Shadow Tree (15 page)

Moments later, however, the man called back and yelled a long solitary word: “DAD!”

Chapter 24: Time to Talk

Kiril could not sleep, which surprised him because he had always slept well, despite the many terrible things he had seen and done. While on the hunt or during battle, he could go several days with only bits of sleep here and there – and, of course, he often slept while marching or fighting, as all Dormians did – but what he treasured most were the rare times when he could sleep and simply sway in a hammock or sit in a chair and whittle with his knife. That was the greatest of all luxuries.

Tonight, however, was a different story. He had insomnia. The instant he lay in bed, his mind kicked into overdrive, thinking about Nartam. He replayed the events that had led to him telling one lie, and then another, and concluded that these lies would inevitably multiply. It was the nature of lying – with each successive invention, it becomes easier and easier to keep going. Nevertheless, Kiril believed it was right to have lied.
What choice did he have?
His bigger concern was the Shadow Tree. He could barely bring himself to look at it. And the way that Nartam talked about the tree, as if it were an extension of himself – it was very unsettling.

Eventually, after several hours of restless turning, Kiril gave up, dressed quickly and climbed to the deck of the massive man-of-war that served as Dragoonya headquarters and the living chambers for Nartam and his most trusted aides. There were several guards on the deck, but all of them appeared comatose, lost in a dream world created by the black ash. Kiril walked up to one of the guards and examined him closely. His eyelids were covered with ash. Kiril snapped his fingers in front of the man's face and he didn't so much as bat an eyelid. In the old days, the Dragoonya always used the ash in moderation because there was so little of it; now they had such an abundance of it, that even common guards were overdosing on the stuff – and while on duty! Kiril strode away from the gathering of lights in the forecastle and to the quarterdeck where Nartam lived.

He had to talk to him now
, thought Kiril.
If it wasn't already too late.

Kiril wasn't exactly sure how he was going to say it, but he knew that he had to speak frankly about the Tree. Kiril had seen the stockpiles of ash that his men had gathered. There was enough ash there, if used wisely, to last them a very long time. The tree had served its usefulness. Kiril was glad of that. Indeed, he had risked his own life many times so that the tree could be planted, but it had become a liability – worse than a liability it had become an insidious presence that was starting to affect the minds of his men and of Nartam himself.

Kiril was relieved to see that the guard stationed in front of Nartam's door was awake and alert.

“Where is Nartam?” demanded Kiril.

“Down in the Great Cave,” said the guard. “Shall I send someone down with a message?”

“No,” said Kiril, “I'll go myself.”

Twenty minutes later, Kiril was on the ground, trudging through the snow, making his way to the Great Cave. It was so cold out that the snowflakes on the ground had turned into dry crystals that swirled like sand beneath his feet. He walked as quickly as he could, face tucked into his jacket, eyes trained on the ground. Eventually, he looked up. The cold stung his eyes
. And there it was
. In between Kiril and the mouth of the Cave stood the Shadow Tree. The trunk of the tree was enormously thick – equivalent to that of a Great Sequoia – which seemed inconceivable, given that the tree had only been planted days ago. Its trunk was badly disfigured – studded with the stubs of old limbs that had been cut off and burned. The uppermost branches of the tree squirmed and wiggled like thousands of skeletal fingers that, all at once, had come to life and were grasping for something to grip.

Two guards stood at the base of the tree. It was impossible to tell if they were alert and doing their jobs or whether they too had taken the ash and lost their senses. “Hey there!” yelled Kiril as he approached the men. Neither of them responded or even budged an inch. As he drew nearer, Kiril could see that their eye sockets were dark with the stain of ash. “Wake up!” screamed Kiril. “You are supposed to be...”

Kiril never finished the sentence, because the two men both drew their swords at once and charged him. Kiril was so caught off guard, so totally shocked, that he barely had time to draw his own sword before the two men were upon him. The first guard lunged at Kiril wildly and Kiril parried his attack and deftly stepped out of the way so that the man crashed to the earth and nearly impaled himself with his own sword. The second guard was more cautious. He circled around Kiril and waited for his companion to get back on his feet.

