The Root

by Na'amen Tilahun

  There were a number of stools and easels set up, seven paintings in various states of completion. Her best were always those she started and finished in one go; sometimes it was two days straight of painting but they were always luminous, alive. These would still be amazing, but they just wouldn’t have the edge of power her one-session paintings did.

  She sat in front of a blank canvas.

  She thought again about what Matthias had said and her exhausted child upstairs. If she could make it better in any way, easier for him, shouldn’t she try? She wouldn’t deny that she wanted to survive whatever was coming, and the more power she had the more likely she was to be a target, sure, but also the more likely she was to survive.

  Yida closed her eyes and did something she never had before. She opened herself up to the power that flared in her shoulders. She felt it race up the back of her neck then around in a coronet until it nestled above her eyes. It was a feeling of ice. A terrifying coldness and knowledge that death was inevitable and it was her job to balance lives.

  She took a deep breath, took hold of the power, and moved it down into her left arm. She imagined the power guiding her arm and then it was. Her eyes were closed as she worked. She did not want to see the image until it was finished. She froze from the inside out. Her limbs felt stiff and unwieldy, all but the one that moved faster and faster.

  Finally her arm hung limp and she opened her eyes. A large battle scene was laid out in front of her. In the center were people on horses, holding lances and swords, fending off a crowd of crazed creatures, all red claws and pale skin. She looked closer at the figures in battle and recognized herself sitting astride a horse, two hammers gripped in her hands, grim look to her face. Floating above the whole thing was the ghostly image of Daniel, the boy she had betrayed.

  She rose and moved the painting to the side to dry. She moved another blank canvas in front of her and lifted the brush again, letting the power fill her again and again until she could summon no more, and collapsed to the studio floor with a smile.

  ERIK

  When he woke up, Erik checked his phone and saw a day had passed, but he felt refreshed. He was slowly getting used to holding the power that was his birthright. He sent a quick reassuring text to Melinda’s twenty unread messages. He decided on another shower. The realization that Daniel was gone, all because of him, flooded through him. He heard familiar voices as he made his way to the bathroom but ignored them.

  The water could not be turned hot enough, even as he cried into the spray. His skin burned and absorbed the heat. He turned it up higher. The hot water ran out and he finally walked out of the shower, rubbing himself with one of the extra towels, since his was still on the floor of his bedroom. He looked into the mirror.

  Daniel was nowhere that he could see and it made him nervous. He reasoned that Daniel would have been bored hanging out while he was sleeping and would be back soon. He hurried to his room and threw on the first pair of jeans and shirt that weren’t stiff with dirt and sweat. He headed downstairs toward the voices of his mom and Matthias.

  They were sitting at the dining room table and stopped talking as he moved into the doorway.

  “Is he here?” was his mom’s first question.

  “You told her.” He aimed it at Matthias.

  “Erik, she’s your mother. She deserved to know.”

  His mom stood, drawing his attention back to her and opening her arms. “Sweetie, I’m so sorry.”

  Erik shook himself and he broke flinging himself into her arms, like he was a child of seven devastated at not getting a part again, not a man of eighteen who had killed and almost been killed already. She stroked his head and murmured soothing sounds in his ears interspersed with exclamations of her love until he stopped shaking and pulled himself back. He savored the closeness. He noticed that she smelled different, though. She carried the scent of metal now, the heat of a forge.

  He pulled back to look at her, but Matthias interrupted. “I’m glad I didn’t have to wake you up for this.”

  “For what?”

  “A couple of Suits are on their way over, I’m guessing to talk about what happened. The San Francisco building was one of their main facilities. I don’t know what the Angelics told them about our deal, but I doubt we come out looking that good in it.”

  He nodded and moved over to the fridge. In a few minutes he had made a large sandwich stacked with ham, cheese and spinach. He devoured it and made another before the knock on the door. He and Matthias both started for the front hall. His mom stopped them both with a look.

  “It’s my house. I’ll greet the visitors.”

  A minute later she returned with two women in suits. One was tall, her muscled frame showing off the contours of the suit. Her skin was a gorgeous dark midnight black. Her hair was combed and parted in geometric patterns and gathered into Bantu knots. Her partner was shorter with skin a degree or two darker than Matthias. Her black hair pulled back into a braid that was folded in on itself five times that he could see.

  “This is Tassi and Yonas,” his mom announced.

  The women nodded and without waiting for an invitation pulled out chairs at the table. He saw his mom frown behind them, but her face was composed as she moved around to his side of the table. The two Suits watched her like they expected her to leave them. Her son saw the look and sneered at both of them while she sat in the chair next to them.

  “As you know, the San Francisco base was our largest and most active center of operations.” Yonas dived right in.

  Erik had known nothing of the kind, but he was not about to reveal his ignorance. He nodded.

  “As such, the . . . mistakes that happened there are devastating.”

  “Have you managed to find any evidence of where Byron went?” Matthias interrupted.

  Tassi answered, her voice holding a hint of an accent Erik could not place. “No, but many of our people are working on it.”

