nicolai’s unannounced arrival. Perhaps he had no ulterior motives; perhaps he was simply a fool.

  Nicolai had to admit this would somewhat match up with what he knew of the man. But fool or not, Pot Helmet and his group had come off like frightened little birds last time. They should be reacting with fright, not opened arms.

  He chewed his lips. He’d been ignoring his Mask more and more recently. He was aware that the darkness within him was gradually gaining influence. Just that morning, before they’d left, he’d been thinking that he needed to accept his Mask more often. To not shrug it off. This tied into his need to restrain and control the dark, as the Mask was clearly helpful in that regard. But every time he found himself faced with its urges, he discovered he only wished to ignore them. This latest schism between them, its insane feelings for Jo, only worsened matters.

  There was a sharp spike of pain from his lip and he tasted blood. He carefully relaxed his mouth, tonguing at the self-made wound his overchewing had caused. A pulse of annoyance rolled through him, and his urge to throw the Mask aside increased.

  His face twisted, his Mask digging its roots painfully into him. The urge to rip it from his face rose within him, but he made himself press it down.

  I will… listen.

  He pressed a hand to his face, pushing his Mask deeper into his Soul, handing over a little more influence to it.

  Nicolai turned to Jo and Beth, who clustered, floating behind him. They stared back, black masks on their faces and guns in their hands. He tried his best to ignore the way the Mask writhed when his eyes passed over Jo.

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  He had Cyberwarfare check the privacy of their connection then he spoke to the others. ‘Something stinks here.’

  ‘What d’you mean?’ asked Beth, a quizzical frown on her face. ‘These guys are like kids. They aren’t gonna try anything.’

  ‘Children frequently do astonishingly stupid things,’ he said. ‘There’s something up. He shouldn’t be so relaxed, so happy to see us. It’s not like him. I don’t like it. Be wary.’ He paused, considering. ‘Regardless, we go up and take the wall. Try not to kill anyone, not unless you have to.’

  The girls nodded to him and their eyes, visible through the holes of their masks, tightened with what he judged to be the correct level of caution and focus.

  They emerged from beneath one side of the bridge, moving with all the speed their Pegasi rings could give. Nicolai took the lead, using his second Pegasi ring to draw ahead of the others. He kept his assault rifle raised to the lip of the wall, where anyone who chose to peer over would be seen.

  None of the guards up there did so. Visible through the drones above, they were standing loose and relaxed. They must be aware he was coming, but they didn’t seem concerned.

  He paused just below the lip, waiting for the others to catch up. In the meantime he extended his Soul Sense and felt carefully at the people beyond, searching for… for something. For some clue. He found nothing. They were all mortals, nothing weird going on.

  The other two arrive and he moved with them, flipping over the wall, levelling his rifle at the people on the walltop.

  The guards smiled at him. One of them raised a hand and waved. ‘Great to see you again!’ he said.

  ‘Uh-huh.’ Nicolai glared at the man. What the fuck is with these people? Threat Analysis was humming with concern within him. ‘Put your weapons on the ground.’

  They put the weapons down. When they rose to face him, they were still smiling. The death-filled gaze he sunk into them would have caused a strong man to pale, but the idiotic smiles persisted. He felt his mouth twisting into a snarl and didn’t care to stop it. The smiles remained.

  ‘You’re here!’ came pot-helmet’s voice. ‘Come down, we’ll meet you. Please tell your people across the bridge to come over.’

  ‘First things first,’ began Nicolai. If these people wanted to just roll over, he might as well make use of that. ‘Have all of your people place their weapons on the ground. Then gather before the gatehouse. This is necessary, because now that you have guns, we must be more cautious. I hope you understand.’

  ‘That’s no bother!’ said Pot Helmet. Nicolai heard the man’s broadcast as he ordered them to do exactly as Nicolai had said, almost word for word.

  He glanced to the side, seeing Jo and Beth. He could only see their eyes but that was enough for him to sense their confusion. They all felt it. This wasn’t normal.