“Drop your swords
now
,” growled Kiril, “Or I shall kill you both.”

The men said nothing. They seemed incapable of speech. One of them stared at him with dull, deadened eyes and the other was foaming at the mouth like a rabid dog. A long few seconds passed and then they both attacked Kiril at once. The guard who was closer, the one who was foaming at the mouth, lunged at him recklessly. Kiril turned sideward, swung his own sword with blazing speed, and cleanly took off the man's head. Kiril barely had time to fend off the other man's attack. He brought up
his sword to block the guard's thrust. There was a great clang of steel meeting steel. Kiril feinted left, then spun right, and slashed the man across his side. The guard howled in pain, dropped his sword, and fell to the ground.

Then there was silence. The only sound was the wind whistling through the branches of the Shadow Tree. Kiril looked up at the tree and then backed away as quickly as he could. His heart was pounding in his chest. He had never felt so frightened in his life.

“What has happened?” yelled a frantic voice. Kiril looked up. It was Nartam. He was standing in the Mouth of the Great Cave and he too looked terrified. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes,” said Kiril wearily. “Fine.”

“Oh what a relief!” yelled Nartam. Kiril walked toward him. Kiril was amazed to see that tears were streaming down Nartam's cheeks. “Thank heavens,” said Nartam with the worried voice of a father. “I feared something had happened to the Tree.”

Chapter 25: An Unlikely Guide

As his airship hovered alongside the obelisk, Leif didn't know what to say. Leif was now just twenty feet or so from the terrace where the man was standing – the man who had called him
dad
. Leif could see him clearly. It was uncanny. The man was the spitting image of Leif. “Dad,” yelled the man again, “It's me Alfonso!” Leif stared at the man uncomprehendingly. The man nodded, and his face took on a look of fierce concentration. The man looked as if he were about to pass a kidney stone. Then something miraculous happened. The man changed forms – shrinking in height by almost a foot – and then Leif found himself staring at a teenage boy who was, quite plainly, his son.

“As I live and breathe!” gasped Leif.

“Hold on,” yelled the woman, who was still steering the aircraft. She was far too busy working the ships' controls to notice what had just happened. “I'm going to bring us as close as I can get.” She swung the ship around and docked it alongside the obelisk's terrace and, as she did so, Leif opened the side door. Immediately, Korgu leapt to the opening and sniffed the air. For the last hour, the wolf had been on a state of high alert, and her whole body trembled with expectation.

Alfonso smiled at Korgu, climbed over the railing of the terrace, leapt through the door of the cabin, and followed his momentum right into the open embrace of his father's arms. Leif nuzzled his nose into his son's hair and smelled his familiar scent. It was his son – by God, there was no doubt about it!

Finally, reluctantly, Leif let his son go. Alfonso glanced around the cabin and then locked eyes with the woman. He recognized her at once.

“Colonel Treeknot?” said Alfonso, in disbelief.

The woman nodded.

“But how?” asked Alfonso.

“It's a long story,” explained the woman. “Kiril left me for dead in the Fault Roads, but I managed to escape and make it all the way to the Lighthouse. I will tell you the whole story. It was just by chance that I...”

“Wait a minute,” interrupted Leif. “What did you just call her?”

“Colonel Treeknot,” said Alfonso.

“What's your first name?” demanded Leif, almost shouting at the woman.

“Why does it matter?” asked Colonel Treeknot.

“It means everything!” said Leif breathlessly. “What is your first name?”

“Nathalia,” she replied finally.

“I don't believe it,” said Leif quietly, almost to himself. “You are C.N.T.”

Several floors below, Marta and the children discovered an enormous stash of food. There were rows of giant wooden crates filled with rice, flour, sugar, salt, dried mushrooms, and dark brown biscuits. There were large vats of olive oil and huge casks of wine. And there were countless shelves stacked with jars of pickles, jams and preserves. The children from the village, who had been living on the brink of starvation for as long as most of them could remember, were now gorging themselves. Marta tried to stop them, warning them that they would get sick, but it was a lost cause; and so eventually she gave up and joined the meal.