  Matthias nodded but it was more in frustration than satisfaction with her answer. Yonas continued, “The Antes—”

  “Antes?” his mom questioned.

  Yonas paused, cleared her throat. “Yes, well, the Antes are beings from another dimension. They claim some relations to those of us in this universe who—”

  “Angelics,” Matthias interrupted tersely.

  “Ah, got it,” his mom replied and Yonas paused before turning back to Erik.

  “They have demanded that you be placed in charge of rebuilding the San Francisco office.”

  The silence in the room was like the pause before a detonation.

  “Naturally, our superiors tried to argue, but they said that their treaty was now with you because of trial by combat and favors owed.”

  “Hu is gonna lose his shit,” was Matthias’s first comment.

  “What—” Erik cleared his throat and started again. “What does this entail exactly?”

  “At this time, simply reestablishing our treaty with the Antes. We have been assigned to help you navigate this tricky task.”

  Erik frowned at their assumption that he would go along with this. And also about the fact that he felt like he would actually have to. He had already made the rash decision to treat with the Angelics in the midst of everything and while he could back out now, what would be the point? He had agreed for reasons that were just as important and valid now as they’d been yesterday.

  The government might have a million of those creatures by now. What if they all got free, or worse, what if the darkness crossed over and came for this world?

  “Okay.”

  Tassi and Yonas spent the next few hours filling them all in on the way that they were organized, the things they negotiated for with the Angelics, and the things they traded. It took Erik entirely too long to realize that whenever they said exchange of specimens, they meant people being sold to the Angelics for some of their creatures.

  “Stop. How many people do you sell to them in a year?”

  They both looked uncom
fortable. The euphemism was clearly meant to provide some barrier so they didn’t have to acknowledge what they were doing. Erik was determined to get rid of that first.

  “Not many.”

  “I assume someone has the exact number and the names of those you sold off and those who returned. I want it. And it stops. The other offices may trade what they want . . . for now. But we do not sell people. We are not slavers.” Yonas and Tassi shared a glance and Yonas nodded nervously. Matthias nodded as well, obviously pleased with this request.

  “The last thing on our list is that they want to meet with you today.”

  Erik suppressed his distaste before it showed on his face. “When and where?”

  “Anytime today is fine, and at the HQ downtown.”

  “Absolutely not. I won’t be meeting in that slaughterhouse.”

  “I assure you it has been cleaned. There is no trace of what happened there.”

  Except forever in the minds of all of us who saw it, he didn’t say. Yonas was trying to sound calm and it made him even more angry. He was not a child. He had seen what was left of the Suits stationed there and it was a perfectly reasonable reaction not to want to return.

  “There is a reason why it is our headquarters. The space between their realm and ours is thin there. Ripping a hole in the border costs us almost nothing in terms of energy,” Tassi added.

  Erik frowned hard but finally nodded. It would be better not to show any weakness. The Suits left, saying they would be in contact and Erik and Matthias decided to head to the meeting then. There was little reason to delay the discomfort.

  It was on his way to meet the things—Antes, they liked to be called Antes—that he realized he was still not fully healed. His scrapes were gone, but sound was still muffled in his right ear and the skin of his face and hands still felt sensitive, if not painful. He didn’t know why his healing remained so slow. His close presence still helped those around him to heal immediately, but it had slowed when it came to his own injuries. He asked Matthias about it as they entered the building, mostly to distract himself from having the slaughter replay in his mind.

  There were a few people wandering about. Most had shell-shocked looks on their faces. Perhaps more of the staff of this place survived than Erik had assumed.

  “Anyone affected by the stone has had it wear off by now. Why not me?”

  “I don’t think it’s the stone.”

  “Well, what else could it be?” Erik was glancing at Matthias’s face so he didn’t have to look at the floor and remember it slick with others’ insides.

  “The only other thing I can think is—” Matthias bit his lip and Erik frowned. He had never really seen Matthias hesitate before. “Our powers are affected by our emotional and mental state. They are tied together sometimes—if one suffers, so does the other.”

  “You know I’m not crazy. Zaha saw Daniel too.” Erik stopped walking through the uprooted mess of floor that had once been the garden.

  “I’m not saying you’re crazy,” Matthias answered quickly. “I’m just saying you may not be in the best place emotionally.”

  They came upon a small table set up in what used to be the center of the garden and Erik was glad for the distraction. The blue beetle and soap bubble were seated at one end, while to Erik’s surprise Zaha sat huddled at the table as far away from the two Angelics as possible.

  Erik stopped near the girl.

  “What is this about?”

  “We want the girl.” The blue beetle Angelic said out of both of its mouths.

  Zaha let out a small sound and shrank back further into her chair.

  “Absolutely not.” Erik didn’t have to think about it. “There will be no more trading of any people.”

  The Angelics froze as if waiting for him to say more, but he stayed silent. This was no negotiation. This was a warning.

  “She was exposed to the darkness. There may be something we can learn from her examination.” The soap bubble burped.