  ‘Take position up there,’ he told Jo, gesturing to the small tower emerging from the wall to their side. She nodded and rose into the air. Now that events were underway, she was all business. Good.

  He turned his attention to the space beyond the wall, the people and the tree. They were all moving, calm and unhurried, towards the area before the wall. The guards on the walltop with him were placing their weapons on the ground, turning and walking to the nearby stairs.

  He exchanged a glance with Beth and knew he didn’t have to tell her not to let any of them get too close. From her stance and where his Soul Sense touched on hers, he sensed her unease.

  They waited and watched as the Tree People gathered where he had directed, forming a crowd. They were all standing there, staring at Nicolai and Beth. There were fewer of them than had been out here last time, less than half. Nicolai had a strong feeling the others would be behind the blanketing branches of the tree. Where else?

  He released his assault rifle, altering the setup of its strap so it hung straight down, out of his way, then pulled the AA-12 off his back and into his hands. It had more stopping power than the assault rifle at close range. He and Beth descended, approaching the group. As he did so, Nicolai found his steps slowing. Something within him was blaring a quiet warning, and Threat Analysis had spun up into high-gear. His Soul Sense roved around him, checking and checking. The drones controlled by Threat Analysis were split, two circling the tree, two investigating the rooms built into the wall and gatehouse. They found no one inside.

  ‘We’re so glad to see you,’ said Pot Helmet, stepping out of the crowd, a big smile on his face. The faint aura of genial bafflement Nicolai had observed in him last time was faded. He acted different. Spoke different. Moved different. More assured. More composed.

  ‘The tree has grown,’ Nicolai observed, speaking across the several metres of space between him and the crowd of idiotically smiling people.

  ‘That’s right!’ Pot Helmet grinned at him. ‘That’s why it’s so great you came. Everyone has to meet the tree. You need to meet the tree.’ He stepped forwards, gesturing. ‘Come, come to the tree.’

  ‘Do not move,’ said Nicolai, taking a step back to preserve the space between them.

  ‘You have to come to the tree,’ said a woman in the crowd, stepping forwards, a big smile on her face.

  ‘Come to the tree,’ they all said, grinning their loathsome grins.

  ‘Come now, don’t be foolish. You’re not going to shoot us, we are unarmed.’ Pot-Helmet now wore an expression as though talking to a child. A child who needed to be led towards the holy truth of whatever this madman believed. ‘You must meet the tree. There is no other option.’ He was stepping forward, striding towards Nicolai.

  ‘I said don’t fucking move!’ The AA-12 bucked in his hands like a dog pulling on the leash, begging to be let loose. He floated a few inches off the ground, his Pegasi ring moving him backwards while allowing him to maintain a stable firing position; thoughtless actions. His mind was a dark whirl, the desire to kill an undertow pouring through him.

  They were laughing. ‘There’s nothing to be afraid of!’ they all cried as one, pressing forwards, raising their arms. ‘Come, come and meet the tree!’ their voices merged into a chant. ‘Come! Come!’

  There was something in the air, something in the Aura. He could feel it, creeping all around, hidden just below notice, lurking, sneaking. Everywhere. In response the darkness surged through him, reacting to whatever it was he felt, out of the cage and not going back in.

  The steps of the crowd were speeding up. One of them broke into a run.

  ‘Come! Come to the tree!’ the man laughed, a wild, joyful smile on his face, letting out a peal of laughter.

  The shadows squirmed around them. There was something wrapped around their heads. Dark, shifting tendrils, digging in and out of their skulls. The light grew sharp and bright, everything turning a confusing mess, faces becoming blobs, reaching hands turning into talons.

  ‘Come!’ they screamed, passing through the invisible sphere around him, the danger zone. If an enemy was within that area, he was at risk.

  Nicolai’s face twisted into a grin just as mad as those of the crowd. He squeezed the trigger.

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