After the feast, everyone headed back upstairs to the observatory, and Marta was flabbergasted to find Alfonso speaking with two adults – a man and a woman – who appeared to have materialized out of nowhere. “Who are
they
?” asked Marta.

“This is my dad,” explained Alfonso happily. “And this
is Colonel Nathalia Treeknot.”

“Where did they come from?” asked Marta, still in a state of shock.

“We came by airship,” explained Nathalia. She went on to relate a few of the details of their journey. As she spoke, Alfonso was – at the very same time – trying to tell his dad everything that had happened to him since they
had been separated in Jasber. For the time being, Leif said little about his own adventures; he didn't want to overwhelm his son and, besides, he was mainly concerned with Alfonso's well being and how exactly his son now magically seemed able to change forms, shifting at will from a teenager into a fully-grown man.

“It's the green ash from Jasber,” explained Alfonso. “Ever since I got it into my eyes I have been able to morph my body like that. I'm just like Marta now. She calls us ‘agelings.'”

“Agelings,” said Leif uneasily. He was frowning. It was a strange concept,
brought on by a substance that Leif did not understand but feared completely. Unfortunately, it appeared as if this ageling complication wouldn't be going away. And to make matters stranger, Alfonso's eyes had become very pale, almost white. It made him look possessed.

“It's all right,” said Alfonso reassuringly. “I feel good.”

“And what about
you
?” asked Alfonso.

As he said this, Nathalia and Marta abruptly stopped talking and an awkward silence followed.

“I think I should probably answer that question first,” said Nathalia. Nathalia paused and looked around. The children all around them looked exhausted. Most of the children had dropped to the floor and were either sitting quietly or were already asleep on one of the observatory's old dusty carpets. “Let's go over here,” she said, motioning to a far corner of the observatory where there was a desk, a few chairs, and a large bookshelf stacked with maps. “This way we won't disturb the kids.”

Alfonso, Leif, and Marta followed her over toward the desk. Nathalia took a seat in one of the chairs. “So,” said Nathalia, “I realize I have some explaining to do.” As she said this, she was trembling slightly. Her forehead was covered with sweat and she looked as if she might have a fever. Leif
looked at her with concern.

“Are you okay?” asked Leif.

“I'm fine,” said Nathalia.

“Are you sure?” asked Marta.

“I have a few wounds,” explained Nathalia. “I may have an infection and that explains the fever. But I'm fine. Truly I am.”

“What happened to you?” asked Alfonso.

Nathalia sighed, settled into her seat, and proceeded to tell her story. She explained how her uncle, Josephus, lured her down to the Fault Roads by lying – insisting that he had permission from the Grand Vizier to escort Kiril all the way to Jasber. “He seemed so confident,” recalled Nathalia bitterly. “By the time we reached the Hub, I knew we had a serious problem.” As she recalled it, Josephus' plan quickly fell apart at the Hub when they were attacked by an army of monstrous creatures – known as zwodszay – who succeeded in killing all of Nathalia's knights. Kiril, Nathalia, and Josephus passed through the Jasber Gate but, shortly thereafter, Kiril escaped and left her and her uncle for dead. After that, a gang of zwodszay attacked repeatedly and, in the chaos, Nathalia and Josephus were separated. “It took me almost three weeks to claw my way out of those Fault Roads – eating bugs, drinking from stagnant puddles, and inching my way along those cliffs,” said Nathalia grimly. “After that, I managed to row to the lighthouse where I found Misty and Clink and they nursed me back to health.”

“And the flying ship?” asked Leif.

“It belongs to Clink,” replied Nathalia. “It came with the lighthouse. I guess the previous owner used the ship to fish, or to fly from the lighthouse back to shore, or something like that – I'm not really sure – but I told Clink that I would use it to try to fly back to Somnos. Then I got caught in that storm and I ended up tangled up in the trees, which is where...”

“Where you met me,” finished Leif.

“Yes,” said Nathalia.