  The way they said “examination” left little doubt in Erik’s mind that she would die during the course of it. It also reminded him that he was allying himself with beings who had been doing this to his people for longer than he’d been alive.

  “I. Said. No.” In fact, he was within a hairsbreadth of calling everything off when the soap bubble Angelic burp-replied.

  “Then what do you have to offer us for this alliance?”

  “The chance to not see your entire world devoured?” Matthias spoke from behind him.

  “So you will not try to talk sense into your Apprentice?”

  “He is no longer that. He is fully-trained, free and independent.”

  Erik started and leaned over toward Matthias to whisper, “Weren’t there supposed to be tests and stuff?”

  “Honestly, I think that the last two weeks have been test enough, don’t you?”

  Erik nodded.

  “It seems we have no choice, do we?” The beetle Angelic broke in, bringing them back to the conversation.

  “No, you don’t,” Erik said, his voice firm but distracted. Someone arrived to escort Zaha away and they began to discuss the plans for the trip into Zebub that Erik and his allies would be taking in six days’ time. Erik left much of the talking to Matthias. He was distracted by Daniel, who had appeared floating in the corner, shaking his head as if Erik had just made the worst mistake of his life.

  MAESTRA LUKA

  Things had spiraled out of control much too quickly. The reports from Elliot, Elana, and Daya were on her desk, but she’d already read them a number of times. There was nothing new to glean from them.

  The Organization had been contacted by the Agency. It was not happy, but she got the feeling that they were dealing with other crises as well. San Francisco was far from their only base, though it might have been their largest one. And that was only the bases on American soil. The ones they tried to establish overseas were best ignored. The Agency had no intention of dealing with someone they saw as a child any more than they had to and thought he belonged to the Organization. The Maestres had not dissuaded them from thinking this.

  They wanted certain protocols put in place. Why they thought the Organization would help them, they had no idea, but then the offers of trade had happened. To some it made sense. Things were obviously changing and perhaps they were entering some state like a cold war. There was a larger threat looming, and perhaps old hostilities had to be laid to bed. Meanwhile the ones who wanted to simply kill Erik were gaining traction and allies in the discussion.

  She was starting to lean that way herself, wondering if the young man and Matthias had cost them three of their best West Coast Agents. Elana and Daya had demanded to see Elana’s body as soon as they arrived. Well, Daya had demanded. Elana had simply been down there staring at it already when Luka had escorted her girlfriend inside. They said nothing else, simply stared for a long time and then turned and left the facility. Should they choose to leave the Organization over this Elliot would go as well, no doubt.

  Disasters upon disasters.

  Too late, she had realized that sending that particular group into danger was the worst thing to do. They were volatile, and though she’d hoped the effect would be to break the bonds between them, it seemed to have molded them tighter. For the most part there were tensions, but she could tell there were things they had all left out of their reports. There were gaps. None large enough to be called on, but things that niggled at her as she read them. Even Tae’s report had been terse and pointed, with no real details.

  She picked up a different sheaf of papers, concessions that the Maestres wanted Erik to agree to as the new liaison to the Angelics and the head of the San Francisco Agency. She had argued against most of them, not because she did not agree, but because she doubted he would agree and thought that presenting them to him would just anger him. She had been trying to talk to Hu about how to approach Erik regarding the rules that both groups wanted him to use in running the San Francisco off
ice. Except Hu had been sulking in his room for the past few hours. She was sure he would call it thinking or brooding, but Luka had a raft of nieces and nephews and she knew a sulk when she saw one.

  Finally a spark of light flashed into the room. It bobbed up and down in front of her face to get her attention. She nodded and held out her hand. It landed in her palm and was reabsorbed in her body. She rose from her desk and went to knock on Hu’s door.

  “What is it?”

  “The meeting is about to begin.”

  There was the slick sound Luka associated with Hu’s shape-shifting from behind the door and when it opened he emerged in a fresh suit. He nodded at her and started down the corridor.

  Everyone was already there. Erik, with Matthias on one side and his mother, Dayida, whom she recognized from her photos in his file, on the other. Elliot sat next to Matthias, Elana next to him, and finally Daya. Next to Dayida was Patrah, who was leaning over, talking rapidly to the woman and smiling. Melinda sat next to her Counselor and was leaning past her to make faces at Erik, which that he returned. And finally Tae sat on the other side of the girl, grim-faced and silent. There were two empty seats between Daya and Tae.

  The distance between Tae and Erik told her something had happened between them. She pulled out a chair and Hu joined her and completed the circle around the table.

  Erik nodded at them in greeting.

  “We come with a list of demands,” Hu began.

  Oh, light above, she wanted to break Hu’s jaw.

  “Demands?” Erik laughed. “By what right do you have to demand things from me?”

  Hu sputtered, and though Luka was tempted to allow it to continue simply for entertainment value, she stepped in.

  “We have suggestions.”

  “What sort of requests?”

  “We want to help. With the running of the San Francisco office.”

  “No. There, that was simple, wasn’t it.” Erik went to rise.

  “Wait, we have concessions for you as well.”

  “What could you possibly have to offer me?”