“Okay,” said Alfonso, nodding his head slowly, trying to grasp everything that had just been said. “But wait a minute. Dad, why were you up in the treetops?”

“If you can believe it,” said Leif, “I had just finished visiting a library.”

“Library?” said Alfonso. “What?”

And so then it was Leif's turn to tell his story. He told them everything, yet when it came to reading Alfonso's prophecy, he hesitated.
How much should he tell his son? Was it wise to say anything at all? Should he lie?

“What is it?” asked Marta, sensing his uneasiness.

“Yeah what'd you find there?” asked Alfonso.

“Nothing,” said Leif, as he shifted in his chair uncomfortably.

“Come on dad,” said Alfonso.

“Yeah,” said Marta, “We're not kids anymore – were agelings – I'm old enough to get a tattoo – we can handle it.”

Leif bit his lip.

“Alfonso, I found your prophecy,” said Leif finally.

“And?” asked Alfonso.

“I didn't read the whole thing, but I read part of it – here, I brought it with me.” Leif handed his son the piece of paper with the two scenarios in which the Shadow Tree could be destroyed. Alfonso studied it carefully. Marta and Nathalia read it over his shoulder.

“So I have to destroy the Shadow Tree,” said Nathalia finally. She seemed stunned, but beneath her surprise was a trace of pride.

“Yes,” said Leif.

“How do you know the prophecy is accurate?” asked Alfonso.

“So far it's been spot on,” said Leif. “It said that I would reunite with you, someone named, ‘M,' and someone named ‘C.N.T.' right here at this obelisk – and that's exactly what happened. I believe it. And I believe that Nathalia can do what needs to be done.”

Nathalia coughed, wiped her brow of sweat, and nodded her head.

“You don't look well,” said Alfonso, looking at Nathalia. “You really think you're up for this?”

“Yes,” said Nathalia. “I'll be fine.”

“Hmm,” said Alfonso, as if he weren't totally convinced. “It just seems strange doesn't it?”

“How so,” said Leif – as coolly as he could.

“Well,” said Alfonso, “I mean, don't you feel it, dad?”

“Feel what?” asked Leif. Leif did his best to look confused, but in truth, he knew exactly what his son was talking about. He'd been feeling it since the shipwreck and perhaps even before that.

“You know,” said Alfonso. “The pull, like gravity or something, just tugging on you constantly.”

“What are you getting at?” asked Leif. There was just a trace of irritation in his voice.
Take it easy old man
, he thought to himself.
Play it cool
.

“My point is that I feel the pull of the Shadow Tree all the time – even in my sleep,” said Alfonso. “I mean, here we are, two Great Sleepers, being pulled toward Dargora and yet it's Nathalia who is meant to destroy the Shadow Tree?”

Leif nodded, but said nothing.

“I doesn't seem right,” said Alfonso. “I don't buy it.”

“There's nothing to buy or not to buy,” said Leif irritably. “Nathalia will take care of this.”

“But what if she can't do it?” asked Alfonso. His voice was somber. “That means...”

“No!” shouted Leif. He hadn't intended to yell, but he had. A few of the children stirred. Leif changed his tone, speaking more quietly, but firmly. “Absolutely not,” said Leif. “I'm your father and I am telling you, there is no way in hell that I am going to allow you anywhere near that tree. Forget it! I've lost seven bloody years of my life on this quest, you were nearly killed in that fire in Jasber, and now you've become some kind of... ageling. How much can they expect of us? We've done enough. So I don't want to hear another word about it – understand?”

Leif stared at his son and what he saw was unnerving because Alfonso was – in physical appearance, at least – a grown man. Leif had to remind himself that Alfonso was really only fifteen years old. And yet, in the last several months Alfonso had clearly been through so much, Leif suspected that his son was no longer the boy he'd once been. Leif also realized that he'd messed up – he'd gone about this business all wrong – speaking to Alfonso like this in front of all these people. He wanted to take it back – say something to fix the situation – but what?

“You've been away a long time,” said Alfonso finally, breaking the silence. His tone was cold. “I don't think you know the first thing about me.”